Role of agricultural commercialization in the agricultural transformation of Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being

Role of agricultural commercialization in the agricultural transformation of Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being

Author: Minot, Nicholas

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2023-01-23

Total Pages: 68

ISBN-13:

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Agricultural transformation refers to a series of changes in agriculture that both reflect and drive rising income and economic development more broadly. While the macroeconomic patterns of agricultural transformation are relatively well documented, less is known about how it is manifested at the household level. Ethiopia makes an excellent case study as it has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This paper focuses on one aspect of this process: agricultural commercialization, that is, the process through which an increasing share of agricultural output is sold on the market rather than being consumed at home. The analysis uses three nationally representative rural household surveys carried out in 2012, 2016, and 2019, including a panel of 1,900 households. The results show that the share of marketed agricultural output has increased significantly over the seven-year period. Somewhat surprisingly, this increase is not due to a shift in crop mix toward more commercial crops but rather an increase in the degree of commercialization of each crop. Using a correlated random effects model, we find marketed share to be significantly related to age of the head of household, farm size, wealth, distance to road, rainfall, rainfall variability, and region. Although endogeneity is a challenge, descriptive statistics and regression analysis further suggest that agricultural commercialization contributes to higher income, largely because commercial crops generate higher returns per hectare than staple grains. The results indicate that there is no clear line between “subsistence” and “commercial” farms. A large majority of farms have some crop sales, while virtually none of them sell all their output. Similarly, the contrast between subsistence crops and cash crops can be misleading. For example, the value of staple cereal sales in Ethiopia is almost three times greater than that of coffee, the main cash crop. We draw lessons from the results for the design of programs to raise rural incomes by facilitating market-oriented agricultural production.


Book Synopsis Role of agricultural commercialization in the agricultural transformation of Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being by : Minot, Nicholas

Download or read book Role of agricultural commercialization in the agricultural transformation of Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being written by Minot, Nicholas and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2023-01-23 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural transformation refers to a series of changes in agriculture that both reflect and drive rising income and economic development more broadly. While the macroeconomic patterns of agricultural transformation are relatively well documented, less is known about how it is manifested at the household level. Ethiopia makes an excellent case study as it has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This paper focuses on one aspect of this process: agricultural commercialization, that is, the process through which an increasing share of agricultural output is sold on the market rather than being consumed at home. The analysis uses three nationally representative rural household surveys carried out in 2012, 2016, and 2019, including a panel of 1,900 households. The results show that the share of marketed agricultural output has increased significantly over the seven-year period. Somewhat surprisingly, this increase is not due to a shift in crop mix toward more commercial crops but rather an increase in the degree of commercialization of each crop. Using a correlated random effects model, we find marketed share to be significantly related to age of the head of household, farm size, wealth, distance to road, rainfall, rainfall variability, and region. Although endogeneity is a challenge, descriptive statistics and regression analysis further suggest that agricultural commercialization contributes to higher income, largely because commercial crops generate higher returns per hectare than staple grains. The results indicate that there is no clear line between “subsistence” and “commercial” farms. A large majority of farms have some crop sales, while virtually none of them sell all their output. Similarly, the contrast between subsistence crops and cash crops can be misleading. For example, the value of staple cereal sales in Ethiopia is almost three times greater than that of coffee, the main cash crop. We draw lessons from the results for the design of programs to raise rural incomes by facilitating market-oriented agricultural production.

