African Agricultural Development Research Articles

A Framework for Data Collection and Management to Support the Comprehensive Development of African Agriculture

Agriculture is a key source of food and health for humanity. However, the hazardous way this activity is still cared for in some developing countries like the Republic of Benin, with poor quality farming data collection mechanisms, can guarantee neither quality and sustainability of production, nor comprehensiveness and efficiency of agricultural interventions. Such shortcomings ineluctably contribute to the limited success of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) promoted by the African Union and its regional chapters, in most African countries. Based on these preliminary remarks, this paper suggests a systematic and automated monitoring, evaluation, learning, and adaptation (MEL) framework that will further be tested, consolidated, validated, and promoted, first in the Republic of Benin, and later in other African countries. This framework is made of local, regional, and national geographic information systems (GIS) which will further serve as databases for planning and interventions in the agricultural sector. The proposed GIS superposes lands’ details (sizes, soils’ characteristics, rainfall data, etc.), stakeholders’ details (demographics, crops, livestock, agricultural practices, etc.), and agricultural value chains’ details. Local, regional, and national agricultural value chains’ development platforms will bring stakeholders together, and serve as sources and co-users of the GIS data. Local, regional, and national MEL and GIS management skilled AEAS agents will facilitate systematic data collection and GIS database management. The data collection and treatment tools should allow the use of all kinds of data formats, including voice and image records, given the oral orientation of most agricultural stakeholders. This original idea emerged from observations during national and regional field experiences, and from the literature that revealed the efficiency of automated real-time and quality data for comprehensive and evidence-based decision-making in development interventions.

Vector Autoregressive Model of Maize Production in Northern Region of Ghana

Agricultural growth plays a crucial role in the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP, 2009) agenda. The program recognizes that increasing agricultural productivity is essential for reducing poverty, meeting food production targets, and lowering production costs and food prices for the impoverished. This study aimed to develop two types of models. The first model employed a vector autoregressive (VAR) approach, which involved regressing the production of maize in one district against the production of maize in other districts at various lags. The second model utilized a VAR framework where the maize production in each district was regressed against the production of maize in other districts and the corresponding climate conditions at different lag periods. The available data spanned from 1968 to 2018 and were recorded on an annual basis. Six climatic variables were included in the analysis. A lag order of 3 was selected for the models. The results of the autocorrelation test using the portmanteau test indicated no serial autocorrelation across all lag periods. The test for normality revealed that the residuals followed a normal distribution. Additionally, there was no evidence of heteroscedasticity in the data. Furthermore, a Granger causality test was conducted on the selected districts to explore causal relationships. Variance decomposition analysis was performed to assess the variance relation in the data and understand the contribution of different factors. Based on adjusted R-squared, mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean squared error (RMSE) values, the models that incorporated climatic variables were found to be the most suitable for forecasting maize production in the selected districts. The VAR model, which captures the interdependencies between the variables, was utilized in this analysis. All variables in the VAR model were treated symmetrically, meaning that their relationships were considered equally important.

Does Public Spending Trigger Agricultural Productivity Growth in Africa?

ABSTRACT Enhancing agricultural productivity growth is a key step to improving competitiveness and eradicating poverty in rural areas in developing countries. While the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) recommended increased public spending in agriculture to induce productivity growth, the extent to which expenditures affect food productivity remains an empirical question. To address this concern and provide policymakers with quantitative evidence, the authors assess the effect of two government-spending measures: agriculture budget share (BS) and research share (RS) of agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) on agriculture total factor productivity growth (TFPG) in Africa. They use a panel fixed-effect estimator to control for the country-specific characteristics in twenty-eight African economies from 1991 to 2012. They find marginal impact of approximately 6.77% of RS on TFPG after every seven years. However, the cumulative marginal impact of BS on TFPG is estimated at 7.21% over the seven years following budget allocation. These findings suggest that a BS of 14% and an RS of 15% are required for a country to double its TFPG in the following eight years. Therefore, an additional and continuous investment in research and development is required for significant productivity growth, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Challenges and opportunities for agricultural development in West Africa

The article is about the challenges and opportunities for the development of the agricultural sector in West Africa. The aim of the study is to identify ways of improving the efficiency of agricultural production in West Africa, to increase yields. The task is to find, identify, develop and implement the most effective methods and algorithms for realising the above aim, and the challenges and obstacles along the way. The article describes the current state of agriculture in this sub-region. The author considers modern problems of agriculture in this territory, gives examples of agriculture in other regions of the world for comparison with West African. Intensive agriculture of various countries is considered as an option for the development of the West African region. The external factors, affecting the development of West African agriculture, in particular climatic change, increase in the average annual temperature, are considered. Attention is paid to the question of finding a new way of development of agriculture, resistant to climatic change. Possibilities and problems, related to the application of agroecology on the example of the Republic of Senegal, are analysed.

