Promoting Farm Investment For Sustainable Intensification Of African Agriculture

Author : Jules N. Pretty,Stella Williams,Camilla Toulmin
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2012-06-25
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781136529276

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Sustainable Intensification by Jules N. Pretty,Stella Williams,Camilla Toulmin Pdf

Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.

Author : Randall Bluffstone,Gunnar Köhlin
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 225 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2012-08-21
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781136521867

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Agricultural Investment and Productivity by Randall Bluffstone,Gunnar Köhlin Pdf

Agricultural Investment and Productivity provides a deep and systematic look at the opportunities for and constraints to investments in sustainable agriculture in East Africa, offering important insights into what works and how to analyze agricultural investments in one of the poorest regions of the world. The book critically examines the reasons behind East Africa's stagnant agricultural productivity over the past forty-five years, using the primary lens of investments in fertilizers, seeds, and sustainable land management technologies, These investments have a tremendous impact on production volume, ultimately affecting the income of millions of families throughout the region.

Author : Bernard Vanlauwe,Piet van Asten,Guy Blomme
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2013-12-17
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9781136292279

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Agro-Ecological Intensification of Agricultural Systems in the African Highlands by Bernard Vanlauwe,Piet van Asten,Guy Blomme Pdf

There is an urgent need to increase agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa in a sustainable and economically-viable manner. Transforming risk-averse smallholders into business-oriented producers that invest in producing surplus food for sale provides a formidable challenge, both from a technological and socio-political perspective. This book addresses the issue of agricultural intensification in the humid highland areas of Africa – regions with relatively good agricultural potential, but where the scarce land resources are increasingly under pressure from the growing population and from climate change. In addition to introductory and synthesis chapters, the book focuses on four themes: system components required for agricultural intensification; the integration of components at the system level; drivers for adoption of technologies towards intensification; and the dissemination of complex knowledge. It provides case studies of improved crop and soil management for staple crops such as cassava and bananas, as well as examples of how the livelihoods of rural people can be improved. The book provides a valuable resource for researchers, development actors, students and policy makers in agricultural systems and economics and in international development. It highlights and addresses key challenges and opportunities that exist for sustainable agricultural intensification in the humid highlands of sub-Saharan Africa.

Author : Gordon Conway,Ousmane Badiane,Katrin Glatzel
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2019-11-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781501744426

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Food for All in Africa by Gordon Conway,Ousmane Badiane,Katrin Glatzel Pdf

Africa requires a new agricultural transformation that is appropriate for Africa, that recognizes the continent's diverse environments and climates, and that takes into account its histories and cultures while benefiting rural smallholder farmers and their families. In this boldly optimistic book, Sir Gordon Conway, Ousmane Badiane, and Katrin Glatzel describe the key challenges faced by Africa's smallholder farmers and present the concepts and practices of Sustainable Intensification (SI) as opportunities to sustainably transform Africa's agriculture sector and the livelihoods of millions of smallholders. The way forward, they write, will be an agriculture sector deeply rooted within SI: producing more with less, using fertilizers and pesticides more prudently, adapting to climate change, improving natural capital, adopting new technologies, and building resilience at every stage of the agriculture value chain. Food for All in Africa envisions a virtuous circle generated through agricultural development rooted in SI that results in greater yields, healthier diets, improved livelihoods for farmers, and sustainable economic opportunities for the rural poor that in turn generate further investment. It describes the benefits of digital technologies for farmers and the challenges of transforming African agricultural policies and creating effective and inspiring leadership. Food for All in Africa demonstrates why we should take on the challenge and provides ideas and methods through which it can be met.

Author : Benjamin Karikari,Francis Tetteh,Fred Kizito,Folorunso Mathew Akinseye,Christopher Mutungi,Bekele Hundie Kotu,Terry Ansah
Publisher : Frontiers Media SA
Page : 223 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2024-04-17
Category : Science
ISBN : 9782832546475

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Sustainable intensification of smallholder farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by Benjamin Karikari,Francis Tetteh,Fred Kizito,Folorunso Mathew Akinseye,Christopher Mutungi,Bekele Hundie Kotu,Terry Ansah Pdf

Author : Thomas Anthony Reardon
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 58 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 1995
Category : Agricultural productivity
ISBN : MINN:31951D015389268

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Promoting Farm Investment for Sustainable Intensification of African Agriculture by Thomas Anthony Reardon Pdf

Author : Andrew Coulson,Antony Ellman
Publisher : African Books Collective
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2018-08-17
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9789987083916

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Increasing Production from the Land by Andrew Coulson,Antony Ellman Pdf

