ABSTRACT The improved technologies and other practices in agricultural production are often recognized as critical in addressing food insecurity and poverty. Conservation agriculture has emerged as an alternative to conventional agriculture as a result of losses in soil productivity due to soil degradation. This study was conducted in order to determine the economic performance of conservation as compared to conventional agricultural practices in Southern Uluguru Mountains in Morogoro region...
Abstract There are indications that the domestic demand for cassava particularly as staple food may in no time outweigh that of the industrial sector, except contract and non-contract farming entrepreneurs operate within the framework of sustainable agriculture. The study thus examines the effects of contract farming scheme on cassava production in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used. Oyo and Ibadan/Ibarapa zones were randomly selected from the four Agricultura...
Executive Summary Presently, Nigeria is among the nations that are technically unable to meet their food supply needs from rain-fed production at a low level of inputs and appear likely to remain so even at intermediate levels of inputs at some point’s time between 2000 and 2025 (FAO 2002). For the rural areas of semi-arid Northern Nigeria, which experiences significant climatic and anthropogenic changes that have exacerbated food insecurity in the region, floodplain agriculture is criti...
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of land degradation on agricultural land use, planning and management in chongwe, Zambia and specifically determined farmers’ considerations of land suitability for selected types of agricultural land uses in varying cropping zones, investigated farmers’ local environmental knowledge of land degradation indicators and finally documented farmers’ land management strategies and practices for soil and sustainable Agricultural conservatio...
Abstract Climate change is currently a serious threat for agriculture development and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate outlook for the 21st century, the future of maize production in Tanzania remains under threat due to more intense and frequent droughts, and more erratic rainfall patterns. Effective adaptation to these ongoing changes in climatic condition is key to securing food production and livelihoods for millions of ...
Abstract There are indications that the domestic demand for cassava particularly as staple food may in no time outweigh that of the industrial sector, except contract and non-contract farming entrepreneurs operate within the framework of sustainable agriculture. The study thus examines the effects of contract farming scheme on cassava production in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used. Oyo and Ibadan/Ibarapa zones were randomly selected from the four Agricultural Develop...
Abstract: This paper documents a positive relationship between maize productivity in western Kenya and women’s empowerment in agriculture, measured using indicators derived from the abbreviated version of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index. Applying a cross-sectional instrumental-variable regression method to a data set of 707 maize farm households from western Kenya, we find that women’s empowerment in agriculture significantly increases maize productivity. Although all indi...
ABSTRACT Productivity growth in an economy is important because it is an essential source of overall growth. The study evaluates the total factor productivity growth in agricultural sector of West African countries between 1961-2000 and also determined the technological change and technical efficiency change within the period. The study used data from the FAOSTAT Database of the FAO. The data were analysed using stochastic frontier production function. The results reve...
ABSTRACT About 60% of the Kenyan population is comprised of youth. Agriculture provides over 80% of employment opportunities and livelihood to Kenyans. However, while youth unemployment is rising, youth engagement in agriculture is declining. Kenya‟s service and industrial sectors have not created enough jobs for the youthful labour force. Declining youth engagement in agriculture has implications on household and national food and nutritional security, unemployment and underemployment whic...
ABSTRACT Worldwide, young people and mainly the rural youth face challenges in trying to earn a livelihood, yet agriculture offers a lot of opportunities for investment and their livelihood. Malawi economy is predominantly agricultural. Young people form more than 50 per cent of the country’s population. Despite the Malawi government efforts to enhance youth participation in the agriculture sector through policy support, only few youths participate actively in this sector. This study sough...
ABSTRACT Food production, majorly revolves around women who are most times not privileged to have some inputs at their disposal. The use of improved technologies in production no doubt increases food production but women are not empowered to make use of these technologies in Umuahia Agricultural Zone, Abia State. This study therefore, analysed the rural women‟s use of technologies in Women in Agriculture (WIA) programme in Umuahia Agricultural zone of Abia State. Data were collected with ...
ABSTRACT The South West Upper Tana Basin, Kiama, Chania, Kimakia and Thika sub basins, located in the central region of Kenya has been experiencing increased water abstraction and river diversions. However, the causes of this increased water abstraction have not been fully investigated. Several factors that could be responsible to these abstractions; climate change, land cover/land use changes, agricultural practices and changes in streamflow. Previous studies in the region have not determine...
ABSTRACT Increasing roles of women in agricultural activities has made provision of gender responsive information imperative. This study investigated coverage of gender roles in agriculture in four selected Nigerian newspapers. Ninety-two articles representing the media coverage from four newspapers were coded for this study. Results indicated that the tabloids covered more non-gender stories (67.3%) than gender stories (32.6%), male roles enjoyed more prominence than female roles; and total ...
ABSTRACT Nigeria is faced with many environmental problems. Available data indicate that Nigeria is losing her renewable natural resources (including arable land, forest, pasture/rangeland and water resources) beyond sustainable limits. Economic and environmental systems interact in many important ways and hence the need to understand these interactions and develop effective public policy. While economic systems derive many invaluable inputs (some commodified, others free) from environmental...
ABSTRACT Changes of conservation policy from fortress to community conservation aimed at balancing sustainable conservation and rural livelihoods. However, little is known as to how much Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) approach contributed to livelihoods enhancement. Similarly, impacts of wildlife conflicts as a result of successful conservation, and causes of poverty among local communities are poorly known. This study aimed at assessing poverty traps and wildlife conflicts in Mgor...