Estimating the effects of formal and informal credit on farm household welfare: A hierarchical competitive welfare model approach
October 2014
This paper uses the hierarchical competitive welfare model approach to estimate the effects of credit from formal and informal sources on welfare development of farm households in Ghana. Data used for the econometric analyses came from the Ghana Living Standards Survey Round 5 dataset. The results showed that when a farm household is given GHC100 as formal credit, its welfare expenditure would increase by about GHC6. On...
Farmers’ perception on excreta reuse for peri-urban agriculture in southern Ghana
October 2014
Ghana lags behind the Millennium Development Goals’ target for sanitation, despite widespread effort by the central government. Most households in peri-urban communities in Ghana lack improved sanitation facilities, and access to faecal sludge disposal sites is also problematic. This study investigates farmers’ attitude and perception toward excreta reuse for peri-urban agriculture in Shai-Osudoku district,...
Economic and technical efficiency of cassava production in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria
October 2014
Cassava production seems to be economically viable but there seems to exist no empirical documented evidence to this effect in Ika North East L.G.A of Delta State, Nigeria. In view of this, the study analyzed the economic and technical efficiency of cassava production in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State. A multistage random sampling was used to select a total of 120 respondents used for the study....
Determinants of farmers’ adoption decisions for improved pearl millet variety in Sahel savanna zone of northern Nigeria
October 2014
Millet is a staple food mainly from local varieties, throughout the Sahel and in parts of the Sudan Savanna. Improved millet varieties are higher yielding and of better quality than the local varieties. This study was carried out after the Yobe State Agricultural Development Program had carried out series of extension services to assess the determinants of adoption of the improved varieties. Multistage systematic and...
Assessing the extent and determinants of adoption of improved cassava varieties in south-western Nigeria
September 2014
This paper investigates the determinants of adoption of improved cassava varieties in south- western Nigeria. The data come from a farm household survey of 841 households selected using a three-stage stratified random sampling procedure. The data collection was conducted in 2011 by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria. Empirical estimates of a Double-Hurdle model revealed that...
An economic viability assessment of sisal production and processing in Limpopo: A stochastic budgeting analysis
September 2014
Creating sustainable jobs in the agricultural sector is an important aspect of rural development. Agriculture is often viewed as a sine qua non for rural development, because it provides the necessary economic stimulus for rural households to participate in productive economic activities. Yet, identifying viable agricultural projects that have the potential to create jobs in rural areas has continued to overwhelm...
Adoption of drought-tolerant rice in Thailand: Participatory varietal selection and implications for breeding programs
September 2014
Rice production in Northeast Thailand has been suffering because of drought and limited irrigation. In this area, glutinous rice is generally produced for household consumption. The new drought-tolerant glutinous rice, RD12, developed to target drought-prone area in Northeast Thailand, was approved by the Rice Department in 2007. The breeding of this new variety has incorporated farmers’ participation to...
Financial profitability and technical efficiency of horticultural crops in the Nakanbé River Watershed in Burkina Faso
September 2014
In the watershed of the Nakanbé River in Burkina Faso, horticultural crops are financially profitable with high gross incomes, cost/revenue ratios and attractive hourly returns to labor. Based on a 6-h work day, profitability indicators of horticultural crops show that farmers are better-off compared to the ‘less than one dollar’ situation of people in Burkina Faso; horticultural crop production could...
Determinants of postharvest losses in tomato production in the Offinso North district of Ghana
August 2014
The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of postharvest losses in tomato production in the Offinso North district of Ghana. A standardized structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 150 farmers who were selected through a combination of purposive and simple random sampling techniques. We used descriptive statistics to summarize the characteristics of the respondents. Multiple regression analysis...
