There is an international consensus that Africans consume less fruits and vegetables (FV), and animal products (AP) than they need for adequate nutrition, and that production and supply chains of these products are constrained.
Seed systems are essential to bring good genetic material to farmers. Women farmers, however, have benefited less than men farmers from seed systems in low and middle income countries.
Increased access to a variety of foods in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) has led to greater autonomy in food choice decision-making.
Background: Women’s empowerment is one critical pathway through which agriculture can impact women’s nutrition; however, empirical evidence is still limited.
Climate change is projected to cause an increase in average temperatures in Zambia and a decline in rainfall, particularly in the southern and western regions.
Changes in frequency and intensity of climate and weather events are a key challenge to agricultural production among farmers in Zambia.
Cashew is a cash crop primarily grown by smallholder farmers in Tanzania and is a major source of rural employment and income in Coastal areas.
Food systems policy has multiple legitimate aims, and different policy actors hold different values, beliefs, and interests around these issues.
Poverty reduction and conservation of natural resources are both global goals for sustainable development. However, it is not well understood how interventions to reduce poverty impact coastal communities and the fisheries they depend upon.
Climate change poses a greater threat for more exposed and vulnerable countries, communities and social groups.
Zambia experienced modest economic growth of 4.8 percent per year between 2010 and 2019 (ZamStats 2020). Most growth occurred in the earlier part of the decade.
Tanzania experienced strong annual economic growth of 6.2 percent between 2009 and 2019 (NBS 2020).
Agricultural and food policies are increasingly asked to do more to improve the dietary quality of populations in lower and middle income countries (LMICs), especially severely malnourished rural populations.
The evidence on the potential for agricultural interventions to contribute to improved nutrition has grown considerably over the past decade.
Individual farmer investments have the potential to fill the gap in public investments and be more cost-effective than large-scale irrigation. However, this development primarily occurs outside of formal systems.
Farmers, entrepreneurs, and businesses are already leading the way by expanding irrigation in response to climate variability and the growing demand for vegetables and fruit through supplemental and dry-season irrigated production.
Unlike large-acreage government irrigation schemes, small-scale irrigation is typically farmer led. Farmers decide what technologies to use to extract water, be it manual lifting or solar water pumps.
This study utilizes a recursive dynamic general equilibrium model calibrated with data for Tanzania to explore the link between agricultural and rural development spending and four development outcomes: economic growth, job creation, poverty reduc