Over the last 20 years, the Government of Uganda has implemented several policies to promote investments in commercial forest plantations. As a result of these policy efforts, the supply of commercially produced pine is set to increase dramatically over the next few years. This brief summarizes a cost-benefir analysis based on interviews carried out in July 2019. The findings highlights a significant challenge facing the sector. Without reforms to the current market situation in the country, plantation owners are unlikely [...]

In Bosnia and Herzegovina wheat is a key staple, yet domestic production is small and low quality. Current policy environment tends to disadvantage wheat producers and makes them vulnerable in face of changing climate. Government interventions should focus on improving competitiveness of wheat producers and building resilience to climate change. Key reforms should encompass land consolidation, on-farm investments, access to high quality inputs and equipment, extension services and access to risk management tools.                  

It is projected that climate change will affect rainfall patterns in South Asia and will contribute to a decline in water availability for rice cultivation in the region. In Sri Lanka, where rice is both the staple food and the primary crop grown by farmers, reductions in water availability for rice cultivation has serious impacts on farmers’ welfare and national food security.   The Overarching Agricultural Policy in Sri Lanka recognizes the importance of adapting and building resilience to climate change in [...]

This brief details the three functional elements of climate vulnerability: risk exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, in order to assess the interactions between participation in Malawi’s largest public works programme, the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) and three widely promoted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices. Using three waves of national panel household survey data, we find that participation in MASAF significantly increases the likelihood that farm households adopt CSA practices. This suggests that MASAF participation improves farmers’ adaptive capacity by reducing [...]

This report is a case study of a multi-impact appraisal of a paddy value chain in India. The value chain isanalysed from production to the distribution of rice into inner markets, comparing the performance ofan upgrading scenario to the current situation. In the present case, farmers practice 1 to 3 rice crops ayear (conventional rice). With the project, a more sustainable agro-ecological rice cultivation, namely RiceSystem Intensification (SRI), will be proposed to them. Adopting this methodology will improve water-useefficiency, soil [...]

This report is a case study of a multi-impact appraisal of a cacao value chain in Haiti. The value chain isanalysed from production to the distribution of rice to retailers, comparing the performance of anupgrading scenario to a baseline scenario. In the present case, cocoa is grown in the traditional form withlow levels of agroforestry application. With the project, new agroforestry cocoa plantations are developedon degraded land and in existing plantations, agricultural practices are improved to increase yield andproducers are [...]

A presente síntese fornece conhecimentos empíricos para ajudar a identificar e a privilegiar políticas e investimentos quepodem aumentar os benefícios da diversificação de sistemas de cultivo e melhorar a adopção de sistemas de cultivo maisrentáveis e resistentes. Especificamente, a síntese centra-se nos pequenos produtores de milho, a cultura que é mais praticadaem Moçambique, e identifica opções políticas assentes numa análise de: a) factores que influenciam a adopção de sistemas decultivo relativamente mais orientados para a subsistência ou para o mercado; [...]

This brief provides empirically-based insights to help identify and prioritize policies and investments that can increase the benefitsfrom cropping system diversification and improve adoption of more profitable and resilient cropping systems. Specifically,the brief focuses on smallholder maize producers, the most widely grown crop in Mozambique, and identifies policies optionsbased on an analysis of: a) the factors that influence the adoption of relatively more subsistence or market oriented croppingsystems; and b) the effects of adopting different cropping systems on farm income, [...]

This brief aims to assist policy-makers and cooperating partners in Malawi to identify diversification pathways that can producemeasurable benefits in terms of productivity and crop income resilience for small-scale farmers, and to identify investmentsand policy options to promote the adoption of beneficial crop diversification. In particular, this brief examines a) the householdlevel factors to influence the adoption of different cropping systems; and b) the effect of adopting a particular cropping systemon maize productivity and crop income volatility in order to [...]

The brief uses a unique set of data from Zambia collected from smallholders before and after the 2015/2016 ENSO event, which was widely anticipated by regional and global forecast services to contribute to dry conditions in southern Zambia and an overall shorter growing season. Three findings emerge from the analysis. Farmers receiving seasonal weather forecasts are more likely to adopt cropping systems and seed varieties that are adapted to the expected weather conditions, yet access to weather information remains limited. [...]