Trade competitiveness among COMESA countries in agricultural commodity exports

This paper uses trade data from the COMESA statistical database covering 19 countries covering the period 1997 to 2013 to analyze the trade competitiveness of selected agricultural commodities traded among COMESA member states using the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) methodology. The computed RCA indices showed that countries in the COMESA region had fluctuating advantages in trade in different food staples over the years. The highest positive RCA indices include; bovine meat and cassava (Kenya and Uganda), live bovine animals (Kenya), maize grain (Uganda), tomatoes (Ethiopia, Madagascar), fish (Eritrea), cassava (Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda) wheat flour (Zambia), Onions (Madagascar) and dry legumes and pulses (Malawi). The results of the study can inform policy discussions on how integration through specialization and trade envisaged in the COMESA Treaty can be realized. The fluctuating RCA indices from year to year reflect weather- dependent agricultural production systems. This means that individual countries’ competitiveness fluctuates year to year depending on weather. To address the observed fluctuation in RCA indices countries should invest in production systems that are less weather-dependent, such as irrigated agriculture. Countries also need to promote drought-resistant and drought-tolerant crop varieties and early warning systems

Development of a food safety policy framework for Kenya: Lessons and best practices from the Vietnam experience

Infographic created for Voice for Change Partnership, Food and Nutrition Security Dissemination Forum: Evidence for Policy, Advocacy and Partnerships, Online Webinar, 8th July 202

Mapping livestock value chains in the IGAD region

The study provides CTA with recommendations on the types of value chains to be supported and information on particular nodes that CTA could be involved in. It focuses on the IGAD region, which includes eight member states: Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, and on a select number of livestock commodity value chains. The study obtained data and information from ongoing and recently completed programmes

Are small-scale irrigators water use efficient? Evidence from Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya

With increasing water scarcity and competing uses and users, water use efficiency is becoming increasingly important in many parts of developing countries. The lake Naivasha basin has an array of different water users and uses ranging from large scale export market agriculture, urban domestic water users to small holder farmers. The small scale farmers are located in the upper catchment areas and form the bulk of the users in terms of area and population. This study used farm household data to explore the overall technical efficiency, irrigation water use efficiency and establish the factors influencing water use efficiency among small scale farmers in the Lake Naivasha basin in Kenya. Data envelopment analysis, general algebraic and modeling system, and Tobit regression methods were used in analyzing cross sectional data from a sample of 201 small scale irrigation farmers in the lake Naivasha basin. The results showed that on average, the farmers achieved only 63 % technical efficiency and 31 % water use efficiency. This revealed that substantial inefficiencies occurred in farming operations among the sampled farmers. To improve water use efficiency, the study recommends that more emphasis be put on orienting farmers toward appropriate choice of irrigation technologies, appropriate choice of crop combinations in their farms, and the attainment of desirable levels of farm fragmentation