Willingness to pay for irrigation water and its determinants among rice farmers at Doho Rice Irrigation Scheme (DRIS) in Uganda
August 2014
The government of Uganda is currently rehabilitating its irrigation schemes. The largest of these is Doho Rice Irrigation Scheme (DRIS), where farmers will after rehabilitation bear the costs of its maintenance through payment of user fees. This study analyzes farmer’s willingness to pay (WTP) user fees and its determinants, using data gathered from 200 rice farmers at DRIS in 2012. The contingent valuation (CV)...
Women’s workload and their role in agricultural production in Ambo district, Ethiopia
August 2014
The Government of Ethiopia is working towards mainstreaming gender in all sector programmes, including agriculture. Women, despite having key role in advancing agricultural development and food security, their contribution is undervalued and they have been neglected in the making of agricultural policies. With the aim of tackling gender issues in agricultural production this study estimated total hours spent in farm...
Impact of macroeconomic policies on poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan African countries
August 2014
The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between macroeconomic variables and poverty alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa, by applying descriptive illustration and weighted least square (WLS) regression econometric analysis using the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) taken from the oxford poverty and human development initiative (OPHI) as dependent variable. Furthermore, principal component analysis...
The role of ICTs in agricultural production in Africa
July 2014
Over the past two decades Africa has experienced the fastest growth in the global telecommunications market, especially due to the tremendous growth of the mobile telecommunications sector. Studies have shown that ICTs play a significant role in a country’s development, and the strategic application of ICTs to the agricultural sector, which is the largest economic sector in most African countries, offers the best...
An economic analysis of crude oil pollution effects on crop farms in Rivers State, Nigeria
July 2014
This study researched on crude oil pollution effects on crop farms in Rivers State, Nigeria using stochastic translog production function. Data were collected in the state, using multi-stage sampling technique. A total of 296 structured questionnaires retrieved from farmers in crude oil polluted and non-polluted areas of the state were used. Stochastic translog production interaction between land and heavy, medium and...
The role of the rural labor market in reducing poverty in Western Ethiopia
July 2014
This study examines the role of the rural labor market in reducing poverty and improving the well-being of smallholder farmers in rural Ethiopia. Propensity score matching technique is used to estimate the effect of labor market participation on poverty, consumption expenditure and income of smallholder farmers. The overall result indicates that the rural labor market contributes significantly to income growth,...
The livelihood effects of landless people through communal hillside conservation in Tigray Region, Ethiopia
July 2014
In the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, landless people contributed to the existing land degradation by exploiting the economic possibilities of natural resources from communal hillside areas. This has been practically observed in the area that the landless people have been depending on the available natural resources to supplement their means of living through sales of timber, fire-wood and charcoal. To address this...
Fertilizer adoption in Ethiopia cereal production
July 2014
This paper was the first to use nationally representative data from the Agricultural Sample Surveys of Ethiopia to examine the factors affecting the adoption of the fertilizer-seed technology “package” promoted by Ethiopia’s government. We used a double hurdle model to analyze fertilizer adoption among four major cereal crops (barley, maize,...
Improved rice variety adoption and its effects on farmers’ output in Ghana
June 2014
Sub-Sahara Africa and for that matter Ghana, missed out of the first Green revolution. However, with the instrumentality of the former United Nations Secretary, Kofi Annan, through the Alliance for Green revolution in Africa (AGRA) and other bodies, the revolution is being introduced in some parts of Africa, including Ghana. The extent to which the new revolution would work depends on a careful study of the...
Impact of the adoption of semi-mechanized technologies of shea processing on rural women’s income in Northern Benin (West Africa)
June 2014
In Benin, the shea sector is one of the most promoted sectors in government’s attempt to diversify sources of farm income. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the adoption of the semi-mechanized shea processing on the income of rural women in northern Benin. In total, a random sample of 200 women processing shea was investigated. A probit model was firstly run to analyze the factors...
Options to reduce poverty among agro-pastoral households of Ethiopia: A case study from Aysaita district of Afar national regional state
June 2014
This paper discusses the dimension and intensity of poverty among the agro-pastoral households and development options based on survey data collected in 2011 from 180 randomly selected agro-pastoral households of Aysaita district. The study used the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) index to examine the incidence of poverty, the poverty gap and severity of poverty. It also employed the Tobit regression model to analyse...
