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Agriculture & International Development
Textbooks, research and professional titles in Agriculture and International Development
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December 2023Sustainable Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness Development
An African Perspective
by Brighton Nyagadza, Tanyaradzwa Rukasha
The future of Africa and the whole globe is dependent on sustainable agribusiness management. This book offers insights to a wide range of agricultural marketing and agribusiness management practices with a focus on sustainability. It is designed to provide academics and graduate students in business studies with a comprehensive treatment of the nature of agricultural marketing and agribusiness management, as well as sustainability transitions and related practices in certain regions of the world (particularly in Africa). The text also serves as an invaluable resource for agricultural marketing practitioners requiring more than anecdotal evidence on the structure and operation of agricultural marketing and agribusiness management, as well as sustainability in different organisations and geographical areas. It allows the reader to compare and contrast agricultural marketing and agribusiness management, as well as sustainability practices across different research methodologies and settings. The book provides a unique mix of theory, reviews, primary research findings and case studies.
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July 2024The Untold Stories of African Agriculture
Lessons from Ethiopia
by Tsedeke Abate
This landmark volume presents the results of a comprehensive and coherent in-depth assessment of Ethiopian agriculture and draws lessons from it to generate actionable recommendations that will inform policy decisions and priority setting for agricultural transformation across Africa. Policy makers in Africa are faced with the challenges of ensuring food and nutrition security and the economic wellbeing of their rapidly growing populations while at the same time maintaining the integrity of their natural resource base. Between 2000 and 2021, 74% of the growth in overall crop production on the continent was derived from increases in land area expansion, while increases in yield contributed only 26% of the growth. This unchecked expansion of land use puts the sustainability of the natural resource base under severe pressure. Even though some countries have made substantial increases in their farm productivity over the last two decades, the overall performance for Africa is far behind other regions. For the most part, in Africa, agriculture is not fulfilling its expected functions of food and nutrition security, increased export earnings, import substitution, and raw material supply for local industries. Attempts have been made to transform African agriculture over the years, but few countries have succeeded in achieving sustainable change. Using examples from Ethiopia this book identifies the major factors for success and the root causes of underperformance, and offers evidence-based recommendations for future decision making, policy change and the creation of growth. This book: · Draws on a unique set of case studies from Ethiopia described and told from a truly African perspective. · Emphasises to policy makers in Africa that development cannot be outsourced and there are no shortcuts; it is only through consistent effort and sustained support for their agricultural research and development that positive change can be brought about. · States that past agricultural development efforts by the international community have not properly included a strong African voice, and that therefore, all future academic research, policies and strategies dealing with the continent's agriculture and food security should be formulated by Africa's own leading thinkers and experts. · Is not a polemic; its arguments are knowledge and evidence based, building a compelling picture of how agricultural development can be sustained for the future.
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April 2022Sustainable Agricultural Intensification
A Handbook for Practitioners in East and Southern Africa
by Mateete Bekunda, Jonathan Odhong, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon
This book provides an insight into the background, lessons learned, and the methodology of facilitating the application of best-bet/best-fit agricultural technologies to smallholder farms in East and Southern Africa (ESA). All technologies highlighted within this book, except those on livestock feeding, were trialed and demonstrated in farmers' fields over an eight-year period [2012 - 2020] as part of the Feed the Future/USAID funded research-for-development Africa RISING ESA Project and supported by the CGIAR. The livestock feed technologies were compiled from Eastern Africa literature and included to offer a full set of technologies relevant for farmers in mixed farming systems. Topics covered include the introduction of resilient and nutrient-dense crops, better arrangement of crops in the field to amplify intercrop benefits, and the management of soils to improve soil fertility and minimize physical soil and nutrient loss. The publication also features technologies for postharvest loss reduction, livestock feeding, food processing, and in the later chapters, important expositions on how multiple technologies can be creatively integrated in a farming system and how key products of research can be taken to scale. In the first chapter and throughout the handbook, the importance of taking gender dynamics into account to ensure technologies produce equitable outcomes is emphasized. This book: provides evidence-based descriptions of sustainable agricultural intensification technologies that have been validated iteratively with smallholder farmers. a convenient, easy-to-read, and science-based 'how-to' guide for successful deployment of improved agricultural technologies that will ensure readers from development/scaling agencies save time and resources for research trials and instead focus on technology deployment. gives evidence of how building research and development partnerships can be a critical element for successful delivery and scaling up of agricultural technologies. The book is aimed primarily at development practitioners who seek new competences in taking new technologies to scale. However, the breadth of topics covered makes this book an essential resource for agricultural scientists as well as university and college students aspiring to apply systems thinking in future agricultural research and development work.
