Evans School Policy Analysis & Research Group (EPAR)

This report provides a summary of Tanzania’s agriculture sector, crop production, agricultural productivity and yield levels, risks, and policies and reforms. This review uses resources found on the University of Washington Libraries system and Google Scholar, as well as the websites of the Government of Tanzania, FAO, and World Bank. We find that Tanzanian agriculture workers comprise 80% of the population and farm a wide variety of crops, ranging from staple crops such as maize, cassava, and rice, to export crops such as coffee, cotton, tobacco, tea, and sugar. Smallholder farmers face increasing risks from climate change, pests, diseases, and land degradation, among others. While they have some resources available, such as farmer groups and limited access to ICTs, they lack important resources such as credit and inputs. We find that Tanzania’s land tenure and agriculture policies may further complicate the lives of smallholders through increased taxes and administrative processes. Through the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP) reform, however, the Government of Tanzania hopes to empower farmers and improve service delivery.  

This brief analyzes the indicators used by the World Bank in its Project Appraisal Documents (PAD) to measure the outputs and outcomes of 44 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene projects in Africa and Asia from 2000-2010.  This report details the methods used to collect and organize the indicators, and provides a brief analysis of the type of indicators used and their evolution over time. A searchable spreadsheet of the indicators used in this analysis accompanies this summary. We find that some patterns emerge over time, though none are very drastic. The most common group of indicators used by the World Bank are “management” oriented indicators (28% of indicators). Management indicators are disproportionately used in African projects as compared to projects in Asia. Several projects in Africa incorporate indicators relating to legal/regulatory/policy outcomes, while projects in Asia do not. In recent years, the World Bank has used fewer indicators that measure service delivery, health, and education and awareness.

Cereals and pulses are important food and cash crops for farmers and rural households in Ethiopia. Despite the economic and food security importance of these crops, data and opinion suggest a yield gap: actual smallholder farm yields do not achieve estimated potential yields for wheat, sorghum, maize, lentils and peas. Furthermore, cereal prices in Ethiopia fall between import and export parity prices, limiting their international trading prospects. Although there are significant wheat imports, these reflect the influx of food aid, rather than competitive trade on the international market. The purpose of this brief is to estimate yield gaps in important Ethiopian crops in order to identify potential areas for productivity gains. We find that wheat, sorghum and maize all exhibit the potential for yield gains to increase domestic food availability. Additionally, all three crops experienced significant spikes in yield in the 2006 season. Further investigation into the climate conditions and policy in place that year may generate potential strategies to increase future yields. Analysis of Ethiopian lentil and pea yields suggest that productivity gains may be possible to increase food availability. Limited access to improved technologies appears to be the main constraint to pulse productivity in Ethiopia. Opportunities to increase lentil and pea yields appear to exist through increasing cultivation of improved varieties.

This report provides an overview of poultry market trends in Benin as compared to the wider West African region. In Benin, live chickens, hens, poultry meat, and eggs for consumption are subject to the 20 percent Common External Tariff (CET), which facilitates an influx of cheap poultry imports from the European Union (EU). Live turkeys and other poultry, reproducers, and hatching eggs are subject to a 5 percent tariff. In the late 1990s, Benin experienced an influx of cheap poultry products primarily from the EU. By 2002, annual poultry imports reached approximately 24,000 tons, more than the poultry imports of any other country in West Africa.  In 2004 and 2005, Benin banned imports of poultry and poultry by-products from countries affected by avian influenza. Current information about the poultry industry in Benin is limited. The primary sources for this analysis are a FAO poultry sector review from 2006, a poultry sector project report from the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), and a 2006 assessment by the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fishing. We find that the poultry sector plays an important economic, social and cultural role in Benin. Poultry and egg production is a major contributor to the agricultural sector and is an important source of nutrition and income for Beninese households. The poultry sector in Benin has the potential to improve the nutritional wellbeing and income security of a large percentage of the population. Traditional smallholders produce the majority of poultry products domestically; however, current production is limited due to low productivity, poor biosecurity, and lack of inputs. We find that a reduction of foreign imports and greater institutional support for the industry may help domestic producers reach their potential.