Download or read book Agricultural Strategy Development in West Africa The False Promise of Participation written by Danielle Resnick and Regina Birner IFPRI Discussion Paper No. 844 2008 and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Agricultural Strategy Development in West Africa written by Danielle Resnick and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Participatory approaches are an increasingly prominent technique for designing agricultural strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they are frequently criticised for either not involving enough stakeholders or limiting the scope of their participation. This article concludes from a study of the situation in West Africa that a lack of broad-based participation in these strategies is not a major problem; rather, the real challenge lies in transforming the outcomes of participatory processes into policies that can be feasibly implemented. It highlights why an emphasis on participation can sometimes result in disappointment amongst stakeholders and discusses a range of measures to help overcome this dilemma.

Download or read book Participation by Men and Women in Off Farm Activities An Empirical Analysis in Rural Northern Ghana written by Nancy McCarthy, Yan Sun and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Using survey data from the Upper East region of Ghana collected in 2005, the paper evaluates the household- and community-level factors influencing women's and men's decisions to participate in off-farm activities, either in the off-farm labor market or in local community groups, and the relationship with on-farm crop returns. Results indicate that crop returns are not affected by increased labor availability over a certain labor-land ratio. Female participation in off-farm labor markets increases at higher levels of labor availability, but participation in women's groups' only increases as labor scarcity is relaxed at lower levels. Alternatively, male participation in off-farm work increases over all levels of labor availability. Results also indicate that male labor is relatively more productive on-farm versus off-farm than female labor, and, though education increases the likelihood that both women and men will work off-farm (with no impact on crop revenues), the impact is greater for women. Finally, participation in off-farm work does not appear to be driven by the need to reduce exposure to risk or to manage risk ex post; wealthier households located in wealthier communities are more likely to participate in off-farm work. Evidence for participation in groups and risk is more complicated; wealthier households in wealthier communities are also more likely to participate, but so too are female-headed households with higher dependency ratios."--Authors' abstract.

Download or read book Understanding Farmers Perceptions and Adaptations to Climate Change and Variability The Case of the Limpopo Basin South Africa written by Glwadys Aymone Gbetibouo and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change is expected to have serious environmental, economic, and social impacts on South Africa. In particular, rural farmers, whose livelihoods depend on the use of natural resources, are likely to bear the brunt of adverse impacts. The extent to which these impacts are felt depends in large part on the extent of adaptation in response to climate change. This research uses a "bottom-up" approach, which seeks to gain insights from the farmers themselves based on a farm household survey. Farm-level data were collected from 794 households in the Limpopo River Basin of South Africa for the farming season 2004-2005. The study examines how farmer perceptions correspond with climate data recorded at meteorological stations in the Limpopo River Basin and analyzes farmers' adaptation responses to climate change and variability. A Heckman probit model and a multinomial logit (MNL) model are used to examine the determinants of adaptation to climate change and variability. The statistical analysis of the climate data shows that temperature has increased over the years. Rainfall is characterized by large interannual variability, with the previous three years being very dry. Indeed, the analysis shows that farmers' perceptions of climate change are in line with the climatic data records. However, only approximately half of the farmers have adjusted their farming practices to account for the impacts of climate change. Lack of access to credit was cited by respondents as the main factor inhibiting adaptation. The results of the multinomial logit and Heckman probit models highlighted that household size, farming experience, wealth, access to credit, access to water, tenure rights, off-farm activities, and access to extension are the main factors that enhance adaptive capacity. Thus, the government should design policies aimed at improving these factors.

Download or read book African Coalitions and Global Economic Governance written by Michael Byron Nelson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-09 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the strategic implications of fragmented global governance by institutions for African states and their coalitions.

Download or read book Dynamics in agricultural extension services provision in Malawi Insights from two rounds of household and community panel surveys written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2019-08-01 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government of Malawi is in the process of developing its National Agricultural Extension Strategy. Two rounds of national household and community surveys (2016, 2018), coupled with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, were implemented to provide research evidence supporting the Strategy’s development. This paper summarizes emerging trends from these surveys and monitors progress in extension services provision, players and actors in extension services provision, and evidence on the coverage and effectiveness of extension approaches. Positive trends include (1) improvements in the percentage of men and women farmers accessing extension services; (2) consistently high ratings in the perceived quality of extension services; (3) more diversity in extension messages, including more information regarding market access and nutrition; (4) greater use of cost-effective tools, such as radio programming and community or group meetings, as sources of agricultural information; and (5) greater crop diversification, although diversification outside of agriculture remains low. Four areas remain weak and need further improvements. First, information sharing among farmers, friends, and neighbors is frequent, and the coverage of those officially trained “lead farmers” (those trained specifically to promote technologies to other farmers) remains low, with only 7 percent of households reporting getting relevant advice from them. Second, while there are more “model villages” and “village agricultural committees” present, we see decreasing participation and ratings for these. Third, we observe greater awareness of promoted technologies, including conservation agriculture, pit planting, and sustainable land practices, but adoption remains very low. Fourth, we observe greater crop diversification, but farm productivity and commercialization remain low. Although we have investigated many dimensions and factors in this paper, there remain challenges and puzzles that could be further addressed in future research. These include constraints on the adoption of minimal expensive inputs and low-cost management practices, constraints on the role of intensive training and labor, and understanding the drivers and factors affecting commercialization and diversification.

