Agricultural and Rural Development Notes

60 items available

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https://hdl.handle.net/10986/9390

This series on commodity risk management aims to disseminate the results of World Bank research that describes the feasibility of developing countries’ ability to utilize market-based tools to mitigate risks associated with commodity price volatility and weather.

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Agricultural Innovation Funds
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2011-05) Rajalahti, Riikka; Larson, Gunnar
In order for agricultural development to fulfill its potential role as a source of growth and reducer of poverty, it must be constantly renewed through knowledge and innovation. Getting resources into the hands of innovators and providing incentives for producers, agricultural service providers, and entrepreneurs to collaborate in developing and applying new methods and technologies is a priority among institutions concerned with agricultural knowledge. While grants have long been used to finance agricultural innovation, in many countries there has been a shift away from block grant funding and towards the use of innovation funds. These are used to provide incentives and resources for investment and collaboration between innovators, producer groups, private entrepreneurs, and public institutions. Innovation funds allocate grants to targeted applicants based on a system for evaluating the eligibility, relevance, and quality of applicants' proposals.
Gender and Governance in Agricultural Extension Services : Insights from India, Ghana, and Ethiopia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2010-03) Madhvani, Sonia; Pehu, Eija
The gender and governance in rural services insights from India, Ghana, and Ethiopia report aims to generate policy-relevant knowledge on strategies for improving agricultural service delivery, with a focus on providing more equitable access to these services, especially for women. The project has been implemented in India, Ghana, and Ethiopia. These countries were chosen to capture variation in important macro-factors, especially the level of economic development; various aspects of governance, such as political system and party system; the role of women in society; and strategies adopted to promote gender equity. The project focused on agricultural extension as an example of a critical agricultural service. In India, the main problem is the lack of overall capacity resulting from a past policy of not hiring agricultural extension providers. The study indicates that access to agricultural extension is low in Ghana, despite the fact that an extension agent-to-farmer ratio is comparatively high. Agricultural extension is a high for the Ethiopia government priority, but coverage of extension services across regions varies widely, and extension agents have limited discretion to adapt technology packages to the context of individual communities. The gender gap in access to extension can also be improved.
Awakening Africa’s Sleeping Giant : Prospects for Commercial Agriculture in the Guinea Savannah Zone and Beyond
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-06) Larson, Gunnar; Morris, Michael
Stimulating agricultural growth is critical to reducing poverty in Africa. Commercial agriculture, potentially a powerful driver of agricultural growth, can develop along a number of pathways. Yet many developing regions have failed to progress very far along any of these pathways. Particularly in Africa, agriculture continues to lag. During the past 30 years the competitiveness of many African export crops has declined, and Africa's dependence on imported food crops has increased. While the poor performance of African agriculture can be attributed partly to adverse agroecological conditions, experience from elsewhere in the developing world suggests that significant progress is possible. The Guinea Savannah covers some 600 million hectares in Africa, of which about 400 million can be used for agriculture. Less than ten percent of this area is currently cropped, making it one of the largest underused agricultural land reserves in the world.
Improving Agricultural Productivity and Markets : The Role of Information and Communication Technologies
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-04) McNamara, Kerry
Raising the productivity of smallholders is a necessary condition for increasing incomes and improving livelihoods among the rural poor in most developing countries. This increased productivity is essential to both household food security and to agriculture-based growth and poverty reduction in the larger economy. Smallholder productivity is limited by a variety of constraints including poor soils, unpredictable rainfall, and imperfect markets, as well as lack of access to productive resources, financial services, or infrastructure. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are also vitally important to commercial and large-scale agriculture, and to agriculture-related services and infrastructure such as weather monitoring and irrigation. This note focuses on the sometimes less-obvious importance of ICT in improving the information, communication, transaction, and networking elements of smallholder agriculture in developing countries.
Tracking Results in Agriculture and Rural Development in Less-Than-Ideal Conditions : A Sourcebook of Indicators for Monitoring and Evaluation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009-03) Larson, Gunnar
The demand for verifiable evidence of results and impacts of development agricultural programs and projects is growing. However, most of the indicators that development practitioners have traditionally used in tracking progress toward achieving projects' objectives focus on the workings of the development operation itself. These performance indicators relate mainly to lower-level inputs and outputs and are used to populate management information systems. Higher-level indicators are used to measure progress in achieving the ultimate objectives of projects, and in bringing about larger outcomes and impacts. The ability to measure and demonstrate outcomes and impacts relies on the use of indicators that are based on reliable data and on the capacity to systematically collect and analyze that information. The conditions in which monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are carried out vary widely, depending on the demand for information, the extent to which it is used to inform decision-making, and the reliability of the systems that are in place to capture and convey that information. Throughout much of the developing world these conditions are "less-than-ideal," and information is irregular and often lacking altogether. In these conditions there is a lack of effective demand for information on the part of policy makers. The conditions are often especially pronounced for data related to rural areas, where the costs of data collection are high and the quality of existing data is particularly low. Building data systems and developing and supporting capacity for M&E in these conditions is, therefore, a pressing imperative for interventions in the agriculture and rural development sector. Strengthening capacity for M&E begins at the national and sub-national levels, where addressing the weaknesses of national statistical systems is a common priority. The data collected and reported within countries must not only be of sufficient quality to inform planning and policy formulation but must also be consistent between countries.
