Agricultural Sector In Africa Research Articles

Agricultural Production and Agricultural Employment Rate in South Africa: Time Series Analysis Approach

South Africa's agricultural sector, despite facing high unemployment, is acknowledged for creating job opportunities. However, there is concern that the sector's adoption of technology-intensive methods may not necessarily lead to increased employment. The study aims to analyze the intricate relationship between agricultural output and employment in South Africa using time series analysis. This research employed a Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model to evaluate the link between agricultural production and the rate of agricultural employment in South Africa spanning from 1990 to 2022. The findings indicate that both variables passed levels and became stationarity at the first difference when employing ADF, and a long-term equilibrium relationship between the variables was observed using Johansen cointegration test. Over the short term, there was a significant positive correlation among agricultural production and the agricultural employment rate evidenced from ECT coefficient of 0.139 value. The results of the Granger causality tests indicated unidirectional relationship that agricultural employment Granger-causes agricultural production, signifying that agricultural employment can be used to predict the growth of agricultural production. Study recommended that policies which promote injection of funds to improve production in the agriculture sector needs to be prioritized to maintain and improve employment opportunities.

Identifying challenging barriers to farmers' adaptation to climate change in Bo district, Sierra Leone: A review

ABSTRACT The global trend of climate change presents substantial obstacles to the agricultural sector in Africa, impacting farmers’ livelihoods and jeopardizing food security. Sierra Leone, similarly to numerous other African nations, confronts substantial obstacles in effectively responding to the consequences of climate change, with a special emphasis on the agricultural domain. The article examines the formidable obstacles farmers face in Sierra Leone as they strive to adjust to the impacts of climate change. A detailed literature review and empirical evidence identify four main barriers: economic, knowledge and information, institutional and policy, and social and cultural aspects. Farmers face economic problems investing in adaptable technologies and recovering from climate-related losses due to restricted financial resources, financial institution availability, and insurance coverage. Limited access to reliable climate data and scientific research hinders informed decision-making and adaptive strategy prioritization. Institutional and policy challenges, including limited institutional capacity for climate change adaptation planning and implementation and policy gaps and inconsistencies, hinder farmers’ climate adaptation efforts. Social and cultural variables, including traditional attitudes and traditions, also resist change and impede climate-resilient actions. Financial support, targeted extension services, farmer-to-farmer learning, enhanced institutions, policy integration into agricultural policies, and community engagement are suggested.

Dataset of the suitability of major food crops in Africa under climate change

Understanding the extent and adapting to the impacts of climate change in the agriculture sector in Africa requires robust data on which technical and policy decisions can be based. However, there are no publicly available comprehensive data of which crops are suitable where under current and projected climate conditions for impact assessments and targeted adaptation planning. We developed a dataset on crop suitability of 23 major food crops (eight cereals, six legumes & pulses, six root & tuber crops, and three in banana-related family) for rainfed agriculture in Africa in terms of area and produced quantity. This dataset is based on the EcoCrop model parameterized with temperature, precipitation and soil data and is available for the historical period and until mid-century. The scenarios used for future projections are SSP1:RCP2.6, SSP3:RCP7.0 and SSP5:RCP8.5. The dataset provides a quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate change on crop production potential and can enable applications and linkages of crop impact studies to other socioeconomic aspects, thereby facilitating more comprehensive understanding of climate change impacts and assessment of options for building resilience.

Drone agrotechnology’s for cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) pest and diseases management in Western of Burkina Faso

Drone technologies, also known as "unmanned aerial vehicles" (UAVs) or "unmanned aerial systems" (UAS), have a wide range of applications, including mapping, land-use planning, crop/infrastructure damage assessment, fertilizer spraying and precision crop protection. However, its use is still very limited in the agricultural sector in Africa in general and in Burkina Faso in particular. This study was initiated to explore the potential of UAVs for optimizing cotton yields through monitoring and phytosanitary efficiency. To this end, phytosanitary treatments and monitoring of vegetation status using multispectral drone imagery were carried out on cotton. The experimental sample consisted of four (04) cotton fields in four (04) locations. Phytosanitary treatments and aerial photography were respectively carried out using a DJI AGRAS T16 spray drone and a DJI Phantom 4 Multispectral drone. Phytosanitary treatment with DJI AGRAS T16 drone resulted in savings of 32.41% in treatment duration, 23.58% in water, 1% in pesticides and 10.5% in labor compared with manual spraying, but did not have a positive impact on boll yields due to jassid populations attack. The RGB and NDVI vegetation indices generated by photogrammetric processing of multispectral images acquired by drone enabled us to perceive phytosanitary state of cotton plants during their development cycle. Information provided by these vegetation indices and by this study in general can be used to improve the efficiency of phytosanitary treatments against cotton pests and diseases.

