Wednesday, 22 August 2007

IMPROVED MARKETS FOR AFRICAN FARMERS FOR POVERTY REDUCTION

Policy and Institutional effects on market participation by smallholder rice farmers: case studies in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

Ali Touré - Rice Policy and Market Development, WARDA

Rice sector contributes significantly to secure households with regard to their food needs but also to the creation of employments and income generation. The sector development and its evolution over the years have been marked by various policies and approaches. These development stages of the sector constitute nothing but the impact of the number of factors such as the rice policies put in place. A collaborative multi-country pilot study on policy and institutional arrangements effects on irrigated rice production and commercialization was conducted by WARDA and its country partners of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. In-depth surveys were carried out at both village and household levels to collect qualitative and quantitative data on irrigated rice production, commercialization, and irrigated schemes governance. A common critical constrain cited by the producers in these countries is the commercialization of their product and their inability to take advantage of the market opportunities. Using village and household levels survey data on irrigated rice production and commercialization, this paper attempts to examine the impact of policy and institutional factors in market participation by smallholder rice producers.  A farm level supply is estimated using the quantity of rice marketed as the dependant variable and factors such as output and inputs price, and policy and institutional variables as independent ones. The preliminary results indicate that most significant explanatory variable is the average irrigated rice plot (Mali and Niger) and total area of other crops grown by the producer.

Patterns of Restructuring Food Markets in South Africa: The case of Fresh Produce Supply Chains

Davison Chikazunga - University of Pretoria

The restructuring process of the food markets in South Africa is at advanced stages of consolidation and the emergence dominance of few supermarket chains expanding into non-traditional areas, through franchise format stores and forecourt stores overtaking informal wet markets and green grocers. The growth has been followed by consolidation of the procurement system from a decentralised to a centralised procurement and distribution mechanism replacing the wholesaling function of the National Fresh Produce Markets.  The growth in disposable income, population growth and urbanization have fuelled the demand food outlets like supermarkets which in turn fuels innovations and dynamic changes surrounding supermarkets

Has Imported Rice Crowded-Out Domestic Rice Production In Ghana? What Has Been The Role Of Policy?

Sam Asuming-Brempong -University of Ghana, Legon

Commercial rice imports have accounted for approximately 61%, food aid in rice accounted for about 2%, and domestic rice accounted for some 37% per annum of rice consumption in Ghana over the four years between 2000 and 2003. Compared to the 1990s, these figures show a gradual decline in the share of local rice production in the total quantities of rice consumed in the country.  On the other hand, the proportion of food aid in rice consumed has remained relatively constant over the period, while the proportion of commercial imports has increased steadily. Using the Engel-Granger residual-based co-integration test, a market integration analysis was explored for imported rice and domestic rice which compared a central market for imported rice and five key rice producing centres in Ghana. In addition, the various policies that affected rice during the period were analysed. The results of the co-integration analysis suggest that there is no spatial market integration between the central market price of imported rice and prices in the local markets. This implies that the prices of imported rice in these local markets do not share common properties or behaviour with prevailing price trends in the central market, suggesting that markets for imported rice in Ghana are segmented, and domestic policies have generally not favoured local rice production

Changing Face of the Agri-Food Market: A Farmers Response and Possible Solutions from a Provincial Perspective

Bongiswa Matoti -Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa

The rise of supermarkets, together with large-scale food manufacturers, has deeply transformed agri-food markets in many countries. This expansion has been evident in South Africa as well.  Increasing attention has been and is being paid to the growth of supermarkets in countries outside of North America and Europe. Numerous studies have been carried out in developing countries, including South Africa. However, these studies, while identifying the growth of supermarkets and the changes in supply chains, notably downstream, that have been caused by this growth, have made relatively little progress in documenting the impacts at producer level and in identifying issues that need to be addressed. There is a special need for studies on how farmers and supporting agencies, especially public agencies should respond to adapt their interventions to the new realities of supplying large retailers. This is of importance for South Africa because of its unique policy environment where the expansion of supermarkets is accelerating at the time when transformation in the agricultural sector is the key with the aim of integrating emerging farmers in the mainstream agri-food system. This paper will follow a case study approach, looking at cases in the fresh fruit and vegetables category, particularly in the Western Cape Province. The paper will summarise the rapid rise of supermarkets in agri-food systems in developing countries. Attention will then be drawn towards characterising these trends in the South African context with a special emphasis on farmer’s response and issues that need to be addressed. 

