Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Growth and Bridging the Gap for Small-Family FarmsGlobal agriculture will face multiple
 challenges over the coming decades. It must produce more
 food to feed an increasingly affluent and growing world
 population that will demand a more diverse diet, contribute
 to overall development and poverty alleviation in many
 developing countries, confront increased competition for
 alternative uses of finite land and water resources, adapt
 to climate change, and contribute to preserving biodiversity
 and restoring fragile ecosystems. Climate change will bring
 higher average temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns,
 and more frequent extreme events, multiplying the threats to
 sustainable food security. Addressing these challenges
 requires co-ordinated responses from the public and private
 sectors and civil society that will need to be adapted to
 the specific circumstances of different types of farmers in
 countries at all levels of development. The recommendations
 provided are broadly of two types: specific actions that can
 contribute in some way to improving productivity growth or
 sustainable resource use (whether building on existing
 initiatives or suggesting new activities) and more general
 proposals that may not be actionable as presented but that
 serve to highlight areas for priority attention. This report
 also invites G20 countries to engage in a medium, to
 long-term, analysis-based peer review of policies fostering
 sustainable productivity growth, which would identify
 specific constraints and opportunities, beginning with their
 own food and agriculture sectors. In addition to possible
 benefits to participating countries, a peer review process
 could contribute to the identification of best policies and
 best policy packages to achieve the widely held aim of
 sustainably improving productivity of the global food and
 agriculture system. While such an initiative is proposed to
 and for G20 countries, it could have much wider application
 to interested countries.
-
Awakening Africa's Sleeping
 Giant : Prospects for Commercial Agriculture in the Guinea
 Savannah Zone and BeyondThis report summarizes the findings of
 the study on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa
 (CCAA). The objective of the CCAA study was to explore the
 feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and
 growth in African agriculture through the identification of
 products and production systems that can underpin rapid
 development of a competitive commercial agriculture. The
 CCAA study focused on the agricultural potential of
 Africa's Guinea Savannah zone, which covers about 600
 million hectares in Africa, of which about 400 million
 hectares can be used for agriculture, and of which less than
 10 percent are cropped. The African Guinea Savannah is one
 of the largest underused agricultural land reserves in the
 world. In terms of its agro climatic features, the land is
 similar to that found in the Cerrado region of Brazil and in
 the Northeast Region of Thailand, with medium-to-high
 agricultural potential but also significant constraints in
 the form of infertile soils and variable rainfall. Based on
 a careful examination of the factors that contributed to the
 successes achieved in Brazil and Thailand, as well as
 comparative analysis of evidence obtained through detailed
 case studies of three African (Mozambique, Nigeria, and
 Zambia) countries. This report argues that opportunities
 abound for farmers in Africa to regain international
 competitiveness, especially in light of projected stronger
 demand in world markets for agricultural commodities over
 the long term.
-
Berlin Workshop Series 2008 : Agriculture and DevelopmentThe workshop brings diverse perspectives from outside the World Bank, providing a forum in which to exchange ideas and debate in the course of developing the World Development Report (WDR). Participants at the 2006 Berlin Workshop gathered to discuss challenges and successes pertaining to agriculture and development. Agriculture is the major sector contributing to economic development in many poor countries. Three out of every four poor people in developing countries live in rural areas. As globalization accelerates, development policies should tackle future challenges in agriculture arising from the scarcity of natural resources and globalization. The author highlights the paramount importance of redefining the framework for agriculture, providing us with food for thought and putting forward suggestions that need greater reflection and more detailed discussion. The contribution focuses on three main topics. First, the author presents some considerations on global agricultural development and trade. The author describes the different approaches to agricultural development, outcomes and effects of these approaches and evaluates which nations or which population groups are benefiting, as this could help to develop target group oriented strategies in poverty alleviation and agriculture. Second, the author takes a critical look at how agriculture and the rural sector can be an effective engine for growth. Another issue on the agenda is to determine what agriculture needs in the way of technology, infrastructure, and financial support to become a growth engine? These new insights should contribute to an appropriate formulation and implementation of tailored agriculture for development programs. Finally, the author looks at development in connection with systematic capacity building and training, pointing out the need to define sound capacity-building measures in terms of agriculture as well as to determine how these could be used more effectively.