Download or read book Impacts of Agricultural Mechanization Evidence from Four African Countries written by Thomas Daum and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization A Framework for Africa written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2019-03-13 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This framework presents ten interrelated principles/elements to guide Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (SAMA). Further, it presents the technical issues to be considered under SAMA and the options to be analysed at the country and sub regional levels. The ten key elements required in a framework for SAMA are as follows: The analysis in the framework calls for a specific approach, involving learning from other parts of the world where significant transformation of the agricultural mechanization sector has already occurred within a three-to-four decade time frame, and developing policies and programmes to realize Africa’s aspirations of Zero Hunger by 2025. This approach entails the identification and prioritization of relevant and interrelated elements to help countries develop strategies and practical development plans that create synergies in line with their agricultural transformation plans. Given the unique characteristics of each country and the diverse needs of Africa due to the ecological heterogeneity and the wide range of farm sizes, the framework avoids being prescriptive.

Download or read book Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries written by Vos, Rob and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-12-30 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Child labour in agriculture remains a global concern. Agriculture is the sector where most child labour is found. Employment of children mostly relates to farm household poverty in developing countries. This raises the question of the extent to which the modernisation of agriculture prevents the use of child labour while also leading to higher productivity. One of the central questions in this context is whether agricultural mechanisation helps limit children’s employment. Available studies have put forward opposing hypotheses, but rigorous empirical evidence is scant. The present study aims to fill some of this void by studying the evidence from comparable farm household survey data in seven developing countries, including three in Asia (India, Nepal, and Vietnam) and four in sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania). Various key findings emerge. First, many children are found to engage in productive activities in studied countries. The prevalence is particularly high in African countries, such as in Ethiopia where more than one third of children aged 5-14 years engage in farm or off-farm work. Second, while the prevalence of child labour in agriculture (i.e., when productive engagement is detrimental to schooling and child growth) is much lower (at 10% or less in seven countries), they are still sizable in absolute terms; at least 6 million children in these countries partake in agricultural work at the expense of opportunities in adulthood. Third, agricultural mechanization, reflected in farm household’s use of machinery such as tractors, significantly reduces the likelihood of use of children’s labour and increases school attendance. Fourth, the measured impacts of mechanization are only modest, however, and likely indirect, that is, dependent on the extent to which mechanization helps improve household income and on local conditions (such as quality of rural infrastructure and accessibility of education and other social services). Overall, promotion of agricultural mechanization can help prevent use of child labour. To be truly impactful, however, related support measures should be embedded in broader strategies to enable agricultural productivity growth and improve livelihoods of poor rural households.

Download or read book Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria written by Takeshima, Hiroyuki and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-09-06 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural mechanization has often been characterized by scale-effects and increased specialization. Such characterizations, however, fail to explain how mechanization may grow in Africa where production environments are more heterogeneous and diversification of production may help in mitigating risks from increasingly uncertain climatic conditions. Using panel data from farm households and crop-specific production costs in Nigeria, we estimate how the adoption of animal traction or tractors affects the economies of scope (EOS) between rice, non-rice grains, legume/seed crops, and other crops, which are the crop groups that are most widely grown with animal traction or tractors in Nigeria. The results indicate that the adoption of these mechanization technologies is associated with lower EOS between non-rice grains, legume/seed crops, and other crops, but greater EOS between rice and other crops. An increase in EOS for rice is indicated in both primal and dual analytical approaches. Mechanical technologies may raise EOS between crops that are grown in more heterogeneous environments, even though it may lower EOS between crops that are grown in relatively similar environments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows the effects of mechanical technologies on EOS in agriculture in developing countries.

