Agriculture is essential to Ghana’s economy. More than half of the Ghanaian labor force and one-fourth of the country’s entire gross domestic product depend on crops such as cocoa, maize, yams, and cassava. Ghanaian policymakers want to develop policies that will increase private-sector investment in agriculture, strengthening the sector overall and creating stable jobs, but…
It’s no secret that agriculture is an important sector in the field of international development. The presence of farming, agricultural technologies, and agriculture policy is a certainty in nearly every country around the globe. Within this sector there are some 500 million smallholder farms worldwide; more than 2 billion people depend on them for their…
The landmark 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) Paris Agreement recognized the need for a multi-pronged approach to reach the ambitious development goals set by 195 countries, 34 of which are in Asia. With one-third of the world’s total population, Asia is increasingly vulnerable to climate change due to its low-lying, heavily populated coastlines and dependency…
Michael Brown and Ailey Hughes propose that despite increasing informality of ownership, land tenure in Rwanda is “secure enough” to incentivize smallholder investment in land, but the emerging threats arising from the implementation of agricultural policies could constrain the country’s development gains in the future. Recommendations are offered to the Government of Rwanda.
Youth engagement in agriculture is an important component of many agricultural development programs. Why is it so important to reach youth? Firstly, the current population that’s engaged in agriculture in Uganda has an average age of around 65 years old. As that population stops farming in the next five to 10 years, who will feed…
In October 2013, USAID launched the Feed the Future-funded Land Reform and Farm Restructuring Project (LRFRP). This $5.5 million, three-year project supported the continuing process of dehkan (individual or family) farm restructuring and recognition of property rights, leading to a market in land-use rights. This occurred through four key tasks: 1) legislative reform, 2) building the capacity of Tajik officials, farmers,…
The Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS II) project trained master trainers and individuals from national and international organizations, including their beneficiaries. The project also targeted agricultural value chain segments that are more favorable for the involvement of woman and youth, such as service providers, processing, and micro-enterprises. The value of…