Other Agriculture Study

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    Opportunities for Climate Finance in the Livestock Sector: Removing Obstacles and Realizing Potential
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-26) World Bank
    Important mitigation outcomes and other co-benefits could be at reach if rural communities and policy makers in low- and middle-income economies overcame the obstacle of access to finance in the livestock sector. The traditional sources of financing have long been difficult to access for livestock smallholders who often do not hold collateral except for their animals and have little experience of working with financial institutions. Traditional lenders see the livestock sector as overly risky, with little potential for significant profits, leaving them largely uninterested. Expanding financial inclusion would improve livelihoods, increase resilience, and help reduce GHG emissions. Innovative approaches to financing for the livestock sector are needed. In a sector that plays an essential economic role for some 60% of rural households, including 1.7 billion people and contributes up to half of agricultural GDP, reducing carbon emissions while maintaining livelihoods and reducing poverty is essential. This report identifies investment opportunities for increasing climate finance in the sector and drive its sustainable transformation.
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    Addressing Food Loss and Waste: A Global Problem with Local Solutions
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-09-28) World Bank
    The report focuses on the role that food loss and waste (FLW) could play in reducing the environmental footprint of food systems while attempting to meet the caloric and nutrient needs of a population expected to increase by 3 billion people in the next 30 years. The performance of the global food system over the last century has been extraordinary. From a global population of 1.6 billion people in 1900 to nearly 8 billion in 2020, the agri-food sector has risen to the challenge of providing global caloric sufficiency, mainly by increasing yields of a few principal staple crops. However, this path is no longer sustainable.
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    Uzbekistan: Agri-Food Job Diagnostic
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-09-28) World Bank
    Jobs are among the most important economic and social concerns in Uzbekistan. This report takes stock of the job situation in Uzbekistan’s broader agri-food sector and shows pathways for increasing sustainable employment. It lays out a roadmap for operationalization of the implicit job agenda of the recently adopted agricultural strategy for Uzbekistan. The illustrative scenarios presented in the report show that public policies and investments can help the agri-food sector increase employment between 19 and 32 percentage points in 2030 compared to 2019, allowing annual creation of 0.7 to 1.3 million jobs, more than enough to absorb 600,000 young newcomers to Uzbekistan’s labor market (due to demographic reasons). Particularly the horticulture sub-sectors with strong comparative advantages and market opportunities has a potential for more productive and sustainable jobs. Those jobs will be inclusive, being available to women and youth not only in Tashkent and other large cities, but also in rural areas and secondary towns. And, they will be critical to raise people’s incomes and lift them out of poverty, as well as helping the agri-food sector enhance food security and supporting economic growth through its strong spillovers to regional and rural economies.
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    Local Sourcing in the Cabo Verde Tourism Food Supply Chain: Opportunities and Challenges
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-10) World Bank Group
    The objective of this research report is to assess the market potential for local sourcing in the Cabo Verde tourism food supply chain, with a particular emphasis on traditional sectors such as agriculture and fisheries. As tourism continues to expand rapidly in Cabo Verde, the sector creates a growing market potential for locally sourced produce. The number of inbound tourists in the country has steadily increased from 428,000 in 2011 to 710,000 in 2018 - a 7,5 percent CAGR in the period - causing with it a rise in the direct economic contribution of travel & tourism activities to GDP, now estimated at near 20 percent. The islands of Sal and Boa Vista dominate the market, attracting together 76,4 percent of all arrivals, who visit overwhelmingly under the all-inclusive resort segment. In addition, higher average lengths of stay in these two islands imply that they account for proportionally more room nights (89,9 percent of the total bed nights) than the rest of the country. The level of linkages between the primary sector and tourism has long been a debated topic, particularly the untapped potential of additional positive spillovers and impact on poverty reduction. A World Bank study commissioned in 2013 estimated that more than 80 percent of food and beverage products consumed by all-inclusive resorts were imported. While these resorts have been decisive in pushing infrastructure development and promoting job creation, the level of linkages with local businesses is seen as being below potential. The study found that the low level of local food sourcing stemmed from a range of challenges related to sanitary and quantity standards, volumes, reliability of supply, and connectivity. Since then, very little research has sought to quantify the market potential in supplying tourism or assessing which products could be prioritized at local production level, on comparative and competitive advantages vis-à-vis imports. The methodology for this research comprised a quantitative and qualitative survey with a representative sample of large hotels in Sal and Boa Vista, in addition to in-depth follow-up interviews and desk review of pertinent data. The type of commercially sensitive information required from the surveyed participants severely undermined participation, despite guarantees of confidentiality. A substantial effort was invested in following-up, and the team was able to gather consumption data covering a small representative sample of large hotels, as well as relevant information on market characteristics and trends from the leading hotel supplier wholesalers.