African agriculture faces major challenges with growing population pressure and the impact of climate change. Until now food production overall has broadly kept pace with demand. To maintain this impressive achievement, production from the land needs to be intensified, soil fertility must be enhanced, forests and water resources must be conserved, and land use practices must be sustainable over the long term. This book shows what needs to be done, and points to how best to achieve this. The book starts with a brief guide to what plants and animals need to grow well, how farmers currently use the land, and the research that is being conducted on new agricultural technologies. A comparison is made of productivity on small and large farms, which demonstrates that, contrary to some suggestions, small farmers, properly serviced, can be as productive or even more productive than larger farms. Subsequent chapters discuss issues of land tenure, pastoralism, training, the importance of women farmers, access to finance, markets, value chains, and contract farming as a partnership between small-scale producers, processors and traders in agricultural products. The final section of the book discusses whether a new green revolution is feasible or desirable for Africa. The potential risks and benefits of dependence on purchased agrochemicals, genetically modified varieties, and multinational seed and chemical companies are examined. A series of twelve broad policy proposals for achieving a sustainable agriculture sector is presented for consideration. Fifteen case studies illustrate the issues discussed in the book. Most of the examples are from East Africa, particularly Tanzania, but the principles addressed are relevant across the African continent. Each chapter of the book includes references and suggestions for further reading, most of them freely available to anyone with internet access. A set of essay questions exploring the issues covered in each chapter is included, to provide practical help for students of agriculture and their teachers.

Author : I. Okike
Publisher : ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD)
Page : 60 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2001-01-01
Category : Agricultural intensification
ISBN : 9291460966

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Agricultural Intensification and Efficiency in the West African Savannahs by I. Okike Pdf

Author : John Dixon,Dennis P. Garrity,Jean-Marc Boffa,Timothy O. Williams,Tilahun Amede,Christopher Auricht,Rosemary Lott,George Mburathi
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 896 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2019-12-09
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9781317332268

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Farming Systems and Food Security in Africa by John Dixon,Dennis P. Garrity,Jean-Marc Boffa,Timothy O. Williams,Tilahun Amede,Christopher Auricht,Rosemary Lott,George Mburathi Pdf

Knowledge of Africa’s complex farming systems, set in their socio-economic and environmental context, is an essential ingredient to developing effective strategies for improving food and nutrition security. This book systematically and comprehensively describes the characteristics, trends, drivers of change and strategic priorities for each of Africa’s fifteen farming systems and their main subsystems. It shows how a farming systems perspective can be used to identify pathways to household food security and poverty reduction, and how strategic interventions may need to differ from one farming system to another. In the analysis, emphasis is placed on understanding farming systems drivers of change, trends and strategic priorities for science and policy. Illustrated with full-colour maps and photographs throughout, the volume provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of Africa’s farming systems and pathways for the future to improve food and nutrition security. The book is an essential follow-up to the seminal work Farming Systems and Poverty by Dixon and colleagues for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Bank, published in 2001.

Author : Lynam, John,Beintema, Nienke M.,Roseboom, Johannes,Badiane, Ousmane
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 498 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2016-09-06
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780896292123

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Agricultural Research in Africa by Lynam, John,Beintema, Nienke M.,Roseboom, Johannes,Badiane, Ousmane Pdf

This book—prepared by Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI), which is led by IFPRI—offers a comprehensive perspective on the evolution, current status, and future goals of agricultural research and development in Africa, including analyses of the complex underlying issues and challenges involved, as well as insights into how they might be overcome. Agriculture in Africa south of the Sahara is at a prospective tipping point. Growth has accelerated in the past decade, but is unsustainable given increasing use of finite resources. The yield gap in African agriculture is significant, and scenarios on feeding the world’s population into the future highlight the need for Africa to expand its agricultural production. Agricultural Research in Africa: Investing in Future Harvests discusses the need to shift to a growth path based on increased productivity—as in the rest of the developing world— which is essential if Africa is to increase rural incomes and compete in both domestic and international markets. Such a shift ultimately requires building on evolving improvements that collectively translate to deepening rural innovation capacity.

Author : Erinch Sahan,Monique Mikhail
Publisher : Oxfam
Page : 17 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : Agriculture
ISBN : 9781780771878

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Private Investment in Agriculture: Why it's essential, and what's needed by Erinch Sahan,Monique Mikhail Pdf

Author : A. H. Kassam
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
Page : 56 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Agricultural conservation
ISBN : IND:30000111263012

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Enhancing Crop-livestock Systems in Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Production Intensification by A. H. Kassam Pdf

This is a story about how FAO assisted groups of farmers in five farming communities in the moist savanna zone of South Western Burkina Faso to enhance their crop-livestock systems through Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices, including crop diversification, using an innovative farmer discovery process, to bring about agricultural intensification and improvement in livelihoods. FAO worked with a range of stakeholders including the farmers and their communities to create convergence and enable a farmer-based discovery process to experiment with a set of fundamentally new principles and elements in their farming practices for integrated crop-livestock production intensification. The positive outcomes offer a real promise and an opportunity for bringing about a large scale impact on agricultural productivity and livelihoods in the moist savanna zone West Africa. This publication describes the multi-stakeholder process which led the successful outcomes, and the opportunity for a greater change that now exists and should be harnessed for sustainable agriculture development, nationally and regionally.

