Trends and outlook report on key agriculture and rural development indicators in Tanzania

The government of Tanzania is implementing an Agricultural Sector Development Programme. Its objective is to increase productivity, profitability and farm incomes by improving farmers’ use of and access to agricultural knowledge, technologies, marketing systems and infrastructure. The share of agricultural sector to GDP and export has declined in the past 10 years. An assessment of [...]

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What can the Horn of Africa do in the face of severe droughts?

The Horn of Africa is facing a humanitarian catastrophe from the worst drought in 60 years. An estimated 11 million people need emergency assistance to stay alive. The recurrent nature of the crisis especially in the face of climate change calls attention to building resilience to cope. Investment in drought-resilient agriculture and agribusiness can target [...]

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Africa and the green economy: Crucial conversations

Citizen participation in talks over climate change and green economy issues has been very limited due to legal, scientific and technical language that is explicit to scientists, government delegates and experts and in the subject. In preparation for the COP17, to be held in Durban in December 2011, Idasa’s Smallholder Agriculture project held the first [...]

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Is democracy at war with development in Malawi?

The foundation of the two empowerment models introduced in Malawi a few years ago is at the root of the crisis in Malawi today. The first one is a donor-driven model, like the 2002 World Bank multi-country Development Marketplace Project that funded community participation programmes. The second is a locally-driven agriculture-based model. Malawians can feed [...]

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Africa gets small scale agriculture fund

A $21.45 million fund has been launched to support microfinance for rural households and to finance smallscale investment in agriculture across Africa. In addition to the financing, technical assistance will also be provided to help microfinance institutions develop new products, improve business planning and develop legal and human resources capabilities. Microfinance institutions can help poor [...]

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Climate change and socio-economic development in Africa

Climate change is presently a dilemma that has put policy makers, scientists, and governments in a state of anxiety. The African continent has been targeted by policy makers and researchers for the implementation of reforms and policies to ameliorate, mitigate and adapt to climate change. This paper outlines some of the literature to convey the [...]

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Analysts watch food situation in West Africa

Aid agencies and government officials remain on alert in West Africa, where drought, chronic malnutrition and poverty have led to devastating and recurrent food shortages. Though climate change does indeed play a role, food security experts in West Africa say families in some regions are simply living so close to the edge that even a [...]

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Ethiopia, first African country to launch green growth plan

Ethiopia is expected to unveil a plan that aims at realising a carbon-free economy by 2020, at the climate change conference to be held in Durban in December. Activists and researchers have warned that if not enough is done to finance vital projects for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Africa, the continent will face [...]

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Food security: Can Africa learn from Brazil?

Brazil has emerged as a good example of ‘how to do it’ when it comes to just about all sectors of agriculture, getting the best out of a few plantations and numerous small-scale producers to make the sector stable and guarantee food security. Brazil’s progress has been underpinned by the state agricultural-research company and pushed [...]

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Transforming Africa’s agriculture with a pump

One way that can help Africa break out of its dependence on subsistence farming is through a simple water pump. In Tanzania, the agricultural sector accounts for nearly 80 percent of employment and 75 percent of rural household income, yet only 26.5 percent of GDP. Land for farming is readily available. However, effective tools for [...]

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