Decomposition of Green Agriculture Productivity for Policy in Africa: An Application of Global Malmquist–Luenberger Index

Previous research on agricultural productivity in Africa has focused on conventional Total Factor productivity (TFP) growth rather than Green Total factor productivity (GATFP) growth, thus ignoring the effect of undesirable outputs such as emissions. This has raised concerns about the sustainability of agricultural productivity growth in the continent. The study was designed to examine GATFP growth in agricultural productivity for 49 African nations from 2000 to 2019. We apply the Global Malmquist–Luenberger (GML) Productivity Index, which complies with the sustainable development agenda that promotes greater production of desirable outputs and minimising unwanted outputs. This approach is also compared to Global Malmquist (GM) Productivity Index which ignores unwanted outputs, yielding to conventional TFP growth. We found an average GATFP growth of 0.6% and TFP growth at 0.9% suggesting that the actual agricultural productivity growth is overstated if agricultural emissions are disregarded. Both estimates fell short of the desired annual target of 7% from the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Regional growth is mostly characterised by high (low) GATFP and TFP except in Southern Africa and East Africa. The two regions represent an ideal situation where GATFP exceeds TFP. At country level growth can be divided into three scenarios: desired growth, where GATFP exceeds TFP; balanced growth with both estimates equivalent; and undesired growth, where TFP exceeds GATFP. Unfortunately, most African nations fall in the last scenario. We conclude that policies must be developed to encourage sustainable agricultural productivity growth in Africa.

Agricultural expenditure and agricultural total factor productivity growth in South Africa

<abstract> <p>The study investigates the impact of government agricultural expenditure on agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) growth in South Africa. South Africa subscribes to the African Union-inspired Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), established in 2003 to exterminate hunger and lessen absolute poverty. CAADP requires governments to allot at least 10% of government expenditure to agriculture and achieve an average 6% annual growth in agricultural GDP through doubling agricultural productivity. Despite launching CAADP in 2011, South Africa is off-track. Our analysis follows a two-step procedure using data for the period 1986 to 2018. Firstly, using input and output data, we estimate agricultural TFP indices using the growth accounting (GA) and the Malmquist-Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods. Secondly, we use the Autoregressive Distributed Lag econometric technique to estimate the agricultural TFP impact of government expenditure. Estimates from the GA approach proved more reliable. We find that government agricultural expenditure has a significant positive effect on agricultural TFP growth of 4% and 18.5% in the short-run and long-run, suggesting high and increasing marginal gains. Estimations on weather variables reveal that a 1% increase in average temperatures and rainfall would increase TFP by 2.7% and 1.4% respectively. We recommend that South Africa fully implements the CAADP. Also, given significantly positive estimates of imports and exports, we call for increased agricultural trade liberalization biased towards export promotion and more intra-Africa agricultural trade within the AfCFTA framework.</p> </abstract>

Agricultural Transformation in Africa: Lessons learnt from the Domestication of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Processes in Lesotho

Agricultural Transformation in Africa: Lessons learnt from the Domestication of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Processes in Lesotho

The following articles for this Special Issue were published before the original collection was released. They can be found in their respective issues

Vink, N. (2022). Presidential Address to the 31st (virtual) ICAE. African agricultural development: How are we contributing?. Agricultural Economics, 53, 540– 562. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12725Anderson, K. (2022). 16th Elmhirst Lecture, presented in the opening plenary session of the ICAE. Agriculture in a more uncertain global trade environment. Agricultural Economics, 53, 563– 579. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12726Brenton, P., Chemutai, V., & Pangestu, M. (2022). Trade and food security in a climate change‐impacted world. Agricultural Economics, 53, 580– 591. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12727Unnevehr, L. J. (2022). Addressing food safety challenges in rapidly developing food systems. Agricultural Economics, 53, 529– 539. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12724

African agricultural development: How are we contributing?

