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By: Seth Kwizera, Claude Bizimana, and David J. Spielman

Rwanda’s Fourth Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation (PSTA IV) presents an ambitious plan to dramatically change the country’s agricultural sector and rural economy. Released in 2018, the plan forms a critical component of Vision 2050, which envisions Rwanda’s transformation into an upper middle income country by 2035 and a high income country by 2050.

By Mulubrhan Amare and Julia Wilson

Kenya is the world’s third largest producer of avocados. It’s also Kenya’s leading fruit export, accounting for nearly one-fifth of its total horticultural exports.

But Kenya only exports 10% of its total avocado production. By comparison , Chile exports 55% and South Africa exports 60%.

Avocado is grown in several parts of Kenya and about 70% of avocado production is by small-scale growers. They grow it for subsistence, local markets, and export purposes.

By Noam David, Oliver Gao, and Yanyan Liu

The lack of accurate rainfall measurements in developing countries poses problems in monitoring crop yields, which in turn can make it difficult for the providers of rainfall-based index insurance to gauge risks and set rates accurately.

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org .

By: Tsitsi Makombe and Julie Kurtz

Providing smallholder farmers access to markets and price information is key to improving agricultural productivity and growth, along with food and nutrition security. In line with this, the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE) has operated a Market Information System (MIS) and a Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) since 2011. The MIS provides farmers, traders and other market participants with access to regular updates on the prices of the commodities they trade via SMS and email, along with its online trading platforms.