Inclusive Regional Value Chains: Blockchaining Perishable Agricultural Products in Southern Africa

Abstract In Southern Africa due to unsystematically and uncoordinated regional value chain (RVCs), plenty of perishable agricultural products are lost because of spoilage and poor postharvest system misaligning upstream and downstream partners. Although appeal for increasing trade in Southern Africa region may seem plausible, there are strictly speaking no well-grounded economic reasons why perishable agricultural products trade should be an obsession. Broad-based inclusive RVCs through blockchaining perishable agricultural products could enable far more effective responses to region’s sustainable developmental challenges as it does in developed and emerging economies. Recently, the rise and expansion of inclusive RVCs and emphasis on blockchain has spurred major paradigm shift on revamping postharvest system. The investigate relevance of blockchaining initiatives towards inclusive RVCs to perishable agricultural products in Southern Africa. Through a quantitative research approach involving quantitative data collection methods, the research aims to assess the current challenges, opportunities, and perceptions regarding blockchain technology in the agricultural sector. Study findings practically and empirically contribute to excel blockchain for supporting development of inclusive and resilient value chains, providing insights for policymakers and stakeholders in promoting sustainable economic growth in Southern Africa’s agricultural sector.

Seasonal forecasts of the rainy season onset over Africa: Preliminary results from the FOCUS-Africa project

Precipitation seasonality is the main factor controlling vegetation phenology in many tropical and subtropical regions. Anticipating the rain onset is of paramount importance for field preparation and seeding. This is of particular importance in various African countries that rely on agriculture as a main source of food, subsistence and income. In such countries, skilful and accurate onset forecasts could also inform early warning and early actions, such as aids logistics planning, for food security. Here, we assess the skill of the seasonal forecast data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service in predicting the rain onset over Africa. The skill, i.e. the accuracy of the seasonal forecasts simulation ensemble compared to the climatology, is computed in a probabilistic fashion by accounting for the frequencies of normal, early and late onsets predicted by the forecast system. We compute the skill using the hindcasts (forecast simulations conducted for the past) starting at the beginning of each month in the period 1993–2016. We detect the onset timing of the rainy season using a non-parametric method that accounts for double seasonality and is suitable for the specific time-window of the seasonal forecast simulations. We find positive skills in some key African agricultural regions some months in advance. Overall, the multi-model ensemble outperforms any individual model ensemble. We provide targeted recommendations to develop a useful climate service for the agricultural sector in Africa.

Digital Technology Adoption in the Agriculture Sector: Challenges and Complexities in Africa

This article examines the trends and rates of digital technological transformation in the African agricultural sector. While the literature on digital technologies in sectors such as manufacturing, communications, tourism and hospitality, and education abounds, focus on the applicability, relevance, and adoption of digital technologies in farming, particularly by smallholder farmers in agrarian Africa, remains limited. This is a problem that can have huge scholarly and policy implications and therefore needs to be addressed, at least at an academic level. This article uses a literature review to explore the level of digitalisation in African farming, examine the contribution of digitalisation to productivity and sustainability, identify the key challenges to and drivers for digitalisation in African farming, and propose policy frameworks to strengthen the digitalisation of agriculture. The analysis reveals that there are a number of significant challenges that need to be addressed. These include resource scarcity, limited expertise and training, a lack of digital infrastructure, data privacy and security concerns, and resistance by farmers. In spite of this, the agricultural sector in Africa has the potential to adopt technology and not only boost farm productivity but also engender sustainable and environmentally friendly farming. This, however, requires the collective effort of the public and private sectors as well as communities.

Structural change in the South African agricultural sector: Bai-Perron modelling

There is a consensus that the agricultural sector in developing countries has ascendancy in elevating economic growth through structural change; hence continued improvements are imperative, especially in the case of countries such as South Africa with a low agricultural GDP contribution to the economy. Policymakers have to keep a handle on structural change issues. However, the dawdling research on structural change, particularly in the agricultural sector in South Africa, causes a fallback on the sector's development due to the absence of quality evidence-based policy research. This study analysed structural breaks in the agricultural sector using the value of agricultural production as a variable and then evaluated the effects of economic factors such as employment, exports, government expenditure, and inflation on the value of agricultural production output in the presence of each significant structural break between 1983 and 2020. The Bai-Perron test forecasted two structural break dates (1988 and 1994) in South Africa's agricultural sector. The model results reveal that agricultural exports positively influenced the value of agricultural production output in the resulting two structural change regimes, while employment in agriculture, government expenditure in agriculture, and inflation positively influenced the value of agricultural production output only in the regime 1994–2020. The recommendation is that policy reforms aimed at boosting agricultural exports should be pursued.