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Limnology (freshwater)November 2001Waste Composting for Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
Closing the Rural-Urban Nutrient Cycle in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Edited by Pay Drechsel, Dagmar Kunze
Rapid urbanization has created a major challenge with regard to waste management and environmental protection. However, the problem can be ameliorated by turning organic waste into compost for use as an agricultural fertilizer in peri-urban areas. This is especially significant in less developed countries, where food security is also a key issue. This book addresses these subjects and is based on papers presented at a workshop held in Ghana by the International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM, now part of the International Water Management Institute) and FAO. Special reference is given to Sub-Saharan Africa, with acknowledgement to experiences from other parts of the world. Contributing authors are from several European, as well as African, countries.
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September 2023Managing Risk in Agriculture
A Development Perspective
by Ashok K. Mishra, Subal C. Kumbhakar, Gudbrand Lien
The book addresses and documents farmers' risks in developing and emerging economies. It draws lessons from experimental economics on measuring risk preferences, attitudes, gender differences in managing risks, and risk management strategies in countries across Africa and Asia. It argues policy makers, especially in emerging economies, need a better understanding of farmers' attitudes toward risk and choices of risk management strategies when designing policies to support production agriculture. The book includes chapters on three themes: understanding risk attitudes and preferences; using experimental economics to measure risk, preferences, and risk management strategies; and understanding climate change, risk, and risk management. The book critically examines the currently held beliefs about risk preference, attitudes, and empirical estimation of risk management strategies, emphasizing developing and emerging economies (DEE). "The agricultural development space is an inherently risky one and this welcome collection belatedly helps to plug an important hole." Jock R. Anderson, Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of New England, Armidale, Australia "Over time, agricultural production practices have evolved, as have the markets and value chains for food and agricultural products. A constant consideration, however, and one that continues to define agriculture worldwide, is risk. The risks that impinge on agriculture come in all shapes and sizes. Of course, production risks are ubiquitous. But so are market risks. And the same is true for macroeconomic and financial risks and the risks associated with an evolving climate. This book will be a valuable, comprehensive resource for any applied economist desiring to understand the risk management principles relevant to modern food and agricultural systems." Matthew Holt, Prof. and head of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
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Geography & the EnvironmentJuly 2024Living the urban periphery
Infrastructure, everyday life and economic change in African city-regions
by Paula Meth, Sarah Charlton, Tom Goodfellow, Alison Todes
The edges of cities are increasingly understood as places of dynamism and change, but there is little research on African urban peripheries, the nature of building, growth, investment and decline that is shaping them and how these are lived. This co-authored monograph draws on findings from an extensive comparative study on Ethiopia and South Africa, in conversation with a related study on Ghana. It examines African urban peripheries through a dual focus on the experiences of living in these changing contexts, alongside the logics driving their transformation. Through its conceptualisation and application of five 'logics of periphery', it offers unique, contextually-informed insights into the generic processes shaping urban peripheries, and the variable ways in which these are playing out in contemporary Africa for those living the peripheries.
