Land tenure security, investments and the environment in Ghana
June 2011
Using a nationally representative data obtained from a survey, this study attempts to examine empirically two main issues: first, the causal relationship between land tenure security and investment and secondly, the impact of tenure security (land rights) on environmental degradation. Analysis of the results indicates that investment in farmlands in Ghana is low and appears not to enhance tenure security and...
Residents decision-making in tourism at Sitatunga’s swampy habitat: Saiwa National Park, Kenya
May 2011
The local community is one of the most important stakeholders in tourism development. Local people could participate in tourism through policy and planning process; benefits sharing or owning community projects. However, in most instances, private benefit of conservation to individuals, households and even entire community are not made clear or may be non-existent. This research examines the level of participation by...
Landslide movement monitoring using GPS technology: A case study of Bakthang landslide, Gangtok, East Sikkim, India
May 2011
Landslide is a general term used to describe the down-slope of soil, rock and organic material under the influence of gravity. Several parts of northeastern region of India are vulnerable to landslide and moss movements. Nowadays, the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology has shown that it is capable to monitor sub-centimeter deformations of this ground movement. The main advantage of GPS sensors is that GPS...
Household food security in a commercialized subsistence economy: A case of smallholder tea famers in Nandi south district, Kenya
May 2011
Policies fronting commercialization of agriculture in Kenya assumed that realization of increased household incomes through cultivation of cash crops, would guarantee improved food security and subsequent reduction of poverty. However, most communities in Kenya growing cash crops still struggle to put food on the table. Population pressure has led to competition for limited land resource, coupled with unfavourable...
Methodological guidelines for tracking public agricultural expenditure with illustrations from Zambia
May 2011
The signing of the Maputo Declaration in 2003 by African Union member states requiring them to allocate 10% of national budget to agriculture, necessitates a framework or system that tracks how much is being spent, where it is being spent, what it is being spent on and for whom, and how it has changed over time in relation to the set targets. This paper provides such a framework and illustrates its use using data from...
Microfinance, inequality and vulnerability: Empirical analysis from Central African countries
April 2011
This study examines the relationship of microfinance, inequality and vulnerability by providing a cross-country empirical study of 11 developing countries in Central Africa. Microfinance plays an important role in the financial market in many African countries. Although microfinance is expected to significantly affect macro variables, we lack enough empirical research on impact analysis at the macro level, such as the...
Analysis of poverty and its covariates among smallholder farmers in the Eastern Hararghe highlands of Ethiopia
April 2011
This paper analyses the extent and determinants of rural household poverty in the eastern highlands of Ethiopia. The study examines 216 households using a household consumption expenditure approach. The study was particularly interested in the effects of location-specific and institutional factors (networks) in determining the probability of being poor. The findings suggest that poverty is location-specific, depends on...
An analysis of allocative efficiency of shea butter processing methods in the northern region of Ghana
April 2011
This study estimated and compared the allocative efficiencies of the traditional, improved shea butter processing technology (ISBPT) and the bridge press (BP) methods of shea butter processing. Data were collected from 110 shea butter processors. Allocative efficiency estimates were obtained using the marginal product approach. The allocative efficiency indices for labour indicate that while labour input is over...
Determinants of non-farm activities participation decisions of farm households in Burkina Faso
April 2011
Land market developments and household access to land through land rental markets are important, especially at the stage where land reform is taking place in Rwanda. Determinants of land rental markets in rural Rwanda, assessed according to household and land market characteristics as well as transaction costs constraints, were studied based on a survey of 251 household farms from the Southern Province during 2006 to...
Determinants of land rental markets: Theory and econometric evidence from rural Rwanda
April 2011
Land market developments and household access to land through land rental markets are important, especially at the stage where land reform is taking place in Rwanda. Determinants of land rental markets in rural Rwanda, assessed according to household and land market characteristics as well as transaction costs constraints, were studied based on a survey of 251 household farms from the Southern Province during 2006 to...
