According to the United Nations, least developed countries (LDCs) account for 13 per cent of the world population but only about 1.3 per cent of global GDP and less than 1 per cent of global trade and foreign direct investment .
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Information and communications technology (ICT) in low- and middle-income countries has changed significantly over the past seven decades, starting with radio and newspapers and transforming almost daily with the rise of smartphones and mobile Int
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a major supplier of grain to the Middle East and Africa, has triggered deep concerns over access to affordable food across the globe.
Solar pumps instead of fossil fuels improve access to irrigation in remote rural areas. But they are also a temptation to consume more groundwater.
The European Union (EU)’s food system is under pressure for reform.
Facts, interests, and values: Identifying points of convergence and divergence for food systems
Better policies offer significant potential to meet the challenges facing food systems, but policy reform has often proved difficult.
While the need for policy reforms to generate more equitable, healthier, and sustainable food systems increasingly is acknowledged by policymakers and the public, the political economy dynamics to achieve this will remain sizeable in the years to
In August 2022, the Razoni cargo ship, laden with 26,000 tons of grain, navigated a narrow corridor of mined waters outside Ukraine’s port of Odessa.
The world’s agrifood systems have served society well since 1798 when Malthus anonymously published An Essay on the Principle of Population.
In both developed and developing countries, agricultural support policies provide enormous transfers of resources to agriculture—about US$817 billion per year worldwide in the 2019–2021 period (OECD 2022).¹ Some agricultural support policies, such
Policy coalitions in food systems transformation
Coalitions—or a set of individuals and groups with shared policy preferences—lie at the heart of political economy.¹ They are also often considered central to policy change.
This chapter examines four important food production innovations that have been favored by scientists but opposed by influential swathes of the public: Green Revolution farming, industrial agriculture, the use of synthetic chemicals versus organic
Today’s food production and consumption has large consequences for the environment and human health.
Central to understanding the political economy of food systems transformation is clarifying the systems that enable—or prevent—monitoring progress on transformation, setting evidence-based commitments for improvement, and ensuring accountability f
This chapter focuses on African cities and problematizes emerging food system and urban system trends and actions in these cities. The focus on Africa is deliberate.
Agri-food systems face multiple challenges. They must deal with prevailing structural weaknesses, partly deepened by the disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, civil conflicts, and climate change.
The rigor revolution: New standards of evidence for impact assessment of international agricultural research
We take stock of the major changes in methodology for studying the impacts of international agricultural research, focusing on the period 2006–2020. Impact assessment of agricultural research has a long and recognized tradition.
Intrahousehold preference heterogeneity and demand for labor-saving agricultural technology
Evaluations of agricultural technologies rarely consider the implications of how adoption may alter the labor allocation of different individuals within a household.