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Business, Economics & LawMay 2017Linking Urban and Rural Tourism
Strategies in Sustainability
by Susan L Slocum, Carol Kline
Destinations rely on regional strategies to support and enhance the tourism product through regional partnerships and integration. Integrated tourism is defined as tourism that is explicitly linked to the economic, social, cultural, natural and human structures of the region in which it occurs. Integrated tourism has evolved to include numerous meanings and definitions but all of which have a vertical approach. The first of its kind, this book moves away from the vertical approach and provides insight into inclusive regional development strategies that support both the needs of urban and rural areas whilst enhancing the tourist experience, supporting the positive impacts of tourism and mitigating the negative. Regional studies tend to portray either an urban or rural focus without acknowledging that often these spaces constitute joint governance structures, similar historical and cultural roots, and economic dependencies. Sustainable tourism promotes sourcing locally, such as using rural agricultural products in urban tourism experiences. Furthermore, innovative marketing strategies linking tourism heritage, attractions, food and drink trails, and artisans with urban visitors are emerging. Including theoretical and applied research and international case studies, this will be a valuable resource to academics, students and practitioners working in tourism development and regional policy. ; This book provides insight into inclusive regional development strategies that support both the needs of urban and rural areas. Sustainable tourism promotes sourcing locally, such as using rural products in urban experiences, while innovative marketing linking tourism heritage, food and drink trails, and artisans with urban visitors are emerging.
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Humanities & Social SciencesFebruary 2023Globalized urban precarity in Berlin and Abidjan
Young men and the digital economy
by Hannah Schilling
Digital technologies promise efficiency and comfort, but the smoothness of platform services relies on the hidden social labour of those who keep the gig economy running. This book presents a comparative ethnography of young men making a living through digital technologies: selling mobile airtime in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, and app-based delivery riders in Berlin, Germany. These case studies explore the significance of symbolic capital in urban youth's social existence and organisation of livelihood in the digital economy, and the technological mechanisms producing a new form of urban precarity. Globalized urban precarity in Berlin and Abidjan puts forward an original comparative approach to develop a global urban sociology for the digital era. It provides an innovative analytical toolbox that decentres discussions of precarity from the standard of a normal employment contract. With its focus on symbolic capital, the ethnography shows the consequences of the proliferating gig economy for status struggles among urban youth, and carefully embeds the densification of software and services into the socio-material relations on which these new urban infrastructures are built.
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MedicineFebruary 2019Agriculture for Improved Nutrition
Seizing the Momentum
by Shenggen Fan, Sivan Yosef, Rajul Pandya-Lorch
Approximately 800 million people suffer from hunger, 2 billion from lack of micronutrients and more than 2 billion from excessive weight and obesity. There is renewed interest in reshaping agricultural and food systems at global, regional and national levels, so that poor and vulnerable people have access to nutritious sustenance. This book reviews research findings, results from on-the-ground programmes and interventions, and policy experiences from the past 5-10 years. It examines the direct and indirect effects of agriculture on nutrition, following the agricultural value chain to explore this complex relationship, from biodiversity and crop fortification, to programme evaluation, to the impact of agricultural policies on consumers' choices and actions. It explores the roles of various stakeholders along the chain including women and the private sector, and cross-cutting themes such as data and capacity building. Developing country experiences and the knowledge and action gaps that remain in truly integrating agriculture and nutrition aims and related practices are considered. Key features: -Considers the evidence base on the relationship between agriculture and nutrition. -Includes insights from internationally renowned researchers. -Presents data from real-world settings that is highly relevant to the challenges currently faced by developing countries. This book is ideal for policy-makers and students studying agriculture, international development and nutrition.
