Skip to main content

Home/ Development Africa/ Group items tagged smallholder

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Arabica Robusta

allAfrica.com: Africa: Smallholder Agriculture Transforms Lives of Poor - 0 views

allafrica.com/...200912230392.html

development africa international news agriculture smallholder industry

shared by Arabica Robusta on 27 Dec 09 - Cached
brian R liked it
  • Foremost amongst the factors that undermine smallholder agriculture is the gross undercapitalization of the sector. Investment in key areas such as research, infrastructure development, mechanization, irrigation, value chain development and human capital development lags behind that in other developing regions and has actually declined over the past decade.
  • In countries such as India and Thailand, public investments in agriculture have substantially reduced rural poverty by stimulating agricultural growth and reducing food prices. Investments in other key facets of the rural economy such as road infrastructure and education have also been shown to have large positive outcomes. These findings suggest that the "how" of agricultural spending can be as important as the "how much".
Arabica Robusta

NAI Forum - 0 views

naiforum.org/...rent-africa-optimism-%E2%80%95

africa development international governance industry nordiska

shared by Arabica Robusta on 28 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • The prevailing optimism gives no true picture of Africa. Short-term exploitation and large-scale agriculture are neither socially nor environmentally sustainable. Economic and social inequalities are growing on the continent.
  • The current overall African growth rate of about 5 per cent annually is largely based on natural resource exploitation for export, especially of oil, gas and minerals.
  • A growing African elite and middle class in collaboration with foreign allies have also secured benefits for themselves. Therefore, economic inequality is growing rapidly in Africa,  as in Asia.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The weakness of the Afro-optimistic perspective is reinforced by recent research showing that foreign investments  to a large extent are directed towards African agricultural land for the production of energy crops and food for export. Such investments often take place in interaction between foreign and domestic African interests, and with the support of international aid. Such projects are highly mechanized and require little labour. Large-scale agriculture focuses mainly on a single crop, thus undermining biodiversity. Irrigation is necessary but often leads to conflicts with local smallholder farmers, of whom the majority are women. In Africa, smallholders have weak water and land rights, despite their paramount importance of their production for food security – they produce 90 per cent of the food in Africa.
  • This large-scale agriculture uses 75 per cent of the country’s farmland, but contributes only 60 per cent of the gross annual agricultural production. It employs only two people per 100 acres, while small-scale farming provides jobs for 15 people in the same area, accounting for the bulk of food production.
Arabica Robusta

Most African Leaders Not Making Promised Investments in Agriculture » TripleC... - 0 views

triplecrisis.com/sed-investments-in-agriculture

africa development international governance news industry world

shared by Arabica Robusta on 12 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • Unfortunately, the tone at the AU summit sometimes echoed the agribusiness-led New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, initiated by the G8 club of wealthy nations in 2012, and less so the voices of African farmers themselves.
  • Of particular concern are food prices. Maize prices doubled, despite a decent harvest last year. This was partly the result of the currency devaluation, even though Malawi does not import maize. The country does import fertilizer, which jumped in price in domestic currencies.
  • She called on Africa’s leaders to invest in smallholder farmers. “We have the potential to feed the world when we are given the necessary support.”
1 - 3 of 3
Showing 20▼ items per page