Other Agriculture Study

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    China/Russia 2030: Implications for the Horticulture Sector in Central Asia
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-16) World Bank
    In China, changing demographics, rising incomes and shifting consumer preferences have resulted in an ever-growing demand for food that is more varied, healthier and of higher quality and this demand is set to persist well into the future. According to International Monetary Fund projections (2019), by 2024, Chinese per capita gross domestic product (GDP, in current prices) will increase to dollar 28,450, from dollar 13,130 in 2019, and the population will increase to 1.5 billion people (United Nations, 2019). The projected urbanization rate will reach 67 percent by 2030, compared to 56 percent in 2015 (Goh et al., 2014). The growing number of consumers in China, that are increasingly more affluent and educated, will continue shifting their dietary preferences to include more protein, fruits and vegetables. Central Asian countries are well placed to be more competitive in satisfying fruit import demand in the growing Chinese markets and will reap economic and social development benefits along the way. For centuries, Central Asia has occupied a position of strategic importance in trade between the East and the West. The region’s geographic location, natural resources, untapped yield potential, and the possibility of greater private sector investment through policy reform create the necessary preconditions for the Central Asian countries to increase their agricultural exports to China. As China places an important role on meeting its growing food needs on dynamic agricultural trade and investment cooperation with the Central Asian countries, this results in significant opportunities for the region to increase its presence in the Chinese fruit markets brought by improved infrastructure and higher cross-border investment. For example, according to the recent World Bank report (World Bank, 2019), Belt and Road Initiative transport projects are estimated to increase trade by up to 9.7 percent. Countries that have a comparative advantage in time-sensitive sectors, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, are expected to be the biggest winners.
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    Use of Evidence to Inform Agricultural Policy Decisions: What have We Learned from Experience in Africa?
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12) Delgado, Christopher ; Brooks, Karen ; Derlagen, Christian ; Haggblade, Steven ; Lawyer, Kate
    Agricultural policymakers in Africa increasingly face the need for policy options based on evidence-based analysis to promote agricultural transformation and to adapt to climate change. Furthermore, data and analytical tools to support informed agricultural policymaking are increasingly abundant thanks to investment in these areas, mostly from external sources. Still, the use of hard data and robust analyses linked to outcomes are still rare in most agricultural policymaking in the region. Today, ministries of agriculture (MoAs) are increasingly under pressure to show ministries of economy and finance (MoEFs) both the rationale behind spending and the impact of past spending, particularly net estimated impacts on forex and fiscal balances. Even so, at present most African governments are still under-spending on agricultural public goods such as research, extension, and infrastructure. The present paper focuses on what can be learned to improve outcomes from experiences promoting the increased use of evidence in agricultural policymaking.
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    Lesotho Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan: Opportunities for Transitioning to More Productive, Climate-Resilient, and Low Carbon Agriculture
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12-01) World Bank
    Lesotho's agricultural system faces a growing number of climate-related vulnerabilities with droughts, floods, pests, and extreme temperatures occurring more frequently. In response, the Government of Lesotho is collaborating with the World Bank to integrate climate change into the country’s agriculture policy agenda through the Lesotho Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan (CSAIP).
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    Mali Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-11-27) World Bank Group
    This document provides an investment plan for climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in Mali, developed with support of the AAA Initiative and the World Bank, and technical assistanceof the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, the World Agroforestry Centre and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Security (CCAFS). It identifies specific interventions that define on-the-ground action that are consistent with Mali’s NDC and national agricultural strategy, which can be funded by public and private sector partners. CSA interventions are designed to increase agricultural productivity, to help farmers, livestock keepers and fisher-people adapt and build resilience to climate risks, and, where appropriate, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.This plan includes a set of 12 key CSA investments for Mali that were developed with strong stakeholder engagement, expert input and scientific evidence. This plan is not intended to be comprehensive but can further include additional projects when more funds will be available. The plan presents a situation analysis of Mali’s national policies, plans and programs in relation to key climate risks, which form the context for key prioritized interventions. Designed project concepts are developed for each of these key investments, including the main project objectives, components and implementation arrangements. These provide a tangible set of project concepts for potential investors and donors to consider for funding. Finally, a general framing for developing a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the CSA investment plan (CSAIP) is provided, showing how CSA outcomes relate to other M&E frameworks and other monitoring activities for national-level development priorities.The CSAIP provides the context and evidence for the importance of these projects, and details how they can be economically beneficial and provide food security to the people of Mali. This can help spur investment and funding for CSA to help Mali deliver on its NDC and other national targets.
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    Agricultural Transformation and Inclusive Growth: The Malaysian Experience
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-11) World Bank Group
    The Malaysian story involves a farsighted leadership that has mobilized the considerable assets of a resource-rich country to translate a long-term vision of nation building into action and transformational results. This report analyzes what Malaysia did to achieve transformative results in agriculture. It focuses on four main areas in which the Malaysian experience is distinctive and which have been critical to its success, as follows: (1) The role of the public sector, encompassing national leadership, vision, and government action; (2) The main drivers of transformation and inclusive growth; (3) The role of value chains; (4) The inclusiveness of Malaysia's agricultural transformation.