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Technology, Engineering & AgricultureDecember 2021Conservation Agriculture in Africa
Climate Smart Agricultural Development
by Saidi Mkomwa, Amir H Kassam
Tillage agriculture has led to wide-spread soil and ecosystem degradation globally, and more particularly in the developing regions. This is especially so in Africa where traditional agricultural practices have become unsustainable due to severe exploitation of natural resources with negative impacts on the environment. In addition, agriculture in Africa today faces major challenges including increased costs, climate change effects and a need for more sustainable production intensification methods. Conservation (no-tillage) agriculture has emerged as a major alternative sustainable agriculture practice in Africa and has spread to many African countries in the past decade as more development and research has enabled its extension and uptake. This landmark volume is based on the material presented at the Second Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 9-12 October 2018. The main theme of the Congress was: Making Climate Smart Agriculture Real in Africa with Conservation Agriculture: Supporting the Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063. The Congress was aligned to mobilize stakeholders in all agriculture sectors to provide development support, impetus and direction to the vision and agenda for transforming African agriculture as set out by the Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063. This book is aimed at all agricultural stakeholders in the public, private and civil sectors in Africa engaged in supporting the transformation of conventional tillage agriculture to Conservation Agriculture. This includes: researchers, academics, students, development stakeholders and policy makers as well as institutional libraries across the world.
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Technology, Engineering & AgricultureApril 2017Global Urban Agriculture
by Antoinette M.G.A. WinklerPrins
There has been growing attention paid to urban agriculture worldwide because of its role in making cities more environmentaly sustainable while also contributing to enhanced food access and social justice. This edited volume brings together current research and case studies concerning urban agriculture from both the Global North and the Global South. Its objective is to help bridge the long-standing divide between discussion of urban agriculture in the Global North and the Global South and to demonstrate that today there are greater areas of overlap than there are differences both theoretically and substantively, and that research in either area can help inform research in the other. The book covers the nature of urban agriculture and how it supports livelihoods, provides ecosystem services, and community development. It also considers urban agriculture and social capital, networks, and agro-biodiversity conservation. Concepts such as sustainability, resilience, adaptation and community, and the value of urban agriculture as a recreational resource are explored. It also examines, quite fundamentally, why people farm in the city and how urban agriculture can contribute to more sustainable cities in both the Global North and the Global South. Key Features: · One of the first volumes to bring together evidence from urban agriculture in the Global North and the Global South · Explores the contribution of urban agriculture to livelihoods, ecosystems and conservation · Numerous case studies examine a very diverse range of urban agriculture systems ; Urban agriculture is crucial to the environmental sustainability of cities, but the issues facing cities in the global north and south have been seen as unlinked. This book brings together evidence from both areas to highlight the interconnectedness and the contribution to social justice. ; 1: Defining and Theorizing Global Urban Agriculture2: A View from the South: Bringing Critical Planning Theory to Urban Agriculture3: Barriers and Benefits of North American Urban Agriculture4: A Survey of Urban Community Gardeners in the United States of America5: Gardens in the City: Community, Politics, and Place in San Diego, California6: “Growing Food is Hard Work:” The Labor Challenges of Urban Agriculture in Houston, Texas7: The Marketing of Vegetables Produced in Cities in Ghana: Implications and Trajectories8: Hunger for Justice: Building Sustainable and Equitable Communities in Massachusetts9: Sustainability’s Incomplete Circles: Towards a Just Food Politics in Austin, Texas and Havana, Cuba10: A Political Ecology of Community Gardens in Australia: From Local to Global Lessons11: Urban Agriculture as Adaptive Capacity: An Example from Senegal12: Intersection and Material Flow in Open-Space Urban Farms in Tanzania13: Relying on Urban Gardens for Survival within the Building of a Modern City in Colombia14: Regreening Kibera: How Urban Agriculture Changed the Physical and Social Environment of a Large Slum in Kenya15: Farm Fresh in the City: Urban Grassroots Food Distribution Networks in Finland16: The Appropriation of Space through ‘Communist Swarms:’ A Socio-Spatial Examination of Urban Apiculture in Washington, DC17: Urban Agriculture and the Re-Assembly of the City: Lessons from Wuhan, China18: The Contribution of Smallholder Irrigated Urban Agriculture Towards Household Food Security in Harare, Zimbabwe19: Community Gardens as Urban Social-Ecological Refuges in the Global North20: Global Urban Agriculture into the Future: Urban Cultivation as Accepted Practice
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Humanities & Social SciencesJanuary 2024The urban life of workers in post-Soviet Russia
Engaging in everyday struggle
by Alexandrina Vanke
Despite the intense processes of deindustrialisation around the world, the working class continues to play an important role in post-industrial societies. However, working-class people are often stigmatised, morally judged and depicted negatively in dominant discourses. This book challenges stereotypical representations of workers, building on research into the everyday worlds of working-class and ordinary people in Russia's post-industrial cities. The urban life of workers in post-Soviet Russia is centred on the stories of local communities engaged in the everyday struggles that occur in deindustrialising settings under neoliberal neo-authoritarianism. The book suggests a novel approach to everyday life in post-industrial cities. Drawing on an ethnographic study with elements of arts-based research, the book presents a new genre of writing about workers influenced by the avant-garde documentary tradition and working-class literature.