Understanding the interaction between farm labor productivity, and health and nutrition: A survey of the evidence
March 2011
Good health is an asset for agriculture, as healthy people can produce more and good nutrition contributes to it. Conversely, agriculture is an asset which contributes to good health and nutrition, and resilience. When both health and agriculture thrive, a reinforcing cycle of health can result, but when either suffers, the cycle becomes one of lowered agricultural productivity and lowered health. Agricultural...
Analysis of entrepreneurial agricultural activities of youths in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria
March 2011
The study analyzed the entrepreneurial agricultural activities of youths in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire administered to 100 youths, randomly sampled across the study area. Data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools in the forms of frequencies, percentages and correlation analysis. Result of the...
Microfinance and gender in the context of millennium development goals (MDGs) in Nigeria
March 2011
Issues in client targeting are two in nature; gender targeting or poverty targeting (Brau and Woller, 2004). The nature of target to some extent will determine the ‘best practices’ in conjunction with local specific situation. In the first issue of gender targeting, the question has always been whether to lend to women or men in the context of which will give wider reach and benefit the society. This...
Performance evaluation of agricultural inputs in crop production of Zahak Payame Noor university agricultural faculty farm by linear programming
March 2011
Farm management is one of the most critical factors in production and marketing of agricultural crops. In a broad description, management is defined as making decision process through which the limited resources are allocated to competent items in such a way that the determined goal can be achieved. Generally, organizing and controlling the resources of an agricultural unit toward the maximum potential benefits and...
Socio-cultural participatory monitoring and evaluation indicators used in adopting improved cassavas by Western Kenya communities
March 2011
Cassava production is critical to household food security in Kuria and Migori Districts. The adoption of improved cassava varieties has been low largely due to non-participatory extension approaches (GOK, 2006). Participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) at the community level is a relatively new approach and there has been considerable lack of emphasis on community-based monitoring and evaluation indicators...
Understanding water conflict and cooperation in Con Cuong, Nghe An province,Vietnam
March 2011
This paper seeks to explore local water related conflict and cooperation based on a quantitative inventory of water related events in Con Cuong district, Nghe An province, Vietnam. It was found that the local water competition situations involve both conflictive and cooperative events, which often evolve in succession of each other. Of the identified events, the majority turned out to be cooperative and many events were...
Methodological guidelines for tracking public agricultural expenditure with illustrations from Zambia
March 2011
The signing of the Maputo Declaration in 2003 by African Union member states requiring them to allocate 10% of national budget to agriculture, necessitates a framework or system that tracks how much is being spent, where it is being spent, what it is being spent on and for whom, and how it has changed over time in relation to the set targets. This paper provides such...
Assessment of the prospects of value addition among small-scale rural enterprises in Nigeria: Evidence from North-eastern Adamawa State
March 2011
The evaluation of the prospects of value addition in small-scale rural enterprises in North-eastern Adamawa State, Nigeria, was conducted in order to determine the profit potentials among the entrepreneurs. Data gathered through group discussions and interviews schedule with members/owners of enterprises in the communities were analysed using descriptive statistics and value-addition model. Results revealed that,...
Factors that influence the success and failure of land bank supported farming small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMES) in South Africa
February 2011
In order to establish reasons for their success and failure (defining failure as incapability to meet financial obligations, e.g. defaults), a study was undertaken to determine the problems faced by emerging or developing farmers, who are clients of, or are /funded by the Land Bank. Results from this study revealed that the farmers’ perceptions do depict a lack of capacity on essential prerequisites for their...
Geographical development of agricultural entrepreneurship: The case of pig farming in Greece
February 2011
This paper focused on the spatial and typological analysis of the economic activities of a major entrepreneurial sector of agricultural economy: pig farming. By applying the K-Mean Cluster analysis methodology, the “profile” of various pig farms was studied, regarding the geographical region, corporate structure, educational level...
