This study attempts to investigate the effectiveness of government policy interventions at different scales addressed to improve food security. Food security both at the regional and district level was investigated by deriving food balance sheets for the period 2000-2008. An empirical analysis based on a logit model was also employed to analyze household level food security status.

This paper seeks to examine how communities value a variety of dryland environmental amenities provided by the Kgalagadi Transfontier Park where there is an interest in limiting their access, both in order to protect the environment and in order to make it more attractive for tourists. This is done using a choice experiment, which targeted households in the Kgalagadi area.

South Africa, a main food exporter in SADC, is characterised by a dual agricultural economy consisting of a well-developed commercial sector and smallholder, often subsistence, farming. Using the Ricardian cross-sectional framework, we examine the impact of climate change on a nationwide sample of crop, horticulture, livestock and mixed commercial farming systems.

In this paper, we analyze what drives farmers to disadopt green revolution technologies (inorganic fertilizer and improved seed) and whether the disadoption of green revolution technologies is related to adoption/non-adoption of other sustainable land management practices (such as farmyard manure and soil and water conservation practices). Random effects multivariate probit regression results based on rich plot level data suggest that black/brown soil type, flatter slope, shorter distance to homestead and extension centers, and access to water are negatively co

Maize is a strategic commodity for improving food security and alleviating poverty in Tanzania, but its productivity remains low. The importance of improved maize varieties (IMVs) in increasing productivity is documented in existing literature. Previous adoption studies in Tanzania did not examine the factors that influence the speed/timing of adoption. This study examines the determinants of the speed of adoption of IMVs using a duration model and recently collected plot- and household-level data in rural Tanzania.

This study examines the role of gender of the head of household on the
food security of small-scale subsistence farmers in urban and rural areas of
South Africa, using the exogenous switching treatment-effects regression
framework.

In developing countries such as Ethiopia, rural households spend a considerable part of their time in agriculture as well as resource collection.  However, rigorous empirical studies on the impacts of scarcity of environmental resources on productive activities such as agriculture are very limited—in developing countries in general and Africa in particular. Using a panel data set collected from Ethiopia, this paper examines the effect of scarcity of fuelwood and water on time spent in agriculture.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is set to hit the agricultural sector the most severely and cause suffering, particularly for smallholder farmers. To cushion themselves against potential welfare losses, smallholder farmers need to recognize the changes already taking place in their climate and undertake appropriate investments in adaptation. This study investigates whether these smallholder farmers in Tanzania recognize climate change and, consequently, adapt to it in their agricultural activities.