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Assessing the development impacts of bio-innovations: The case of genetically modified maize and cassava in Tanzania
No full textTanzania’s agriculture is characterized by low productivity due to unpredictable rainfall and the prevalence of pests and diseases. Genetically modified (GM) maize offering protection against drought and insects are being developed. Likewise, GM varieties resistant to cassava brown streak disease were developed. Building on prior crop-based analyses, we use the Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) CGE model to assess the impacts of the adoption of those GM crops. GM maize and cassava have positive effects on the economy, the Agri-Food System (AFS), and poverty. Given its stronger linkages in the AFS, the effects of the GM maize are stronger, especially in higher adoption and high yield scenarios. Likewise, the effects on the poorest and rural households are greater. The high variation across scenarios, and the significant effect of the high adoption/high yield scenarios, suggests a high return to investments and policies that realize these adoption rates and yield potential.Innovation Policy and Scaling (IPS
South Asia Nutrition Knowledge Initiative: Abstract Digest August 2024
No full textIn this third edition of the South Asia Nutrition Knowledge Initiative’s Abstract Digest, we present studies on global, regional, and country-specific evidence on various topics of nutrition. These include the impact of short birth intervals on child malnutrition in the Asia-Pacific region, a summary of lessons from program evaluations of food systems interventions for nutrition in South Asia, the effect of zinc supplementation in pregnant and lactating mothers in a three-country study, and a review of evidence on school meals, impact on nutrition, and their other evolving dimensions.SANINutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH
Women's Empowerment in Agricultural Governance (WEAGov) technical workshop: India pilot study
No full textGender Equality research initiative Gender Equality (HER+) is a One CGIAR Research Initiative seeking to address the following four dimensions of gender inequality in agrifood systems: o Women’s lack of agency or limited ability to define and act on goals, make decisions that matter to them, and participate in the economy and in public life; o Women’s lack of access to and control over resources; o Social norms that discriminate based on gender; and o Policies and governance that fail to include and benefit women.
HER+ uses impactful gender research to address the four dimensions of gender inequality by applying gender-transformative approaches to address harmful norms. It does this by bundling innovations for women’s empowerment, leveraging social protection to increase women’s access to and control over resources, and promoting inclusive governance and policies for increased resilience. HER+ will generate learning and evidence on levers and entry points to disrupt the foundations of inequality in agrifood systems (AFS).Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture IndexInnovation Policy and Scaling (IPS
Nutrition and diet profile: Sri Lanka
No full text• Sri Lanka faces a double burden of malnutrition with the co-existence and persistence of multiple forms of malnutrition, e.g., stunting, wasting, underweight, overweight/ obesity, anemia, and micronutrient deficiences.
• Inadequate intake of many micronutrients is common across several population groups in Sri Lanka, indicating low intake of nutrient-dense foods such as F&Vs and animal-source foods. • A diverse diet with adequate intake of nutrient-dense foods should be encouraged to address nutrient gaps among Sri Lankans and reduce the risk of NCDs.
• Many government-issued diet- and nutrition-related policies, strategies, and programs have been adopted in Sri Lanka. However, these often do not place enough emphasis on F&Vs. • While national food based dietary guidelines exist, as well as other guidelines and policies, there is uncertainty about the level of public awareness and the population’s adherence to the recommendations. • Evaluations of diet- and nutrition-related interventions are also scarce, indicating a need for rigorous evidence on what works to help guide programs and policies that aim to improve diet and nutrition outcomes among Sri Lankans.Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH
Fruit and vegetable value chains in Africa
No full textThe patterns of Africa’s participation in fruit and vegetable value chains (FVVCs) clearly reflect the continent’s colonial past. The restructuring of African exports around a few commodities to serve European markets during the colonial period largely undermined the farming of local food crops, including indigenous fruits and vegetables. Postcolonial governments focused on cash crops as the main source of foreign exchange earnings, reinforcing the status quo. However, the mid-1980s witnessed a major shift in global demand away from traditional cash crops and toward high-value products, including fruits and vegetables. This shift was an opportunity for developing countries, including those in Africa, to diversify their exports and reduce their vulnerability to global commodity price fluctuations. Participation in FVVCs can also have positive impacts on employment creation, income mobility, and poverty reduction. Yet, Africa’s participation in FVVCs is undermined by a number of structural challenges, some of which are typical of FVVCs, and some related to long-standing issues facing African economies in general, and the agriculture sector in particular.Markets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); CP
Agricultural trade integration in ECOWAS
