Agricultural R&D investments and policy development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing prioritization of value chains in Senegal

Agricultural R&D investments and policy development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing prioritization of value chains in Senegal PDF Author: Benfica, Rui
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
This paper looks at the prioritization of agricultural value chains (VCs) for the allocation of R&D resources that maximize development outcomes (poverty, growth, jobs, and diets). Considering that growth in VCs affects those various outcomes differently, as expansion pathways result in the diverse use of production factors and inputs, trade-offs from linkages across sectors, and changes throughout the agri-food system, this analysis uses (i) the RIAPA dynamic computable general equilibrium model to identify which agricultural VCs, when expanded through TFP growth, provide the strongest effects on the development outcomes of interest; (ii) the perpetual inventory model (PIM) to represent the lagged effect of research through knowledge stocks of agricultural R&D investments; and (iii) information on the elasticities of VC agricultural activity TFP with respect to agricultural R&D knowledge stocks, to discuss the VC priority allocations of R&D resources in Senegal. Results indicate that no one VC (crop- or livestock-related) is the most effective at improving all development outcomes. When accounting for policy preferences that attribute relative priority weight to development objectives, results (based on a ranking scale) indicate that R&D investments for maximizing development objectives can be most effective in Senegal’s VCs for traditional export crops (growth, diets, jobs, and to some extent poverty), groundnuts (poverty, diets, and jobs), rice (poverty and jobs), poultry/eggs (diets and jobs), sorghum/millet (poverty and growth), and cattle (diets and growth). Other promising VCs with potential effects at scale if strategically targeted include vegetables (poverty, diets, and jobs), oilseeds (poverty and growth), and fruits (diets and jobs). While these results can inform strategies aimed at improving multiple development outcomes, future modeling needs to focus on deepening the standardization and integration of R&D investments costs into the framework, disentangle the relevance of different types of R&D investments sources, and bring together other factors and complementary agrifood system investment dimensions relevant to sustainable and inclusive agricultural VC growth.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: World Bank
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
3. Investing in people.

U.S. Trade and Investment with Sub-Saharan Africa

U.S. Trade and Investment with Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Sub-Saharan
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description


The Development Dimension Trade, Agriculture and Development Policies Working Together

The Development Dimension Trade, Agriculture and Development Policies Working Together PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264022015
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
These conference proceedings explore why policy coherence is important, how it affects global agricultural trade, and whether it can help reduce poverty and hunger.

Which Way to Livable and Productive Cities?

Which Way to Livable and Productive Cities? PDF Author: Kirsten Hommann
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464814058
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 59

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Book Description
For African cities to grow economically as they have grown in size, they must create productive environments to attract investments, increase economic efficiency, and create livable environments that prevent urban costs from rising with increased population densification. What are the central obstacles that prevent African cities and towns from becoming sustainable engines of economic growth and prosperity? Among the most critical factors that limit the growth and livability of urban areas are land markets, investments in public infrastructure and assets, and the institutions to enable both. To unleash the potential of African cities and towns for delivering services and employment in a livable and environmentally friendly environment, a sequenced approach is needed to reform institutions and policies and to target infrastructure investments. This book lays out three foundations that need fixing to guide cities and towns throughout Sub-Saharan Africa on their way to productivity and livability.

Making Foreign Direct Investment Work for Sub-Saharan Africa

Making Foreign Direct Investment Work for Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: Thomas Farole
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464801266
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This book presents the results of a groundbreaking study on ‘spillovers’ of knowledge and technology from global value-chain oriented foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses implications for policymakers hoping to harness the power of FDI for economic development.