Trade Liberalization in the South Africa Livestock Industry: Implications for Rural Development

 Oyewumi, Olaniyi A.- University of the Free State and Markets and Economic Research Centre (MERC)

Livestock farming is an important facet of agriculture and livelihood in South Africa. It forms the essence of rural agriculture contributing food, socio-economic stability, employment and income. After the liberalization of the agricultural sector and phasing out of past protection mechanisms South Africa introduced a process of tariff reform. Furthermore, a system of tariff rate quotas was introduced in compliance with WTO regulations. A partial equilibrium comparative static model was used to investigate the impact of further liberalization in the livestock industry of South Africa, particularly in meat products using four policy scenarios. Specific emphasis was given to the liberalization of the current TRQ regime. The implication of the results are that the development efforts by government aimed at commercializing emerging commercial stock farming in order to address equity and poverty may be slowed down considerably with further trade liberalization; especially since substitution with other agricultural enterprises are limited. The conclusion is that the expansion in current quotas might be a more proper policy directive than reducing applied tariffs over the short to medium run to comply with trade liberalization targets as well as WTO commitments. The reason for this is that quota expansion brings about moderate changes in domestic prices of livestock and meat products as compared to tariff reductions.

Competitiveness and Revealed Comparative Advantage in the SADC Maize Industry

Emelly Mutambatsere - Cornell University

This paper evaluates the production and trade trends for maize and maize products in southern Africa, individual countries’ revealed comparative advantages in producing these products, and the expected implications of freer trade in this sector. The analysis employs mainly annual bilateral trade data for the period 1996-2004, evaluated using comprehensive descriptive measures and the Revealed Comparative Advantage index. Results indicate that at least half of the countries in the SADC region are deficit producers of maize and maize products, and that only South Africa is a net exporter of all products considered. Substantial cross-hauling is observed, and the bulk of locally produced products are traded regionally, with over 90% regional bias for half of all positive trade, although specific opportunities for increased regional trade also exist. Tariff protection generally lies below rates observed elsewhere in the world for this sector; however, for half of the region, consistent non-tariff measures also are maintained. Regional competitiveness in production is restricted to a few countries that possess the capacity to produce and export significant quantities; and with the exception of those countries, the region as a whole lacks net comparative advantage in maize and maize flour production by global standards. These results suggest a need for concurrent policy interventions to improve production, regional and international trade. Food security strategies focusing solely on improving regional trade, while beneficial to specific regional producers, are unlikely to produce major food security benefits.

Agricultural Value Chain Development in West Africa – Methodological framework and case study of mango in Benin

 Cathelijne Van Melle – IITA, Benin

Globalization and competitiveness of agricultural commodities could have significant potential benefits for food security and poverty reduction in West Africa. Participation in global trade and economy is potentially important but not enough to ensure benefits at all levels of the chains and equitable distribution of income for each participant. Efficiency is key in the commodity value chain, but effective support functions and services, infrastructure, legal and policy environment are important. This paper presents the framework of value chain concept and analysis, as a guide to enhance competitiveness of commodities at national, regional or global level. The paper applies the value chain framework to a case study on mango in Benin, West Africa. The international market for mango is characterized by stringent quality requirements regarding fruit flies. This needs to be addressed as a key value chain challenge for competitiveness of the commodity in Benin and West Africa.

Cereal Price Instability in Ethiopia: An Examination of sources and Policy Options?

Rashid, Shahidur - International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Managing food price instability is a long standing policy challenge, which, with mixed experiences of agricultural price policy reforms, has re-emerged as a contemporary policy issue. This is particularly true for Ethiopia, where managing food price stability continues to be a formidable policy challenge. The objective of this paper is to examine the underlying causes of cereal price instabilities and to assess the policy options to manage them. It undertakes three tasks: (a) analyzes the sources and degree of cereal price instability, (b) discusses the viability of various policy options, and (c) critically reviews the country’s past, ongoing, and emerging policies for food price stabilization. The results show that the determinants of price stability—infrastructure, information, and institutions—are at low levels of development; both production and price variability are high, and despite this continued high variability in prices, price risks mitigation has lost its importance in the country’s policy agenda. By analyzing market-based and non market-based policy options, as well as recent trends in the cereal markets, the paper argues and concludes that reliance on any single option may not produce the expected results. A combination of the two will be desirable, especially in the short run.