No full textThe Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional economic community (REC) composed of 15 member states and an associate country. Created in 1975 in Abuja, ECOWAS was established to pursue stability and regional integration in Africa and, over time, has expanded its mandate to include political dimensions. It is one of the largest RECs in Africa, covering a physical area of 5.1 million square kilometers with an estimated population of 424.3 million people as of 2022. The region’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 was estimated at US$758 billion, which represents a quarter of Africa’s GDP (World Bank 2024). As the ECOWAS region pursues a process of structural transformation, the region’s economy has shifted toward industry and services, and the share of agriculture in GDP in ECOWAS countries has been declining, as in many developing countries (Laborde et al. 2018). However, the agriculture sector still represents 26 percent of GDP2 on average across the region, although with a high degree of heterogeneity: the share of agriculture in total GDP ranges from 5 percent in Cabo Verde to 60 percent in Sierra Leone. The REC is a heterogenous bloc that encompasses economic and demographic giants like Nigeria and small states like Cabo Verde and Gambia. It also includes landlocked countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger), members with access to the sea (Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone), and island states (Cabo Verde). ECOWAS is often cited as a successful example of regional integration in Africa. Indeed, since its beginning, the integration process has moved forward continuously with key successes such as the free movement of people, which has been in effect since 1979. Among the eight RECs recognized by the African Union, ECOWAS ranks fifth for trade integration and first in terms of the free movement of people, according to the Regional Integration Index built by the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). However, when it comes to movement of goods, results are mixed, and serious challenges remain despite the formal processes of liberalization adopted by member states. The frictions affecting the free movement of goods are problematic, particularly for agricultural products, given that, in an environment marked by global crisis (notably the pandemic of COVID-19 in 2020 and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war), regional trade could mitigate the negative impacts and stabilize domestic markets. Furthermore, recent political tensions, marked by the intention of three member states (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) to withdraw from the organization, raise questions about the REC’s sustainability. This chapter assesses the level of agricultural trade integration in the ECOWAS area, progress made, and the challenges ahead. In the next section, we provide the historical background, reviewing early regional integration initiatives in Africa and the main steps in the construction of ECOWAS. The following section assesses trade costs within ECOWAS, including tariffs, nontariff measures, and logistics performance, with a special focus on costs arising from currency diversity as an impediment to trade. We then examine intraregional trade flows, including informal cross-border trade, which represents the bulk of these flows. Before concluding, the chapter presents key achievements and main challenges to greater integration.Markets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); CP
PSNP and sustainable land management in Ethiopia: A formative qualitative investigation
No full textThe Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) is Ethiopia’s national safety net program, launched in 2005 and currently in its fifth phase. The objective of the PSNP is to protect households’ food consumption and assets, reduce their vulnerability to shocks, and address underlying causes of extreme poverty (MoA FSCD 2020). Households who have an adult available to work are required to take part in public works that focus on building infrastructure and improving the natural resource base (MoA FSCD 2020). As such, these projects are partially designed to contribute to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, there is limited evidence about how sustainable land management (SLM) activities are conducted under the PSNP on both publicly and privately operated lands, and how the uptake of these activities and their benefits differ by gender.SPIRDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG
Rice productivity in Myanmar: Assessment of the 2024 dry season
No full textKey Findings We analyze paddy rice productivity and profitability data for the dry seasons of 2023 and 2024, based on the Myanmar Agriculture Performance Survey (MAPS) fielded in the period of July 29th to September 16th, 2024. The survey covered plots of 825 rice paddy producers. It is found that: • Prices of inputs used in paddy production – labor and mechanization – increased significantly between these two growing seasons by between 36-38 and 59 percent respectively, on average. On the other hand, urea prices declined by 1 percent. Paddy prices at the farm increased by 14 percent. • Nominal profits for paddy rice farmers increased over the last two seasons. At the same time, price inflation has been high in the country. Therefore, real profits from paddy rice farming, which are nominal prices corrected by the change in the cost of an average food basket, decreased by 15 percent during the dry season of 2024 compared to the dry season of 2023. However, real profits were still higher than two and three years ago. • Rice productivity at the national level during the dry season of 2024 on farmers’ largest rice plot was slightly higher (+6.9 percent) than in the previous dry season. • Six percent of the rice farmers reported to have been affected by flooding during the dry season, even before cyclone Yagi affected many farmers in the beginning of September 2024. Recommended Actions • As paddy prices have gone up compared to last year, rice prices have gone up substantially as well, making the costs of Myanmar’s staple food unaffordable for some consumers, especially for the most vulnerable ones. Expansion of safety nets, targeted or self-targeted to the poorest, would therefore be beneficial. • The cyclone Yagi has affected a significant share of monsoon producers. Assistance for farmers in these areas to recover from floods in time for the post-/pre-monsoon is called for.MyanmarSSPDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG
Nigeria school feeding program: Pre- and post-test training quiz questions for cooks
No full textNSSPDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion (PGI