Download or read book An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development written by Xinshen Diao and published by International Food Policy Research Insitute. This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara - especially for small farms and businesses - requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent's evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book's recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

Download or read book Agricultural mechanization and agricultural transformation written by Diao, Xinshen and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A renewed focus on agriculture’s potential contribution to economic transformation in Africa has resulted in increased attention paid to agricultural mechanization. African agriculture still relies predominantly on human muscle power despite anecdotal evidence on urbanization and rising rural wages, in contrast to other developing regions that have experienced rapid increases in agricultural mechanization during the past few decades. Past state-led mechanization pushes in Africa often failed due to insufficient understanding of the nature of demand for mechanization technologies among farmers and insufficient knowledge of private-sector functions. This background paper reviews the factors likely to influence farmer demand for mechanization in Africa and details different existing and potential mechanization supply models. Although an empirical analysis of mechanization demand and the effectiveness of supply chains is beyond the scope of this paper, in part due to data limitations, this paper suggests that demand for mechanization may be emerging in some parts of Africa. It also suggests that private-sector-driven supply models are better positioned to meet this demand than direct government involvement and certain types of subsidized programs. The paper then identifies possible areas for government support to complement private-sector leadership in developing mechanization supply chains. Nevertheless, significant further research is required to better understand the changing nature of mechanization demand in Africa and the extent and effectiveness of different supply models in meeting it.

Download or read book Agricultural Mechanization in Sub Saharan Africa written by Karim Houmy and published by Integrated Crop Management. This book was released on 2013 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The manual work carried out by farmers and their families is often both arduous and time consuming and in many countries this is a major constraint to increasing agricultural production. Such day-to-day drudgery is a major contributoring factor in the migration of people, particularly the young, from the rural countryside to seek the prospect of a better life in the towns and cities. Farm production can be substantially increased through the use of mechanical technologies which both are labor-saving and directly increase yields and production. This document provides guidelines on the development and formulation of an agricultural mechanization strategy and forms part of FAO's approach on sustainable production intensification.

Download or read book An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development How much can Africa learn from Asia Synopsis written by Diao, Xinshen, ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

Download or read book An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development How much can Africa learn from Asia written by Diao, Xinshen, ed. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

Download or read book Mechanized Transforming Africa s agriculture value chains written by Malabo Montpellier Panel and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current report—Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains—summarizes the findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. It analyzes which policy decisions were taken and which interventions were implemented to substantially increase the uptake of mechanization. The report takes a broad perspective on mechanization, including technologies along the entire value chain and how they relate to agricultural development and job creation. The report shows what can be done to sustainably mechanize agriculture to increase production and enhance value addition across value chain segments. The set of policies and practices that are identified, if brought to scale, could have significant impact on agricultural transformation in Africa. The report provides a roadmap for African governments to take concerted action to deliver on the growth and transformation targets set out by the Malabo Declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Download or read book A Framework for Research on the Economics of Farm Mechanization in Developing Countries written by Gordon Gemmill and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural economics research paper presenting a framework for the economic analysis of the social implications and economic implications of agricultural mechanization in developing countries - specifies the major types of agricultural policy decisions in this field and the research needs for improving decision making, reviews selected economic studies on farm mechanization in terms of research methodology, etc., and makes suggestions for the redirection of research. Bibliography pp. 57 to 67.

Download or read book Mechanization and Maize written by Constance G. Anthony and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the puzzling phenomenon of new veiling practices among lower middle class women in Cairo, Egypt. Although these women are part of a modernizing middle class, they also voluntarily adopt a traditional symbol of female subordination. How can this paradox be explained? An explanation emerges which reconceptualizes what appears to be reactionary behavior as a new style of political struggle--as accommodating protest. These women, most of them clerical workers in the large government bureaucracy, are ambivalent about working outside the home, considering it a change which brings new burdens as well as some important benefits. At the same time they realize that leaving home and family is creating an intolerable situation of the erosion of their social status and the loss of their traditional identity. The new veiling expresses women's protest against this. MacLeod argues that the symbolism of the new veiling emerges from this tense subcultural dilemma, involving elements of both resistance and acquiescence.

Download or read book Mechanization for Rural Development written by Josef Kienzle and published by Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This book was released on 2013 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication gives a wide-ranging perspective on the present state of mechanization in the developing world, and, as such, constitutes a solid platform on which to build strategies for a sustainable future. Farm mechanization forms an integral plank in the implementation of sustainable crop production intensification methodologies and sustainable intensification necessarily means that the protection of natural resources and the production of ecosystem services go hand-in-hand with intensified production practices. This requires specific mechanization measures to allow crops to be established with minimum soil disturbance, to allow the soil to be protected under organic cover for as long as possible, and to establish crop rotations and associations to feed the soil and to exploit crop nutrients from various soil horizons. This work is the starting point to help the reader understand the complexities and requirements of the task ahead.

