5. Senior Policy Seminar papers
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- PublicationAgriculture in Africa’s Transformation: The Role of Smallholder Farmers(AERC, 2025) Langyintuo, Augustine S.; Babu, Suresh Chandra; Akpalu, Wisdom; Dias, Paulo; Mbizule, Clare; Nkurunziza, Janvier D.; Tsowou, KomiThe theme for the senior policy seminar “Agriculture in Africa’s Transformation: The Role of Smallholder Framers” is very topical because nearly 70% of Africans depend on agriculture for their incomes, yet the sector accounts for only a third of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP). Efforts to improve farmer productivity and raise incomes can, therefore, drive demand in other important economic sectors. This would increase economic growth while providing the opportunity to simultaneously pull millions of people out of the vicious circle of poverty. According to a recent World Bank report, growth in the agricultural sector is estimated to be more than two times as effective at reducing poverty as growth in other sectors, and more current research shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, growth in agriculture is more than 10 times more effective at poverty reduction than growth in other sectors. The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) partnered to put together this timely senior policy seminar on Agriculture in Africa’s Transformation. Since March 2011, AERC has partnered with the WFP to run a Data Analysis and Knowledge Management Hub in support of the pilot Purchase for Progress (P4P) programme. Building on this partnership with WFP and emerging priorities in the region, the AERC strategic plan for 2015-2020 has a dedicated thematic research group on agriculture. Despite the importance of the sector in the continent, agriculture is not getting the requisite attention from policy makers. This is manifested by the non-inclusive growth in most African countries leading to youth unemployment and poverty in the rural areas, where a majority of the population lives. The AERC is grateful to all those who made the seminar a success, especially the Government of Mozambique, which welcomed us to the country and co-hosted Senior Policy Seminar XVII. I also thank the authors who produced very high-quality papers, and the participants for their active participation in producing the seminar’s policy recommendations to be shared with other African policy makers who did not find time to take part in this event.
- PublicationFinancial Inclusion in Africa Smallholder(AERC, 2016) Beck, Thorsten; Ncube, Mthuli; Otchere, IsaacThe More than two billion people worldwide don’t use formal financial services, and up to 50% of adults in the poorest households are unbanked (Global Findex, 2015). And yet, financial inclusion is a key enabler to reducing poverty and boosting prosperity. In Africa, less than a quarter of adults have an account with a formal financial institution, and many of these adults use informal methods to save and borrow. Similarly, the majority of small and medium enterprises in Africa are unbanked and access to finance is a major obstacle. Compared with other developing economies, high-growth small and medium enterprises in Africa are less likely to use formal financing, which suggests formal financial systems are not serving the needs of enterprises with growth opportunities. The AERC Senior Policy Seminar (SPSXVIII) was a great occasion to share the lessons emerging from financial inclusion initiatives in Africa and the rest of the world with relevant policy makers and private sector actors in the continent. These contributions heightened the debate on the importance of financial inclusion as a catalyst for inclusive growth. The theme for the AERC Senior Policy Seminar was “Financial Inclusion in Africa”. The seminar was held in Nairobi, Kenya, March 22-23, 2016.
- PublicationFragility of Growth in African Economies(AERC, 2019) McKay, Andy; Thorbecke, Erik; Geda, Alemayehu; Hoeffler, Anke; Nkurunziza, Janvier D; Ngepah, NicholasInspired by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supported African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) collaborative research on “Growth in Fragile and Post Conflict States in Africa”, under the “Promoting leadership for economic policy in fragile and post conflict states in Africa” project, we identified the topic: “Fragility of Growth in African Economies” as the theme for the 2019 Senior Policy Seminar (SPS). AERC used the 2019 SPS as the primary dissemination vehicle for the outputs of the Growth in Fragile and Post Conflict States in Africa research project. The goal was to support informed policy dialogue, and thus policy making, in relation to fragility of economic growth in African economies. Reducing fragility is a key step towards creating resilient economies in the region, thus putting Africa on the path to realise the United Nations Agenda 2030 goals, among other aspirations.
- PublicationHuman Capital Development in Africa(AERC, 2023) Pritchett, Lant; Behrman, Jere R.; Mwabu, Germano; Lucas, Adrienne; Ipapa, GeraldExchange of country-specific experiences is particularly important in these seminars. The policy makers are normally identified for their interest in policy research issues and the level of seniority of the policy makers is generally right, leading to detailed discussions. Researchers are reasonably well balanced between Anglophone and Francophone, and attendance by Francophone policy makers is always encouraged. Policy makers report that they have found their experiences in the seminars very useful. The information exchanged helps them update their knowledge on current research and sieve out issues that are relevant to their duties. Some have even been embarrassed to find that during negotiations with international financial institutions, they have agreed to certain policies without understanding the full implications of the policy package. Seminars of this kind, while not intended or able to make the policy maker an economist, nevertheless afford the opportunity of considering the wider ramifications of their policy decisions.
- PublicationThe Global COVID-19 Health Pandemic and its Implications for the African Economies(AERC, 2021) Ngugi, Rose; Ndung’u, Njuguna; Shimeles, Abebe; Asante, Augustine; Thorbecke, ErikThe current Covid-19 pandemic is damaging business ecosystems, affecting livelihoods, and threatening to reverse sub-Saharan Africa’s development progress and growth projections. It has once again exposed the fragility of many of the institutions across the continent. The pandemic has compromised Africa’s state of public finance significantly: Firstly, in most African economies it has wiped the fiscal space leading to unprecedented contraction of tax revenues. Secondly, it has placed extreme stress on public spending as governments struggle to respond to the health crisis, including increased funding for: the health sector, social and business relief, as well as measures to reduce and combat the spread of the disease. Yet, as the virus was late in arriving to the continent, governments across Africa took decisive actions to keep citizens safe and continue to implement global best practices and policies. While there are obvious capacity and execution shortfalls, there have also been several successful areas of practice. Over the years, the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) has generated a wealth of knowledge through its research activities. And to this end devoted time, and resources to share this knowledge, particularly research findings that have strong practical policy implications with policy makers in the continent. This was at the twenty-third AERC Senior Policy Seminar that was held virtually on the theme: The Global COVID-19 Health Pandemic and Its Implications for the African Economies. The AERC convenes senior policy seminars to provide high level African policy makers the opportunity to come together to dialogue on the results of research conducted by AERC and its affiliates, exchange policy experiences and interact with the researchers in an atmosphere of peers. The themes of these seminars are selected based on topicality and contemporary interest to African policy making.