Reports
Title | Date | Summary | File |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy Briefer: Commodity Exchanges | May, 2012 | Agricultural growth and trade in developing countries is often inhibited by the high costs of finding and screening trading partners, determining the quality of goods traded, negotiating prices, enforcing contracts, and coping with price volatility. An active commodity exchange, where multiple buyers and sellers trade commodity-linked contracts, can reduce these transactions costs by facilitating price discovery and managing risk. When commodity exchanges function well they can increase the volume of trade and thereby reduce price volatility. A commodity exchange can be an important element for market-oriented agricultural sector development; however it is not a one-size fits all solution. | |
| VcClir Mali: Recommendation Feasibility and Action Plan | April, 2012 | This Value Chain Commercial Legal and Institutional Reform (VcCLIR) diagnostic report addresses the conditions and opportunities for Doing Business in Mali?s agricultural sector. Based on the well-known Commercial Legal and Institutional Reform (CLIR) methodology, VcCLIR examines the relevant laws, institutions, and social dynamics across four aspects of the sector. However, this tool adds a special focus on critical value chains. In the case of this Mali report, these subsectors are livestock, rice, shallots, and millet/sorghum. This report aims to inform the assistance decisions of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and other donors in the area of agricultural development, economic growth, and food security. This report also provides insights and recommendations for government officials, private-sector representatives, and other stakeholders directly involved with the sector. | |
| Value Chain Briefer: Livestock in Mali | March, 2012 | Livestock are of key economic and social importance to Mali at both the household and national levels. Livestock production accounts for approximately 30 percent of Mali?s agricultural GDP, and around 85 percent of Mali?s agricultural households own some form of ruminant. The combination of low-cost animals reared on extensive rangelands and cheap cotton seed cake contributes much towards the competitive advantage of the Malian livestock sector. The Government of Mali (GoM) has the potential to transform the export sector and become a regional supplier of meat and animal by-products. However appropriate policy reforms are needed to increase investment in production and processing, increase interaction between stakeholders throughout the value chain, reduce transaction costs and road harassment in trade, and improve animal health delivery services. | |
| Value Chain Briefer: Millet and Sorghum in Mali | March, 2012 | Millet and sorghum, when taken together, remain the most widely consumed cereals in Mali, particularly in rural areas and among low-income Malians. Despite this, however, production and yield growth in recent years have been low, increasing much more modestly than rice and maize, largely as a result of embryonic commercial processing. The Malian government has launched cereal production objectives that involve continued increases in the absolute amount of millet/sorghum production. However, because the sector is so subsistencebased, ?commercializing? production will require a number of policy and institutional reforms, such as removing the barriers to the utilization of improved seed varieties and developing export markets for both processed and unprocessed grain. | |
| At A Glance - The Market for Maize, Rice, Soy, and Warehousing in Northern Ghana | February, 2012 | Northern Ghana is relatively poor, isolated, dry, and politically unstable when compared to the rapidly developing and urbanizing south. However, in recent years the northern regions above the 8th parallel (the ?SADA North?) have received much government and donor attention in the form of agricultural subsidies and social programs. This so-called Breadbasket Initiative aims to transform the north into a more stable and prosperous area, with a focus on smallholder production of staple grains and legumes, particularly maize, rice, and soybean. Much of this investment has paid off, with higher agricultural yields and greater market connectivity contributing positively to local economic development. | |
| EAT Ghana Assessment - The Market for Maize, Rice, Soy, and Warehousing in Northern Ghana | February, 2012 | The Government of Ghana, its bilateral and multilateral donors, and commercial agricultural investors now have an opportunity to refine their goals and target future investments. The key to success will be a thorough, nuanced, and disaggregated assessment of market demand for Northern Ghana?s agricultural products, and a candid evaluation of its productive potential. This rapid study was conducted over several weeks of field interviews and site visits, and is based on the premise that acceptance of market realities will result in lower risk and greater returns for small and large agribusinesses. | |
| VcCLIR Mali: Commercial Legal and Institutional Reform for Agricultural Value Chains in Mali | February, 2012 | One of the most important reform agendas advocated is a reduction in ?food security? interventions in the markets for staples, particularly meat and rice, to a predictable, minimum level, based on objectives criteria and thresholds. Currently, the government ?negotiates? (and then establishes) prices at multiple stages along select value chains, such as meat and bread, a system that protects consumers in the short run but puts enormous constraints on these industries. In the case of rice, meat, and dairy, market opportunities are not being seized, since profit incentives to invest along the chain in higher value processing, modernization, or proper storage are limited. This report recommends a number of possible steps toward tackling this critical issue, including targeted advocacy and bureaucratic reform. | |
| Value Chain Briefer: Rice in Mali | February, 2012 | Malian rice production is competitive and can be profitable, benefiting from higher global prices and an increase in the demand for local rice. However, despite this underlying competitiveness, there is little private investment flowing to rice production or processing. Rice processing is inefficient, with high proportions of broken rice. Improved mills would add value and increase the size of the market, and this represents a notable investment opportunity, given proper conditions. The second phase of the Alatona Irrigation Project provides a unique opportunity to develop a public private partnership to invest in large scale rice production. However, the government must take ownership of this commercial vision. | |
| Policy Brief: Zambia’s Agricultural Marketing Information Centre | February, 2012 | The primary reasons for AMIC?s weak performance are competing priorities and a misguided incentive structure for staff at the national, provincial, and most importantly, at the district level, where the viability of the collection process depends on reciprocity between price collectors and traders. | |
| AgBEE Snapshot on Jordan | January, 2012 | An overview of the major legal, regulatory and institutional constraints within the business enabling environment for agriculture (AgBEE) in Jordan | |
| AgBEE Snapshot on the Palestinian Economy | January, 2012 | An overview of the major legal, regulatory and institutional constraints within the business enabling environment for agriculture (AgBEE) in the West Bank | |
| Policy Briefer: Seed Policy | November, 2011 | A dynamic and responsive seed industry is an essential component of a healthy agricultural sector. Farmers everywhere depend on access to high quality seed to enhance their productivity. Despite commitment by governments to increasing access to improved seed, the vast majority of farmers in developing countries do not utilize improved varieties. The problem is often a policy environment that does not enable the private sector to generate and meet market demand for seed. | |
| AgCLIR: Zambia | February, 2011 | In November 2010, USAID sponsored an Agribusiness Commercial Legal and Institutional Reform (AgCLIR) diagnostic in Zambia for the purpose of identifying key legal, regulatory, and institutional issues impacting productivity, efficiency, and opportunity in the agricultural sector. The diagnostic takes a cross-sector approach to determining the constraints within the enabling environment for agricultural enterprises. The resulting report lays out a path to reform through prioritized and practical recommendations for Zambia?s government, private sector, and donor community. The AgCLIR recommendations are supplemented by a qualitative scorecard of the strengths and weaknesses in the country?s agricultural sector. |
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