Topic: Markets & Trade
With Technology and Elite capture - Are Cooperatives Relevant today?
by Mr. Rwakakamba Morrison
With over 10,400,000 citizens connected to mobile phones in Uganda (according to International Communication Union) over 5,000,000 browsing internet daily and millions tuning into more than 228 fm radio stations broadcasting in local languages – Do we still need the kind of cooperatives that operated in 1970’s and 1980s to connect farmers and small businesses to markets? Calls for revival of Cooperatives are a hot and rehearsed issue, amongst, especially opposition politicians and operatives. Possibly bending a bit to pressure, government rebranded the Ministry to Trade Tourism and Industry to Ministry of Trade and Cooperatives! Alas- this Cooperative narrative needs to be re-imagined in current Uganda. We need to be talking about new ways of organizing and governing markets. If old cooperatives don’t change, what is left of them will soon disappear.
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Why has Africa become a net food importer? Explaining Africa agricultural and food trade deficits
submitted by Forum Team
That Africa has become a net importer of food and of agricultural products, despite its vast agricultural potential, is puzzling. Using data mainly for the period 1960-2007, this report seeks to explain Africa’s food-trade deficit since the mid-1970s. The core finding is that population growth, low and stagnating agricultural productivity, policy distortions, weak institutions and poor infrastructure are the main reasons.
Manitra A. Rakotoarisoa
Massimo Iafrate
Marianna Paschali
07.05.2013
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Pakistan - Priority areas for investment in the agricultural sector
submitted by Forum Team
Pakistan has great potential in agriculture. About 27 percent of the total 79.6 million hectares of the country is under cultivation. Agriculture contributes about 24 percent of the GDP and employs 47 percent of the labour force. Most subsectors of agriculture have either remained static or have declined during the last three decades, with the exception of livestock. Therefore, there is considerable scope for improvement in production and in the processing of primary output. The World Bank, working in partnership with local and international collaborators, including the Investment Centre of FAO, has identified key areas that require priority interventions if the agricultural sector is to address the challenges of rural poverty, and maximize its contribution to export growth and national development. These areas are:
• Agricultural research and extension
• The seed sector
• Water resources
• Rural finance
This document outlines in detail the rationale for an intervention as well as the possible investment areas to support the Government of Pakistan in each subsector. Potential interventions that the Bank could champion are summarized below for each of these areas. The Bank appreciates that it is important that it work closely with all relevant stakeholders, and in particular, the National Agriculture Forum, in addressing the bottlenecks that are impairing the growth prospects of Pakistan’s agricultural sector.
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Food and Nutrition Security for All through Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
submitted by Forum Team
Note from the United Nations System High Level Task Force on Global Food Security
05.12.2012
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The FSN Forum is supported by the project Coherent food security responses: incorporating right to food into global and regional food security initiatives.
