Identifying Opportunities in Ghana?s Agriculture: Results from a Policy Analysis Matrix
Recent increases in cereals prices raise questions about agricultural priorities in Ghana. This report presents an application of the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) to the problem of identifying opportunities to enhance agriculture?s contribution to economic growth and poverty alleviation in the country. The PAM is a budget-based method that was applied to study the social and private... more
Surveillance and Control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Ghana ? An assessment of institutions and actors
The objective of this research was to identify the institutions and their relative influence associated with surveillance and control of HPAI in Ghana, the flow of information for disease reporting among institutions, and the institutional responses to disease occurrence. The questions were: Who is involved? How do they communicate about suspected outbreaks? How do they respond to confirmed... more
Advancing agriculture in developing countries through knowledge and innovation
About 75 percent of the world's poor people live in rural areas, and most of them are involved in farming. Agricultural development in these areas is often constrained by issues of access to appropriate technologies; immense ?institutional weaknesses?; and deep problems with the organization and management of research, education, and extension systems. Many countries and agricultural systems... more
Agroenvironmental transformation in the Sahel
A farmer-managed, agroenvironmental transformation has occurred over the past three decades in the West African Sahel, enabling both land rehabilitation and agricultural intensification to support a dense and growing population. This paper traces the technical and institutional innovations, their impacts, and lessons learned from two successful examples. The first is the story of the... more
Agricultural growth and investment options for poverty reduction in Nigeria
This study uses an economy-wide, dynamic computable general equilibrium (DCGE) model to analyze the ability of growth in various agricultural subsectors to accelerate overall economic growth and reduce poverty in Nigeria over the next years (2009-17). In addition, econometric methods are used to assess growth requirements in agricultural public spending and the relationship between public... more
Agricultural land purchases for alternative uses ? evidence from two farming areas in the Western Cape province, South Africa
Purchases of agricultural land for diverse reasons, such as recreation or aesthetic appeal (collectively referred to as lifestyle purposes), has implications for agricultural land valuations, commercial agriculture and the acquisition of land for redistribution purposes. This paper reports on the extent of purchases of agricultural land for diverse reasons within an intensive and extensive... more
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