ADVANCING TECHNICAL CHANGE IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE: PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AND STRATEGIC CHOICES

Gendered Impact of Nerica Adoption on Farmers’ Production and Income in Central Benin  

Rita Afiavi Agboh-Noameshie -WARDA

Today, development and dissemination of new technologies constitute an important strategy for agricultural intensification, poverty reduction and food security in developing countries. Rice is an important source of farmers’ income and foreign currencies in developing countries. Although women play a vital role in rice production, they have not been adequately involved in technology generation activities until recently. The New Rices for Africa (NERICA) were developed by Africa Rice Center (WARDA) in 1994 and disseminated starting in 1997 in some Sub-Saharan African countries including Benin in collaboration with National Agricultural Partners. This paper use econometric method based on Local Average Treatment effect (LATE) to estimate the gendered impact of NERICA adoption on farmers’ yield and income. The results show that NERICA adoption has positive and significant impact on farmers’ yield and income. The impacts of NERICA adoption are higher within women farmers than within men farmers

Financing Agricultural Inputs in Northern Togo through Inventory Credit System: An Economic Analysis of Institutional Response

Abdou Konlambigue-International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC)

Agricultural intensification is widely seen as a condition sine-qua-non for enhanced food security and as a major driver for overall economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this process, the financial system has an important role to play, especially to finance agricultural inputs. However in SSA, the financial institutions initiated by governments and donors have in general not lived up to the expectations, in particular not for the agricultural sector, because of inappropriate design and weaknesses in implementation. Even the microfinance institutions which were supposed to support the small-scale farmers have deflected for their goals due to the risks that the agricultural sector represents. To date, the economic research tends to concentrate on the mechanisms that secure the credit of microfinance institutions. However, the effective implementation of new mechanisms to secure credit appears more difficult than foreseen, as the decision making processes involved are complex and constrained by the lack of information. This paper argues that sustainable agricultural financing needs alternative schemes that secure both the credit of financial institutions and farmers’ income. It will also be shown how the new institutional economics perspective can be used to analyze and guide decision-making with respect to alternative schemes for agricultural financing. This paper which is based on quantitative and qualitative data presents the case of the inventory credit scheme on maize to facilitate access to agricultural inputs in Savannah region of Togo. In conclusion, some research areas will be indicated to improve our understanding of the inventory credit system.

Smallholder Agricultural Surplus and Input Use under Transactions Costs: The Case of Maize Supply and Fertilizer Demand in Kenya

Alene D. Arega -International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

This paper assessed the effects of transactions costs—relative to price and non-price factors—on smallholder marketed surplus and input use in Kenya. A selectivity model was used that accounts not only for the effects of fixed and variable transactions costs but also for the role of assets, technology, and support services in promoting input use and generating a marketable surplus. Output supply and input demand responses to changes in transactions costs and price and non-price factors were estimated and decomposed into market entry and intensity. The results showed that while transactions costs indeed have significant negative effects on market participation, cost-mitigating innovations—such as group marketing—are also emerging to mitigate the costs of accessing markets. Output price has no effect on output market entry and only provides incentives for increased supply by sellers. On the other hand, both price and non-price factors have significant influence on adoption and intensity of input use. Overall, the findings suggest that policy options are available other than price policies to promote input use and agricultural surplus.

Risk Aversion and Sustainable Maize Production in Nigeria: Some Challenges and Prospects for Agricultural and Economic Development

 Luke O. Olarinde -Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

This paper determines the degree or extent of farmer’s risk aversion that affects sustainable maize production in Northern Nigeria. Using a ridge regression analysis, a measure of risk aversion was derived for each individual farmer in a model of safety-first behaviour from a cross-sectional survey of 350 maize producers in northern Nigeria. The distribution of the degree of risk aversion shows a high skewness towards the risk averters (high risk farmers) and centered around 1.20, and standard deviation of 0.37. This distribution is then explained by a set of specific variables that characterize the farmers’ behaviour in the study area using a Tobit model. Susceptibility to risk was found to be highly premised on the socioeconomic factors (e.g. age of household head), farm specific variables (e.g. proportion of income from maize) and farmers’ attitudinal factors against risk (e.g. safety first level of probability of sale). These findings can be used to construct a framework of development programs for peasant farmers, which provide some challenging prospects.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Adoption of Dairy Technologies in Western Kenya

 Stella N. Makokha - Kenya Agricultural Research Institute

Indicators of poverty in western Kenya show high poverty levels. The area has low dairy development yet the potential for dairy development is quite high. Dairy farming has the potential to reduce poverty by increasing incomes and reducing unemployment. This paper reports factor interrelationships in dairy adoption with a view to understanding factors that influence adoption. The binary probit model was used to analyse data from 1575 households. Contrary to findings from similar studies elsewhere, some factors had a negative association with adoption, thus unfolding a unique adoption process. The association between the factor interactive affects and technology adoption highlighted the importance of exploring factor interrelationships. The widely held conclusion that smallholder households are resource constrained in technology adoption did not hold in this study. The source of labour supply dictated choice of variables to be used as proxies for labour availability. The exploration of endogenous relationships in the various factors dictated the use of the single probit model. The spatial factors used were highly significant in adoption, and the predicted probabilities from these factors gave a true spatial prediction. This confirmed reliability of the probit estimates. An understanding of factor interrelationships in adoption gives adoption studies high specificity while making conclusions and recommendations, thus necessitating case studies in adoption.

