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The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development promises to achieve change in almost every aspect of life on Earth. Encompassing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, the Agenda marks the first time in history when all nations have agreed on how to chart their future. The SDGs are not just a global reporting exercise, however, but rather involve a global program that embraces country-led efforts. Guided by the ideas contained in the 2030 Agenda, each nation must seek to become more prosperous and sustainable, while contributing to the global effort at the same time. If all the countries achieve this, we will have a sustainable planet and a secure future for all. This document offers guidance on how developing countries can adapt the SDGs to their own contexts and priorities. It indicates important areas for developing countries to consider when creating their own program to achieve the SDGs, and provides examples of success to demonstrate concrete possibilities for progress.

This paper charts the performance of the agriculture sector in Malawi for the period 2000 – 2013 (with particular attention paid to the last three to four years of the said period). In the quest to attain this aim the paper empirically focuses on the significance of mapping the performance of the sector in the form of trends against the baseline sectoral performance targets enlisted in the ASWAP, CAADP Framework and SADC RISDP. The consistent and concerted efforts by the Government of Malawi and development partners to meet the ASWAP, CAADP framework and SADC RISDP targets have resulted in the country making commendable economic growth and poverty alleviation. The country has been able to attain the 6% agricultural growth target despite the questionable quality of public expenditure. It is also interesting to note that changes in the agriculture sector appear to have had influence on incomes, poverty and malnourishment. The trend analysis led to the following findings; the growth in agricultural GDP and the annual GDP growth of the country surpassed the CAADP target of 6% annual growth and this culminated to an increase in production (cereal and livestock production) and productivity (land productivity) despite the fact that the country has not met the irrigation and fertiliser used targets. This increase in production and productivity may be earnestly attributed substantially public invested in the agriculture sector to meet the CAADP 10% target of the total budget to agriculture. However, this increase in agricultural GDP annual growth has not had a significant bearing on the country's battle to offset poverty; the country's GHI is still serious and the proportion of the population below the minimum dietary energy consumption is still high (23% on average) whilst the MDG I target stands at 20%. The major deduction from these findings is that there is a need for more concerted efforts in Malawi to refine agricultural growth investments; this can be carried out efficiently by developing a National Agriculture Plan (NAP) which will be a single policy tool that will guide investment and implementation of priorities in the sector.

This paper sets out to analyses and present trends in investments in agriculture in the SADC region. In pursuing this goal the paper empirically highlights the importance of disaggregating expenditure data when examining its links to measures of productivity and poverty. This is important because not all types of expenditure have the potential to positively impact on productivity and poverty. In order to pursue the goals set out in this paper, analysis focused mainly on data on agricultural public expenditure for Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Trend analysis leads to the following main findings: Various countries have tended to invest in their agricultural sectors differently across time, but investments have been limited and volatile, while the quality of spending has also gone down. There is also public agricultural expenditure bias towards crops at the expense of other sectors. The major implication is that there is need for more concerted efforts in the SADC to ensure more and better-targeted agricultural growth enhancing investments.

Infrastructure investment is one of the main preconditions for enabling developing countries to accelerate or sustain the pace of their development and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper examines the determinants of agricultural water infrastructure investments in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Using annual data (time series); Pearson Pair-wise Correlation, Unit-root tests and OLS regression techniques are applied to determine the relationship between public infrastructure investment and factors that influence public investments. Agricultural water infrastructure investment is found to be positively correlated to GDP, Sugar export income and FDI into agriculture. Past economic growth and sugar export values are the two critical determinants of agricultural water infrastructure investments in Eswatini. It can be safely construed that higher incomes as well as terms of trade for sugar, can improve spending on agriculture water investments. This is important because an increase in investments in water infrastructure may then help spur economic growth.

AbstractInfrastructure investment is one of the main preconditions for enabling developing countries to accelerate or sustain the pace of their development and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper examines the determinants of agricultural water infrastructure investments in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Using annual data (time series); Pearson Pair‐wise Correlation, Unit‐root tests and OLS regression techniques are applied to determine the relationship between public infrastructure investment and factors that influence public investments. Agricultural water infrastructure investment is found to be positively correlated to GDP, Sugar export income and FDI into agriculture. Past economic growth and sugar export values are the two critical determinants of agricultural water infrastructure investments in Eswatini. It can be safely construed that higher incomes as well as terms of trade for sugar, can improve spending on agriculture water investments. This is important because an increase in investments in water infrastructure may then help spur economic growth.

This paper sets out to analyses and present trends in investments in agriculture in the SADC region. In pursuing this goal the paper empirically highlights the importance of disaggregating expenditure data when examining its links to measures of productivity and poverty. This is important because not all types of expenditure have the potential to positively impact on productivity and poverty. In order to pursue the goals set out in this paper, analysis focused mainly on data on agricultural public expenditure for Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Trend analysis leads to the following main findings: Various countries have tended to invest in their agricultural sectors differently across time, but investments have been limited and volatile, while the quality of spending has also gone down. There is also public agricultural expenditure bias towards crops at the expense of other sectors. The major implication is that there is need for more concerted efforts in the SADC to ensure more and better-targeted agricultural growth enhancing investments

The objective of this brief is to analyze Eswatini's performance and discuss lessons from the implementation of the inaugural CAADP BR mechanism. Based on the results, recommendations are proposed for strengthening mutual accountability and performance of the agriculture sector in Eswatini. The analysis is based on results of the Africa Agriculture Transformation Scorecard (AATS) that was presented to African Heads of State and Government in January 2018. Additional information for the analysis came from technical notes in Eswatini's BR report. Furthermore, experiences and lessons from continental and regional engagements in the implementation of the BR process were also integrated in the analysis. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI2; ReSAKSS ; AFR

The objective of this brief is to present Malawi's performance and discuss lessons from the implementation of the inaugural CAADP BR mechanism. Based on the results, recommendations are proposed to help strengthen mutual accountability on actions and results and the performance of the agriculture sector in Malawi. The analysis is based on a review of the results of the inaugural BR report and Africa Agriculture Transformation Scorecard (AATS) that were presented to African Heads of State and Government in January 2018. Additional information was analysed using technical notes in the Malawi country BR report. Experiences and lessons from continental and regional engagements in the implementation of the BR process were also integrated into the analysis. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI2; ReSAKSS ; AFR

This chapter summarizes the findings from analyses conducted by AKADEMIYA2063 on local staple food market dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. With the outbreak of the highly contagious virus in Africa in March 2020, various measures were implemented by African governments to contain its spread. These measures included bans on public gatherings and markets; restrictions on movement within and between countries; closures of schools, restaurants, and hotels; and curfews. All these measures were likely to cause market disruptions and revenue losses for vulnerable groups by disrupting supply and demand of agricultural staples, either directly or indirectly. The objective of these analytical studies is therefore to generate evidence on how the various COVID-19 response measures have affected food supply and demand patterns in Africa, taking into account the locational characteristics (that is, whether an area is urban or rural, has a surplus or deficit of the commodity in question, and is in a coastal or landlocked country) and whether the commodity is perishable or nonperishable. Such evidence can then be used to inform efforts to anticipate and respond to food crises arising from infectious disease outbreaks and the measures implemented to limit their spread. ; PR ; IFPRI4; 1 Fostering Climate-Resilient and Sustainable Food Supply; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; Feed the Future Initiative; ReSAKSS ; AFR