Evans School Policy Analysis & Research Group (EPAR)

This report provides an overview of poultry market trends in Ghana as compared to the wider West African region. The primary source for this analysis is the 2006 FAO-Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) poultry sector review. We find that poultry production in Ghana takes place in rural areas throughout the country and in commercial operations near urban centers. However, many domestic producers have been unable to compete with frozen poultry imports, resulting in stagnant domestic per capita production and underutilization of production facilities. The country’s coastal ports provide an entry point for poultry imports, which may explain why imports have dominated the country’s market more than in land-locked countries such as Burkina Faso. Opportunities for poultry development in Ghana include expanding the role of domestic producers in supplying geographic and product niches.

This report provides an overview of poultry market trends in Mali as compared to the wider West African region. In the wake of the avian flu epidemic, the only poultry products currently legal to import are eggs for reproduction and day-old chicks. No poultry meat has been imported into Mali since March 2004. The main resource available for this analysis is the FAO-ECTAD poultry sector review from 2006.  In this report, we find that a majority of Malian families raise poultry and it is an important source of both nutrition and income.  Mali produces over 99 percent of its chicken meat and eggs for consumption domestically. Over 90 percent of production occurs in rural areas, mostly under traditional practices. However, to achieve self-sufficiency in chicken meat and hen eggs for consumption, Mali imports over 60 percent of the hatching eggs and day-old chicks required to replenish its poultry stocks. The policy and organizational environment appears favorable for expanding the sector. There is an ongoing government initiative to support the poultry sector and several producer organizations at all levels of the supply chain. We find that analyses of Mali’s poultry sector suggest that market opportunities exist to increase domestic poultry reproduction capacity, production of poultry products and poultry consumption.

In recent years, product supply chains for agricultural goods have become increasingly globalized. As a result, greater numbers of smallholder farmers in South Asia (SA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) participate in global supply chains, many of them through contract farming (CF). CF is an arrangement between a farmer and a processing or marketing firm for the production and supply of agricultural products, often at predetermined prices. This literature review finds empirical evidence that demonstrates that the economic and social benefits of CF for smallholder farmers are mixed. A number of studies suggest that CF may improve farmer productivity, reduce production risk and transaction costs, and increase farmer incomes. However, critics caution that CF may undermine farmers’ relative bargaining power and increase health, environmental, and financial risk through exposure to monopsonistic markets, weak contract environments, and unfamiliar agricultural technologies. There is consensus across the literature that CF has the best outcomes for farmers when farmers have more bargaining power to negotiate the terms of the contract. In reviewing the literature on CF, we find a number of challenges to comparing studies and evaluating outcomes across contracts. This literature review summarizes empirical findings and analyses regarding contract models and best practices to increase farmers’ bargaining power and decrease contract default.

Agriculture and Climate Change: Part I

With estimated global emissions of 5,969-6,615 metric tons (Mt) of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, agriculture accounts for about 13.5% of total global anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG). Deforestation contributes about 11.8% of total GHG emissions, releasing about 5,800 Mt CO2 per year. Developing countries are largely responsible for emissions from agriculture and deforestation, with the developing countries of South Asia and East Asia accounting for 17% and 25% of global agricultural emissions respectively. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounts for about 13% of global emissions from agriculture and 15% of emissions from land use change and forestry. This report examines the biophysical and economic potential of mitigating agriculture and land use GHG emissions, and provides a summary on the current and projected impact of global carbon market mechanisms on emission reductions. 

Agriculture and Climate Change: Part II

This report covers two topics related to agriculture and climate change in developing countries. The first section discusses the role of agricultural offsets in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Recent negotiations around a post-Kyoto Protocol agreement have included debate about whether agricultural carbon sequestration projects should be eligible under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). We examine the reasons for supporting or opposing this type of CDM reform and how these reasons relate to impacts on development goals and smallholder farmers, scientific uncertainty about carbon sequestration, and philosophical disagreement about the use of emission offsets. The second section covers proposed agricultural adaptation activities in Africa and other developing countries. While the majority of developing countries have outlined immediate adaptation needs in National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs), few have made progress in implementing adaptation activities. We find that issues related to financial resources, scientific and technical information, and capacity building continue to challenge developing countries in preparing for the impacts of climate change.