White Paper

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces great challenges in development, including the highest poverty rate in the world, food insecurity, and malnutrition. Given that agriculture is the single most important source of rural livelihood in Africa, an agricultural growth strategy will go a long way to reducing hunger and poverty on the subcontinent. Among the numerous challenges to enhancing agricultural production in SSA is the large spatial and temporal variability and availability of water resources. Currently, agriculture in SSA is predominantly rainfed.

In addition to global developments and food policy changes, 2014 also saw important developments with potentially wide repercussions in individual countries and regions. This chapter offers perspectives on major food policy developments in various regions including Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

This paper examines how a changing climate may affect rice production and how Vietnamese farmers are likely to adapt to various climatic conditions using an innovative yield function approach, taking into account sample selection bias and endogeneity of inputs. Model results suggest that although climate change can potentially reduce rice production, farmers will respond mainly by adjusting the production portfolio and levels of input use.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces great challenges in development, including the highest poverty rate in the world, food insecurity, and malnutrition. Given that agriculture is the single most important source of rural livelihood in Africa, an agricultural growth strategy will go a long way to reducing hunger and poverty on the subcontinent. Among the numerous challenges to enhancing agricultural production in SSA is the large spatial and temporal variability and availability of water resources. Currently, agriculture in SSA is predominantly rainfed.

South Asia (SA), including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan, is one of the most populous regions in the world. Agriculture is the backbone of the economies of SA nations and is the main source of livelihood for many rural poor households. While parts of SA have experienced considerable agricultural sector growth in the last half-century, other areas, including large parts of eastern India and Bangladesh, have lagged behind. Many farmers face water scarcity due to both physical constraints as well as lack of adequate water storage and management.

In 2011 two United Nations bodies adopted ambitious goals for halting land degradation and achieving sustainable development. These goals will be difficult, but not impossible, to meet. The evidence presented here suggests several avenues for achieving a world with no land degradation. First, efforts to promote sustainable land management need to improve local and national governance while also enhancing international cooperation.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces great challenges in development, including the highest poverty rate in the world, food insecurity, and malnutrition. Given that agriculture is the single most important source of rural livelihood in Africa, an agricultural growth strategy will go a long way to reducing hunger and poverty on the subcontinent. Among the numerous challenges to enhancing agricultural production in SSA is the large spatial and temporal variability and availability of water resources. Currently, agriculture in SSA is predominantly rainfed.

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