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Unlocking public expenditure to transform agrifood systems in sub-Saharan Africa
11/2022
This policy brief highlights the main challenges of public spending on food and agriculture in selected sub-Saharan Africa countries. Public spending – or expenditure – on food and agriculture is widely accepted as the most cost-effective strategy to drive structural transformation and poverty reduction in developing countries.
Geographically prioritizing commodity investments in Uganda
11/2022
This policy brief highlights the main findings of a new methodology to identify geographical areas where, in theory, investments are likely to have big impacts in terms of both agricultural growth and poverty reduction.
The (continued) potential of motorized mechanization
10/2022
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. Motorized mechanization is an important form of agricultural automation and has the capacity to transform agriculture and rural livelihoods. Its benefits have resulted in a substantial increase in mechanization worldwide, although adoption has been uneven and particularly limited in sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforming agriculture with digital automation
10/2022
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. The adoption of digital automation technologies in agriculture has been slow despite its potential to enhance the precision of agricultural operations, improve working conditions, and address environmental challenges, while building resilience to shocks and stresses.
Enabling inclusive agricultural automation
10/2022
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. Agricultural automation reshapes the labour market. In situations of rising wages and labour scarcity, agricultural automation can stimulate employment by allowing producers to expand production and by creating jobs along agrifood systems.
Prioritizing investment in Paraguay’s agriculture is vital for recovery
10/2022
The findings reported in this brief have been adapted from the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study No. 19 "Inversión pública productiva en la agricultura para la recuperación económica con bienestar rural: un análisis de escenarios prospectivos para Paraguay".
Policy options for the refugees' self-reliance integration model in Uganda
09/2022
The findings in this brief have been adapted from the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper 22-08 "Enhancing refugees’ self-reliance in Uganda – The role of cash and food assistance",
A mid-term perspective on agricultural diversification in Guyana
08/2022
Guyana’s agrifood systems are facing an increasing level of risk: rising sea-levels are eroding its coastal area, where much of the agricultural activity is located; recent off-shore oil discoveries threaten to crowd-out non-oil sectors; and a dependency on a limited number of agricultural export commodities exposes the agricultural sector to price and market volatility.
Analysing changes to price incentives during the first wave of COVID-19
08/2022
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a shock on agrifood systems around the world, with the potential for low- and middleincome countries to be particularly affected. As containment measures disrupt access to agricultural inputs and markets, governments have sought to insulate domestic consumers from world price fluctuations and ensure local availability by changing export and import policies and introducing price stabilisation measures, among other responses.
Repurposing agriculture’s public budget to accelerate transformation in Ethiopia
08/2022
This brief summarizes the findings of the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper 22-04 "Repurposing agriculture's public budget to align healthy diets affordability and agricultural transformation objectives in Ethiopia", belongs to a set of background papers for the 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.
Reducing vulnerability to weather shocks through social protection in Ethiopia
08/2022
This brief suggests that by integrating climate risk management objectives with social protection instruments, it is possible to improve the livelihood conditions of vulnerable groups while reducing their sensitivity to climate related shocks.
Youth employment through agribusiness and value chain development
06/2022
This policy brief is intended to sensitize Government decision makers and development partners, youth organizations and other stakeholders about the opportunities offered by applying a value chain approach that focuses on youth. Youth unemployment rates are on the rise, especially in rural Africa.
Prioritizing public investment in agriculture to spur Uganda’s inclusive economic recovery
02/2022
FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Brief, No. 45. This brief summarizes the findings of the FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study No. 16 “Productive public investment in agriculture for economic recovery with rural well-being: an analysis of prospective scenarios for Uganda”.
The impact of improved land administration in Nicaragua
12/2021
An impact evaluation of Nicaragua’s Land Administration Programme (PRODEP) finds that the programme ensured gender equality in the access to land titles, with women landholders more likely to obtain titles than men landholders.
Ensuring economic access to healthy diets during times of crisis
11/2021
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2021. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030. In 2019, nearly 3 billion people could not afford a healthy diet that protects against malnutrition in all its forms.
Robust transport networks support agrifood systems' resilience
11/2021
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2021. Agrifood systems are supported by transport networks. Robust transport networks can prevent or limit increases in travel time – and consequent impacts on food costs – when an adverse event limits or prevents access to critical network links.
International trade and the resilience of national agrifood systems
11/2021
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2021. Diverse sourcing of food through international trade is a key strategy for building agrifood systems' resilience because it buffers the food supply against shocks and stresses. Enhancing diversity in terms of commodities is also essential for ensuring the supply of food necessary for healthy diets.
Evidence and policy options on migration, cash crop production and deforestation in Uganda
10/2021
This policy brief, prepared by the FAO Economic and Policy Analysis of Climate Change (EPIC), aims to analyse the relationships and policy options in regard to migration, cash crops and deforestation in Uganda.
Strengthening Lebanon’s agricultural export support programmes
06/2021
The main factors limiting the growth of trade in Lebanese agricultural and food products include limited access to international markets, product quality and certification, inadequate trade infrastructure, lack of competitiveness, lack of trade agreements, and difficulties in substituting imported goods with domestic products.
Lebanon’s agricultural sector: challenges and opportunities
06/2021
The Agricultural Sector Review (ASR) provides an up to date picture of the current socio-economic situation of the agricultural sector in Lebanon, along with identifying key challenges of the sector and evidence-based strategies for policymaking.