Assessment of technical efficiency and its determinants in beef cattle production in Kenya
June 2014
The stochastic metafrontier method is applied to estimate technical efficiency levels in beef cattle production in Kenya. Subsequently, a Tobit model is used to assess factors that might influence efficiency. Results show that the average efficiency level is 0.69, suggesting that there is considerable scope to improve beef production in Kenya. Considering the importance of the livestock enterprise to rural livelihoods...
Measurement of technical efficiency of smallholder fish production in Ghana: A stochastic frontier approach
May 2014
This paper examines the level and determinants of technical efficiency of smallholder fish production in seven of the ten regions of Ghana. We employ the single-stage stochastic frontier approach in this study. Regional location, feed, fingerlings and labour are found to influence technical efficiency positively and significantly. However, formal education, marital status, membership in fish farmer groups and contact...
The effects of land tenure practices on agricultural output in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria
May 2014
The study examined the agricultural land use of small holders in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. It provides both qualitative and quantitative information about the prevailing agricultural land use practices in the study area. Various aspects of the existing agricultural practices (such as land use types, mode of access to land, implements and labour characteristics...
Trend and determinants of multidimensional poverty in rural Nigeria
May 2014
Government continues to initiate programmes to address the challenge of poverty in Nigeria.This paper investigates the poverty levels over time using the multidimensional approach and estimates its determinants; using the National Living Standard Survey data of 2004 and 2010. The Alkire-Foster methodology and the Logit model were employed for analysis. The result showed that 70% of rural households are...
Analysis of determinants of farm-level adaptation measures to climate change in Southern Africa
May 2014
The study examines farmer adaptation strategies to climate change in Southern Africa based on a cross-section database of three countries (South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). A multivariate discrete choice model was used to analyse the determinants of farm-level adaptation strategies. Results confirm that access to credit, free extension services, awareness of climate change are critical determinants of farm-level...
Understanding situational incompatibility of payment for the delivery of public extension services
April 2014
Persistent financial problems confront public extension organizations world-wide. Governments have embarked on funding arrangements, including commercializing the delivery of extension services to producers to ensure financial sustainability. These funding methods are innovative in the sense that they have not been used previously. They have to be accepted eventually by producers. The situational incompatibility aspects...
Factors influencing rural household food insecurity: The case of Babile district, East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia
April 2014
The paper examines the status and factors affecting food insecurity of rural household in Babile Ethiopia. A two-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 150 sample households from four kebeles. Both primary and secondary methods of data collection were used. Descriptive statistics and binary logit model were used as methods of data analysis. Binary logit model identified five out of ten variables included in...
The geographical information system (GIS) use on development of genetically engineered plants: The world perspective and the USA enterprise (1997 to 2003)
April 2014
The world population will hit the nine billion mark by 2050. Environmentally sustainable agriculture developed in a way that safeguarded the Earth and still could feed all nations is needed. All things being considered, the fact remains that the entire species on Earth share a single interconnected ecosystem. Finding acceptable solutions for the environmental and natural resource management problems and at the same time...
Saving patterns of rural households in east hararghe zone of Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia
April 2014
This study examined the patterns of rural household savings in East Hararghe zone of Oromia National Regional State in Ethiopia. The major objective of the study was to assess the patterns and its determinants of household savings in the study area. Data were collected from a total of 700 sample households which were also analyzed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit model. The result of the study...
Gender and small-farmer commercialisation: The case of two farming communities in Ghana
April 2014
Different options of enhancing household financial status are explored by farmers in Ghana in order to cope with fast changing economic conditions. These include intensification of traditional crop production, diversification into new high value crops and off-farm activities. This paper examines small-farmer commercialisation (SFC) activities in the forest and transition zones of Ghana. Participatory appraisal methods...