Author : Sieglinde Snapp,Barry Pound
Publisher : Academic Press
Page : 558 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2017-02-17
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780128020951

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Agricultural Systems: Agroecology and Rural Innovation for Development by Sieglinde Snapp,Barry Pound Pdf

Agricultural Systems, Second Edition, is a comprehensive text for developing sustainable farming systems. It presents a synthetic overview of the emerging area of agroecology applications to transforming farming systems and supporting rural innovation, with particular emphasis on how research can be harnessed for sustainable agriculture. The inclusion of research theory and examples using the principles of cropping system design allows students to gain a unique understanding of the technical, biological, ecological, economic and sociological aspects of farming systems science for rural livelihoods. This book explores topics such as: re-inventing farming systems; principles and practice of agroecology; agricultural change and low-input technology; ecologically-based nutrient management; participatory breeding for developing improved and relevant crops; participatory livestock research for development; gender and agrarian inequality at the local scale; the nature of agricultural innovation; and outreach to support rural innovation. The extensive coverage of subjects is complemented with integrated references and a companion website, making this book essential reading for courses in international agricultural systems and management, sustainable agricultural management, and cropping systems. This book will be a valuable resource for students of agricultural science, environmental engineering, and rural planning; researchers and scientists in agricultural development agencies; and practitioners of agricultural development in government extension programs, development agencies, and NGOs. Provides students with an enhanced understanding of how research can be harnessed for sustainable agriculture Incorporates social, biological, chemical, and geographical aspects important to agroecology Addresses social and development issues related to farming systems

Author : Haggblade, Steven,Hazell, Peter B. R.
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 464 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2010-01-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780801895036

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Successes in African Agriculture by Haggblade, Steven,Hazell, Peter B. R. Pdf

Sub—Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Because most Africans work in agriculture, escaping such dire poverty depends on increased agricultural productivity to raise rural incomes, lower food prices, and stimulate growth in other economic sectors. Per capita agricultural production in sub—Saharan Africa has fallen, however, for much of the past half—century. Successes in African Agriculture investigates how to reverse this decline. Instead of cataloging failures, as many past studies have done, this book identifies episodes of successful agricultural growth in Africa and identifies processes, practices, and policies for accelerated growth in the future. The individual studies follow developments in, among other areas, the farming of maize in East and Southern Africa, cassava across the middle belt of Africa, cotton in West Africa, horticulture in Kenya, and dairying in East Africa. Drawing on these case studies and on consultations with agricultural specialists and politicians from across sub—Saharan Africa -- undertaken in collaboration with the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development -- the contributors identify two key determinants of positive agricultural performance: agricultural research to provide more productive and sustainable technologies to farmers and a policy framework that fosters market incentives for increasing production. The contributors discuss how the public and private sectors can best coordinate the convergence of both factors. Given current concerns about global food security, this book provides timely and important resources to policymakers and development specialists concerned with reversing the negative trends in food insecurity and poverty in Africa.

Author : Simon Bell,Stephen Morse
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 568 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2018-06-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781317200321

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Routledge Handbook of Sustainability Indicators by Simon Bell,Stephen Morse Pdf

This handbook provides researchers and students with an overview of the field of sustainability indicators (SIs) as applied in the interdisciplinary field of sustainable development. The editors have sought to include views from the center ground of SI development but also divergent ideas which represent some of the diverse, challenging and even edgy observations which are prominent in the wider field of SI thinking. The contributions in this handbook: • clearly set out the theoretical background and history of SIs, their origins, roots and initial goals • expand on the disciplines and modalities employed to develop SIs of various kinds • assess the various ways in which SI data are gathered and the availability (over space and time) and quality issues that surround them • explore the multiplex world of SIs as expressed in agencies around the world, via examples of SI practice and the lessons that have emerged from them • critically review the progress that SIs have made over the last 30 years • express the divergence of views which are held about the value of SIs, including differing theories on their efficacy, efficiency and ethics • explore the frontier of contemporary SI thinking, reviewing ante/post and systemic alternatives This multidisciplinary and international handbook will be of great interest to researchers, students and practitioners working in sustainability research and practice.