Impact assessment of Agricultural Research and Development to reduce Virus problems in Tomato Production in Mali: Farmers’ Perceptions

Nouhoheflin, Theodore - IITA

Pests and diseases caused by bacteria, nematodes, fungi and viruses cause significant losses to tomato in West Africa. This study, carried-out within the framework of the IPM-CRSP implemented jointly by IITA, IER and Virginia Tech. and State University, assesses farmers’ perceptions on tomato pests and analyzes factors affecting pest management decision-making. Surveys were carried out in three tomato production areas where pests and diseases are major agricultural problems encountered by farmers. Data were collected a sample of from 343 farmers through a set of questionnaires on tomato production systems. Farmer’s decision-making in pest management was modeled using an econometrics Logit probability model. Results show that the main disease reported by most farmers is tomato leaf curl viruses transmitted by whitefly (Bemissia tabaci). The spray of chemicals was not effective on whitefly-transmitted viruses, but the observance of host free period could significantly reduce the population of whiteflies. Key factors affecting farmers’ pest management decision-making are gender; share of tomato income from household income and the level of farm income. Men are more involved in tomato production due to access to pesticide and effective demand for pesticides because of incomes (purchasing power). This paper concludes that tomato production can increase significantly if improved varieties tolerant to whitefly viruses are developed and disseminated, and farmers trained on the appropriate use of chemicals using a participatory approach to raise their level of awareness and information on effective pesticide use and pest-management decision-making.

Did Farmers’ Livelihood Improve? An Impact Assessment of Incorporating Forages into the Crop-Livestock System in the Coastal Savannah of Ghana

Godwin Ameleke - CSIR-Animal Research Institute

The study used programming methods to assess the farm-level impact of incorporating forages, including dual purpose Cajanus cajan (C. cajan), into the crop-livestock system in the Coastal Savannah Zone of Ghana. The system was modeled in GAMS and solved using linear programming. The optimal enterprise mixes and their resultant net revenues with and without the interventions and therefore the change in net revenue were obtained. The intervention was to grow forages as part of the crop-livestock system and feed them to milking cows and their calves for increased milk production and growth. The grain of the forage was used as food by the farmers, and manure from the animals was also used for crop production.   The effect of policy options like educating farmers to accept and use C. cajan grain as food and thereby increase its production was analysed. The change in net revenue with incorporation of C. cajan into the system was 50 percent. A 5 percentage points change in the inclusion level of C. cajan grain in farmers’ diet and subsequent increase in its cultivation precipitated a 4 percent change in net revenue. C. cajan was not produced beyond the level required for household consumption and its main attraction seemed to be its food value. The addition of C. cajan into the crop-livestock system of the area improved farmers’ incomes. Increased cultivation of C. cajan may be dependent on the food value of the crop for the household.

The Impact of Access to Credit on the Adoption of Hybrid Maize in Malawi: An Empirical Test of an Agricultural Household Model under Credit Market Failure

Franklin Simtowe - Bunda College of Agriculture

Guided by the frame work of a household model under credit market failure, this paper aims at investigating the impact of access to credit on the adoption of hybrid maize among households that vary in their credit constraints. The data used in the study is from Malawi collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).Using the direct elicitation approach; households are classified into constrained and unconstrained regimes. The impact of access to credit is estimated using a switching regression in a Double-Hurdle model. Results reveal that while access to credit increases adoption among credit constrained households, it has no effect among unconstrained households. Results also show that factors that affect adoption among credit constrained households are different from those that that affect adoption among unconstrained household

THE ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN POVERTY REDUCTION: RECENT EXPERIENCES FROM AFRICA

Strategies to Promote Market-Oriented Smallholder Agriculture in Developing Countries: A Case of Kenya

John Omiti – Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research & Analysis (KIPPRA)

Smallholder Agriculture is key to livelihoods of many rural households in developing and transition economies. In Kenya, small farms account for over 75% of total agricultural production and nearly 50% of the marketed output. Despite favourable trends in global development drivers such as rising population, per capita incomes and emerging urban dietary preferences, most smallholder farmers remain poor. This study sought to characterize agricultural commercialization trends, identify and prioritize constraints to participation in markets, analyse determinants of percentage of output sold, and explore strategies to promote market-oriented production. A participatory Rapid Rural Appraisal approach, household survey and a Truncated Regression model were used. A sample of 224 farmers: 76 of them growing maize, 77 involved in horticulture (kales and tomatoes) and 71 practising dairy, were interviewed in one peri-urban and one rural district (Kiambu and Kisii, respectively). Results show that in rural areas, lower levels of output are sold and fewer farmers participate in markets compared to the peri-urban areas. Opportunities for profitable commercial agriculture are observed in growing demand, emerging food preferences and intensive farming. At village-level, market participation is hampered by poor quality and high cost of inputs, high transportation costs, high market charges and unreliable market information. At the household-level, the determinants of percentage of output sold are producer prices, market information arrangement, output, distance to the market, share of non-farm income and gender. Strategies are suggested to improve rural input supply, institutional and regulatory framework, enhance value addition and strengthen market information provision.

