Suchergebnisse

Agriculture is the dominant sector of the economy, contributing a third of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) and about half of Rwanda's export earnings. The government of Rwanda has therefore made agricultural development a priority and allocated significant resources to improving productivity, expanding the livestock sector, promoting sustainable land management, and developing supply chains and value-added activities. At the same time, Rwanda's agriculture sector faces a series of challenges. Agriculture is dominated by small-scale, subsistence farming under traditional agricultural practices and rain-fed agriculture. As a result, average crop yields are low compared with potential yields, and exposed to risks such as weather related shocks and pest and disease outbreaks. The purpose of this report is to assess existing risks to the agriculture sector, prioritize them according to their frequency and impacts on the sector, and identify areas of risk management solutions that need deeper specialized attention. Three levels of risks are assessed: production risks, market risks, and enabling environment risks to selected supply chains. The report takes a quantitative and qualitative approach to risks. The report is structured as follows: chapter one gives introduction. Chapter two provides an overview of Rwanda's economy and the role and structure of the agriculture sector. Agriculture sector risks (production, market, and enabling environment risks) for the selected food crops, export crops, and livestock are analyzed in chapter three. Analysis of the adverse impacts of agricultural risks at aggregate and provincial levels, along with a stakeholder risk assessment and a discussion of particularly vulnerable groups, is presented in chapter four. Chapter five prioritizes identified risks, discusses potential solutions areas, summarizes feedback from consulted stakeholders, and recommends solutions areas for further assessment.

Agriculture is among the most risk-prone sectors in the economies of Central Asia. Production shocks from weather, pests and diseases and adverse movements in agricultural product and input prices not only impact farmers and agri-business firms, but can also strain government finances. Some of these risks are small and localized and can be managed by producers. Others are the result of more severe, exogenous shocks outside agriculture that require a broader response. Failure to respond adequately to these more severe risks leads to a perpetual cycle of 'shock-recovery-shock' which reinforces poverty traps and compromises long-term growth. A broad-based program to improve livestock productivity is recommended to strengthen the resilience of livestock production systems and rangeland use in Kazakhstan. Proposed interventions include measures to: (i) reverse degradation of water, soil and vegetation cover; (ii) safeguard the long-term viability of rangeland ecosystems, while ensuring sustainable access to grazing land; and (iii) strengthen livestock services (veterinary, animal health, feed and fodder supply, destocking, water and grazing access, and weather and market information). These measures will enable farmers to manage their resources better, to respond to climate and market signals and to protect their resource base in times of drought. The recommendations developed under these three solution areas continue the underlying emphasis on mitigation as the foundation for risk management. They also highlight the mutually reinforcing benefits of measures to improve crop and livestock productivity for both risk management and sector growth.

The issue of investment in the agricultural sector and state regulation of investment activity is crucial for the development of any economy. With the economic crisis, these issues are of particular relevance. Therefore, to overcome the crisis and choosing the right targets economic development of the agricultural sector in Ukraine should learn foreign experience to attract investment and use. The article summarizes the international experience of investing agriculture in the developed world. The basic forms of state support for the agricultural sector, studied agriculture subsidies in developed countries. Also, the article outlines the main directions of the experience of foreign countries to support domestic agriculture.

This article examines the structures of information transfer to the agricultural (production) and agro-alimentary (transformation and commercialization of the products) sector within Spain. An historical perspective is provided to better illustrate the reality and complexity of Spain with regard to the systems of agrarian extension, agricultural research, the resources provided by Spain's central administration, and the use of information by related enterprises. The Service of Agrarian Extension appeared in Spain in the 1950s, and new political-administrative structures (agribusiness associations, cooperatives) were founded when Spain became a democratic nation in the late 1970s and with the arrival of electronic information, largely in the 1990s. We describe the research and technological centers supporting innovation in the agro-alimentary sector and the communication media dedicated to the agricultural sector. The article illustrates that the systems of agricultural information in Spain have been largely derived from initiatives of the Public Administration, with few private initiatives.

Abstract
Providing sufficient water for various uses, in particular the agriculture sector, is one of the important problems that Iran faces. Following instructions of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Iran started considering its waterreform strategies to avoid water crises. No unique solutions can be drawn from other nations' experience since water crisis is a country-specific problem. Water-reform strategies are important, particularly when the multioriented purpose of sustainability in Iran's agricultural sector is of interest as well. The pros and cons of water-reform strategies are discussed in this paper.