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Tractor owner-operators in Nigeria: Insights from a small survey in Kaduna and Nasarawa states
This paper presents results of a small survey of tractor owner-operators conducted in Kaduna and Nasarawa states in Nigeria. Following are the key findings from simple descriptive statistics: (1) owner-operators who buy tractors from the private market or from private individuals are more efficient than those who receive tractors through government programs, providing services to a greater area at lower costs, including during the off-peak season; (2) providing access to a wider range of tractor horsepowers may improve efficiency over diverse soil types; (3) similar to some Asian countries in the 1980s, tractor operations are mostly concentrated in interviewees local home districts, though a fraction form groups and serve in distant locations to earn greater revenues.
Examining the sense and science behind Ghanas current blanket fertilizer recommendation
This paper was written to help bolster the case and present visual evidence demonstrating why it is important to seriously consider spatial soil fertility variability in Ghana and to promote area-specific fertilizer recommendations. Using geostatistical analysis of soil samples collected from farmer plots in three districts (Tamale Municipality, Savelugu-Nanton, and West Mamprusi in northern Ghana), the paper analyzes spatial variations in soil fertility. The results clearly show that there are variations in soil pH, organic matter content, and available phosphorous even at the community level, supporting the need for Ghana to seriously consider location-specific fertilizer recommendations.
What dimensions of womens empowerment in agriculture matter for nutrition-related practices and outcomes in Ghana?
This paper investigates linkages between womens empowerment in agriculture and the nutritional status of women and children using 2012 baseline data from the Feed the Future population-based survey in Ghana. The sample consists of 3,344 children and 3,640 women and is statistically representative of the northernmost regions of Ghana where the Feed the Future programs are operating.
Understanding the context for agriculture for nutrition research
We use data from 52 countries on child stunting, poverty, determinants of food security, environmental health, and quality of maternal and child care to carry out a cluster analysis of country typologies. The purpose is to identify where agriculture-led interventions might address binding constraints to progress in improving nutrition outcomes and to identify how existing research on the links between agriculture and nutrition in particular country contexts may or may not be representative.
The role of agriculture in the fast-growing Rwandan Economy
This study assesses the future growth prospects of Rwanda. The report first focuses on broad economic growth using a rather aggregated 18-sector dynamic general equilibrium model to display the trade-off between rapid growth and structural change. The analysis shows that with the current investment pattern, rapid growth is possible but structural transformation is slow. With an overvalued exchange rate, growth in the tradable sector slows down and its share in the economy stays small. The importance of agriculture thus should be considered in the broad development strategy, for its role not only in poverty reduction but also in economic growth.
The agrarian reform experiment in Chile
This paper presents what is known about the role of agrarian reform and the subsequent counter reform in producing a successful dynamic evolution of Chilean agriculture.
Assessing the economic benefits of sustainable land management practices in Bhutan
This study was conducted with the objective of determining the returns to sustainable land management (SLM) at the national level in Bhutan. The study first uses satellite data on land change (Landsat) to examine land use change in 19902010 and its impact on sediment loading in hydroelectric power plants. The study then uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to analyze the impact of land use change and land management on sediment loading. The results from the land use change and SWAT analyses are used to assess the economic benefits of SLM.
Strategies to control aflatoxin in groundnut value chains
Groundnuts, which are widely consumed in West Africa, are prone to contamination by aflatoxin during production and storage. Although aflatoxin plays a role in many of the important health risks in developing countries, individuals and governments ignore the risks because their health effects are not immediate. In the developed world strong regulations remove contaminated kernels and their products from the food systems. The objective of this paper is to examine production and marketing practices, particularly grading methods, in Ghanas groundnut value chain to obtain a clear understanding of the sources and levels of aflatoxin contamination in the crop and how such contamination can be sharply reduced.
The political economy of MGNREGS spending in Andhra Pradesh
While government spending on pro-poor community asset creation and income-transfers could have compounding positive effects on poverty reduction, it is important to first study trends in the allocation of funds, particularly as they relate to the susceptibility of the program to political clientelism. This paper uses expenditure data at the local level in Andhra Pradesh from Indias National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, a rights-based program distributing both public and private goods, to investigate the relationship between voting outcomes and program intensity in the seven years straddling a major election. By focusing on one state where accountability and transparency mechanisms have been employed and implementation efforts have been applauded, the authors do not find evidence of blatant vote buying before the 2009 election but do find that patronage played a small part in fund distribution after the 2009 election. Indeed most variation in expenditures is explained by the observed needs of potential beneficiaries, as the scheme intended.
Drought risk reduction in agriculture
This report is a component of the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS)-funded project Impacts of Climate Extremes on Future Water and Food Security in South Asia and East Africa. The goal of the project was to characterize extreme drought events, to improve on a methodology to assess the probability of these events in the future under climate change, to illustrate their impacts, and to provide suggestions on coping strategies. The present report sets the stage for the overall project by undertaking a review of the causes of vulnerability to drought in East Africa and the western Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) of South Asia, and discussing the options to increase resilience to drought in the agricultural sector. Agriculture is a high-risk endeavor in both regions, due to a combination of recurrent droughtswhich may intensify due to climate changepoor soil fertility, and a host of constraints faced by farmers, especially low access to input and output markets. These factors, combined with farmers high aversion to risk, stifle investments in agriculture, resulting in continuous underachieving production, low income, and persisting poverty.