Farmers’ Perceptions and Willingness to Pay for Metarhizium Anisopliae Biopesticide Based to Control Cotton Bollworms in Benin (West Africa)

Adetonah Sounkoura, - IITA

The study assesses farmers’ perceptions and willingness to pay for a biopesticide developed from Metarhizium anisopliae a fungi. A sample of 400 conventional and organic cotton producers was randomly selected in cotton producing zones in Benin and interviewed for their perceptions on the efficacy of the biopesticide and the likely prices they are willing to pay for the product to control a major pest like Helicoverpa armigera or cotton bollworm causing substantial crop losses. An econometric model (Logit) is used to identify factors highly likely to affect farmer’s willingness to purchase the product. The results show that Helicoverpa armigera or cotton bollworm is perceived by farmers as the most severe pest with losses reaching up to 100%. Farmers attribute the current pest intensity to a number of factors including ineffectiveness of chemical pesticides, delay in access to input mainly fertilizers and the development of refuge host plants for cotton pests. The results also show that most cotton producers and their households members are exposed to chemical insecticides without adequate protection devices during the pest control sprays. Both organic and conventional cotton producers have expressed a significant interest in the use of Metarhizium to control Helicoverpa on cotton. Both types of farmers willing to pay more for any pest control product that would improve cotton product quality for higher cotton price. Three variables influencing farmers’ willing to pay for biopesticides from Metarhizium were efficacy, agro-ecological zone and broad spectrum.

Recent Developments in Rwandan Agriculture: The Challenges of Attaining Food Security and Abolishing Absolute Poverty

Jose Ariyappillil Mathai - National University of Rwanda

The paper intends to take stock of the situation in the agricultural sector of Rwanda. The main purpose is to identify the gaps in the efforts so far; and subsequently to consider new policy interventions that are needed to achieve the goal of eliminating the ‘Fear of Want’. The sector’s performance is crucial in achieving the MDGs in the country. Noteworthy is that the largest part of Rwandan population agriculture is a livelihood and for the policy makers the sector is continuing to be a development problem. This paper analyzes the links between agriculture, food security and poverty reduction in Rwanda based on available secondary data. It is done in light of two important happenings in the country development scenario after the completion of the reconstruction phase (after war and genocide) of 1994-98. The first is related to the overall development strategy that is followed by the country. Rwanda has set a clear strategy of development in the form of VISION 2020 and also a programme for poverty reduction in the form of PRSP. The second important development was with respect to sector specific initiatives. Four important initiatives merit mentioning- ‘The Strategy and Action Plan for Food security’, ‘The National Agricultural Policy’, the ‘Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation’ and the ‘Long-Term Framework for The Implementation of The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in Rwanda’. All these plans were framed for an exhaustive transformation of the agriculture sector so as to bring about the necessary change that is needed to face the challenges of abolishing absolute poverty and hunger. The following hypothesis was framed to guide the analysis: a more productive and profitable agricultural sector is the necessary component in meeting the challenges of attaining food security and abolishing absolute poverty in Rwanda.  This hypothesis reflects Rwanda’s national perspective and linked to the country’s development plans (PRSP and VISION 2020) and policies. Analysis enabled to oversee the hypothesis in order to arrive at plausible conclusions related to Rwanda’s agricultural sector performance during last six years (1999-2005). Some crucial areas like cropping pattern, incentives, agricultural prices, public distribution system, implementation of land reform measures etc needs the right attention. If the agricultural sceptics have their way, most Rwandans will face a bleak future of worsening poverty and hunger.

