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Summary of Virtual Dialogue: FSI for Food Access & Nutrition

Dec 2nd, 2016 • by Sara Gustafson

Reliable, timely data is crucial to fight hunger and malnutrition and to drive overall development in Africa south of the Sahara; however, significant research and data gaps exist, in terms of both the availability of information and the effective, transparent use of that information by policymakers. (For further discussion of existing research gaps, read about our side event at the recent 2016 ReSAKSS Conference). Improving food security information (FSI) is therefore a development goal that goes hand-in-hand with eradicating hunger.

Inorganic and Organic Fertilizers in Nigeria

Nov 30th, 2016 • by Sara Gustafson

Fertilizers, particularly inorganic (chemical) fertilizers, have the ability to substantially increase farmers’ agricultural productivity.  However, in Nigeria, fertilizer use remains low; according to a new AGRODEP working paper , inorganic fertilizer use in Nigeria is 11.3kg/ha and organic fertilizer use is only 0.2kg/ha. This puts Nigeria well below the targeted 50 kg/ha set forth in the Abuja Declaration. To address this low fertilizer use, the Nigerian Federal Government established a subsidy to help farmers access inorganic fertilizers.

Improving Agricultural Value Chains

Nov 22nd, 2016 • by Sara Gustafson

Better linking Africa’s rural smallholder population to national, regional, and international agricultural value chains is a key rural development and poverty reduction priority. Which types of interventions will be successful in improving such linkages is highly context-specific, however, depending on the country, the target population, and the specific product being marketed. In a new book , IFPRI researchers examine how to best evaluate and implement context-specific value chain development (VCD) interventions, with several case studies conducted in Africa south of the Sahara.

Post-Harvest Losses in Ethiopian Teff

Nov 16th, 2016 • by Sara Gustafson

It is a commonly held belief that post-harvest losses along staple food value chains in developing countries tend to be high. However, a new research note from the Ethiopia Strategy Support Program (ESSP) suggests that in the case of Ethiopian teff, this may not be true.

Malawi's Food-Insecure Population Expected to Grow

Nov 15th, 2016 • by Sara Gustafson

For the second year in a row, Malawi is facing a national maize deficit. In the 2016-2017 marketing year, the maize supply gap is expected to be 953,000 MT, according to a new Food Security Outlook from FEWS Net.