public-private partnerships and sustainable agricultural development公私伙伴关系和可持续农业发展.pdfVIP

Sustainability 2011, 3, 1064-1073; doi:10.3390/su3071064 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 /journal/sustainability Article Public-Private Partnerships and Sustainable Agricultural Development Marco Ferroni * and Paul Castle Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Schwarzwaldallee 215, 4058 Basel, Switzerland; E-Mail: paul.castle@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: Marco.ferroni@; Tel.: +41-61-323-6938; Fax: +41-61-323-7200. Received: 1 July 2011 / Accepted: 12 July 2011 / Published: 20 July 2011 Abstract: Agriculture in Africa is not sustainable because average yields have been stagnating for decades due to underinvestment, especially in the development of agricultural markets, crop improvement and the sustainable management of agricultural systems. Low public sector funding for agricultural research and lack of incentives for the private sector to operate in areas where there is no market largely explain the yield gap in many food-importing developing countries. Yet, there are effective ways in which the public and the private sector could work together and jointly improve agricultural sustainability in poor countries. The public sector provides a favorable institutional environment for the development of agricultural markets and investment in rural infrastructure, facilitates local business development an