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The article presents the views of the authors on the most important constraints to achieving food security in various parts of Africa. According to Sabina Anokye Mensah, low investments in agriculture at the processing level are major constraints to achieving food security. Francois Ruf states that land tenure issues constitute an important constraint to achieving food security. David Hall-Matthews says that weak state capacity and accountability are important constraints to food security.

This article discusses whether agricultural subsidies in developed countries benefit or harm the majority of the poor in developing countries. Subsidized agricultural exports to developing countries and food aid kill the output markets of smallholders. The unfair competition, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, together with blatant neglect of agriculture in public policy, hinders agricultural growth. It mentions that agricultural growth throughout history has been the engine of overall economic growth.

Emerging approaches to water resources development and management typically highlight equity and productivity as two main objectives. In the context of integrated water resources management within a river basin, managers and stakeholders often need a comparative assessment of different options for water augmentation and/or allocation. Pitting such options against predefined objectives, such as equity and productivity, requires an assessment of the effects that available options will have on these objectives. Available documentation indicates that not only does the interpretation of such objectives vary widely, but also the available methods for assessing equity and productivity run into significant limitations in the availability of adequate data. This limitation has largely kept decision makers from gaining a comprehensive overview of equity and productivity scenarios, whether within or across sectors, that could facilitate better-informed decisions. To address this methodological gap, this article scrutinizes different notions associated with equity and water productivity, and limitations in prevalent assessment methods with the view to develop and demonstrate pragmatic methodologies for assessing equity and productivity in data-scarce contexts. The discussion and findings are based on a review of relevant literature and empirical and consultative research work in the Olifants River basin in South Africa. The demonstrated methodologies for assessing equity and productivity, besides being useful in data-scarce contexts, are insightful for initiating several policy measures and also for exploring the relationship between equity and water productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses ways in which the South African Government and grassroots organizations envisage and implement democracy achieved since 1994 in the field of water resources management. The focus is on the democratic, political and economic freedom and equality in resource rights for poor black women, who are central to poverty eradication. While the new water policy and law provide an enabling framework for achieving these goals, implementation on the ground encounters both new opportunities and constraints. This is illustrated by several cases of establishing South Africa's new water management institutions: catchment management agencies and water user associations. The important nexus between state-led democratization of water resources management and bottom-up grassroots movements is also discussed. The article concludes that the Government's affirmative and targeted intervention is indispensable for redressing gender inequalities and eradicating poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]