The Assessment of Future Air Temperature and Rainfall Changes Based on the Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM): The Case of the Wartburg Community in KZN Midlands, South Africa

The agriculture sector in Africa is dominated by small-scale farmers who account for about 80% of the total farms. However, small-scale farmers are vulnerable to climate change and climate variability. Their high susceptibility to climate change emanates from their inadequate ability to adapt to climate change. As a result, small-scale farmers are generally adversely impacted by climate change due to over-reliance on rainfed agriculture and natural resources. This exposure and susceptibility, however, differ across the regions due to the heterogeneity in topography, climate, access to resources, farmer resilience and adaptation capacity. Therefore, site-specific studies are encouraged to increase the awareness, resilience and adaptation capacity at the local level. The study intends to analyse historical climate (air temperature and rainfall) data from a weather station that has not been employed for climate change studies and project possible future changes in the same climate parameters due to global warming for a localised agricultural community within the sugarbelt region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study focuses mainly on air temperature and rainfall changes to inform local farmers about potential climate changes and possible impacts of the projected climate changes on the local agricultural productivity. This study was conducted in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands of South Africa, and the Representative Climate Pathways (RCP8.5 and RCP4.5) climate projection of the CanESM2 model were used for the projection of future air temperature and rainfall trends for the 2020s, the 2040s and the 2080s. According to the results, both minimum and maximum air temperatures will continue to increase for the entire study period. The RCP8.5 results indicate that maximum and minimum air temperatures will reach a maximum range of 1.72 to 3.14 °C and 1.54 to 3.48 °C, respectively. For the rainfall, the model projects a positive trend, although all the scenarios predict a declining trend for the near future (2020s) and an increase in the 2050s. These results indicate that, in the absence of adaptation the risk of small-scale farmers, particularly for sugarcane, which is largely planted in the area, the production losses will heighten and hence increase the likelihood of increased poverty, food insecurity and unemployment.

Interventions to Reduce Pesticide Exposure from the Agricultural Sector in Africa: A Workshop Report.

Despite the fact that several cases of unsafe pesticide use among farmers in different parts of Africa have been documented, there is limited evidence regarding which specific interventions are effective in reducing pesticide exposure and associated risks to human health and ecology. The overall goal of the African Pesticide Intervention Project (APsent) study is to better understand ongoing research and public health activities related to interventions in Africa through the implementation of suitable target-specific situations or use contexts. A systematic review of the scientific literature on pesticide intervention studies with a focus on Africa was conducted. This was followed by a qualitative survey among stakeholders involved in pesticide research or management in the African region to learn about barriers to and promoters of successful interventions. The project was concluded with an international workshop in November 2021, where a broad range of topics relevant to occupational and environmental health risks were discussed such as acute poisoning, street pesticides, switching to alternatives, or disposal of empty pesticide containers. Key areas of improvement identified were training on pesticide usage techniques, research on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at exposure reduction and/or behavioral changes, awareness raising, implementation of adequate policies, and enforcement of regulations and processes.

A new index on agricultural land greenhouse gas emissions in Africa.

Africa emits the lowest amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the global GHG budget. However, the continent remains the most vulnerable continent to the effects of climate change. The agricultural sector in Africa is among the most vulnerable sectors to climate change. Also, as a dominant agricultural sector, African agriculture is increasingly contributing to climate change through GHG emissions. Research has so far focused on the effects of GHG emissions on the agricultural and other sectors with very little emphasis on monitoring and quantifying the spatial distribution of GHG emissions from agricultural land in Africa. This study develops a new index: African Agricultural Land Greenhouse Gas Index (AALGGI) that uses scores and specific scale ranges for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) to map the spatial variations in regional GHG emissions across Africa. The data for the three main GHGs (CO2, CH4, and N20) were downloaded from FAOSTAT. The data were analyzed through the newly developed African Agricultural Land Greenhouse Gas Index (AALGGI). This is an empirical index with scores ranging from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating higher levels of emissions. The results show that Southern and North African regions have the lowest amounts of agricultural land GHG emissions, with AALGGIs of 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. East Africa records the highest levels of GHG emissions, with an AALGGI of 8 followed by West Africa with an AALGGI of 7.5. With the continental mean or baseline AALGGI being 5.8, East and Middle Africa are above the mean AALGGI. These results underscore the fact that though Africa, in general, is not a heavy emitter of GHGs, African agricultural lands are increasingly emitting more GHGs into the global GHG budget. The low AALGGIs in the more developed parts of Africa such as Southern and North Africa are explained by their domination in other GHG emitting sectors such as industrialization and energy. The high rates of emissions in East Africa and Middle Africa are mainly linked to intensive traditional farming practices/processes and deforestation. These findings underscore the need to further leverage climate change mitigation actions and policy in Africa and most importantly the co-benefits of mitigation and adaptations in the most vulnerable regions.