Crop commercialization in Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being

Crop commercialization in Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being

Author: Minot, Nicholas

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2022-12-06

Total Pages: 6

ISBN-13:

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Agricultural transformation refers to a series of changes in agriculture that both reflect and drive rising income and economic development more broadly. While the macroeconomic patterns of agricultural transformation are relatively well documented, less is known about how it is manifested at the household level. Ethiopia makes an excellent case study as it has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world. An important aspect of this process is agricultural commercialization, that is, the rising share of agricultural output is sold on the market rather than being consumed at home. Agricultural commercialization tends to rise with development with improved infrastructure and communications, the availability of inputs and know-how regarding commercial crop production, and farmers being willing to accept the risks associated with producing crops for the market. Agricultural commercialization is widely believed to allow farmers to earn higher income as they specialize in crops for which they have a comparative advantage. The analysis makes use of a data from three rural household surveys carried out in Ethiopia by IFPRI in 2012, 2016, and 2019. Each survey used a sample that was representative of the four main agricultural regions of the country (Tigre, Oromia, Amhara, and SNNP) with sample sizes of 3000 to 5000, including 1,900 households that were interviewed in all three rounds. In addition, we incorporate several weather variables based on CHIRPS rainfall data to estimate the effect of the level and variability of rainfall on agricultural commercialization.


Book Synopsis Crop commercialization in Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being by : Minot, Nicholas

Download or read book Crop commercialization in Ethiopia: Trends, drivers, and impact on well-being written by Minot, Nicholas and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2022-12-06 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural transformation refers to a series of changes in agriculture that both reflect and drive rising income and economic development more broadly. While the macroeconomic patterns of agricultural transformation are relatively well documented, less is known about how it is manifested at the household level. Ethiopia makes an excellent case study as it has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world. An important aspect of this process is agricultural commercialization, that is, the rising share of agricultural output is sold on the market rather than being consumed at home. Agricultural commercialization tends to rise with development with improved infrastructure and communications, the availability of inputs and know-how regarding commercial crop production, and farmers being willing to accept the risks associated with producing crops for the market. Agricultural commercialization is widely believed to allow farmers to earn higher income as they specialize in crops for which they have a comparative advantage. The analysis makes use of a data from three rural household surveys carried out in Ethiopia by IFPRI in 2012, 2016, and 2019. Each survey used a sample that was representative of the four main agricultural regions of the country (Tigre, Oromia, Amhara, and SNNP) with sample sizes of 3000 to 5000, including 1,900 households that were interviewed in all three rounds. In addition, we incorporate several weather variables based on CHIRPS rainfall data to estimate the effect of the level and variability of rainfall on agricultural commercialization.

Crop commercialization in Rwanda: Current market participation and drivers

Crop commercialization in Rwanda: Current market participation and drivers

Author: Warner, James

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2024-05-13

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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In this paper, we explore the current levels and participation of crop commercialization by Rwandan smallholder farmers. Our basic unit of analysis is total crop sales divided by the total value of crop production, either at the household or specific crop level. Overall, our findings suggest that approximately 80 percent of farmers participate in crop market sales and sell an average of 33 percent of their total production. However, there is a wide variety of percentage sales by crop and, in general, higher-valued crops are sold by more commercialized farm households. We also find that value of crop production per hectare rises with greater commercialization, suggesting that developing greater market commercialization, particularly with more valuable crops, may increase household incomes and aid in the economic transformation.


Book Synopsis Crop commercialization in Rwanda: Current market participation and drivers by : Warner, James

Download or read book Crop commercialization in Rwanda: Current market participation and drivers written by Warner, James and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2024-05-13 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper, we explore the current levels and participation of crop commercialization by Rwandan smallholder farmers. Our basic unit of analysis is total crop sales divided by the total value of crop production, either at the household or specific crop level. Overall, our findings suggest that approximately 80 percent of farmers participate in crop market sales and sell an average of 33 percent of their total production. However, there is a wide variety of percentage sales by crop and, in general, higher-valued crops are sold by more commercialized farm households. We also find that value of crop production per hectare rises with greater commercialization, suggesting that developing greater market commercialization, particularly with more valuable crops, may increase household incomes and aid in the economic transformation.

Agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: Patterns, trends, and welfare impacts

Agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: Patterns, trends, and welfare impacts

Author: Berhane, Guush

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2022-12-06

Total Pages: 6

ISBN-13:

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This study examined the patterns, trends, and drivers of agricultural intensification and productivity growth during the recent decade (2012 - 2019) using three rounds of household data collected from four agricultural regions of Ethiopia. The descriptive results indicate a positive trend both in adoption and intensity of inputs and outputs, albeit from a low base and with considerable heterogeneity by access to information, rainfall levels and variability, labor, soil quality, and remoteness, among others. The econometric results show significant association between intensification, yield growth, household dietary diversity, and consumer durables. The results on the association between current yield levels and per capita consumption expenditures are however mixed (i.e., while an increase in cereal yield improves food consumption expenditures, an increase in cash crop yield improves only non-food consumption expenditures). In sum, while the increasing input intensification and the resulting yield gains are associated with improvements in household diets and consumer durables, it falls short to have strong impact on incomes (as measured by total consumption expenditures), indicating that additional efforts must be made to see meaningful impacts on higher order outcomes. Additional welfare improving productivity gains through increased input intensification may require investments in appropriate fertilizer blends; investments in improved seeds (to accelerate varietal turnover), ways to mitigate production (rainfall) risk, and investments to remodel Ethiopia’s extension system to provide much needed technical support to farmers on production methods.


Book Synopsis Agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: Patterns, trends, and welfare impacts by : Berhane, Guush

Download or read book Agricultural intensification in Ethiopia: Patterns, trends, and welfare impacts written by Berhane, Guush and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2022-12-06 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examined the patterns, trends, and drivers of agricultural intensification and productivity growth during the recent decade (2012 - 2019) using three rounds of household data collected from four agricultural regions of Ethiopia. The descriptive results indicate a positive trend both in adoption and intensity of inputs and outputs, albeit from a low base and with considerable heterogeneity by access to information, rainfall levels and variability, labor, soil quality, and remoteness, among others. The econometric results show significant association between intensification, yield growth, household dietary diversity, and consumer durables. The results on the association between current yield levels and per capita consumption expenditures are however mixed (i.e., while an increase in cereal yield improves food consumption expenditures, an increase in cash crop yield improves only non-food consumption expenditures). In sum, while the increasing input intensification and the resulting yield gains are associated with improvements in household diets and consumer durables, it falls short to have strong impact on incomes (as measured by total consumption expenditures), indicating that additional efforts must be made to see meaningful impacts on higher order outcomes. Additional welfare improving productivity gains through increased input intensification may require investments in appropriate fertilizer blends; investments in improved seeds (to accelerate varietal turnover), ways to mitigate production (rainfall) risk, and investments to remodel Ethiopia’s extension system to provide much needed technical support to farmers on production methods.

Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria

Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria

Author: Berhane, Guush

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2023-01-03

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13:

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Agricultural commercialization is often pursued as an important driver of agricultural transformation in low-income countries. However, the implications it can have on gendered outcomes are less understood. While agricultural commercialization creates opportunities to increase income, this may come at the expense of change in women’s decision-making agency and control over resources. Understanding the interactions between agricultural commercialization and gender outcomes is thus critical for policymakers aspiring to achieve agricultural transformation while promoting gender equity and the evidence on the links between the two in the context of Africa is scarce and mixed. We use three rounds of Ethiopia’s and Nigeria’s LSMS-ISA panel data to understand the implications of agricultural commercialization to gendered decision-making on crop harvest use, marketing, revenue control, asset ownership, and intrahousehold budget allocation. Results indicate commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s participation in decision-making related to use of harvest, crop marketing, and control over revenue in Ethiopia, but only on harvest use and control over revenue in Nigeria. The association with land ownership is mixed: positive in Ethiopia but negative in Nigeria. Moreover, commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s share of farm-workload but with increases in share of hired labor in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia we also find women’s control over revenue is positively associated with increases in per capita consumption expenditures and dietary diversity, but men’s control is negatively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on children’s shoes and clothes. In Nigeria, women’s control is positively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on women’s shoes and clothes, food gap, and dietary diversity. In sum, we find suggestive evidence that commercialization may further marginalize women’s decision-making agency in Ethiopia and Nigeria. However, conditional on women’s control over proceeds, commercialization tends to improve women’s as well as other members’ welfare. We provide some policy recommendations and directions for future research.