Download or read book Measuring Agricultural Innovation System Properties and Performance Illustrations from Ethiopia and Vietnam written by David J. Spielman, Dawit Kelemework and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Evaluating the Impact of Land Tenure and Titling on Access to Credit in Uganda written by Carly K. Petracco, John Pender and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The theorized impact of land tenure and titling on access to credit has produced mixed results in the empirical literature. Land tenure and titling is hypothesized to increase access to credit because of the enhanced land security provided and the newfound ability to use land as collateral. Using land as collateral and obtaining access to credit are paramount concerns in Uganda and in all of Africa, as greater emphasis is placed on the need to modernize the agricultural system. This paper uses a new approach in evaluating whether land tenure and titling have an impact on access to credit for rural households in Uganda. The new approach includes comparisons across four categories: (1) households who have customary land with versus without a customary certificate, (2) households who have freehold land with versus without a title, (3) households with a title or certificate having freehold versus customary tenure, and (4) households without a title or certificate having freehold versus customary tenure. Each comparison is then evaluated for the impact on access to any form of credit, formal credit, and informal credit. This analysis allows for an in-depth look into which element, tenure or title, is impacting access to credit and to which type of credit, formal or informal. To conduct this analysis, matching techniques are used, including propensity score matching and the Abadie and Imbens matching method. These two methods contain both strengths and weaknesses that allow the results to support to one another. The only significant finding of the matching was a positive impact on access to credit of freehold without title over customary without certificate. Results imply that tenure, not title, impacts credit access for rural households in Uganda."--Authors' abstract.

Download or read book Developmental Pathways to Poverty Reduction written by Y. Bangura and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-06-17 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at developmental pathways to poverty reduction that emphasize employment-centred structural change, social policies that both protect citizens and contribute to economic development, and types of politics that support economic transformation and participation of the poor in growth processes.

Download or read book Managing Africa s Natural Resources written by K. Hanson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors investigate well-known concerns in natural resource management in Africa while focusing on the capacity dimension of the problems. They examine dynamics of leadership, governance, criminality, structural transformation, as well as emerging issues such as green growth.

Download or read book Productivity Convergence in Brazil The Case of Grain Production written by Eduardo Magalhaes, Xinshen Diao and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book European Union Preferential Trade Agreements with Developing Countries and Their Impact on Colombian and Kenyan Carnation Exports to the United Kingdom written by Guyslain K. Ngeleza, and Andrew Muhammad and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "United Kingdom (UK) demand for carnations by exporting country was estimated using a production version of the Rotterdam model, and model estimates were used to assess the effects of EU preferential trade agreements on import demand. Of particular importance was how these agreements affected Colombian and Kenyan carnation exports to the UK, the second largest market for Colombian carnations and the largest market for Kenyan carnations. Results showed that Colombia benefited from preferential access to the UK more so than Kenya: the benefit to Colombia was due to both trade creation and diversion, whereas the benefit to Kenya was mostly due to trade diversion. Results further showed that the competition between Colombian and Kenyan carnations was insignificant, and there was no evidence that the preferences given to Colombia harmed Kenya or vice versa."--Authors' abstract.

Download or read book The Linkages Between Agriculture and Malaria Issues for Policy Research and Capacity Strengthening written by Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere, Felix A. Asante, Jifar Tarekegn, and Kwaw S. Andam and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Short Run Macroeconomic Impact of Foreign Aid to Small States written by Derek Headey and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2010 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Undercurrent Journal Vol 9 Issue 1 Spring Summer 2012 B W written by Mérédyth Bowcott (Editor-in-Chief) and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-11-09 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undercurrent is the only student-run national undergraduate journal publishing scholarly essays and articles that explore the subject of international development. The journal is a refereed publication dedicated to providing a non-partisan, supportive, yet critical and competitive forum exclusively for undergraduate research, writing, and editing.

Download or read book The Evolution of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms Township Village Enterprises Revisited written by Chenggang Xu, Xiaobo Zhang and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Township-village enterprises (TVEs) were a major engine of China's rapid rural industrialization in the past three decades. TVEs also played a key role in fostering entrepreneurship and served as a major stepping-stone for institutional changes when legal protections of private property rights were not in place and the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were slow to react to changing market demand. As private ownership was gradually recognized legally, TVEs lost their edge in competing with private firms. In the past two decades, industrial clusters with a concentration of private entrepreneurial firms coordinated by local governments have emerged rapidly in many areas. The structures of such firms as TVEs and the subsequent clustering modes of production are an outcome of interaction with other local and macro environments. As the environment changes, a firm's organization and organizational structure may change as well."--Authors' abstract.

Download or read book Preliminary Evidence on Internal Migration Remittances and Teen Schooling in India written by Valerie Mueller, Abusaleh Shariff and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2009 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Migration can serve as an outlet for employment, higher earnings, and reduced income risk for households in developing countries. We use the 2004-2005 Human Development Profile of India survey to examine correlations between the receipt of remittances from internal migrants and human capital investment in rural areas. We employ a propensity score-matching approach to account for the selectivity of households into receiving remittances. We interpret the results conservatively due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. We find a positive correlation between remittances received from internal migrants and the schooling attendance of teens. The magnitude of the correlation is greater when focusing on low-caste households, and male schooling attendance in particular becomes more positive and statistically significant. Our findings provide a basis for establishing future research in the areas of migration and social protection in India."--Authors' abstract.