06/04/2020: Defining and implementing a regional observatory of agricultures within the Indian Ocean is one of the key projects of the PRéRAD-OI (Plateforme Régionale de Recherche en Agronomie pour le Développement dans l’Océan Indien – Regional platform of Agricultural Research for the Indian Ocean development). This project is supported by the Indian...

The Bulletin highlights outbreaks of transboundary pests and diseases that have the potential to impact food and nutrition security in Southern Africa. It also captures recently concluded and upcoming events that are being organized by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and stakeholders to improve the capacities...

The SADC Consultative Meeting on Preparedness and Response to the Impact of the 2015/16 El Niño on Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Security in Southern Africa was held from 25th to 26th February 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations...

Climate Solutions that Work for Farmers: Success Stories from the Field. This CTA publication written by Charlie Pye-Smith presents 'a review of proven practices, tools or policies that promote resilience and help farmers to address the challenges posed by climate change.

The countries of East and Southern Africa have made major commitments to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, and they are starting to pay off. A number of countries have achieved substantial progress towards gender parity in primary school enrolment. Nearly all countries have adopted quota systems requiring women’s participation...

Despite the achievements of smallholders in Asia during the green revolution, there is scepticism that Africa’s smallholders — who dominate the farm area in most countries — can imitate this model and deliver agricultural growth. This paper assesses whether such pessimism is justified. Given the high transactions costs of hiring...

This paper uses the sustainable livelihoods framework to explore the contribution of smallholder production to food security in some sub-Saharan African countries and relates it to the South African case. Noting that many of the world’s hungry are smallholder farmers, it is clear that food insecurity is closely linked to...

This publication is intended to inform IFAD-supported project management units (PMUs), other donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Eastern and Southern Africa about IFAD’s Gender Strengthening Programme in the region. The programme is currently in the process of identifying challenges faced by projects, emphasizing empirical findings from field diagnostic...

The point of departure of this paper is that African nations cannot afford to ignore smallholder agriculture, however difficult its prospects may seem. Region wide, at the beginning of the 1990's, 85 percent of Africa's population was rural, and more than a quarter of the labour force was actively engaged...