Book Synopsis Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria by : Berhane, Guush

Download or read book Gender implications of agricultural commercialization in Africa: Evidence from farm households in Ethiopia and Nigeria written by Berhane, Guush and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2023-01-03 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural commercialization is often pursued as an important driver of agricultural transformation in low-income countries. However, the implications it can have on gendered outcomes are less understood. While agricultural commercialization creates opportunities to increase income, this may come at the expense of change in women’s decision-making agency and control over resources. Understanding the interactions between agricultural commercialization and gender outcomes is thus critical for policymakers aspiring to achieve agricultural transformation while promoting gender equity and the evidence on the links between the two in the context of Africa is scarce and mixed. We use three rounds of Ethiopia’s and Nigeria’s LSMS-ISA panel data to understand the implications of agricultural commercialization to gendered decision-making on crop harvest use, marketing, revenue control, asset ownership, and intrahousehold budget allocation. Results indicate commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s participation in decision-making related to use of harvest, crop marketing, and control over revenue in Ethiopia, but only on harvest use and control over revenue in Nigeria. The association with land ownership is mixed: positive in Ethiopia but negative in Nigeria. Moreover, commercialization is associated with decreases in women’s share of farm-workload but with increases in share of hired labor in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia we also find women’s control over revenue is positively associated with increases in per capita consumption expenditures and dietary diversity, but men’s control is negatively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on children’s shoes and clothes. In Nigeria, women’s control is positively associated with increases in the share of expenditure on women’s shoes and clothes, food gap, and dietary diversity. In sum, we find suggestive evidence that commercialization may further marginalize women’s decision-making agency in Ethiopia and Nigeria. However, conditional on women’s control over proceeds, commercialization tends to improve women’s as well as other members’ welfare. We provide some policy recommendations and directions for future research.

Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia

Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia

Author: Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2023-01-24

Total Pages: 41

ISBN-13:

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Climate change forecasts for Ethiopia predict higher temperature and rainfall and increased variability in rainfall with periodic severe droughts and floods. The increased weather variability threatens the extent of Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation unless it is supported with improved agricultural water management such as irrigation to make smallholder farming resilient to adverse weather events. This study analyzes the role of irrigation on agricultural transformation in Ethiopia by systematically comparing households with irrigated and non-irrigated plots on key agricultural transformation and welfare indictors (i.e., intensification, commercialization, and consumption expenditures). The study used a representative data from the four main agriculturally important regions of the country and employed an endogenous switching regression approach that addresses potential biases from placement of irrigation schemes and the self-selection of farmers to adopt irrigation on their plots. This approach allows for counterfactual analysis on the effect of irrigation if it is adopted on plots or in households without current irrigation as well as the counterfactual realizations of outcome variables if irrigated plots were not irrigated or irrigating households were relying only on rainfed agriculture. The main results show a positive and significant effects of irrigation on intensification, commercialization, and household welfare. Specifically, the results show that farm households with irrigated plots (i) use more fertilizer and agrochemicals, (ii) sell sizable shares of their harvest, and (iii) spend more on food and non-food expenditures. The counterfactual analysis on what would have been the effect of irrigation on currently non-irrigated plots indicate a stronger result across our outcome indicators which further suggest the importance of expanding irrigation in accelerating agricultural transformation and welfare improvement in Ethiopia.


