Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security project: An Introduction to Benchmarking for Agricultural Development

It builds on complementary BEE indices, such as Doing Business and Women, Business, and the Law. The EBA Index is used to measure the business environment for agriculture in countries around the world. Data collection for the EBA Index involves surveys, desk reviews, phone interviews, and country visits. The index covers eight core topic areas, including agricultural policies, regulations, and institutions. Two additional topics, land and livestock, are currently under development, along with two cross-cutting themes: gender and environmental sustainability. The EBA Index has been used to assess the business environment for agriculture in various countries. The 2017 report found a strong correlation between EBA scores and the level of agricultural transformation in countries. Additionally, there is a strong correlation between EBA scores and other measures of regulatory quality. These findings suggest that the EBA Index can be a useful tool for policymakers and development practitioners seeking to improve the business environment for agriculture. The EBA Index is particularly relevant to the Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security project, which aims to strengthen inclusive agriculture systems and improve governance, policy, and institutions. The project has been working to build awareness of the EBA Index and its uses for Feed the Future programming, as well as providing feedback to the World Bank to improve the methodology of the index. The project has also supported the development of the EBA Index and has used it to inform its own programming and policy recommendations. The EBA Index has also been linked to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including access to basic services, genetic diversity of cultivated plants, improving water quality, efficient and sustainable water withdrawals, integrated water resource management, enterprise access to financial services, and access to information and communication technology. By improving the business environment for agriculture, the EBA Index can help countries achieve these SDGs and improve food security and sustainable development.