Download or read book The Agricultural Mechanization in Africa written by Oliver K. Kirui and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the state, drivers and, consequently, the impacts of agricultural mechanization in eleven countries in Africa. Using representative multistage stratified household survey data and robust analytical approaches, findings show light hand-held tools and equipment remain the main type of machinery in most countries − about 48% of the sampled households have access to light machinery compared to 35% that have access to animal-powered machinery, and only about 18% that use tractor-powered machinery. Significant drivers of agricultural mechanization include the size of the household, gender of the household head, participation in off-farm economic activities, distance to the input and output markets, farm size, land tenure, type of farming system, access to extension services, and use of fertilizer and pesticides. This study finds that after controlling for socio-economic, demographic, and regional determinants, agricultural mechanization, significantly increases the amount of cropland cultivated (extensification) and is also accompanied by input intensification especially in countries where land expansion is limited. We further find significant but mixed impact of agricultural mechanization on use of household and hired labor. Finally, agricultural mechanization significantly raises the productivity of maize and rice in all cases. These findings point to the importance of developing favorable arrangements that would avail mechanization to small and medium scale farmers. This would involve providing incentives for private sector to scale agricultural mechanization initiatives and targeting and engaging women farmers and the youth by investing in supportive infrastructure and training.

Download or read book Agricultural Mechanisation Policies and Strategies in Africa written by Commonwealth Secretariat and published by . This book was released on 1991-01-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this publication sixteen leading African agricultural engineers present their views on the evolution of agricultural mechanization policies and strategies in Africa since the colonial times. Agricultural mechanization remains quite a controversial input in African agriculture in particular that of small holder farmers. Conflicting policy prescriptions have been given for the African agricultural mechanization problem by, among others, socio-economists, agricultural engineers and politicians from the academic and donor community as well as the national governments. The failure of the many Government sponsored tractorization projects initiated in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s has greatly contributed to this policy and strategy conundrum.Agriculture in most African countries is still undertaken by using the centuries out handtool technology with entire reliance on human muscle power in about 60-90% of the cultivated land. Whereas, everybody agrees that this has to change, the main question has been on how the change should come about. Should African countries go through the evolutionary path – from handtool though animal powered to mechanically powered agricultural mechanization as it has happened in the developed countries. Or should they aim at skipping the intermediate stage – animal powered mechanization. The experience of seven African countries (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia) in agricultural mechanization policy formulation is presented in this volume. There are also chapters on the experiences of India and FAO as well as on tropical agriculture. This is the first book to present the full range of experiences in agricultural mechanization policy formulation in Africa. It is aimed both for development practitioners and policy makers as well as students of agriculture, agricultural engineering and economics.

Download or read book Agricultural Mechanization and the Evolution of Farming Systems in Sub Saharan Africa written by Prabhu L. Pingali and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The slow pace of agricultural mechanization in Africa has long been a puzzle. This book begins to solve the puzzle by looking at the conditions in sub-Saharan Africa that have led to only sporadic use of the plow rather than the hand hoe, very limited use of tractors and even oxen, and the failure of many projects seeking to move directly from hand hoes to tractors. The authors interviewed farmers at fifty sites in ten countries. They found that the pace of mechanization has been slow in Africa because it often is not cost effective. Among the issues discussed in the book are : (a) the effect on yields of substituting plows for hoes; (b) the cost-effectiveness of using draft animals as opposed to tractors; (c) conditions under which tractors can be used more efficiently than oxen; and (d) the negative consequences of government interventions to encourage the use of tractors beyond what is economically justified.

Download or read book Importance of rice research and development in rice seed policies written by Takeshima, Hiroyuki and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First, this paper shows that rice varietal development in Nigeria has been lagging behind that of other developing countries in Asia and Latin America, due partly to insufficient investment in domestic rice R&D. The paper then illustrates using a household model simulation that impacts of certain policies, such as the seed subsidy, may be greater (smaller) if they are applied to good (poor) varieties. The paper concludes by discussing key policy implications and future research needs.