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    Improving Mindanao Agro-Industrial Competitiveness through Better Logistics and Connectivity
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-10) World Bank Group
    Despite being the largest food producer of the country, Mindanao remains Philippines’ poorest region. At the heart of Mindanao’s high poverty rate is the region’s weak ability to transform its natural advantage into a competitive one in domestic and foreign markets. This report examines the key constraints faced by Mindanao agricultural and manufacturing producers along the supply chains. For agricultural products, vegetables and cacao were chosen as illustration of the typical constraints faced along different value chains. Vegetables is a smallholder crop consumed domestically with a relatively short supply chain composed of producers, consolidators, and primary consumers. This short supply chain reflects the domestic market focus and limited extent of processing Cacao, on the other hand, has a longer supply chain extending to export markets. Compared to vegetables, cacao requires an additional layer of processing (from wet beans to dry fermented beans to processing for chocolate) before it can reach its final markets.
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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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    Toward Scaled-Up and Sustainable Agriculture Finance and Insurance in Uganda
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-08) World Bank
    In March 2018, Uganda's Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED) formally requested technical assistance from the World Bank Group (WBG) to conduct a technical and diagnostic review of the Uganda Agricultural Insurance Scheme (UAIS) with the objective of providing recommendations to enhance the scalability and sustainability of the scheme going forward. This technical report covers the rapid assessment of agriculture finance and its recommendations, the findings of the situation and gap analysis of the UAIS, and where appropriate, presents the WBG’s recommendations for strengthening the scheme; it also includes a proposal for two additional insurance programs, one for crop and one for livestock, targeted at small-scale farmers. Section one is comprised of four chapters that provide important background information: chapter one provides context for the study; chapter two describes the agricultural sector in Uganda, including the constraints and risk exposure faced by small-scale farmers; chapter three offers an overview of the agriculture finance landscape; and chapter four describes past and present agricultural insurance initiatives, including the UAIS. Section two includes the remaining chapters that present findings and make recommendations for scaling up agriculture insurance in Uganda and making programs sustainable. Specifically, chapter five describes in detail the situation and gap analysis carried out for UAIS insurance products, operating systems and procedures, and underwriting results, and it identifies possible ways to strengthen the scheme for the public-private partnership (PPP) stakeholders to consider. Chapter six presents options for the development of large-scale Area Yield Index Insurance (AYII) to complement the existing UAIS crop insurance products and programs, and it includes fiscal costings for GoU to consider. Chapter seven presents options for the development of large-scale Satellite-Based Pasture Drought Index Insurance (SPDII) for open-grazed livestock in semi-arid regions of Uganda, most notably the Karamoja subregion.
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    Strengthening Higher Agricultural Education in Africa
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06-27) World Bank
    Over the last decade African governments’ and regional economic organizations have increasingly recognized the need to reshape higher agricultural education to meet the changing needs of the agri-food sector. There is a strong appetite for change but a need for a better understanding of the challenges that universities face in transforming into institutions that can be more dynamic and responsive, especially to the needs of the private sector, that is more relevant by the public sector and meet the rapidly growing demand for university places. The study is being prepared at a time when the World Bank along with other development partners are considering possible approaches to address these challenges. It follows regional dialogue on this theme in Africa in recent years involving African governments, regional agro-innovation and education networks including Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), under the umbrella of the African Union Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program. (CAADP). The study is structured as follows: section two describes the role of higher agricultural education in the wider agro-innovation system and the means through which higher education can drive transformation of the agri-food sector and economic development in Africa; section three describes global trends in agriculture that will drive changes in employers’ knowledge and skills needs; section four describes the implications of these trends for skill and knowledge needs; section five describes the core challenges that universities face in transforming to be more responsive to needs; and the final section six provides recommendations on reforms and investments to strengthen higher education in Africa.
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    Economics of Climate-Smart Agriculture: Considerations for Economic and Financial Analyses of Climate-Smart Agriculture Projects
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06-27) World Bank
    Climate change poses a major threat to food systems and livelihoods all over the world. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses these challenges. CSA stands for including climate change into the planning and implementation of sustainable agricultural strategies. More specifically, CSA has three objectives to achieve these overarching goals: (1) sustainably increasing agricultural productivity to support equitable increases in incomes and food security; (2) adapting and building resilience to climate change from the farm to national levels; and (3) developing opportunities to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture (FAO 2013). The report is structured as follows: the report starts with a brief overview of the framework for economic and financial analyses in section two; section three, provides an overview of benefit and cost categories that are relevant for CSA; section four, provides descriptions of 10 salient features of CSA as may be relevant for EFAs; section five, presents findings of the review of 10 EFAs of agriculture lending projects; section six, provides a brief overview of techniques or tools that could support the presentation of CSA in EFAs; and section seven concludes.