Benin, Samuel

Johnson, Michael E.

Makombe, Tsitsi

This paper assesses the degree to which the LAquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI) has been implemented in Ghana within the framework of managing for development results (MfDR), and to evaluate progress in various outcomes, including economic governance, agricultural growth, poverty, and food and nutrition security. The MfDR approach, which has gained widespread support globally for obtaining results, is endorsed by the government of Ghana and reflected in the Ghana Aid Policy and Strategy.

Hows the LAquila food security initiative doing?

Aid effectiveness in Ghana

Use of mechanization in African agriculture has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food prices crisis. Many developing country governmentsincluding Ghana, the case study of this paperhave resumed support for agricultural mechanization, typically in the form of providing subsidies for tractor purchase and establishment of private-sector-run agricultural mechanization service centers (AMSECs). The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Ghanas AMSEC program on various outcomes, using data from household surveys that were conducted with 270 farmers, some of them located in areas with the AMSEC program (treatment) and others located in areas without the program (control).

Impact of Ghanas agricultural mechanization services center program

You, Liangzhi

Diao, Xinshen

Chilonda, Pius

Kennedy, Adam

An in-depth quantitative analysis is undertaken in this paper to assist the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat, member countries, and development partners in setting future regional investment priorities for agricultural research and development in the SADC region. A primary goal of this work was to identify a range of agricultural research priorities for achieving sector productivity and overall economic growth in southern Africa, at both the country and regional levels. This is accomplished by adopting an integrated modeling framework that combines a disaggregated spatial analytical model with an economywide multimarket model developed specifically for the region.

Exploring strategic priorities for regional agricultural research and development investments in southern Africa

Agricultural Productivity in Africa: Trends, Patterns, and Determinants presents updated and new analyses of land, labor, and total productivity trends in African agriculture. It brings together analyses of a unique mix of data sources and evaluations of public policies and development projects to recommend ways to increase agricultural productivity in Africa. This book is timely in light of the recent and ongoing growth recovery across the continent. The good news is that agricultural productivity in Africa increased at a moderate rate between 1961 and 2012, although there are variations in the rate of growth in land, labor, and total factor productivities depending on country and region. Differences in input use and capital intensities in agricultural production in the various farming systems and agricultural productivity zones also affect advancements in technology. One conclusion based on the book’s research findings derives from the substantial spatial variation in agricultural productivity. For areas with similar agricultural productivity growth trends and factors, what works well in one area can be used as the basis for formulating best-fit, location-specific agricultural policies, investments, and interventions in similar areas. This finding along with others will be of particular interest to policy- and decisionmakers.

Trends, patterns, and determinants

Agricultural productivity in Africa

This note analyzes the trajectory of the benchmark and its implications for the effort required of countries to remain on-track or get on-track toward achieving the goals and targets of the Malabo Declaration by 2025. It also analyzes the change in the overall score obtained by different countries between the 2018 and 2020 BRs by decomposing the contribution of different indictors to the change. This helps to explain why fewer countries were on-track in the 2020 BR compared to the 2018 BR. The note concludes with a look at the potential challenges countries may face, most notably those brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and prospects for them to remain or get on-track in future BRs.

Benin, Samuel

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