AbstractA database of journal articles and conference papers that cover the economics of agricultural development in Africa during the period 2016–2020 was compiled. These papers are first described in terms of demographic and bibliometric criteria, followed by a network analysis of the main centers of origin and of influence of this research. Finally, three different processes were used to test the policy relevance of the work. These include a simple enumeration of the policy recommendations in a sample of the papers, a megatrend analysis, and a comparison of their focus with the standard narrative of the role of agriculture in economic development. The results show that a large proportion of the literature is not forward‐looking, and is weak on policy relevance. We ignore a number of issues that engage the attention of those concerned with implementing structural change in agriculture across the many very different but very real natural resource, political, social, economic, and technological environments around the continent.

Bringing to Scale: The Scaling-Up Concept in African Agricultural Value Chains

AbstractThe concept of “scaling up” value chains dominates the African agricultural development literature. Scaling up commonly refers to three inter-related objectives: increasing agricultural production and quality, expanding farmer engagement with markets, and adding greater value to commodities that benefits all actors. Bassett, Koné, and Munro provide a critique of the assumption of linear and progressive development embedded in the scaling-up concept and offer an alternative relational network approach that highlights the contingent and relational dynamics of agricultural value chains. The research compares the selling patterns of cashew growers participating in OLAM’s Sustainable Cashew Growers Program in Côte d’Ivoire during 2018 and 2019.

Fostering Entrepreneurship And Supply Chain In Agri-Business In The Farming Community To Achieve Sustainable Rural Development In Namseling, Bhutan

Fostering Entrepreneurship And Supply Chain In Agri-Business In The Farming Community To Achieve Sustainable Rural Development In Namseling, Bhutan

Are farmers ready to use phone-based digital tools for agronomic advice? Ex-ante user readiness assessment using the case of Rwandan banana farmers

ABSTRACT Purpose Digital extension is widely embraced in African agricultural development, promising unprecedented outcomes and impact. Especially phone-based services attract attention as tools for effective and efficient agricultural extension. To date, assessments of digital extension services are generally ex-post in nature, thus consideration of users and broader systems occurs once an intervention is broadly identified. However, early understanding of user needs, readiness, and relevant context is a prerequisite for successful adoption and sustainable use of digital extension services. We conducted an ex-ante assessment of user readiness (UR) for phone-based services. Design/Methodology/Approach We developed an ex-ante framework to assess UR, considering capabilities, opportunities, and motivations of targeted users. The case study of Rwandan banana farmers served to verify the UR framework, using survey data from 690 smallholder farmers. Findings Findings demonstrate limited capacity to access and use phone-based extension services, especially those requiring a smartphone, and a mismatch between expected UR and actual UR, current capabilities and opportunities. Findings provide entry points for designing suitable digital extension projects and interventions, suggesting a need for capacity building. Practical implications The UR-framework provided understanding about current limitations in farmer readiness for digital extension. This ex-ante approach to explore UR before designing digital interventions for African farmers is recommended. It points at the importance of embedding digital technologies into existing practices and creating blends of ‘digital’ and ‘analogue’ or 'high-tech' and 'low-tech'. Theoretical implications The UR-framework provides a structured approach to developing pre-intervention insights about users and use-context, supporting informed strategizing and decision-making about digital extension. It is a relevant addition to existing readiness frameworks, participatory design methods, and ex-post intervention performance assessments, as part of a balanced readiness level assessment. Originality/Value This is the first ex-ante assessment of UR for digital extension services in an African context, and the first attempt to analyse Rwandan farmers’ readiness for digital extension services.

Reorienting emissions research to catalyse African agricultural development

Improving agricultural activity data is a cost-effective option for reducing the uncertainty of greenhouse gas inventories and monitoring mitigation actions, meeting multiple national data needs, and bolstering investments. It’s time to direct effort to this opportunity.