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August 2023Nanoformulations for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Risk Mitigation
by Zeba Khan, Nicoleta Anca Sutan
Nanotechnology research and its application in agriculture has become a major focus in recent years. Nanoformulations offer the possibility to develop more efficient and less damaging agrochemicals in the environment. Smart delivery systems for nanosensors, molecules that can help to detect biotic or abiotic stresses before they can affect production, are being developed and applied. Nanotechnology also provides new techniques for genetic manipulation and plant breeding. The use of nanoformulations in agriculture is increasingly being used to enhance food values, reduce agricultural inputs, improve nutrient contents and create a longer shelf life for many products. Nanotechnology is also being applied to many aspects of food security, disease treatment, new tools for pathogen detection, effective delivery systems and packaging materials. It is hoped that all these applications will help meet the needs of a growing population, and help mitigate the effects of climate change and other ecological disturbances. This book highlights new applications of these nanoforms in the field of agricultural science.It is written by an international team of experts from across this broad discipline.The book is essential reading for graduate students, researchers and practitioners involved in the application of nanotechnology in agriculture. The book · examines the role of nano-formulations in crop yield improvement whilst reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. · covers specially enabled delivery systems for the release of nanoformulations, field-sensing systems to monitor environmental stresses, and improvement of plant traits against environmental stress and diseases · is well written, unambiguous, simple, lucid, scientific and precise and chapters are supplemented with ample illustrations and case studies to clarify and summarize key points.
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Science & MathematicsNovember 2020Urban Ecology
Its Nature and Challenges
by Pedro Barbosa
This book provides a detailed examination of specific issues in urban ecology which are of great interest to professional ecologists, researchers, students and the general public. Written by a team of international experts the book presents a series of issue-based essays and assumes that urban ecology reflects the natural forces in effect in the habitats described and provides important, succinct, and informative introductions to critical topics. Examples of topics included are: Relative Success of Invasive Species in Urban vs. Non-Urban Habitats, Urban Habitats: Who Like Them More; Vertebrates or Invertebrates?, Unintended Consequences in Urban Habitats Compared to Non-Urban Habitats, Protecting Pollinators in the Urban Environment, Climate Change and Urban Environments, How Urban Conditions Influence Ecological Interactions.
