Agribusiness and Innovation Systems in Africa

Agribusiness and Innovation Systems in Africa
Author: Kurt Larsen
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821379453

This book examines how agricultural innovation arises in four African countries ? Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda ? through the lens of agribusiness, public policies, and specific value chains for food staples, high value products, and livestock.

Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development

Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development
Author: Rob Vos
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2015-12-17
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1472580788

Continuation along current development pathways is not sustainable. Available technology and production practices and the consumption patterns of modern societies are leading to global warming and ecological destruction. Business as usual is not an option. There is an urgent need to find a new development paradigm that ensures environmental sustainability while managing to provide, now and in the future, a decent livelihood for all of humankind. In Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development, experts in the area provide a variety of insights about the technical transformation needed for sustainable development. It spells out the behavioural and policy changes that would need to accompany the next technological transformation, taking into account the complexity of inducing technological change in the energy and agricultural sectors. The assessment suggests that this will require major, but doable improvements in national innovation systems and major, but affordable shifts in investment patterns and related macroeconomic adjustments.

Impact of Contract Farming on Income: Linking small farmers, Packers, and Supermarkets in China

Impact of Contract Farming on Income: Linking small farmers, Packers, and Supermarkets in China
Author: Sachiko Miyata, Nicholas Minot, and Dinghuan Hu
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2009
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

This study compares contract and non-contract growers of apples and green onions in Shandong Province, China in order to explore the constraints on participation and the impact of contract farming on income. We find little evidence that firms prefer to work with larger farms, though all farms in the area are quite small. Using a Heckman selection-correction model, we find that contract farming raises income even after controlling for observable and unobservable household characteristics. These results suggest that contract farming can help raise small-farm income, though questions remain regarding the number of farmers that can be brought into such schemes.