Publications
AREA OF WORK: Investments for sustainable markets, agribusiness and rural transformation
Development of an indicator-based framework for farm sustainability assessment
12/2024
Agricultural systems and rural development are key to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Policymakers seeking to eradicate hunger today face a difficult dilemma: preventing billions from going hungry while saving the planet. To solve this dilemma, it is essential to focus investments on improving the economic performance of farms while promoting socioeconomic and environmental sustainability.
Impact of trade policy measures on agricultural markets during global disruptions – A multicountry analysis
10/2024
The past COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe economic consequences worldwide. The global health crisis has affected supply and demand, both domestic and international. However, the shock has been noticeably heterogeneous across sectors.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Impact evaluation of agricultural interventions – A technical guide
10/2024
The purpose of this guide is to provide suggestions on designing impact evaluation of agricultural interventions. The guide provides an overview of standard impact evaluation methods and highlights more recent techniques that can help address some methodological challenges, including the integration of spatial data in the agricultural context.
Leveraging remittance-based matching grants for investing in agribusiness development – Leaving no migrants behind
09/2024
FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study, No. 35. Insufficient public financing under current fiscal constraints demands more private financing to support investment in agrifood systems. Despite the general enthusiasm for using remittances for development, initiatives face challenges in consistently directing these funds into productive endeavours.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Studies
A profile of rural poverty, food security and livelihoods in Guatemala
09/2024
FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Study, No. 34. This study was developed in order to portray, with high-quality, representative data, the main characteristics of poverty, food insecurity and vulnerability in rural areas of Guatemala. Under the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Hand-in-Hand (HIH) Initiative in Guatemala, the study aims to identify the broad-based challenges affecting the rural agriculture sector.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Technical Studies
Survey versus remotely sensed data – An evaluation of crop yields in the Comoros
07/2024
The Comoros, a small island developing state (SIDS) ranking among the poorest nations in Africa, is facing numerous challenges that make it particularly vulnerable to food insecurity: as a remotely located, net-food importing country with a small landmass, limited agricultural land and high exposure to natural catastrophes, the Comoros’ food security is particularly vulnerable to external shocks.
Living income workshop report
07/2024
Following a brief assessment of the living income concept, FAO organized a living income workshop that was held from 9 to 10 November 2023 in Rome, Italy. The workshop facilitated meaningful exchanges, which fostered bonds for potential collaboration to support the living income work.
Targeting vulnerability hotspots along the agrifood system – A stress test for Ethiopia and Nigeria
05/2024
We leverage the multi-stressor nature of the COVID-19 generalized disruption as an opportunity to test the out-of-sample forecasting accuracy of both theory-based and data-driven vulnerability prediction models for the ex ante targeting of preventive interventions.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Agrifood value chains in low-income countries – Accounting for market structure to inform policies
05/2024
Recognizing that agrifood value chains (AFVCs) are essential to ensure food security and foster structural change, FAO seeks to reassess the array of policies and interventions needed to protect and strengthen AFVCs in low-income countries and fragile states.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Making public investments Paris Agreement-aligned in a cost-effective way – Calculating marginal abatement cost curves for agricultural investments
05/2024
This paper proposes a novel methodology for calculating marginal abatement cost curves (MACCs) for public finance in agriculture using granular data on specific activities from investment projects. The proposed MACCs target public investment decision makers from the international and national financing institutions, as well as governments.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Papers
Guide for the design and implementation of public–private partnerships for agribusiness development in Africa
04/2024
Unleashing the potential for inclusive agricultural growth and transformation in Africa requires coordinated and strategic public and private investment in the agriculture sector. Against a background of limited government resources and expertise, public–private partnerships are increasingly being promoted as a mechanism to pool resources, reduce risk, improve productivity and drive growth in the agriculture and food sectors.
Brief assessment of the living income concept
03/2024
The living income concept continues to garner the attention of many development agencies, civil society organizations, companies and governments seeking effective strategies to improve the standard of living for smallholder farmers supplying global commodity agrifood value chains.
A contract farming model agreement in Lesotho
02/2024
As an innovative business model, contract farming has the potential to contribute to sustainable development of agribusinesses and agrifood value chains, particularly in developing countries. It can be employed to improve smallholder producers’ access to market and productive resources, strengthen the competitiveness of producers and agribusinesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and foster a transparent market environment.
Agricultural yields and production in the Comoros
12/2023
This policy brief provides a snapshot of agricultural production, productivity and fertilizer use in the Comoros, a small island developing state, where up-to-date information on the agrifood systems has been lacking.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Briefs
Monitoring the challenges of marine and inland small-scale fisherfolks in Ghana – Findings from an organization-level survey conducted as part of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming
12/2023
The study provides a description of Ghana's marine and inland Small-Scale Fisheries Organizations (SSFOs), detailing their characteristics, challenges, and awareness of the Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication.
EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool for Value Chains (EX-ACT VC) Guidelines. Third edition
10/2023
The Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool for value chains (EX-ACT VC) is a quantitative multi-appraisal tool that evaluates the sustainability of agrifood value chains simultaneously along several environmental, economic, and social dimensions.
Enhancing the inclusiveness of Agrocommodity Procurement Zones in Ethiopia – Baseline territorial poverty profile and analysis
09/2023
As part of the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, whose goal is to help reach Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) partnered with the Government of Ethiopia to ensure that agricultural investments – namely those linked to a new series of integrated agro-industrial parks (IAIP) in the country – are inclusive of local populations and the poor, as well as environmentally sustainable.
Enhanced data and analysis for the United Nations Decade of Family Farming
09/2023
Family farming is a diverse sector that requires the development of farm typologies to better target policies. The United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) offers an opportunity to leverage technology and connectivity in rural areas to empower farmers’ organizations and build capacities for data collection and analysis.
An evaluation strategy for Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency
09/2023
An evaluation strategy for an agency mandated to transform the agricultural sector requires a comprehensive plan including the development of a theory of change to inform which indicators and mechanisms would lead to the desired impacts.
Sustaining restoration of the Great Green Wall through sustainable livelihoods in Nigeria
08/2023
Evaluation of the Action Against Desertification Programme (AAD) in Northern Nigeria. To address the lack of baseline information, a counterfactual scenario was built based on ex ante spatial program information and a combination of machine learning and quasi-experimental impact evaluation techniques.
Series: FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Briefs