Assessing Potential Impact of a Farmer Field School Training on Perennial Crop in Cameroon

Njankoua Wandji Dieu ne - IITA

This study is an attempt of the combination of multiple data sources referring to the same time period and to the same farmer population, it aims at assessing the potential impact of a cocoa Farmer Field School Training on Integrated Pest Management in Cameroon. Using a combination of a latitudinal and a longitudinal comparison, the results indicate that FFS-trained farmers have significantly more knowledge about crop husbandry practices than those in the non-participant comparison group. A 32% production increase and 45% income increase relative to the non-participants was estimated in the latitudinal analysis.  The longitudinal comparison is showing significant adoption rates of 94, 93, 90, 66 and 35 % respectively for shade management, phytosanitary harvest, pruning, improved spraying practices and grafting of improved materials. There was a 47 % reduction in the frequency of spraying fungicides and a 17 % reduction in the number of sprayers applied per treatment following the implementation of the training. Labour inputs increased significantly for pruning, phytosanitary harvest, and shade management but decreased for spraying. A partial budget analysis reveals that the IPM practices lowered overall costs of production by 11 % relative to previous practices. The two different analytical tools (longitudinal and latitudinal) are convergent in their results, showing more evidence about the higher potential impact of the farmer field school training on the restructuring process of the cocoa sector in Cameroon.

Impediments to Competitiveness of Small-and Medium-Scale Maize Milling Enterprises in South Africa

Orefi Abu -University of Pretoria, Pretoria

The maize milling industry is highly characterised by continuous growth in maize milling and retailing margins in real terms (Traub and Jayne, 2004) despite the benefits and opportunities brought about by the deregulation of the South African maize market in 1997. This may be indicative of the inability of small and medium-scale maize milling enterprises (SMSMMEs) to emerge and compete with large-scale maize millers. This paper examines the constraints faced by SMSMMEs in South Africa. Data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Millers were asked to identify the various challenges facing their enterprises. Some key constraints identified were; high transport costs, high maize prices, brand name establishment and government policies such as the compulsory maize meal fortification regulation and high taxes. Other perceived constraints included lack of adequate infrastructure, storage facilities, access to credit and seasonality of maize grain.

The Distributional Effects of Horticultural Export Value Chains Among Smallholders in Southern Ghana

Victor Afari-Sefa - Center for Development Research, Bonn

Increasing foreign exchange problems and deteriorating prices of traditional export commodities have led policy makers and donor agencies to seek diversification in export crop production. In Ghana, crops such as pineapples and mangoes appear promising because of their high labour intensity and the expanding demand for fruits in Europe. Notwithstanding, there is a possible trade-off between export and food crop production because of the possibility of resource re-allocation. So far the major concern of government has been the macro-economic growth in terms export earnings while the distributional effects and impacts on household food security remain under-investigated. The study focused on a household survey undertaken in the forest and coastal-savannah transition zones, where the farming system has undergone a transition from established food-crop farming for urban markets to an intensive production of horticultural products for export. Logistic regression and a semi-log function were used to estimate the determinants of household food availability and income respectively. Results show that households engaged in export horticulture are better-off than those which do not. Yet, the sole adoption of staple or export crop is not a sufficient condition for improving household food security. Household land endowment and income are fairly to strongly unequally distributed, with higher inequality observed among households engaged in the combined scenario. The paper concludes that linkages which allow simultaneous and reliably access to a range of resources and services – purchased farm inputs, symmetric market information and technological know-how are critical if smallholders are to survive in increasingly competitive global food markets.

Integrating poverty classes and economic surplus analysis the example of BT maize in Kenya

Hugo De Groote - CIMMYT

In East and Southern Africa, maize is the major staple crop but its yields have been stagnating and production cannot keep up with the population growth. For agricultural research to contribute to poverty alleviation, new technologies on the poor needs should be analyzed. In this paper, we therefore integrate poverty analysis into economic surplus analysis, and apply it to the example of Bt maize in Kenya. These varieties are expected to control stem borers, a major maize pest, and the economic surplus (ES) is calculated at US$ 22-54 million. Most of this benefit, about two thirds, will go to consumers. The ES is further attributed to different wealth categories and agroecological zones, using indicators such as current crop loss from stem borers for the producers, and maize consumed per household for the consumers. These indicators were calculated using survey data from 1800 farmers, by wealth category. The results indicate that the poor benefit only marginally from the producer surplus, but are likely to receive substantial benefits from the consumer surplus. Only 4% of producer surplus is expected to reach the poor farmer. Poor farmers have little land and produce only 6% of all maize in the country, although relatively more at the coast (31%) and in the moist mid-altitudes (20%). Since poor households consume about 41% of the maize, that proportion of consumer surplus is likely to go to them. In some zones, like the coast, the poor consume a larger proportion of all maize. Small producers, most of them net buyers, will mostly benefit through the lower prices. 

