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Repurposing food and agricultural policies to deliver affordable healthy diets, sustainably and inclusively: what is at stake?
02/2023
Background paper for The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022. The analysis presented in this report examines the impacts of repurposing food and agricultural fiscal support and border support on the cost and affordability of healthy diets and several other key socioeconomic, nutritional and climate indicators. The impacts are estimated at the global level, as well as for various income groups and geographic regions.
Food insecurity and poverty – A cross-country analysis using national household survey data
12/2022
This paper analyses national household surveys from ten countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America to shed light on the household-level relationship between monetary poverty and food insecurity. Similar to previous studies, results highlight a clear correlation between poverty and food insecurity.
Agricultural interventions and food security in Ethiopia – What is the role of adjusting livelihood strategies?
12/2022
This paper assesses the food security impacts of widespread agricultural interventions, aiming at increasing agricultural yields, and explores the role played by adjustments in rural households’ livelihood strategies in mediating those impacts.
A tool to support the spatial prioritization of commodity-specific investments – An application to Uganda
11/2022
In this paper, we propose a simple methodology to select a limited number of geographical areas to prioritize for commodity-specific investments in Uganda. Similar to other approaches for prioritizing investments geographically, the basic idea behind the proposed method is that districts with high agro-ecological potential should be prioritized for commodity-specific investments as they are where investments are likely to have the highest impact.
Agricultural mechanization and sustainable agrifood system transformation in the Global South
10/2022
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. This paper provides an overview of the state of agricultural mechanization across the Global South – i.e. Eastern and South-eastern Asia, Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean – and explores the potentials and risks of agricultural mechanization for the sustainable transformation of agrifood systems.
Economics of adoption for digital automated technologies in agriculture
10/2022
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. This working paper investigates the appropriateness of a wide range of digital solutions for agriculture, including in low- and middle-income countries, and, based on available evidence, summarizes the expected (social, economic and environmental) impacts of such technologies.
Automation and social impacts: winners and losers
10/2022
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022. Understanding the social implications of automation in agriculture, from tractors in low-income countries to high-tech artificial intelligence (AI) solutions found mostly in high-income countries, requires viewing technology change on farms within the broader context of the agricultural transformation and agrifood systems, as well as changing economic incentives to develop and adopt labour-saving technologies.
Enhancing refugees’ self-reliance in Uganda – The role of cash and food assistance
09/2022
Social protection transfers are the most widespread measures adopted to stabilize refugee households’ livelihoods and alleviate their food insecurity. This paper contributes to the literature on the effectiveness of different types of support on livelihoods and productivity outcomes of one of the largest refugee populations in Africa.
Diversification perspectives of Guyana’s agrifood sector
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.
Realigning policy interventions on agricultural prices – Monitoring incentives in low- and middle-income countries during the first wave of COVID-19
08/2022
COVID-19 has resulted in a shock to agrifood systems around the world, with the potential for low- and middle-income countries to be particularly affected. Although policy responses were more muted than during the 2007–2008 world food crisis, efforts to insulate from supply shocks and ensure local availability during COVID-19 have generally included export restrictions and import tariff reductions, among other responses.
Repurposing agriculture's public budget to align healthy diets affordability and agricultural transformation objectives in Ethiopia
08/2022
Background paper for The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022. Agricultural transformation has been ongoing for decades in Ethiopia where the agenda to improve nutrition has also gained momentum. This paper assesses ways in which the government could coherently pursue the objectives of reducing the cost of the least cost healthy diet for Ethiopians and achieving faster inclusive agricultural transformation (IAT).
Methods and options to monitor the cost and affordability of a healthy diet globally
08/2022
Background paper for The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022. FAO is focusing its attention on the pursuit of healthy diets and transformations of agrifood systems to ensure healthy diets are affordable for all. Measuring and systematically monitoring the cost and affordability of healthy diets and making progress towards ensuring the affordability of healthy diets is of upmost importance and is urgently needed.
Reducing vulnerability to weather shocks through social protection – Evidence from the implementation of Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia
08/2022
This paper uncovers the mechanisms shaping the impact of the public work component of the Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) on beneficiaries and communities’ food security and vulnerability to various shocks.
Can food aid relax farmers’ constraints to adopting climate-adaptive agricultural practices? Evidence from Ethiopia, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania
05/2022
The adoption of climate-adaptive agricultural practices (CAAPs) among resource-poor smallholder households is typically hindered by liquidity and risk constraints. Using an inverse probability weighted estimator that uses three waves of nationally representative panel survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania, this article examines whether food transfers help overcome barriers to the adoption of selected CAAPs.
Effects of land tenure rights formalization on household investments – The case of PRODEP in Nicaragua
12/2021
This study analyses the impacts of titling on tenure security, property value, access to credit, and household investments in the departments of Nueva Segovia, Jinotega y Chinandega, which are covered by Nicaragua’s Land Administration Programme (PRODEP).
Resilient food systems – A proposed analytical strategy for empirical applications
11/2021
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2021. The food systems concept has attracted a considerable amount of attention as it provides an opportunity to better understand and represent the array of factors that explain food security in a comprehensive and holistic manner.
Drivers and stressors of resilience to food insecurity – Evidence from 35 countries
11/2021
Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2021. Resilience is often associated with multivalued and multi-faceted strategies, programmes and projects. After approximately 15 years of empirical evidence in the literature, few research questions remain unexplored and unanswered, especially with the recent occurrence of a global pandemic.
Harvesting trees to harvest cash crops – The role of internal migrants in forest land conversion in Uganda
10/2021
In this work, we merge socio-economic data with data on deforestation to explore the interrelationship between rural migration, the development of commercial agricultural sector, and forest cover loss.
Assessing the profitability and feasibility of climate-smart agriculture investment in Southern Malawi – Understanding the costs and benefits in a volatile and changing climate
07/2021
This working paper analyses the financial cost and benefit of adopting two different bundles of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, which are tailored for the diverse conditions that prevail in southern Malawi. The results show the integration of CSA practices, including soil conservation, agroforestry, and livestock diversification, into conventional maize-legume and maize monocrop systems is profitable for farmers.
Public expenditure analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector – A case study of Uganda
05/2021
This paper presents a methodology for public expenditure review and analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector. It outlines the basic methodological concepts, including the classification of public expenditures in the context of their links to climate change adaptation and mitigation.