Empirical investigation of the dynamic linkages between crude oil and maize prices: Dating the structural breaks
April 2014
The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the long- and short-run effects of crude oil prices on maize prices, taking into consideration the possible structural breaks in the relationship between them. Time-series analysis was used to estimate the dynamic linkages between variables under examination, while the Bai and Perron procedure was applied to endogenously identify the turning points. Data employed were...
Assessment of operational aspects of the input supply chain under national agriculture input voucher scheme (NAIVS) in Tanzania
March 2014
This study examines the operational aspects of the National Agriculture Input Voucher Scheme in Tanzania from 2009/2010 to 2010/2011 based on secondary and primary data. Primary data were collected from a random sample of 300 households in four regions namely: Rukwa, Mbeya, Morogoro and Shinyanga. Secondary data were collected from the Ministry of Agriculture Food Security and Cooperatives (MAFC), Agro dealers and Local...
Herd mobility, markets and informal insurance practices among herders in Ethiopia
March 2014
This paper examines portfolio of livelihood strategies that households employ in semi-arid and risky production environment. Results show that there are multiple choices available for pastoral and agropastoral herders to adapt to or cope with the changing conditions. These include herd mobility, relying on traditional early warning, informal asset transfer, livestock fattening (emergence of markets) and in some cases a...
Sheep market integration in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia
March 2014
This study examines the existence of the spatial market integration of the different pairs of sheep markets in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Using modern time series econometric technique, uncovered compelling pieces of evidence of strong steady state linkages of the various pair-wise combinations of the sampled CRV markets, with only an insignificant few segregated routes. The main conclusion of the study is...
The Ricardian analysis twenty years after the original model: Evolution, unresolved issues and empirical problems
March 2014
This paper analyses the wide body of literature that concerns applications of the Ricardian approach to assess the economic effects of climate change on agriculture. Beginning with the original model proposed by Mendelsohn, Nordhaus and Shaw in 1994, the article discusses researchers’ main criticisms of the model and the innovations suggested to overcome its limitations. Finally, the study summarises the...
Determinants of live animals and animal products trade within the ECOWAS sub-region: A gravity model approach
March 2014
The scope and direction of international agricultural trade among nations depend on a number of factors. This study, thus, sought to identify and evaluate the determinants of trade in live animals and animal products among member countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region. Panel data on values of bilateral merchandise imports of agricultural commodities (HS Codes 1-24) at 2-digits...
Determinants of soybean market participation by smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe
February 2014
This article examines the determinants of soybean market participation by smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, with a view to identifying key policy entry points for increasing farmer incomes. Market linkages have been identified as key to the successful integration of grain legumes into the smallholder farming systems of southern Africa. Data for this article is derived from a baseline household survey in Guruve district...
Synergies between urban agriculture and urban household food security in Gweru City, Zimbabwe
February 2014
It is estimated that 25% of Zimbabwe’s population lives in urban areas (CSO, 2002), 70% below the poverty line, and a million in the city of Gweru. The worsening macroeconomic situation in 2008 resulted in urban food insecurity. Households adopted different survival strategies, including the intensification of urban agriculture. In an effort to assess the extent to which urban household food insecurity is...
Awareness and adoption of improved cassava varieties and processing technologies in Nigeria
February 2014
Development of high yielding and disease resistant cassava varieties, coupled with the promotion of efficient processing technologies, was the principal intervention aimed at changing the cassava sub-sector in Nigeria. National research and extension programs in Nigeria and IITA have been spearheading efforts to disseminate these varieties alongside improving farmer’s access to processing machineries. Several...
Export horticulture and household welfare: Evidence from Zambia
February 2014
Evidence is very scanty in Africa on the welfare effects of the recent shift of the horticulture industry from involving poor households through outgrower arrangements towards employing them in consolidated production entities. This study determines the impact of large-scale export vegetable production on the welfare of the employees in Zambia. It uses data from a survey of a random sample of farm worker households and...