Sanitary and phytosanitary issues for fishery exports to the European Union: A Mauritian insight
February 2011
Quantitative restrictions to trade are declining, but in parallel sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are increasingly being applied to impede agro-food trade. There is evidence that developing countries experience problems in meeting SPS measures. The objective of this paper is to determine whether Mauritius is facing barriers pertaining to SPS issues when exporting fishery products to the European Union. We...
Determinants of loan acquisition from the financial institutions by small-scale farmers in Ohafia Agricultural zone of Abia State, South East Nigeria
February 2011
The study was designed to analyse the determinants of loan acquisition from financial institutions by small-scale farmers in Ohafia Agricultural zone of Abia state, South East Nigeria. Data were collected with structured questionnaire from 100 randomly selected farmers. Data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics and multiple regression models. Results show that, the farmers committed their loans to...
Evaluation of factors influencing farmers adoption of irrigated rice production in Fadama soil of North Eastern Nigeria
February 2011
This study was conducted at Lake Gerio irrigation project situated at the north western part of Jimeta/Yola, North-Eastern Nigeria. It lies between longitude 12â—¦ and 12â—¦ 28’ east of Greenwich and Latitude 9â—¦16’ and 9â—¦19’ North of the equator. The objective of the study was to examine the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of irrigated rice production. The respondents...
Consulting the stakeholders on pro-poor market segmentation of maize seed in Kenya
February 2011
Market segmentation, while popular in the pharmaceutical industry to reach the poor in developing-countries markets, have so far not been successful in delivering agricultural technology to poor farmers. In this paper, their potential use in Kenya is analyzed, based on information gathered through an extensive stakeholder consultation. Results show that some market segmentation methods are used. Seed companies, some...
Development ideas in post-independence: Sub-Saharan Africa
January 2011
Most sub-Saharan African leaders seem to misunderstand the development concepts or ideas by embracing the African socialist system as a path of economic development. The leaders focused on strong nationalist sentiments and economy of affection and neglected the rural development, a sine qua none condition of economic growth and development in Africa. This study defines the development concepts and different economic...
Determination of seasonal price variations for some food crops in Iran at Karaj zone to achieve Sustainable Agriculture
January 2011
Iran is one of the largest Asian countries with arid and semi-arid weather, but can produce most food crops due to special geographical position. In order to determine seasonal prices (SPV) variations in some food crops, this study was carried out at Karaj city of Iran in 2009. In this experiment, four groups of food products were used. The first group includes tree fruits (orange, apple and pomegranate), the second...
Public willingness to pay for ecosystem service functions of a peri-urban forest near Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
January 2011
The willingness to pay (WTP) format contingent valuation method (CVM) was adopted to elicit monetary values from some respondents in Arakanga forest reserve (AFR) (a peri- urban forest) near Abeokuta. This was to provide monetary estimates of the ecosystem service functions of the reserve. The respondents were randomly selected from both the neighbors and non-neighbors to the reserve. Data were collected with the aid of...
Role of collective actions in integrated soil and water conservation: The Case of Gununo Watershed, Southern Ethiopia
January 2011
Collective action was initiated to manage soil and water conservation in Gununo watershed in southern Ethiopia. General problem exploration was conducted initially and issues requiring collective action were identified through group discussion and community meeting. Similarly local institution that could effectively lead the collective action was selected and collective action was run for two seasons (2005 and 2006)....
HIV and AIDS and farm labor productivity: A review of recent evidence in Africa
December 2010
Three quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas and they depend on agriculture for livelihood. Labor migration to high agricultural producing areas, funerals, traditional festivals, poverty and loose lifestyles contribute to high incidence of HIV infections in rural areas. Poor health due to AIDS brings hardships to households including debilitation, substantial monetary expenditures, loss of labor, and...
Coping strategies for AIDS-affected households facing food security problems in Malawi: Evidence from integrated household surveys
December 2010
This study examines the coping strategies used by AIDS-affected households facing food security problems. The results from the multinomial logistic model showed that,during 2004/05 and 2006/07, the most dominant coping strategy used by AIDS-affected households facing food security problems, was buying food from the market. This is followed by casual labour, obtaining food from relatives and friends, eating unripe...
Margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana
December 2010
The study was conducted in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti region of Ghana to examine the margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing. Cross-sectional data was randomly collected from 120 individual fresh coconut marketers in market centers across the metropolis and analyzed, using Deconstructed Marketing Margins and Return on Capital Employed. The study revealed that fresh coconut marketing in the...
Gender difference and farm level efficiency: Metafrontier production function approach
December 2010
Gender mainstreaming has, for some time now, been identified as a paramount issue in development of resource-poor societies, and particularly, the women whose access to productive resources is limited due to tradition, culture and other socio-economic constraints. This research paper investigates the influence of Gender in management on the level of efficiency of food crop farms in Ghana. The study specifically:...
Essence of crop diversification: A study of West Bengal agriculture during 1970 - 1971 to 2004 - 2005
November 2010
Initiation of some institutional and technological changes mainly the Operation Barga and the introduction of high yielding varieties during the eighties turned West Bengal into a progressive food grain producing state in India. But of late a decelerating tendency in West Bengal agriculture has been noticed especially in terms of growth production of major crops and also the total agricultural production. In this...
Soil moisture stress mitigation for sustainable upland rice production in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria
November 2010
Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS) of Nigeria cultivable lands have sandy loam to loamy sand surface textures, low organic matter and are susceptible to erosion (wind and water). To mitigate crop moisture stress, on-farm trials involving contour-ridge-tying and contour ridging were carried out in Albasur and Dansoda villages in Dandume Local Government Area of Katsina State NGS to conserve soil against erosion and moisture...
Welfare enhancing growth rates in food grains production: A district level comparison of an Indian state
November 2010
Maharastra is one of the progressive states in India but it has been reported to be a deficit state for long when one considers to major pursuit of economic activity, which is agriculture. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze welfare aspect of growth performance of agriculture of the Maharastra State for the period from 1970/71 to 2005/06 by using Kakwanie’s (1997) growth parameters. Based on...
Effects of fertilizer liberalization on maize production in Nigeria
November 2010
The paper studies the effects of the liberalization of the Nigerian fertilizer sector, vis-à-vis the sustenance of the present dual fertilizer distribution arrangement, on maize production in Nigeria. Time series data was collected for the period 1990-2006. A multiple regression model was specified with aggregate fertilizer use, maize hectarage and a dummy variable designed to capture the effects of the changes...
Takaful: An Islamic insurance instrument
October 2010
The Takaful concept evolved from individual common interest during the industrial era of the early 1900’s. Only eighty million of the world’s 2.5 billion poor are currently covered by some form of micro-insurance. Only 3% of the poor in India and China are insured, and only 0.3% of the poor in Africa are insured. In 23 of the 100 poorest countries in the world, there is currently no identified...
Crop diversification by poor peasants and role of infrastructure: Evidence from West Bengal
October 2010
The question of sustainable income and employment in the rural areas seems to be very much dependent on the degree of diversification of land use towards cultivating various crops. In view of this, crop diversification has been an important issue of agricultural development not only in India, but also in other parts of the world. In India, the growth of area under cultivation in different states remained stagnant in the...
Adoption of agro-forestry technologies among small-holder farmers: A case of Zimbabwe
October 2010
The objectives of this study were to assess and compare the levels of adoption of agro-forestry technologies between trained and untrained farmers, and identify specific factors that affect adoption of technologies. Data from 300 smallholder farmers selected by snowballing from villages where change agents had been trained by the International Center for Research in Agro Forestry was collected using structured...
Evaluating agricultural policies of local governments in Indonesia after the implementation of regional autonomy by principal component analysis
October 2010
Regional autonomy was implemented in Indonesia since 2001, in which most of the authority including agricultural policies was delegated to the local governments. This study evaluated the quality of the agricultural policies in local governments using principal component analysis. The survey was conducted with the local agricultural offices in 89 regencies in Indonesia to collect data of the office budgets, number of...