Book Synopsis Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia by : Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework

Download or read book Irrigation and agricultural transformation in Ethiopia written by Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2023-01-24 with total page 41 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change forecasts for Ethiopia predict higher temperature and rainfall and increased variability in rainfall with periodic severe droughts and floods. The increased weather variability threatens the extent of Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation unless it is supported with improved agricultural water management such as irrigation to make smallholder farming resilient to adverse weather events. This study analyzes the role of irrigation on agricultural transformation in Ethiopia by systematically comparing households with irrigated and non-irrigated plots on key agricultural transformation and welfare indictors (i.e., intensification, commercialization, and consumption expenditures). The study used a representative data from the four main agriculturally important regions of the country and employed an endogenous switching regression approach that addresses potential biases from placement of irrigation schemes and the self-selection of farmers to adopt irrigation on their plots. This approach allows for counterfactual analysis on the effect of irrigation if it is adopted on plots or in households without current irrigation as well as the counterfactual realizations of outcome variables if irrigated plots were not irrigated or irrigating households were relying only on rainfed agriculture. The main results show a positive and significant effects of irrigation on intensification, commercialization, and household welfare. Specifically, the results show that farm households with irrigated plots (i) use more fertilizer and agrochemicals, (ii) sell sizable shares of their harvest, and (iii) spend more on food and non-food expenditures. The counterfactual analysis on what would have been the effect of irrigation on currently non-irrigated plots indicate a stronger result across our outcome indicators which further suggest the importance of expanding irrigation in accelerating agricultural transformation and welfare improvement in Ethiopia.

Policy drivers of Africa’s agriculture transformation: A CAADP biennial review account

Policy drivers of Africa’s agriculture transformation: A CAADP biennial review account

Author: Benin, Samuel

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2021-12-03

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13:

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This paper assesses the nature of agricultural transformation taking place in different parts of Africa and analyzes policy drivers of the transformation using data from the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) on 46 indicators from 2014 to 2018. First, a typology of agriculture transformation in different groups of countries is developed by analyzing the initial values and trends in three indicators—share of agriculture in total employment, share of agriculture in gross domestic product, and agriculture labor productivity. The typology, in addition to a conceptual framework that is developed for measuring the relative effect of a policy on an outcome, provides the basis for analyzing the policy drivers of agriculture transformation. The 46 BR indicators are classified into policies (13 indicators), intermediate results (23 indicators), and outcomes (10 indicators), and then econometric methods are used to measure the association between the policy indicators and the intermediate results and outcomes, which include agriculture intensification (e.g., access to finance and extension, fertilizer use, and irrigation development), agriculture growth, agriculture trade, food security, nutrition, and poverty. Different fixed-effects regression methods and model specifications of the explanatory variables are used to assess sensitivity of the results to different assumptions of the data and the relationship between the policies and intermediate and outcome indicators. The trends in the indicators are different. For example, access to finance and extension have risen over time; fertilizer use, irrigation development, agriculture growth, and adult undernourishment have fallen over time; and child nutrition and poverty have remained stagnant over time. Different policy indicators are significantly associated with different indicators of agriculture intensification, agriculture growth, and outcomes. Also, there are differences in the results across the agriculture transformation groups. Major policy drivers of agriculture transformation in the different groups are identified. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.


Book Synopsis Policy drivers of Africa’s agriculture transformation: A CAADP biennial review account by : Benin, Samuel

Download or read book Policy drivers of Africa’s agriculture transformation: A CAADP biennial review account written by Benin, Samuel and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-12-03 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper assesses the nature of agricultural transformation taking place in different parts of Africa and analyzes policy drivers of the transformation using data from the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) on 46 indicators from 2014 to 2018. First, a typology of agriculture transformation in different groups of countries is developed by analyzing the initial values and trends in three indicators—share of agriculture in total employment, share of agriculture in gross domestic product, and agriculture labor productivity. The typology, in addition to a conceptual framework that is developed for measuring the relative effect of a policy on an outcome, provides the basis for analyzing the policy drivers of agriculture transformation. The 46 BR indicators are classified into policies (13 indicators), intermediate results (23 indicators), and outcomes (10 indicators), and then econometric methods are used to measure the association between the policy indicators and the intermediate results and outcomes, which include agriculture intensification (e.g., access to finance and extension, fertilizer use, and irrigation development), agriculture growth, agriculture trade, food security, nutrition, and poverty. Different fixed-effects regression methods and model specifications of the explanatory variables are used to assess sensitivity of the results to different assumptions of the data and the relationship between the policies and intermediate and outcome indicators. The trends in the indicators are different. For example, access to finance and extension have risen over time; fertilizer use, irrigation development, agriculture growth, and adult undernourishment have fallen over time; and child nutrition and poverty have remained stagnant over time. Different policy indicators are significantly associated with different indicators of agriculture intensification, agriculture growth, and outcomes. Also, there are differences in the results across the agriculture transformation groups. Major policy drivers of agriculture transformation in the different groups are identified. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Cities and agricultural transformation in Africa