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    India - Unlocking Agribusiness for Inclusive Growth, Jobs, and More: Policy and Investment Priorities
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-07-01) World Bank Group
    Major changes are occurring in the Indian economy that should inform public policy and investments in the food sector. The main drivers of changes occurring in the Indian economy include rising per capita incomes and urbanization. These patterns have led to increased demand for food and food services, including postharvest management activities, food retailing, and restaurants. Aggregate demand for food has increased, and consumption patterns are shifting toward fresh fruits and vegetables, processed foods, and ready-to-eat foods and meals. To meet the emerging demand, farmers need to respond by not only diversifying production toward foods with increasing demand but also with postharvest management. The objective of this report is to identify policy and investment priorities in agribusiness to stimulate inclusive growth and jobs. The study ultimately seeks to inform strategic dialogue between the government of India and the World Bank Group toward investments in postharvest management and other segments of agribusiness. The report provides building blocks to identify priorities for policy and investment. After a brief introduction (chapter 1), chapter 2 presents a framework to understand the role of agribusiness in development. Chapter 3 provides estimates of productivity and capital investment gaps in various subsectors of agribusiness and simulates the effects of bridging those gaps on macroeconomic indicators, sectoral growth, and jobs. Chapter 4 provides lessons on using agribusiness to improve nutrition. Chapter 5 provides lessons on promoting cold chain development. Chapter 6 provides lessons on promoting agroprocessing. Chapter 7 provides lessons on promoting inclusive value chains for modern food retailing. Finally, chapter 8 provides policy and investment priorities in agribusiness based on the main findings of the report.
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    Agriculture for Jobs and Growth in the Western Balkans: A Regional Report
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-06) World Bank
    The agri-food industry, comprising agricultural inputs, primary agricultural production, off-farm food processing, food distribution, food retail and consumption, and other food-related services, is one of the most important industries in the Western Balkans in terms of turnover, jobs and geographic scale. Average turnover of the agri-food industry accounts for 24 percent of total manufacturing turnover in the Western Balkan (WB) region compared to the European Union (EU) average of 15 percent (in 2011) and it is more evenly distributed geographically than other industries. Global evidence suggests that agribusiness has the highest short-term indirect employment impact, where creating one job generates more than double the number of jobs in the rest of the economy. The sector’s broad geographic footprint, multiple functions and cross-sector linkages could transform the industry into a powerful driver of value addition, income diversification and innovation in rural areas. The objective of this regional study is to examine how further investment, modernization and transformation of the agriculture and rural economy can contribute to job creation and economic growth in the Western Balkans, while highlighting how better public policies and deeper European integration can help take this process forward. The study aims to better understand the features of agri-food employment in the region, including its potential to generate more, better and more inclusive jobs and to identify transformative (policy) actions that could trigger a structural change towards a more productive use of human and other resources in agriculture.
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    Leveraging the Rice Value Chain for Poverty Reduction in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05-25) World Bank Group
    Rice is an important agricultural product and food staple in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), especially for its three low-income members – Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. These countries are net exporters of rice, similar to their more advanced neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, but their rice sector potential is still largely underutilized. They adopt slightly different approaches to rice sector development in terms of the role of the private sector, openness to foreign direct investments (FDI), and commitment to open trade, yet they all aim to remain competitive on export markets and to leverage this competitiveness for poverty reduction and boosted shared prosperity, while achieving other development outcomes such as better nutrition, climate-smart agriculture, and job creation. Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar are the ‘target countries’ of this report, while Thailand and Vietnam are the peers used for comparison and experience-sharing throughout the report. This report presents a summary of main findings, lessons learned, and policy recommendations from these workshops. The spectrum of discussions was broad, depending on the interest of each country to learn specific experiences from other countries or from the region and the world. Most workshops brought together private and public sector representatives to facilitate open dialogue and better integrate private sector objectives into agricultural strategies and policies.
