June 2014

Improved rice variety adoption and its effects on farmers’ output in Ghana

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...

Author(s): Abel Kwaku K. Bruce, Samuel A. Donkoh and Michael Ayamga

June 2014

Impact of the adoption of semi-mechanized technologies of shea processing on rural women’s income in Northern Benin (West Africa)

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...

Author(s): Jacob Afouda Yabi, Patrice Igue Adegbola, Dansi Silvere Tovignan, Morenike Cendrine Ahouandjinou and Adeyemi Suleiman Adekambi

June 2014

Options to reduce poverty among agro-pastoral households of Ethiopia: A case study from Aysaita district of Afar national regional state

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...

Author(s): Abubeker Mohammed, Ayalneh Bogale and Aseffa Seyoum

June 2014

Assessment of technical efficiency and its determinants in beef cattle production in Kenya

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...

Author(s): David Jakinda Otieno, Lionel Hubbard and Eric Ruto