Exploring assumptions in crop breeding for climate resilience: opportunities and principles for integrating climate model projections

Crop breeding for resilience to changing climates is a key area of investment in African agricultural development, but proactively breeding for uncertain future climates is challenging. In this paper, we characterise efforts to breed new varieties of crops for climate resilience in southern Africa and evaluate the extent to which climate model projections currently inform crop breeding activity. Based on a survey of seed system actors, we find that the prioritisation of crops and traits is only informed to a limited extent by modelled projections. We use an ensemble of CORDEX models for mid and end of century for southern Africa to test some of the assumptions that underpin current breeding activity, particularly associated with breeding for reduced durations and drought tolerance in maize, and demonstrate some of the ways in which such projections can help to inform breeding priorities and agenda setting (e.g. through the case of assessing cassava toxicity risk). Based on these examples, we propose five potential applications of climate models in informing breeding priorities. Furthermore, after unpacking the sources of uncertainty within the presented model projections, we discuss general principles for the appropriate use of climate model information in crop breeding.

Political economy challenges for climate smart agriculture in Africa

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) has gained prominence in global agriculture and climate agendas for its perceived “triple win” contributions to food productivity, adaptation, and mitigation to climate change. This paper highlights three important challenges for CSA activities in Africa which provide insights into contested debates surrounding CSA’s ability to respond holistically to the complex realities facing resource-constrained farmers in the global South. These are (1) prevailing neoliberal market policies that emphasize private-sector driven agricultural development in the face of rising input costs and falling commodity prices; (2) an expansion in diversified livelihood strategies amongst smallholder households as a response to the highly unpredictable biophysical environment and economic climate under which they live; and (3) a growing competition for land and other productive resources. A deeper dive into political economy processes surrounding these three issues aims to bring critical attention to factors relevant to African agricultural development that highly impact farm-level practices and carry important implications for rural livelihood outcomes.

EU Common Agricultural Policy - Impacts on Trade with Africa and African Agricultural Development

The impacts of European agricultural and trade policies on agricultural development and food security in Africa are analyzed in this study. The research is prompted by the pending further development of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020. The proposal for the new CAP is based on higher ambitions with regard to environmental protection and climate change through mandatory ecological programs and an enhanced linkage of direct payments to the greening rules. The methodological approach comprises: (i) an examination and critical review of existing studies; (ii) an analysis and assessment of agricultural trade flows between the EU and Africa as a whole and in the context of case studies on meat and milk; (iii) a systematic consultation of leading experts in European and African agricultural and trade policy on trends and impacts of the CAP; and (iv) model simulations of the effects of possible reform projects on production in and trade flows with Africa. The study finds that direct payments to EU farmers continue to account for up to 50% of total farm income in the EU, but EU spending on agricultural development in Africa is rather small in comparison. The current EU agricultural subsidy policy hampers the development of African agriculture much less than it did before export subsidies and coupled subsidy payments were largely abolished. However, these earlier effects cannot be corrected quickly because agricultural productivity depends on longstanding favorable framework conditions and long-term investments in innovation. According to the expert consultation carried out for this study, a stronger environmental and climate orientation of the CAP is considered likely and would have a dampening effect on European agricultural exports to Africa. The model simulation estimates that European food exports to Africa would decrease under the expected EU policy changes. However, this reduction in European exports would be mainly taken over by other exporters. Investments in African agricultural development should be expanded by the EU. Although African raw agricultural material exports to the EU are largely free of duties, the access of processed products to the EU market is still limited due to complicated rules of origin and social and hygiene standards for goods imported into the EU. These standards are necessary but must be more transparent. The EU should provide more support to improve standards in Africa; otherwise, the export potential of African countries cannot be fully exploited.

Sustainable development in East Africa: impact evaluation of regional agricultural development projects in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

