Paper reviews recent experience in providing seasonal credit, arguing that economic liberalisation leaves many questions unanswered, especially given the reluctance of commercial banks to provide this service, and weak private trading sectors in many countries. However, examples can be found of how the private sector has provided seasonal credit adequately for some commercial crops, and […]

This article argues that efforts to achieve the promotion of sustainable development within the framework of Agenda 21 should be based on reexamining and applying indigenous knowledge and techniques, as opposed to the wholesale importation of Westernized methods and ideas. The aim should be to attain the optimum combination of the best practices from traditional […]

The paper examines the effect of differing policies in the post-independence period on the agricultural and overall economic performance of Zambia and Zimbabwe. It focuses on the interaction between macroeconomic and agricultural policy reforms. It shows that macro and micro reforms need to be closely linked and that both are critical to sectoral performance. The […]

Report assessing the indigenous systems of seed flow and variety development (especially seed fairs), and public agricultural development organisation perceptions of it.Outcomes and conclusions:indications of the existence of a dynamic informal culture of seed procurement, testing, and exchange among smallholder farmers in south east Tanzaniafarmers attended the seed fairs, the wide range of varieties of […]

Synthesis of five studies, undertaken in Ethiopia, Kenya, Peru, Tanzania, and Thailand, included intervention trails and measurement of impacts.The results suggest that it is possible to increase the effectiveness of micronutrient interventions (including Vitamin A, iron, iodine) by increasing women’s active participation in problem solving and by increasing their access to such key resources as […]

Examines economic benefits of introducing new technologies for maize and teff growing in Ethiopia, based on experimental projects. Considers their role as both food security and export crops, and the financial implications for extension and credit services.Found that: Improved technology is profitable for both maize and teff, even if output prices decline by 25% or […]

Provides a theoretical discussion of the key issues of the social impact and a brief account of the Tanzanian economy and the various dimensions of the economic crisis of the 1980s. Then discusses the social impact of adjustment programmes in Tanzania with regard to health, nutrition, education, pressure on women, and responses to the crisis […]

To investigate risk-sharing within the household, we model nutritional status as a durable good and we look at the consequences of individual health shocks. For household allocation to be pareto-efficient, households should pool shocks to income. We also investigate whether households can smooth nutritional levels over time. Using data from rural Ethiopia on adult nutritional […]

The current government of Ethiopia has put agriculture at the heart of its policies. There is particular emphasis on promoting adoption of fertiliser, improved seeds and the efficiency of input marketing and distribution. In this paper we use a nationally representative data set for 1994 to analyse what factors influence adoption of as well as […]