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    Transforming Vietnamese Agriculture: Gaining More for Less
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-04) World Bank Group
    Over the past quarter century, Vietnam’s agricultural sector has made enormous progress. Vietnam’s performance in terms of agricultural yields, output, and exports, however, has been more impressive than its gains in efficiency, farmer welfare, and product quality. Vietnamese agriculture now sits at a turning point. The agricultural sector now faces growing domestic competition - from cities, industry, and services - for labor, land, and water. Rising labor costs are beginning to inhibit the sector’s ability to compete globally as a low cost producer of bulk undifferentiated commodities. Going forward, Vietnam’s agricultural sector needs to generate more from less. That is, it must generate more economic value - and farmer and consumer welfare - using less natural and human capital and less harmful intermediate inputs. The strategic shift was highlighted in the government’s agricultural restructuring plan (ARP), approved by the Prime Minister in June 2014. The ARP defines sector goals in terms of the triple bottom line of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable development. It lays out expected changes in the roles and spending patterns of the government in the sector and discusses the need to work with other stakeholders, including in the private sector. It calls for an ambitious and ongoing process of learning and experimentation, and several potential directions are offered in this report.
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    Malawi Agricultural Sector Risk Assessment
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-12) Giertz, Asa ; Caballero, Jorge ; Galperin, Diana ; Makoka, Donald ; Olson, Jonathan ; German, George
    With more than three-quarters of its workforce employed in agriculture, Malawi is highly vulnerable to any adverse events affecting the agriculture sector, and agricultural risks are ever present in the country. Agricultural risks can obstruct development and enforce poverty traps, particularly for a country as reliant on agriculture as Malawi. Because of the size of the sector in the economy and the importance of agricultural products for export, agricultural growth correlates closely with gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Malawi’s effort to manage risks and to provide relief in response to adverse events diverts significant resources from longer-term development investments. To better understand the dynamics of agricultural risks and identify appropriate responses, incorporate an agricultural risk perspective into decision making, and build the capacity of local stakeholders in risk assessment and management, the agricultural risk management team (ARMT) of the agriculture and environment services department of the World Bank conducted an agriculture sector risk assessment. The purpose of this report is to assess existing agricultural risks, prioritize them according to their frequency and impacts on the sector, and identify areas of risk-management solutions that need deeper specialized attention. Three levels of risks were assessed: production risks, market risks, and enabling environment risks to selected supply chains. The report takes a quantitative and qualitative approach to assessing risk. This report is structured as follows: chapter one gives introduction and context. Chapter two provides an overview of the agriculture sector and the selected crops. Chapter three maps the production, market, and enabling environment risks to food crops and export crops. Chapter four looks at the adverse impacts of agricultural risks in terms of losses, both at the national level and for different regions. Chapter five prioritizes the risks in terms of their frequency and the severity of their impacts, and discusses solutions based on this prioritization, ongoing risk-management activities, and the feedback from the consultative workshop.
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    Kenya: Agricultural Sector Risk Assessment
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11) D’Alessandro, Stephen P. ; Caballero, Jorge ; Lichte, John ; Simpkin, Simon
    Despite myriad challenges, Kenya has emerged in recent years as one of Africa’s frontier economies, with headline growth in the most recent decade propelling the country toward middle-income status. Less well understood is how risk dynamics associated with production, markets, and policy adversely impact sector performance, in terms of both influencing ex ante decision making among farmers, traders, and other sector stakeholders and causing ex post losses to crops, livestock, and incomes - destabilizing livelihoods and jeopardizing the country’s food security. The present study was commissioned in part to bridge this knowledge gap. It is the first step in a multiphase process designed to integrate a stronger risk focus into sector planning and development programs. It seeks to learn from and build on a range of broad initiatives by the Government of Kenya (GoK) and its development partners purposed to enhance Kenya’s resilience and response to natural disasters. The ultimate objective is implementation of a holistic and systematic risk management system that will reduce the vulnerability and strengthen the resiliency of Kenya’s agricultural supply chains, and the livelihoods that depend on them. This sector risk assessment is the primary output of phase one. The study’s main objective is to identify, assess, and prioritize principal risks facing Kenya’s agriculture sector by analyzing their impacts via quantitative and qualitative measures. The study’s main findings highlight an agriculture sector increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather variability. Chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two provides an overview of Kenya’s agriculture sector and a discussion of key growth constraints. Chapter three assesses the main agricultural risks (production, market, and enabling environment). Chapter four analyzes the frequency and severity of the major risks identified and assesses their impact. Chapter five presents some stakeholder perceptions of these risks and the potential to improve their management. Chapter six concludes with an assessment of priorities for risk management and a broad discussion of possible risk management measures that can help to strengthen the resiliency of agricultural supply chains and the livelihoods they support.