Econometric analysis of factors affecting competitive advantage of broiler agribusinesses in Ghana
February 2014
This paper econometrically analyzed the factors affecting competitive advantage of broiler agribusinesses in Ghana, using multiple regression analysis. Through a multi-stage random sampling technique, structured questionnaire was used to collect farm level data from 441 small-scale commercial broiler agribusinesses in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions of Ghana. The average variable cost of producing a...
Econometric analysis of the changes in food consumption expenditure patterns in Egypt
January 2014
This paper analyses the changes in food expenditure patterns over time in Egypt with special emphasis on the differences between urban and rural sectors. Engel curves for food groups are estimated by using double-log function type. The method used for estimating regression equations is the Weighted Least Squares (WLS). Data used in the study are obtained from the Household, Income, Expenditure, and Consumption Survey...
The role of small scale irrigation in poverty reduction
January 2014
Poverty is of multidimensional characteristics affecting nearly a billion world population. Especially, a third of sub Saharans fall under poverty. The emergence of climate change coupled with the incidence of drought, are worsening the situation. The only option to escape this challenge is through the development of water resource projects. In attempting to do so, Ethiopia has yet developed not more than 5% of the...
Tenure security and soil conservation investment decisions: Empirical evidence from East Gojam, Ethiopia
January 2014
The purpose of this study is to investigate the mutual relation between tenure security and soil conservation investment and to examine the influence of other socio-economic and institutional factors on soil conservation investment and tenure insecurity. A formal survey is conducted in two districts of East Gojam Zone of Amhara region. The Zone and the districts are selected because of their long time experience with...
Consumer demand system of agri-food in Tanzania
January 2014
This paper focused on consumer demand system of agri-food in Tanzania. The study investigated on the budget share of agri-food, estimated own price and income elasticities of demand of agri-food consumed by the households in Tanzanian context. The Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) was employed to estimate the consumer demand system of agri-food. The empirical results revealed that households’ food budget share was...
Optimal control theory and fishery model
December 2013
Adequate numbers of relations have been provided to find the three unknowns following three equations: the state equation, the adjoint equation and maximum principle equation. If rigor is sacrificed, then a partial solution is quickly obtained by using the concept of calculus of variation. Our appealing and intuitive harvesting policy would be that, refrain from harvesting along the singular path, because zero harvest...
Livelihood diversification and welfare of rural households in Ondo State, Nigeria
December 2013
Agriculture, the main source of livelihood in Nigeria, especially in the rural areas, is plagued with various problems. As a result, most of the rural households are poor and are beginning to diversify their livelihoods into off and non-farm activities as a relevant source of income. This study examined the effect of livelihood diversification on the welfare of rural households in Ondo State. Primary data used in the...
Measuring the effect of climate change on agriculture: A literature review of analytical models
December 2013
This article provides a short overview of the principal models that can be used to estimate the effects of climate change on agriculture. The models are classified in relation to the following criteria: the specific impacts they aim to assess, their ability to measure production and/or economic losses, and the adoption of social indicators of the effects and responses. The weaknesses and strengths of the models are also...
Financial constraints and entrepreneurial activity choice among clients of micro finance institutions in Jimma area
December 2013
The research is intended to assess the small holder entrepreneurs’ enterprise choices under financial constraint. Adapting economic model of household-production interactions, results from a survey of 140 smallholders was used on multinomial logit regression techniques. The paper makes the case that the access to finance has limited effect on the choice of entrepreneurial activity than individual differences did....
Oil pollution and technical efficiency of food crop farmers in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria
December 2013
A study was carried out to investigate into factors responsible for technical inefficiency of food crop farmers in the oil polluted and non-polluted areas of Niger Delta. Data were collected from 270 (140 for oil polluted and 130 in unpolluted area) farmers selected through a multistage random sampling technique. A stochastic frontier function that incorporated inefficiency effect was estimated using the Maximum...
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