December 2010

HIV and AIDS and farm labor productivity: A review of recent evidence in Africa

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...

Author(s): Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Catherine Aragon, Paul Thangata, Kwaw Andam and Daniel Ayalew Mekonnen

December 2010

Coping strategies for AIDS-affected households facing food security problems in Malawi: Evidence from integrated household surveys

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...

Author(s): Kisu Simwaka, Stuart Ferrer and Geoff Harris

December 2010

Margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana

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...

Author(s): V. Abankwah, R. Aidoo and B. Tweneboah-Koduah

December 2010

Gender difference and farm level efficiency: Metafrontier production function approach

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:...

Author(s): Samuel K. N. Dadzie and Isaac Dasmani