EXPANDING THE FRONTIERS OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

A Discriminant Analysis of Factors Associated With the Adoption of Certified Organic Farming by Smallholder Farmers in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Maggie Kisaka-University of KwaZulu-Natal

Discriminant analysis was used to identify the characteristics that distinguish between fully-certified organic, partially-certified organic and non-organic farmers in Umbumbulu district, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa (SA) during October- November 2004. 200 farmers interviewed were drawn by purposively selecting the 151 members of the Ezemvelo Farmers’ Organisation (EFO), and by random sampling 49 non-organic farmers in wards neighbouring EFO. Results from the two estimated discriminant functions suggested that farmers with higher household sizes, incomes, input costs per hectare and number of chickens owned, locations further from innovators and less risk aversion were more likely to be certified as organic. Household location should be considered in delineating target domains for introducing new technologies especially where resources are limited. There is a need for key stakeholders to increase smallholder’s capacity to bear risk by decreasing the perceived risk of adoption of certified organic farming

Evaluation de la diffusion et de l’adoption des variétés de riz NERICA en Guinée

 Sékou Diawara -ADRAO Cotonou

L’objectif de la présente étude est d’évaluer la diffusion et l’adoption des variétés de riz NERICA en Guinée cinq années après leur introduction. Les données collectées en 2002 sont relatives à  1535 paysans choisis dans 79 villages des quatre régions naturelles de la Guinée. L’approche d’estimation du taux d’adoption utilisée dans ce papier se fonde sur les théories modernes  d’évaluation au niveau micro-économique des impacts d’interventions politiques.  Nos résultats montrent que 39% de la population guinéenne connaissaient au moins une variété NERICA en 2001 avec 23% pour le taux d’adoption observé au sein de la population de riziculteurs. Plusieurs facteurs socio-économiques déterminent les taux de diffusion et d’adoption. Par ailleurs bien que le taux d’adoption ait connu une croissance de 1996 à 2001, il est resté inférieur au taux d’adoption potentiel (53%) si tous les paysans avaient accès aux semences de NERICA en 2001. Des mesures méritent donc d’être prises pour une meilleure diffusion des NERICA et surtout des NERICA bas-fond en Guinée.

Gender Contribution and Constrains To Rural Agriculture and Household Food Security in Kenya: Case of Western Province

Joyce Omwoha - Moi University

This study examined the contribution of gender with special emphasis on women farmers towards rural agriculture as well as factors constraining access to rural agricultural production and consequently household food security in Western Province of Kenya. Data were collected from a total of 161 women farmers, 32 women groups as well as 254 individual males farmers engaged in small-scale production of various food crops in Western Province in Kenya for a period of 1 year. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews administered to the sampled individual farmers and women groups. Outputs from individual farm productions were used as a measure of agriculture production. Comparisons were made between exclusively female owned farms, women groups and male farms. Results indicated that farms owned exclusively by women did not differ significantly (P>0.05) in agriculture production from those owned by males. Farms owned by women groups performed much better and had higher unit productions. Further results indicated that women had more obstacles constraining their productivity in rural agriculture. 12 out of the 18 factors studied fitted the logistic regression model as constraints for women in agricultural production compared to only five factors constraining men. This study demonstrated that women could provide many yardsticks to unlocking agricultural production in Kenya, which is currently erroneously left to the domains of men. The study recommends adoption of strategies such as formation of women cooperatives and education to change the customary laws curtailing women roles in economic development.

Measuring Irrigation Water Efficiency with a Stochastic Production Frontier: An Application for Citrus Producing Farms in Tunisia

Boubaker Dhehibi -Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique de Tunisie

The objective of this paper is to propose an alternative measure of irrigation water efficiency based on the concept of input- specific technical efficiency, which contracts with measures previously used in the literature. The proposed methodology is applied to a randomly selected sample of 144 citrus growing farms located in Nabeul (Tunisia). A stochastic production frontier approach, based on Battese and Coelli’s (1995) inefficiency effect model, is used to obtain farm-specific estimates of technical and irrigation water efficiency. In addition, a second-stage regression approach is used to identify the factors influencing irrigation water efficiency differentials across citrus growing farms. Results indicate that technical efficiency ranges from a minimum of 12.9% to a maximum of 90.7% with an average estimate of 67.7%. This suggests that citrus producers may increase their production by as much as 32.3% through more efficient use of production inputs. Further, mean irrigation water efficiency is found to be 53%, which is much lower than technical efficiency and also exhibits greater variability ranging from 1.6% to 98.87%. The estimated mean irrigation water efficiency implies that the observed quantity of marketable citrus could have been maintained by using the observed values of other inputs while using 47.0% less of irrigation water. Moreover, the estimated mean irrigation water technical cost efficiency is found to be 70.81% indicating a potential decrease of 29.19% in total cost by adjusting irrigation water to its efficient level. In addition, the vast majority of farms have achieved irrigation water technical cost efficiency greater than 90% (71% of farms). Finally, the analysis of the sources of efficiency differentials among farmers showed that farmer’s age, farm’s size, education level, agricultural training, the share of productive trees and the water disposable perception tend to affect positively the degree of both technical and irrigation water efficiency.