COVID-19 and perceived effects on agricultural financing in Africa: Evidence and policy implications.

This study examines the potential effect of COVID‐19 on agricultural financing by drawing lessons from past global crises and their link to agricultural financing. With significant impact in multiple sectors, COVID‐19 has caused significant liquidity shortage in the banking and financial institutions sectors that led to widespread business failure. Analysis at the macro, sectoral, and farmer levels confirms the decline in the financing allotted to the agricultural sector in Africa, which could exacerbate the existing structural gap in agricultural financing. Many policy responses and stimulus packages designed to address the negative effects of the crisis are found not to be enough. At the farmer level, findings indicate that many farmers are finding it more difficult to access credit than before the COVID‐19 crisis. For individual governments, a better understanding of the magnitude of the agricultural sector financing and investment needs to propose appropriate complementary responses is lacking. We suggest that, in the face of such a crisis, while in the short term the agricultural sector needs emergency funding, in the medium and long term, greater financial support is required, including long‐term resources at concessional rates, guarantee funds, and more suitable insurance products combined with social safety nets.

Unleashing the potential: Exploring internal factors for the success of women entrepreneurs in South Africa's agricultural sector

Unleashing the potential: Exploring internal factors for the success of women entrepreneurs in South Africa's agricultural sector

Farmers' perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies in South Africa's Western Cape

Abstract Climate change poses a serious threat to South Africa's agricultural sector. Implementing adaptation strategies is thus crucial to secure future agricultural production and rural livelihoods. To support effective adaptation, it is necessary to understand how farmers, as primary land-use decision-makers, perceive and respond to climate change. We conducted semi-structured interviews to examine climate change adaptation behaviour by commercial grain and wine grape farmers in a water-scarce, recently drought-stricken agricultural region of South Africa's Western Cape. Specifically, we investigated (1) how farmers perceive climate change, (2) which factors influence their adaptive behaviour and (3) which adaptation strategies they apply in their farming practices, and whether these are medium to long-term or short-term coping strategies. Through the resulting discourses, we found that most farmers have observed long-term regional changes in climate, such as changes in rainfall patterns, increasing temperatures and extreme climatic events. Farmers' adaptive behaviour is influenced by previous experience of climatic stresses and internal factors, including risk perception, perceived adaptive capacity and cognitive biases. Institutional and biophysical constraints including perceived lack of government support and soil composition are external barriers to adaptation. Most farmers have implemented adaptive strategies on their farms, including alterations to soil and crop management, such as changes of harvest and planting time, crop rotations and water conservation techniques. However, farmers have planned fewer adaptive strategies to future impacts of climate change than current implemented strategies. Current strategies are mostly technological and address direct impacts of climate stressors, although climate change impacts go beyond the farm scale into society. These findings may have important implications for future policy making and climate change adaptation in this region, given the place-specific institutional and biophysical barriers identified by farmers, and the strategic importance of the Western Cape in South African agriculture.

Impact Investing in South Africa: Investing in Empowerment, Empowering Investors

This paper examines how Impact Investment (II) becomes part and transforms structured accumulation regimes and circuits, with a particular emphasis on South Africa's agricultural sector. Through the joint implementation of a macro study of the South African II circuits, and a micro study of a particular II fund's practices and impacts, the paper develops an in-depth political economy assessment of II circuits in order to historicize these circuits, to map the South African II community, and to characterize the power balances presently structuring it. Rather than highlighting ruptures, it draws the attention to the historical continuities and path-dependencies as II related tools are rooted into older financial practices, shaping today's II development and practice - hence questioning II as a tool for empowerment.