AbstractInvestments in agricultural technologies, capacity building and policy harmonization are needed to support sustainable development across Africa. Regional development projects can facilitate the adoption of agricultural technologies and innovations across nation‐state borders and generate benefits for shared prosperity. This paper uses panel data from 1,160 smallholder households including beneficiaries and non‐beneficiaries from five countries in East Africa ‐ Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. From a pool of over 90 projects implemented over a span of 15 years, 23 regional projects are included in this study. The major economic benefits to smallholder participants are higher crop productivity and income, access to adaptable technologies, access to markets, higher livestock and milk production, gender equality, enhanced food security, resilience and capacity building for uptake and scaling up of future innovation platforms. For example, the adoption of low‐cost tissue culture banana by the beneficiaries increased their incomes by 15% in Rwanda while the adoption of appropriate land and water management technologies increased the potato yields from 2.8 tons (USD 2,840/ha) to over 7.5 tons (USD 7,410/ha) in Kenya. The beneficiaries ensured value added to commodities like bananas (for export) and orange‐fleshed sweet potatoes (a nutrition‐sensitive intervention for enhancing domestic intake of vitamin A) in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Additionally, milk production increased from 6 to 11 L per cow per day in Uganda and from 6 to 8 L per cow per day in Tanzania, with increases in sales generating USD 115 per cow per month above the non‐beneficiaries. These results are supported by previous studies on technology adoption, investments in agriculture and well‐being outcomes. Our findings with the higher farm income Difference‐in‐Differences (DiD) estimator for the female beneficiaries compared to male beneficiaries might have important implications for investing in regional development projects that will close the gender gap in agricultural productivity in Africa. Regional projects can also support post‐conflict development efforts for food security and peace in fragile contexts such as in Burundi. Our findings might serve as an input to the African Union's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, localization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to food security and agriculture in Africa and an input to monitoring, evaluation and learning.

Scientific Innovation for the Sustainable Development of African Agriculture


 
 
 The African continent has considerable potential to reap the benefits associated with modern agricultural biotechnology. Plant biotechnology and breeding represent an invaluable toolbox to face the challenges of African agriculture, such as food and nutrition security, environment protection, soil fertility, and crop adaptation to new climatic conditions. As Africa has only relatively recently adopted agricultural biotechnology, it has the opportunity to harness the immense knowledge gathered over the last two decades while avoiding some of the difficulties experienced by early adopters. High-level research and education systems together with a specific regulatory framework are critical elements in the development of sustainable biotechnology-based agriculture and industry. The more actors that are involved in Research & Development applied to nutritionally and important local crops, the faster Africa will generate its future African innovators. Here, we discuss the contribution of plant biotechnology to a transformative African agriculture that combines intensification of land productivity and environmental sustainability.
 KEY WORDS: PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY, AFRICA, YIELD POTENTIAL, NUTRITION SECURITY, ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION
 
 

Valorization of Research and Scientific Innovation Results as Factor of Sustainable Development of African Agriculture: the Example of Burkina Faso


 
 
 During the 1980s, many development partners in Africa were preoccupied by the application of research results to agricultural development. In Burkina Faso, this awareness led to set structures and mechanisms for the promotion of research results. From the synthesis of critical analyses ofthe valorization system, it appears that the valorization concept is polysemous. In addition, therehas been strong evolution in the mechanisms for promoting research results, development has also been hampered by certain shortcomings. Thus we propose, as a main track for a successful valorization policy, the creation of start-ups constituted of young professionals who possess skills that are specific and complementary. Young university-educated professionals are equipped to understand the new technologies of production and agricultural transformation. With an effective management plan the start-ups they represent could foster an effective application of research results, to improve food security and enhance the competitiveness of Burkina’s agricultural products on international markets.
 KEY WORDS: VALORIZATION, POLYSEMOUS, START-UP, AGRICULTURE
 
 

Scientific Innovation for a Sustainable Development of African Agriculture

The African continent has considerable potential to reap the benefits associated with modern agricultural biotechnology. Plant biotechnology and breeding represent an invaluable toolbox to face the challenges of African agriculture, such as food and nutrition security, environment protection, soil fertility, and crop adaptation to new climatic conditions. As Africa has only relatively recently adopted agricultural biotechnology, it has the opportunity to harness the immense knowledge gathered over the last two decades while avoiding some of the difficulties experienced by early adopters. High-level research and education systems together with a specific regulatory framework are critical elements in the development of sustainable biotechnology-based agriculture and industry. The more actors that are involved in Research & Development applied to nutritionally and important local crops, the faster Africa will generate its future African innovators. Here, we discuss the contribution of plant biotechnology to a transformative African agriculture that combines intensification of land productivity and environmental sustainability. KEY WORDS: PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY, AFRICA, YIELD POTENTIAL, NUTRITION SECURITY, ENVIRONMENTAL MITIGATION