Library Resource
January, 1996
South Africa
Search results
Search results
Showing items 1 through 9 of 36.-
-
Library Resource
Journal Articles & BooksJanuary, 1996Africa, Sierra LeonePaul Richards argues that the war in Sierra Leone and other small wars in Africa do not manifest a "new barbarism". What appears as random, anarchic violence is no such thing. The terrifying military methods of Sierra Leone's soldiers may not fit Western models of warfare, but they are rational and effective. The war must be understood partly as "performance", in which techniques of terror compensate for lack of equipment.
-
Library Resource
January, 1996Sub-Saharan AfricaKey findings and policy implications discussed in this document—Promoting Farm Investment for Sustainable Intensification of African Agriculture— include the following: Farmers are much more likely to invest in both productivity and land protection when they can produce cash crops. Livestock husbandry is a boon to farm investments, as it provides cash income, manure, and an insurance policy against crop failures. Land tenure insecurity, political instability, policy caprice, and wildly fluctuating farm prices dissuade investment.
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1996Sub-Saharan Africa
Report draws attention to the structure of landholding as a set of mechanisms through which demographic changes in agrarian societies can alter the natural environment: demographically-induced change in the structure of landholding: farm holdings generally become smaller as an ever-increasing number of households enter the agricultural work force and seek to derive their livelihood from this fixed resource base holdings tend to become more fragmented, not simply in the number of parcels operated but in the distances between parcels, as farmers look harder and farther for whatever bits and p
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1996Sub-Saharan Africa
This research report provides an in-depth understanding of many aspects of Senegalese agricultural policy, its historical impact, and more recent farmer responses to government attempts to recent farmer responses to government attempts to stimulate growth in the agricultural sector. Addressed directly are such questions as: How have farmers responded to changes in agricultural technology, prices, and marketing policies? What have been the policy successes and failures? What are the current trends in cropping productivity?
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1995South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
Commercial farms in South Africa could become significantly more efficient if they became smaller. The government could encourage that trend by removing policies and distortions that favor large over small farms.Drawing on international evidence, van Zyl, Binswanger, and Thirtle discuss the sources of economies of scale.
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1995South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
Apparently factor prices do matter in agricultural production and in the selection of production technology. And in South Africa, more attention should be focused on the technological needs of small scale farmers.
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1995Zimbabwe, Sub-Saharan Africa
This case study of Zimbabwe has examined developments in biotechnology against the background of a well-developed national agricultural research, plant breeding and seeds system. It has then assessed the constraints to biotechnology research, technology development and diffusion in the light of the resources available and the technology transfer mechanisms in place for different groups of farmers.
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1996Sub-Saharan Africa
There is clearly a link between agricultural incentives and the environment, but quantitative data on such topics as soil quality and land use are inadequate for sound analysis.Mamingi studies the literature on how agricultural prices and macroeconomic policies affect agricultural supply and how that supply affects the environment. He addresses the question of how effective agricultural incentives are in boosting the agricultural supply, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.Certain generalizations are common in the literature: Farmers are rational.
-
Library ResourceJanuary, 1995Sub-Saharan Africa
In urban areas of Cote d'Ivoire, human capital is the endowment that best explains welfare changes over time. In rural areas, physical capital especially the amount of land and farm equipment owned matters most.Empirical investigations of poverty in developing countries tend to focus on the incidence of poverty at a particular point in time. If the incidence of poverty increases, however, there is no information about how many new poor have joined the existing poor and how many people have escaped poverty.Yet this distinction is of crucial policy importance.
Land Library Search
Through our robust search engine, you can search for any item of the over 64,800 highly curated resources in the Land Library.
If you would like to find an overview of what is possible, feel free to peruse the Search Guide.