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Institutional environment and access to microfinance by self-employed women in the rural areas of Edo state
In Nigeria, conventional financial institutions serve only about 35 percent of the active population, and the poor, especially women, have limited access to financial services. Private sector-led microfinance institutions (MFIs) are increasingly playing a role to fill this need. This brief provides an overview of the institutional environment of microfinance in Nigeria, as well as insights and recommendations for better reaching this audience, based on focus group discussions and case studies of self-employed women in rural areas of Edo State, Nigeria.
Assessing food security in Yemen
The lack of updated information about food security is of concern to many countries, especially during and after economic crises, natural disasters, and conflicts. In this paper we present an analytical framework for assessing the effects of such crises on food security. This methodology can compensate for the lack of recent data in the aftermath of various crisis situations and thus provide important information to policymakers. We apply this methodology to Yemen, a country where the recent food price crisis and global economic recession have been especially damaging.
Impact of soaring food price in Ethiopia
"Previous studies implicitly assume uniform price-effects across regions or provinces within countries. They also do not address the issue of integration between the world food market and local markets. Instead, they assume a complete transmission of changes in world food prices to local food prices. In this paper, we first establish evidence of regional price heterogeneity across Ethiopia. We also applied the Johansen test for market integration over 95 local maize markets and found that none of the Ethiopian regional markets for maize is integrated to the world market.
Rebuilding Agricultural Livelihoods in Post-Conflict Situations
Most conflicts in the developing world take place in rural areas, displacing large numbers of civilians and disrupting their agricultural livelihoods. Rebuilding agriculture is an important strategy for post-conflict reconstruction. Agriculture is well suited to absorb demobilized combatants, improve food security, and enhance livelihoods. To stimulate agricultural production, post-conflict programs often have to provide agricultural inputs and assets including seeds, tools, and livestock that have been lost during the conflict.
Population pressure and the microeconomy of land management in hills and mountains of developing countries
Concerns about harmful environmental impacts are frequently raised in research and policy debates about population growth in the hills and mountains of developing countries. Although establishing wildlife corridors and biosphere reserves is important for preserving selected biodiverse habitats, for the vast majority of hilly-mountainous lands, the major ecological concerns are for the sustainability of local production systems and for watershed integrity. What matters for sustained use of those lands not only is the number of producers but also what, where and how they produce.
Land Management Options in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda
In the recent past, the image of agricultural and environmental crises in Sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) has become increasingly common. Soil erosion and soil fertility loss are considered to be negatively affecting the productive capacity of the agricultural systems (Giller et al. 1997; Sanchez et al. 1997; Smaling, Nandwa, and Janssen 1997).
Growth, inequality, and poverty in rural China
In the past two decades, China has achieved world renown for reducing rural poverty. However, it is becoming harder to reduce poverty and inequality further in China, even though its economy continues to grow. This report compares the impact specific rural public investments can have on promoting growth and reducing poverty and inequality. Returns to these investments are calculated for the nation as a whole and for three economic zones in the west, central, and coastal regions of the country.
Can agricultural traders be trusted? Evidence from urban coffee markets in Ethiopia
Traditional food marketing systems in developing countries are often not trusted. In consequence, policy makers frequently try to regulate them and modern market arrangements increasingly are emerging to address some of their presumed deficiencies. However, it is unclear how trustworthy these markets actually are and if and to what extent regulation and modernization affects market governance. In this paper we look at the case of coffee in urban settings in Ethiopia to test trustworthiness along three dimensions of trade transactions - weights, quality, and the presence of illegal trade.
Constraints and knowledge gaps for different irrigation systems in Nigeria
Report
Institutional change, rural services, and agricultural performance in Kyrgyzstan
The institutional change in rural Kyrgyzstan during the transition period included farm reorganization, land reform, building markets, and community institutions. The land reform established private property rights to land, including the rights to transfer, exchange, sell, lease, and use the land as collateral for credit. These key features of Kyrgyzstan’s agrarian transition are in sharp contrast with those of other transition countries in Central Asia.