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Sustainable cassava: Strategies from production through waste management
No full textSustainable Cassava: Strategies from Production through Waste Management presents viable approaches to promote sustainability in this globally important crop, enabling future generations to benefit. Presented in three parts, the first addresses cassava diversity and distribution, sustainable production and cultivation practices, and root processing innovations of the crop. Cassava trade policies and economic value chains, food safety and use of cassava, and agro-industrial cassava products are addressed in the second part. The third part focuses on bioeconomy aspects, cassava waste quality assessment, toxicology, sanitary practices, environmental risk assessment as well as sustainable management strategies for cassava waste using biotechnological and industrial advances.Development Strategies and Governance (DSG
Preconception micronutrient supplementation positively affects offspring cognition at 10–11 years of age: A randomized controlled trial in Vietnam
No full textObjectives: The importance of maternal periconceptional nutrition for offspring health and development has received increased attention recently, yet very few intervention studies have evaluated the long-term effects on offspring growth and cognitive outcomes. We evaluated the impact of preconception weekly multiple micronutrients (MM) or iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation compared to folic acid (FA) alone on offspring body composition and cognitive function during the school-age years and early adolescence.Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH
The relationship between preterm and small for gestational age on child cognition during school-age years
No full textObjectives: Children born preterm and/or small for gestational age (SGA) have a high susceptibility to neurological impairments that may affect cognitive and learning outcomes during school age and beyond. Yet, limited evidence exists for these high-risk birth phenotypes in low and middle-income countries where most occur with different etiology and socio-biology. This paper examined the deficits in cognitive function and academic achievement during the school age years in children born preterm or SGA compared to term adequate for gestational age (AGA) in rural Vietnam.Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH
Global methane pledge in Tajikistan: Assessment report
No full textDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategie
Integrating the development program for agri-food system with climate change policies and commitments in Tajikistan
No full textDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategie
Strengthening groundwater governance in Pakistan
No full textPakistan Agricultural Capacity Enhancement Program (PACE
How have foreign exchange market distortions and conflict affected agricultural production incentives in Myanmar?
No full textFluctuations in agricultural prices pose significant challenges for fragile and conflict-affected economies due to their critical role in ensuring food security. This study examines changes in agricultural prices at the export, wholesale, and farm level in the case of Myanmar, which experienced a surge in conflicts from 2021 onward, following a military coup. The major findings are as follows: • Regarding macroeconomic impacts, the military government implemented a dual exchange rate system, maintaining a fixed exchange rate significantly below the market rate and effectively imposing an across-the-board export tax on all export commodities of approximately 24 percent between August 2022 and August 2024. This policy particularly affects rice, Myanmar’s main staple and a key export crop. • The scarcity of foreign exchange due to this dual exchange rate system increased the costs of imported inputs. It is estimated that prices of inorganic fertilizers – farmers’ most important commercial input – saw an increase of 10 percent compared to the price in Thailand since the start of the dual exchange rate system. • Regarding domestic trade effects, regions with the highest insecurity exhibited similar agricultural output prices but higher input costs, resulting in reduced farm profitability compared to more secure regions. However, the magnitude of these effects is relatively small, with estimated increases in input prices due to insecurity ranging from one to six percent. Insecure areas also show more often a lack of input availability. • Farmers who reside in insecure areas reported between one and six percentage points higher lack of access to agricultural inputs – fertilizer, agrochemicals, mechanization, and seed - in their communities. The relatively small effects of insecurity on input and output markets suggest a degree of resilience in the private sector’s ability to maintain trade under conflict conditions. • The biggest effect on input markets is seen in the case of agricultural labor. Depending on the measure used, farmers in the most insecure areas had a 7 to 15 percentage points higher likelihood of reporting lack of access to agricultural laborers compared to the most secure areas. • The exchange rate policies are found to have been much more harmful for farmers’ incentives than the domestic trade effects, even for the most conflict-affected areas, indicating the importance of considering macroeconomic effects for agricultural incentives in Myanmar. • Despite the significant disincentives brought about by conflict, the agricultural sector has shown surprising resilience over the recent conflict period, seemingly linked to advantageous international price developments for farmers: international rice prices increased by 27 percent while urea prices decreased by 52 percent between August 2022 and May 2024. • While these international evolutions have partly mitigated the impact of the conflict on farmers’ profitability, the impacts of these price developments on consumers in Myanmar have, however, been severe. An analysis of rice retail prices in Myanmar over the last two and half years show that they have more than tripled and that the overall costs of the common diet more than doubled. A failure of nominal income to keep pace with this food price inflation led to an increase in poverty by 10 percent from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023.MyanmarSSPDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG
Remoteness, farm production, and dietary diversity in Nepal
No full textThis paper explores the relationship between agriculture, dietary diversity, and market access in Nepal, testing the complex causal chains involved, and the nuanced connections between production diversity and dietary diversity among smallholder farmers. While diversifying farm production could enhance dietary diversity, the case of Nepal indicates a varied and context specific relationship. Market access emerges as a crucial factor, often exerting a more significant impact on smallholder farm households than production diversity. Access to markets not only influences economic viability but also contributes directly to food and nutrition security, offering a practical solution to address dietary needs. Focusing on Nepal's diverse terrain, the study analyzes the interplay of remoteness, market access, irrigation availability, and complementary inputs in shaping farmers' decisions, providing valuable insights into sustainable agricultural strategies for improved dietary outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.Development Strategies and Governance (DSG); Natural Resources and Resilience (NRR
From bargaining power to empowerment: Measuring the unmeasurable
No full textMeasuring power is central to empirical work on intrahousehold and gender relations. Early efforts to test household models focused on measuring spousal bargaining power, usually in models featuring two decisionmakers within the household. Proxy measures for bargaining power included age, education, assets, and “outside options” that could affect spouses’ threat points within marriage. Evidence rejecting the collective model of the household has influenced the design of policies and programs, notably conditional cash transfer programs. Efforts have since shifted to measuring empowerment, drawing on theories of agency and power. Since 2010, several measures of women’s empowerment have been developed, including the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and its variants. A distinct feature of the WEAI, like other counting-based measures, is its decomposability into its component indicators, which makes identifying sources of disempowerment possible. The WEAI indicators also embody jointness of decision-making or ownership, which better reflects actual decision-making within households compared to 2-person bargaining models. This paper reviews how progress in the measurement of power within households has facilitated our understanding of household decision-making and creates new opportunities for programs and policy.Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI