Communique on the Regional Grain Trade Facilitation Forum
The Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) issued a Communique on the Regional Grain Trade Facilitation Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2017. The forum brought together over 90 sellers and buyers of rice and other grain commodities from the Eastern and Southern Africa nations.
The objective of the Grain Trade Forum was to create a forum for networking among the grain stakeholders in the EAC region, with a focus on strengthening regional trade by creating market opportunities that offer enhanced opportunities for trade and investment and by engaging policy makers and private sector actors for reducing barriers to grain trade, thus simulating increased productivity and trade in the grain sector.
The Human Face of Trade and Food Security
The Human Face of Trade and Food Security is a publication of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in partnership with the New Markets Lab (NML). It explores the different dimensions of trade that contribute to food security including; better access to safe and nutritious food, improvements in productivity-increasing technology, availability of storage and transport services, and generation of diverse income streams for farmers, enterprises, and countries alike—examined through the lens of the policy and regulatory environment that shapes the market. In contrast to top-down policy discussions, the publication takes a bottom-up approach that follows the opportunities and challenges facing different stakeholders that include farmers, consumers, innovators, traders, and developed and developing countries, that are part of the global system for trade in food.
Enabling the Business of Agriculture Data Snapshot- Kenya
Enabling the business of Agriculture Data Snapshot- Kenya is a brief featuring selected data on Kenya from the World Bank's Enabling the Business of Agriculture Index (EBA) 2017 report relevant to USAID's Feed the Future work. Kenya scores well in enabling access to seed, financial services, and ICT. Its water management policy framework is also extremely strong. Kenya performs relatively well in the areas of transport and access to machinery, but its fertilizer and market scores suggest room for improvement. Overall, Kenya provides a business-friendly environment for importing agricultural technologies and products, but could do more to ensure quality control once they enter the market.
EBA is a unique tool for measuring the ease of doing agribusiness. EBA score data, coupled with contextual analysis and consultations with key stakeholders, can inform priority reforms and allow for transparent result tracking over time and across countries. The index scores the strength of the legal and institutional environment for agribusinesses across eight topics: seed, fertilizer, machinery, finance, markets, transport, water, and ICT.
EAC Industrial Competitiveness Report 2017
EAC Industrial Competitiveness Report 2017 is a publication by the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat. It provides an overview of the region's industry and benchmarks the region's performance and capability against other regions. It provide a compass to policymakers, the private sector (in particular manufacturing associations), and a wider audience of stakeholders by offering an industrial development trajectory of the EAC as a whole and of the internal dynamics among Partner States.
It also analyzes progress towards the attainment of the goals set in the EAC Industrialisation Policy 2012-2032, and provides diagnostics of manufacturing sector performance in the EAC and individual Partner States.
African Economic Outlook 2017
The African Economic Outlook 2017 is a publication by the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Center and the United Nations Development Programme.
This report examines Africa’s macroeconomic performance, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development,and governance. It explains how improving entrepreneurship contributes to Africa’s industrialization and offers policies to do so
Spotlight on Sustainability Standards
Spotlight on Sustainability Standards is the theme topic in this month’s Bridges Africa issue, published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).
This issue focuses on the role played by regulations and standards in global value chains and identifies important policy implications in terms of sustainability dynamics. Various contributors explore how new partnership models could help African producers reap more benefits from sustainability standards. It also presents a series of policy options to support collective governmental action with a view to promoting sustainable development through the improved governance and operation of private standards.
The U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy
The U.S. Government Global Food Security Research Strategy is based on input from the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) along with feedback from U.S. university researchers and a diverse set of other U.S. and international stakeholders about what worked well under the preceding 2011–2016 Feed the Future Research Strategy and what should be adjusted to respond to emerging opportunities, constraints, priorities and best practices over the coming years.
The strategy details the roles of key U.S. and international partners in designing, supporting, implementing and scaling research outputs in order to support improved coordination across U.S. agencies and partners.
Overview of the Used Clothing Market in East Africa: Analysis of Determinants and Implications
Overview of the Used Clothing Market in East Africa: Analysis of Determinants and Implications. In March 2016, the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State issued a Joint Communiqué from the 17th Ordinary Summit, expressing their intent to progressively phase out importation of used clothing as a means to support the region’s textile and apparel industry.* A U.S. trade association reacted to these measures by requesting an out-of-cycle review (OCR) of the eligibility of the EAC Partner States for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) privileges, citing both loss of American jobs as well as introduction of new trade barriers in contravention of AGOA provisions.
The following is a top level examination of some of the determinants and implications of the used clothing market in East Africa, including an analysis of used clothing import trends in the EAC; an assessment of the economic significance of used clothing to both the U.S. and EAC; a review of EAC import substitution assumptions; and some modeling of long-term outcomes if EAC Partner States maintain their current used clothing import policies. The results provided are intended to aid data-driven policy decisions and negotiations going forward.
E3 Bureau Capacity Building Assesment - From Capacity Development to Sustainable Development
E3 Bureau Capacity Building Assesment : From Capacity Development to Sustainable Development is a publication by the United States Agency for International Development .This report contains the main findings, conclusions and recommendations of the assessment. It identifies 50 good practices for capacity development and proposed recommended rater’s guide to assessing CD in Statements of Work (SOWs).
It also includes ten case studies of E3 or USAID mission-funded activities with major CD components, summary of external expert interviews, and discussion of CD approaches and indicators. A separate interim report presented the methods used in the assessment, preliminary findings from the surveys of E3 technical staff and Activity Managers, and detailed summaries of interviews with representatives from each E3 office. The Activity Manager Survey focused on active and completed E3 activities since 2008. The Staff Survey addressed broader CD support that was not tied to E3 projects and activities.
Bridges Africa -The Development Potential of Cross-Border Infrastructure in Africa: A Job Creation Perspective
Bridges Africa- The Development Potential of Cross-Border Infrastructure in Africa: A Job Creation Perspective is a publication by the International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development. It provides insight on the various development strategies being applied all around Africa. The publication contains a segment on how Africa can leverage the potential of cross-border infrastructure to address critical economic bottlenecks, boost regional integration and intra-African trade and create employment for the continent’s growing population.
It points out that cross-border infrastructure is an effective solution to address some of the most critical bottlenecks to regional integration and economic transformation in Africa.