Scenario Planning to Guide Long-term Investments in Agricultural Science and Technology : Theory and Practice from a Case Study on India
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-11) Rajalahti, Riikka; Janssen, Willem; Pehu, Eija
This note for India is based on the paper Scenario Planning to guide long-term investments in Agricultural Science and Technology (report no. 37066). Scenarios are an important and useful tool, providing a neutral space for discussion, and helping to build consensus among various stakeholders. The objective is to examine possible future developments that could impact individuals, organizations, or societies to find directions for decisions will most benefit any future environment. Useful in strategy formulation, scenarios can be used in policy development, conflict resolution, group learning, and rehearsing management decisions. The note analyzed results of workshops organized to define the way forward relative to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The lessons learned include: (a) applying the analysis on larger, global issues may be far more challenging; (b) it is recommended the scenario process be implemented ahead of project preparation; (c) it is essential to allocate sufficient time and resources for creating client ownership and understanding; (d) it is of paramount importance to compose a multidisciplinary scenario team led by experienced scenario leaders; and (e) it is also very important to include participants of the groups the process aims to influence.
Food Safety and Agricultural Health Management in CIS Countries : Completing the Transition
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-10) van der Meer, Kees; Humpal, Don; de Haan, Cees; Ignacio, Laura; Qin, Xin
Since their independence in 1991, the CIS countries have experienced significant changes in their agriculture and food sectors. After a decade of contraction, agricultural production in most CIS countries has recovered or stabilized in the past few years. Some countries have recorded impressive rates of growth. While achieving much progress in transitioning towards the market economy and integrating into international markets, they face great challenges in further unleashing their potentials in the agriculture sector and in benefiting more from international trade. One of the remaining tasks is reforming their food safety and agricultural health management systems. This note highlights the main issues involved and outlines a reform agenda.
Africa’s Growing Soil Fertility Crisis : What Role For Fertilizer?
(2007-05) Agwe, Jonathan; Morris, Michael; Fernabdes, Erick
Reversing Africa's decades-long decline in soil productivity levels poses a major challenge, and one that cannot be addressed without increased use of appropriate fertilizer nutrients. The 2006 World Bank Africa Fertilizer Strategy Assessment was undertaken to inform policy makers, providing them with guidelines on measures to effectively raise fertilizer use. This Note draws upon the material prepared for the above fertilizer strategy assessment, summarizes the information on the approaches to enhancing fertilizer supply and use in Africa, and identifies some future steps.
Public Research in Plant Breeding and Intellectual Property Rights : A Call for New Institutional Policies
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-06) Louwaars, Niels; Tripp, Rob; Eaton, Derek
This paper addresses the issue of using intellectual property rights (IPRs) in public sector breeding, and the potential impact on breeding strategies and on the costs and benefits. The paper is based on a study on the impact of IPRs in the breeding industry in developing countries. There are three main reasons for national agricultural research institutes (NARIs) to embrace IPRs: recognition, technology access and transfer, and revenue. Introducing the concept of revenue generation in public plant breeding is likely to have an impact on the distribution of funds within the NARI and on the breeding strategies applied. A second possible impact is that funds will be distributed more to crops with a high value in seed production. The third level of impact is within breeding programs themselves, where researchers have to choose which ecological areas or client groups to target. The paper concludes with suggestions: Policymakers and research managers need to be aware of potential difficulties of matching revenue generation through IPRs and the public tasks of the NARIs. Explicit national and institutional policies are needed to guide choices regarding the management of IPRs in breeding. Research institutes need to prepare for managing IPRs, whether they intend to protect their own inventions or not. Human and financial resources need to be made available, and the institutional culture needs to be adapted to the new developments.
Ex Ante Economic Analysis in AKIS Projects : Methods and Guidelines for Good Practice
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-03-01) Horstkotte-Wesseler, Gesa; Maredia, Mywish; Byerlee, Derek; Alex, Gary
This note outlines an approach to economic analysis in agricultural research and extension (R&E) projects financed under World Bank loans and credits. It provides guidelines and recommends steps to take during project preparation and implementation. 1) agricultural research investments should be evaluated at the level of research programs for important commodities or production systems. 2) agricultural extension investments are often best evaluated using rough measures of cost-effectiveness or unit costs. 3) alternatively, break-even analyses can be conducted for extension programs to show the minimum impact needed to justify proposed expenditures. 4) during project preparation, economic analyzes should focus on retrospective technology adoption and impact studies, and prospective technology case studies . 5) during project implementation, the emphasis should be on establishing systems that incorporate economic analysis on an ongoing basis into R&E evaluation, planning, and priority setting. 6) evaluators within the national agricultural research system should conduct the economic analyzes whenever possible to build local capacity and foster local ownership of the results. 7) all economic analyzes should use the economic surplus method or a simplification thereof, such as a cost-benefit analysis.