Non-Credit Services of Group-Based Financial Institutions: Implications for Smallholder Women Honey Income in Arid and Semi Arid Lands of Kenya

Peter Shimon Otieno - University of Nairobi

This paper analyses the effect of non-credit services of joint liability credit institutions on smallholder women beekeepers’ honey income. The non-credit services offered to the beekeepers are mainly enterprise development services (training on marketing, business, production and sub sector analysis). The study uses cross-sectional data from a survey of women beekeepers participating in group-based credit programmes done in September 2005 in Makueni district of Kenya. The findings indicate that the number of enterprise development related trainings attended by women beekeepers’ that are offered by the group-based financial institutions positively and significantly influence honey income. The results confirm that non-credit services contribute positively to the enhancement of honey income. These results imply that extension and strengthening of group-based financial institutions’ non-credit services in the marginal areas will enhance development of smallholder agriculture for improved income generation.

Heterogeneous Impacts of Cooperatives on Smallholders’ Commercialization Behavior: Evidence from Ethiopia

Tanguy Bernard - IFPRI

This paper examines the impact of marketing cooperatives on smallholder commercialization of cereals using detailed household data in rural Ethiopia. We use the strong government role in promoting the establishment of cooperatives to justify the use of propensity score matching in order to compare households that are cooperative members to similar households in comparable areas without cooperatives. The analysis reveals that while cooperatives obtain higher prices for their members, they are not associated with a significant increase in the overall share of cereal production sold commercially by their members. However, these average results hide considerable heterogeneity in the impact across households. In particular, we find smaller farmers tend reduce their marketed output as a result of higher prices, while the opposite is true for larger farmers.

MEETING AFRICA’S FOOD AND NUTRITION CHALLENGES

Household Food Security in a Subsistence Economy: Application of Translog Cost Function to Cross-Sectional Data in Vihiga District, Kenya

Philip Nyangweso - Moi University

Vihiga, one of the poorest and densely populated districts in Kenya is perpetually food deficit (GOK, 2005). While food demand continued to rise, production fell behind both targeted production and district demand. To make matters worse food deficit situation worsened over the last decade. Rising population and competition for resources have curtailed efforts to improve household food production in the district. Unfavorable poverty indicators in the district only make matters worse. About 57.6 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of households live below absolute poverty line while 57 percent of the population and households live below food poverty line (GOK, 2005). Poor welfare indicators for Vihiga district underscore the importance and urgency for addressing its basic needs. Understanding determinants of food security in Vihiga district will improve targeting, the focus and success of policies for addressing food insecurity. The paper examines food security in a subsistence economy with an application of a Translog cost function to household survey data in Vihiga district to determine the supply side constraints. Cluster sampling was used with divisions forming the main clusters in the district. Using systematic random sampling, 50 households were selected from each cluster resulting in a sample of 300.  Results show that scale of production, number of adults, household head, business income, employment; human resource development, capital, and land size significantly influence household food security. Food security programmes, in subsistence economies, aimed at revamping production should focus more on enhancing accessibility to production resources and improving the quality of labor through training.

Giving a Chance to Indigenous Knowledge in Developing Sustainable Nutrition Improvement Interventions

Kondwani Nanchukwa - Foundation for Irrigation and Sustainable Development

Malnutrition is one of the worst public health problems in Malawi. Results of recent research indicate that 45.9% of under-five children in the country are stunted, 3.3% are wasted, 19.4% are underweight, and almost 60% of child deaths are caused by malnutrition. There has been much effort put in the fight against malnutrition; the government alone reports to have spent about 1.5 billion United States Dollars in the fight against malnutrition from 1992 to date. As if undermining all the efforts involved, the country is said to have not recorded any significant improvement in the nutritional indicators for the past three decades. There have been a number of nutrition interventions running in Malawi. Why they have not been able to eradicate malnutrition remains a million dollar question in most people’s minds.  In an effort to search for sustainable solutions to the problem, a study was conducted in Group Village Head Mgona and Tsekerere in Nsanje District in Malawi with an aim of finding out how much local knowledge and other resources from within affected populations would help in the fight against malnutrition. A study was conducted in Nsanje district in Malawi to find out the potential of locally available resources in coming up with sustainable nutrition interventions. 60% of malnourished children had their nutrition states improved within twelve days of feeding on locally available foods.

Food Drying-Production Plant