African smallholder family farming, the backbone of the continental economy throughout the colonial and early post-colonial period, has been destabilized and eroded over the past thirty years. Despite the World Bank’s poverty alleviation concerns, agrarian livelihoods continue to unravel under the impact of economic liberalization and global value chains. Can Afric...

African smallholder family farming, the backbone of the continental economy throughout the colonial and early post-colonial period, has been destabilized and eroded over the past thirty years. Despite the World Bank’s poverty alleviation concerns, agrarian livelihoods continue to unravel under the impact of economic liberalization and global value chains. Can Afric...

For thousands of years, Ethiopia has depended on its smallholding farmers to provide the bulk of its food needs. But now, such farmers find themselves under threat from environmental degradation, climate change and declining productivity. As a result, smallholder agriculture has increasingly become subsistence-oriented, with many of these farmers trapped in a cycle...

Energy crisis and climate change have generated global demands for alternative non-fossil fuel sources. This has led to a rapid increase of investments in production of liquid biofuels based on agricultural feed stocks such as sugar cane. Most African governments see biofuels as a potential for increasing agricultural productivity and export incomes and thus streng...

Liberia has a long history of non-inclusive development with dire consequences for its population, in terms of poverty and conflict. This research explores recent trends in the post-war Liberian cocoa market that suggest a possible break with the past. Structural changes in the cocoa market are found to have strengthened the bargaining power of smallholder farmers ...

Liberia has a long history of non-inclusive development with dire consequences for its population, in terms of poverty and conflict. This research explores recent trends in the post-war Liberian cocoa market that suggest a possible break with the past. Structural changes in the cocoa market are found to have strengthened the bargaining power of smallholder farmers ...

Failures in considering and properly addressing local resistance have become costly for both the local people and the investors. Land acquisition policies need to be accompanied by mechanisms that address local grievances and conflicts. These aspects are crucial not only to alleviate unjust practices, but also to enhance confidence of investors and performance of t...

Failures in considering and properly addressing local resistance have become costly for both the local people and the investors. Land acquisition policies need to be accompanied by mechanisms that address local grievances and conflicts. These aspects are crucial not only to alleviate unjust practices, but also to enhance confidence of investors and performance of t...

Khat is a plant native to Ethiopia that has been consumed over several centuries as a mental and physical stimulant. This report outlines khat’s role as a source of livelihood. Khat, dubbed a social ill by many, is at the same time part and parcel of the livelihoods of many others. With consumption of the stimulant spreading to many parts of Africa, Europe, North A...

Khat is a plant native to Ethiopia that has been consumed over several centuries as a mental and physical stimulant. This report outlines khat’s role as a source of livelihood. Khat, dubbed a social ill by many, is at the same time part and parcel of the livelihoods of many others. With consumption of the stimulant spreading to many parts of Africa, Europe, North A...