Policy-makers often lack information and analytical capacity to effectively monitor how policies impact on different stakeholders. The MAFAP initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization seeks to bridge this gap.

The changes in global agricultural markets over the past decade have major implications on agricultural policy. What are the challenges and opportunities for development-oriented agricultural policy-making? And what advisory capacities are needed to deliver substantive advice to developing countries’ governments?

Many a dogma produced by agricultural policies over the past decades has proved disastrous for African agriculture. Ms Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, Commissioner of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union (AU), looks at lessons learnt and suggests ways to bring progress to Africa’s rural regions.

Initially hailed a huge success, Malawi’s effort to boost agriculture with fertiliser subsidies appears to have met with failure. The author has a look at what went wrong, arguing that developments must be assessed against the backdrop of politics.

Last year Angola earned 48 billion US dollars from petroleum. Yet the country that was once Africa’s largest agricultural producer is reduced to importing food. Now the government and private investors want to develop the agricultural sector, in the hope that Angola could become a new Brazil. But will there still be room for small-scale farmers?

The first draft of the Tanzanian constitution incorporates many provisions that will improve the rights and interests of pastoralists, huntergatherers and women in these communities.

 However, there remain some important outstanding issues that must be addressed in order to ensure adequate reform that protects these marginalized groups’ interests

In northern Tanzania, new grassroots groups called Women’s Rights and Leadership Forums (WRLFs) are mobilizing women and men in pastoralist communities to promote and defend local land rights.

Programmes to reduce emissions from deforestation and ecosystem degradation, such as REDD+ and other forestry incentive programmes, including Payment for Environmental Services (PES), could represent an opportunity to strengthen processes of conservation, sustainable usage and poverty reduction in the Mesoamerican region, particularly in indigenous territories and communities.

In recent years, Zambia has witnessed increased interest from private investors in acquiring land for

agriculture. As elsewhere, large-scale land acquisitions are often accompanied with promises of capital

investments to build infrastructure, bring new technologies and know-how, create employment, and

La manière dont les entreprises agro-industrielles et industrielles investissent les espaces agricoles des pays en développement attire l’attention sur une nouvelle forme d’espace géographique : l’interstice.

The NAP 2013 aims at addressing challenges that continue to hinder the development of the agricultural sector; these include low productivity; over dependence on rain-fed agriculture; inadequate agriculture support services; poor infrastructure; weak agro-industries; low quality of agricultural produce; inadequate participation of the country’s private sector in agriculture; environmental degra

An Act to provide the establishment of the National Irrigation Commission; to provide for the development,operation and maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems; to provide for effective implementation of the National Irrigation Policy, the National Irrigation Development Strategy and to provide for related matters.