The perception of Ethiopia projected in the media is often one of chronic poverty and hunger, but this bleak assessment does not accurately reflect most of the country today. Ethiopia encompasses a wide variety of agroecologies and peoples. Its agriculture sector, economy, and food security status are equally complex. In fact, since 2001 the per capita income in certain rural areas has risen by more than 50 percent, and crop yields and availability have also increased. Higher investments in roads and mobile phone technology have led to improved infrastructure and thereby greater access to markets, commodities, services, and information. In Food and Agriculture in Ethiopia: Progress and Policy Challenges, Paul Dorosh and Shahidur Rashid, along with other experts, tell the story of Ethiopia's political, economic, and agricultural transformation. The book is designed to provide empirical evidence to shed light on the complexities of agricultural and food policy in today's Ethiopia, highlight major policies and interventions of the past decade, and provide insights into building resilience to natural disasters and food crises. It examines the key issues, constraints, and opportunities that are likely to shape a food-secure future in Ethiopia, focusing on land quality, crop production, adoption of high-quality seed and fertilizer, and household income. Students, researchers, policy analysts, and decisionmakers will find this book a useful overview of Ethiopia's political, economic, and agricultural transformation as well as a resource for major food policy issues in Ethiopia. Contributors: Dawit Alemu, Guush Berhane, Jordan Chamberlin, Sarah Coll-Black, Paul Dorosh, Berhanu Gebremedhin, Sinafikeh Asrat Gemessa, Daniel O. Gilligan, John Graham, Kibrom Tafere Hirfrfot, John Hoddinott, Adam Kennedy, Neha Kumar, Mehrab Malek, Linden McBride, Dawit Kelemework Mekonnen, Asfaw Negassa, Shahidur Rashid, Emily Schmidt, David Spielman, Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, Seneshaw Tamiru, James Thurlow, William Wiseman.

A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- CONTENTS -- List of abbreviations -- List of contributors -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Knowledge politics in development-oriented agronomy -- 2 On the movement of agricultural technologies: packaging, unpacking and situated reconfiguration -- 3 South-South cooperation and agribusiness contestations in irrigated rice: China and Brazil in Ghana -- 4 GM crops 'for Africa': contestation and knowledge politics in the Kenyan biosafety debate -- 5 Systems research in the CGIAR as an arena of struggle: competing discourses on the embedding of research in development -- 6 One step forward, two steps back in farmer knowledge exchange: 'scaling up' as Fordist replication in drag -- 7 When the solution became a problem: strategies in the reform of agricultural extension in Uganda -- 8 Sweet 'success': contesting biofortification strategies to address malnutrition in Tanzania -- 9 Crops in context: negotiating traditional and formal seed institutions -- 10 Laws of the field: rights and justice in development-oriented agronomy -- 11 A golden age for agronomy? -- References -- Index

This book explores the sustainability aspect of organic and conventional farming systems, which is commonly categorized into three sub-aspects: social, environmental and economic. The social structure of a given area, organic friendly technologies, soil properties, crop diversification and income are the elements chosen for comparison, and are analyzed using descriptive and statistical methods. In addition, the book assesses the current status of the local organic market in Nepal and field experiments involving the use of various organic means to achieve better production for selected vegetables. Determining the benefits and/or challenges of organic and conventional farming is important to determining the most viable type of farming in the long term, but can be greatly impacted by a given area’s specific characteristics (social, environmental, political, etc.), which is why this study focuses on a specific location: the Chitwan district of Nepal, where group conversion to organic farming has existed alongside conventional farming for years. This book offers a useful guide for both practitioners and academic researchers who are interested in organic farming and food security, particularly in developing countries.

To make innovations work commercially among the target group requires institutional approach that can anticipate and predict users' urgent needs through participation. Conversely, to make innovations work technically requires a pile of junk and good imagination according to Thomas Edison. Biotechnology no doubt is a significant innovation that can enable farmers in developing countries increase productivity and manage their products. Nevertheless, biotech application is surrounded with many controversial debates. These controversies have affected its perception among farmers and consumers alike. Using a mixed method approach, empirical data were gathered from farmers and extension agents in six geopolitical divisions of Nigeria to determine factors capable of ensuring sustainable biotech adoption. Results revealed that the probability of biotech adoption is dependent on a cause and effect relationship.