The real exchange rate and growth in Malawi: Exploring the transmission route
September 2010
This study focuses on the impact of real exchange rate on savings rate and economic growth. It further explores the savings transmission mechanism through which such a link can take place in the country. The results show that real effective exchange rate (REER) volatility has adverse effects on economic performance. Contextually, an appreciated REER is significantly and positively correlated with economic growth,...
Economic efficiency analysis in Côte d’Ivoire
September 2010
This study investigates the determinant factors of economic efficiency in Cote d’Ivoire. We estimated a stochastic production frontier by the maximum likelihood method. For a deeper analysis, we considered a cost frontier and compared the scores of efficiency for each industrial sector. The findings of an investigation of about 3,000 firms observed from 2003 - 2006 reveal that the Ivorian economy is not...
Measuring agricultural productivity growth in developing Eight
September 2010
In this paper the agricultural productivity growth in D-8 from 1993 - 2007 is examined using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The study focuses on growth in total factor productivity and its decomposition in to technical and efficiency change components. It was found that, during that period, total factor productivity has experienced a positive evolution in D- 8. Decomposition of TFP shows that technical change is...
Econometric analysis of the effects of water hyacinth on the fish catches in Lake Victoria, East Africa
August 2010
Lake Victoria is Africa’s most important source of inland fishery production. The lake serves as a source of human food and raw material for the fishmeal industry. Several challenges face the lake fishery, including the invasion of water hyacinth. This paper analyses the effects of the invasion of water hyacinth on fishing in Lake Victoria. A static catch per unit of effort functions were estimated using Schaefer...
The international trade prospective of agriculture sector in South African
August 2010
The objective of this paper is to analyse the international trade performance of the South African agricultural industry in aggregate and by product group categories. A useful tool in this regard is the Gini and intra-industrial trade coefficient (IIT), which is used to examine the international trade balance of South Africa. Moreover, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) is also used to identify factors that may be necessary...
Truncation and endogenous stratification in various count data models for recreation demand analysis
August 2010
The aim of this paper is to extend the truncated and endogenously stratified Poisson and negative binomial models to three alternative discrete distributions, namely the generalized Poisson, geometric and Borel distributions. Our primary intention here is to demonstrate how the improper treatments of the data generate divergent outcomes by applying those results to the recreation trip data surveyed from the visitors to...
Do non-farm incomes really matter for poverty among small households in rural Bangladesh? A case of advanced villages
July 2010
Given the critical importance of the non-farm sector in rural Bangladesh, this paper examines the comprehensive effects of non-farm incomes on poverty reduction, namely, household production and consumption. The study was based on the original field survey with data from about 175 small households in advanced villages of Bangladesh. Standard micro-econometric techniques were used for the empirical analyses. The study...
Role of the credit rating agencies in the financial market crisis
July 2010
The objective of this paper is to critically examine the role of credit rating agencies in the sub-prime crisis. The paper traces the development of the sub-prime crisis from its origin till the aftermath. It studies the weaknesses of credit rating agencies in performing their basic function of timely and accurate rating of bond obligations. The paper then scrutinizes the diversification of credit rating agencies into...
Rice trade policy options in an open developing economy: The Nigerian case study
May 2010
The Nigerian rice industry is a crucial non-oil, agricultural sector in terms of its gross output and exports. Due to the significance of rice in Nigeria, government has placed a great emphasis on increasing rice production in order to achieve self - sufficiency. The industry is dominated by private sector investment and possesses bright prospects for attracting further private investments for generating greater export...
Convention economics and coordination mechanisms in collective actions: The Uruguay certified beef case
May 2010
Consumers’ interest for food quality and safety increases every day. The sanitary crises that have occurred in the beef cattle market have led to the need to guarantee traceability and the development of specialty brands (origin denominations, natural and organic meats, racial stamps, among others), in which trust in the process is the basic tool for competence. Therefore, this study aims to identify the forms of...
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