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Geography & the EnvironmentMarch 2019Urban gardening and the struggle for social and spatial justice
by Chiara Certomà, Susan Noori, Martin Sondermann
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December 2021Transforming Tertiary Agricultural Education in Africa
by David Kraybill, John Lynam, Adipala Ekwamu
Enormous changes are affecting African production agriculture, urbanization, and food consumption patterns, requiring new approaches to training and knowledge generation and dissemination to achieve food security. Many agricultural universities and other tertiary agricultural education (TAE) organizations have been slow to respond, hindered by inadequate staffing and facilities and growing competition for funds. However, some African agricultural universities are transforming themselves and are achieving remarkable success. This book documents successful approaches to remaking TAE in Africa to inspire leaders, both formal and informal, of other TAE organizations. It emphasises adaptive strategies and processes creating an internal culture driven by stakeholder needs and where organizational transformation improves the quality and relevance of teaching, research, and outreach. The chapters cover the role of TAE in agricultural transformation, trends in TAE in Africa, solutions to the rigour-versus-relevance dilemma, curriculum design informed by actual and emerging labour market conditions, innovation and entrepreneurship, TAE quality assurance, and networking among TAE institutions. This book: Emphasizes best practices within Africa rather than theories or models from outside Promotes adaptive organizational learning strategies rather than blueprints Promotes collaboration and networking for cross-learning and leveraging of resources Features practical examples and case studies This book is aimed at academics in Africa and abroad, students of agricultural development, educational and agricultural policy makers in Africa, international development partners, and education sector investors.
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July 2023Urban Pest Management
An Environmental Perspective
by Partho Dhang
The management and control of pests in the urban environment in the 21st Century faces many challenges. Pest populations adapt to changing conditions brought about by environmental changes caused by global warming, human population growth, and increased pollution. Urban pests are able to expand their ranges, densities, and habitats, sometimes causing large-scale damage and disease. This book provides collective insights from academic and industry experts on perspectives concerning urban pest management and regulatory innovations arising from the rapid onset of recent environmental challenges. Chapter topics address pest biology, advances in urban pest management practices, emerging urban pest control developments, new technologies, and regulations. The book describes new methods of pest control, their impacts on human health and the environment, and strategies for integrated management limiting the use of chemicals. It provides a practical resource for researchers and policy makers in pest management, urban health, medical entomology and environmental science. · An up-to-date and comprehensive resource on environmental urban pest management · Designed to appeal to pest control operators, public health professionals, and a range of field workers, as well as researching academics and graduate students · Brings both academic and industry experts together in one volume
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Business, Economics & LawApril 2022Youth and the Rural Economy in Africa
Hard Work and Hazard
by James Sumberg, Jordan Chamberlin, Barbara Crossouard, Máiréad Dunne, Justin Flynn, Marjoke Oosterom, Carolina Szyp, Dorte Thorsen, Felix Kwame Yeboah, Thomas Yeboah
This book brings together recent findings from quantitative and qualitative research from across Africa to illuminate how young men and women engage with the rural economy, imagine their futures and how development policies and interventions find traction (or not) with these realities. Through framing, overview and evidence-based chapters, it provides a critical perspective on current discourse, research and development interventions around youth and rural development. It is organised around commonly-made foundational claims: that large numbers of young people are leaving rural areas; have no interest in agriculture; cannot access land; are stuck in permanent waithood; that the rural economy provides (or can provide) a wealth of opportunity; and that they can be the engine of rural transformation. It draws from existing literature and new analysis arising from several multi-country and multi-disciplinary studies, focusing on gender and other aspects of social difference. It is a major contribution to current debates and development policy about youth, agriculture and employment in rural Africa.
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MedicineMay 2020The Economics of Farm Animal Welfare
Theory, Evidence and Policy
by Bouda Vosough Ahmadi, Dominic Moran, Rick D'Eath
This landmark new text charts the latest developments in economic research relevant to farm animal welfare. A range of global experts and key opinion leaders outline the challenges of achieving sustainable intensification whilst improving both climate change and animal welfare, and make policy-relevant recommendations for the future. Theoretical yet practical, the book examines: - Origins, cross-disciplinary interactions and the future of farm animal welfare; - Consumer demand and changing preferences as animal welfare rises up the social agenda; - The impact on animal welfare of political organisations such as the EU and WTO. An important resource for policy makers and animal welfare scientists and clinicians, this book provides a thought-provoking yet evidence-based review for all those interested in quantifying farm animal welfare.