Growth and Productivity in Agriculture and Agribusiness

Growth and Productivity in Agriculture and Agribusiness PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821386468
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
The report assesses the World Bank Group?s support for growth and productivity in the agriculture sector. Enhancing agricultural growth and productivity is essential to meeting the worldwide demand for food and to reducing poverty, particularly in the poorest developing countries. Between 1998 and 2008, the period covered by this evaluation, the World Bank Group (WBG) provided $23.7 billion in financing for agriculture and agribusiness in 108 countries (roughly 8 percent of total WBG financing), spanning areas from irrigation and marketing to research and extension. However, this was a time of declining focus on agricultural growth and productivity by both countries and donors. The cost of inadequate attention to agriculture, especially in agriculture-based economies, came into focus with the food crisis of 2007-08. The crisis added momentum to an emerging renewal of attention and stepped-up financing to agriculture and agribusiness at the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as at several multilateral and bilateral agencies. World Bank financing rose two and a half times from 2008 to 2009, though that increase in lending seems to have been accompanied by a decline in analytical work, which this review finds valuable for results. This evaluation seeks to provide lessons from successes and failures to help improve the development impact of the renewed attention to the sector. Ratings against the World Bank?s stated objectives and IFC?s market-based benchmarks for agriculture and agribusiness projects have been equal to or above portfolio averages in East Asia, Latin America, and the transition economies in Europe, with notable successes over a long period in China and India. But performance of WBG interventions has been well below average in Sub-Saharan Africa, where IFC has had little engagement in agribusiness. Inconsistent client commitment and weak capacity have limited the effectiveness of WBG support in agriculture-based economies, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and constraints on staffing and internal coordination within the WBG have also hurt outcomes. Financial sustainability has been constrained by insufficient government funding and the difficulty of maintaining agricultural services and infrastructure. The WBG has a unique opportunity to match the increases in the financing for agriculture with sharper focus on improving agricultural growth and productivity in agriculture-based economies, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa. Greater effort will be needed to connect sectoral interventions and achieve synergies from public and private sector interventions; to build capacity and knowledge exchange; to take stock of experience in rain-fed agriculture; to ensure attention to financial sustainability and to cross-cutting issues of gender, environmental and social impacts, and climate; and to better integrate WBG support at the global and regional levels with that at the country level.

Agricultural Development and Food Security in Africa

Agricultural Development and Food Security in Africa PDF Author: Renu Modi
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1780323743
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
The subject of food security and land issues in Africa has become one of increased importance and contention over recent years. In particular, the focus has shifted to the role new global South donors - especially India, China and Brazil - are playing in shaping African agriculture through their increased involvement and investment in the continent. Approaching the topic through the framework of South-South co-operation, this highly original volume presents a critical analysis of the ways in which Chinese, Indian and Brazilian engagements in African agriculture are structured and implemented. Do these investments have the potential to create new opportunities to improve local living standards, transfer new technology and knowhow to African producers, and reverse the persistent productivity decline in African agriculture? Or will they simply aggravate the problem of food insecurity by accelerating the process of land alienation and displacement of local people from their land? Topical and comprehensive, Agricultural Development and Food Security in Africa offers fresh insight into a set of relationships that will shape both Africa and the world over the coming decades.

The future of CDC

The future of CDC PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215556653
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
In this report the International Development Committee finds that the Government development fund - CDC - is not doing enough to alleviate poverty, does not focus on the sectors most in need and is paying its bosses too much. CDC, created in 1948 and formerly known as the Commonwealth Development Corporation, has operated since 2004 as a 'fund of funds' manager that invests in developing countries with the aim of promoting growth. It is owned by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID. But over half of CDC's portfolio is in four 'middle-income' countries - India, China, South Africa and Nigeria. It should be working in poorer countries and with poor people such as farmers and small business owners and accept lower returns. The report suggests a radical solution by splitting CDC into two parts. "The 'fund of funds' model is profit-making and leverages much extra finance and should be retained (suggested name 'CD Funds'). Some of the profits from this could fund a second arm called 'CDC Frontier' which would have a specific mandate to reduce poverty, and invest in pro-poor sectors including agriculture and infrastructure. There should also be greater oversight of CDC by DFID, so that there is greater alignment of poverty alleviation aims. Current salaries are excessive at CDC, and quality staff could be attracted for far lower salaries. The Committee wants HM Treasury to look into the use of tax havens, and for CDC to adopt best practice on tax.

World Development Report 2008

World Development Report 2008 PDF Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821368095
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
The world's demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. 'World Development Report 2008' seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especially development that favors the poor. It examines several broad questions: How has agriculture changed in developing countries in the past 20 years? What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture? Which new sources of agricultural growth can be captured cost effectively in particular in poor countries with large agricultural sectors as in Africa? How can agricultural growth be made more effective for poverty reduction? How can governments facilitate the transition of large populations out of agriculture, without simply transferring the burden of rural poverty to urban areas? How can the natural resource endowment for agriculture be protected? How can agriculture's negative environmental effects be contained? This year's report marks the 30th year the World Bank has been publishing the 'World Development Report'.