A review of policies and agricultural productivity in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALS), Kenya: the case of Turkana County

Objectives: This paper seeks to present a review of policies relating to agricultural productivity in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALS) with a focus on Turkana County, Kenya. Methodology and Results: This paper adopted a qualitative approach and data collection majorly relied on document analysis of policy papers, the Kenyan Constitution, parliamentary proceedings as recorded in the Hansard, academic papers, organizational journals, newspaper articles and government statutes relating to agriculture. Despite the culture of the people being centered on pastoralism, food security in the ASALs is far from adequate. The numerous policy documents reveal the efforts Kenya has made to increase Agricultural productivity. The successive governments though at varying degrees, developed plans that focused on rural areas albeit with little progress in the ASALS. Institutional failures and adverse policies are to blame for the growth of the Agricultural sector in Africa. Conclusions and application of findings: There are numerous overlapping policies due to failure to evaluate existing ones. There is need to involve beneficiaries and to address resource allocation to agriculture to reflect the recommended 10% of overall country budget as per the Maputo agreement of 2003. Proper management of funds and fighting corruption is vital in effective implementation of development programs and realization of economic growth. Investment in both social and physical infrastructure (roads, livestock markets, abattoirs etc.) would ensure effectiveness of the various policies. There is need to prioritize water supply and water use efficiency for dryland agriculture. Keywords: Agricultural productivity, rural Kenya, food security, Devolution, Policy, Development

Evaluating agricultural weather and climate services in Africa: Evidence, methods, and a learning agenda

AbstractWeather and climate services (WCS) are expected to improve the capacity of Africa's agricultural sector to manage the risks of climate variability and change. Despite this, a lack of evidence prevents a realistic analysis of whether such services are delivering on their potential. This paper reviews 66 studies that have evaluated outcomes and/or impacts of agricultural WCS in Africa, highlighting areas that have received relatively more attention as well as persistent gaps. While the evaluation of WCS outcomes is relatively straightforward, estimates of the number of people who access and use these services are uneven (covering a small number of communities in 23 of 54 African countries) and highly variable (with access estimates ranging from ~2 to 86%, depending on the service and the population). Meanwhile, 22 documents estimate the impact of WCS with respect to yields and/or income. Developed with a variety of methods, these estimates are also wide ranging and illustrate how impact is conditioned on a number of characteristics of the service, the user, and the context in which both operate. The paper uses lessons developed through this review to develop a “learning agenda,” or evidence‐building roadmap, to establish priorities that can guide work to improve the design, delivery, and impact of agricultural WCS in Africa. Priority learning areas include activities that can strengthen the evidence of access, use, and impacts of WCS, along with those that can advance the use and usability of evidence so as to improve the design and targeting of WCS services.This article is categorized under: Assessing Impacts of Climate Change > Evaluating Future Impacts of Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Learning from Cases and Analogies

Trends in Agricultural Production Efficiency and their Implications for Food Security in Sub‐Saharan African Countries

AbstractThe main objective of this paper is to estimate the agricultural sector production efficiency using data envelopment analysis based on a cross‐section of 49 African countries over the 1995–2012 period in order to analyze the determinants of annual efficiency scores to assess the impact of agricultural efficiency on food security. We find that agriculture aid, agricultural sector infrastructure, sanitation, and good governance serve the main drivers of agriculture efficiency and its growth. Our findings also suggest that a large portion of Africa's agricultural sector growth can be attributed to technical progress as opposed to efficiency changes.

Does FDI moderate the role of public R&D in accelerating agricultural production in Africa?

PurposeThe agriculture sector in Africa is a major employer, but production levels have fallen short of demand. To match future demand, public investment in research and development (R&D) is required. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how foreign direct investments (FDIs) moderate the effects of public R&D on Africa’s agricultural production.Design/methodology/approachThis study estimates an unbalanced panel fixed effect model that consists of 28 African countries covering the period 1980–2014.FindingsPublic R&D increases production in the agriculture sector, however, the effects reverse after ten years. Though FDIs have direct positive effects on production, indirectly, it reduces the productivity potential of public R&D due to the possible dependency syndrome associated with FDIs. Traditional inputs like land, capital, and labour and good political institutions positively drive production, but adverse changes in the weather reduce production.Practical implicationsThere should be a frequent update of R&D and improvement in maintenance culture. FDIs should be seen as complementary efforts, and not as substitute efforts to domestic investment efforts in R&D.Originality/valueInsufficient domestic investment has increased the dependence on FDIs. In this regard, FDIs effect on production could be tricky since it increases the volatility in agricultural R&D. This paper contributes to the literature by examining how FDIs moderate the effects of public R&D on output.

Introduction: Challenges to Africa's Agricultural Transformation

Introduction: Challenges to Africa's Agricultural Transformation