Cities and agricultural transformation in Africa

Author: Vandercasteelen, Joachim

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2016-07-01

Total Pages: 37

ISBN-13:

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Due to the rapid growth of cities in Africa, many more farmers are now living in rural hinterlands in relatively close proximity to cities where many provide food to urban residents. However, empirical evidence on how urbanization affects these farmers is scarce. To fill this gap, this paper explores the relationship between proximity to a city and the production behavior of rural staple crop producers. In particular, we analyze data from teff producing farmers in major producing areas around Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. We find that farmers located closer to Addis Ababa face higher wages and land rental prices, and because they receive higher teff prices they have better incentives to intensify production. Moreover, we observe that modern input use, land and labor productivity, and profitability in teff production improve with urban proximity. This urban proximity has a strong and significant effect on these aspects of teff production, possibly related to the use of more formal factor markets, lower transaction costs in crop production and marketing, and better access to information. In contrast, we do not find a strong and positive relationship between rural population density increases and agricultural transformation – increased population density seems to lead to immiserizing effects in these settings. Our results show that urban proximity should be considered as an important determinant of the process of agricultural intensification and transformation in developing countries.


Book Synopsis Cities and agricultural transformation in Africa by : Vandercasteelen, Joachim

Download or read book Cities and agricultural transformation in Africa written by Vandercasteelen, Joachim and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Due to the rapid growth of cities in Africa, many more farmers are now living in rural hinterlands in relatively close proximity to cities where many provide food to urban residents. However, empirical evidence on how urbanization affects these farmers is scarce. To fill this gap, this paper explores the relationship between proximity to a city and the production behavior of rural staple crop producers. In particular, we analyze data from teff producing farmers in major producing areas around Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. We find that farmers located closer to Addis Ababa face higher wages and land rental prices, and because they receive higher teff prices they have better incentives to intensify production. Moreover, we observe that modern input use, land and labor productivity, and profitability in teff production improve with urban proximity. This urban proximity has a strong and significant effect on these aspects of teff production, possibly related to the use of more formal factor markets, lower transaction costs in crop production and marketing, and better access to information. In contrast, we do not find a strong and positive relationship between rural population density increases and agricultural transformation – increased population density seems to lead to immiserizing effects in these settings. Our results show that urban proximity should be considered as an important determinant of the process of agricultural intensification and transformation in developing countries.

Improving Livestock Marketing and Intra-regional Trade in West Africa

Improving Livestock Marketing and Intra-regional Trade in West Africa

Author: T. O. William

Publisher: ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD)

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 9291461849

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It analyses the economic, institutional and policy constraints to livestock marketing and trade to provide a basis for new policy interventions to improve market efficiency and intra-regional livestock trade.


Book Synopsis Improving Livestock Marketing and Intra-regional Trade in West Africa by : T. O. William

Download or read book Improving Livestock Marketing and Intra-regional Trade in West Africa written by T. O. William and published by ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD). This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It analyses the economic, institutional and policy constraints to livestock marketing and trade to provide a basis for new policy interventions to improve market efficiency and intra-regional livestock trade.

Farmers’ quality assessment of their crops and its impact on commercialization behavior: A field experiment in Ethiopia

Farmers’ quality assessment of their crops and its impact on commercialization behavior: A field experiment in Ethiopia

Author: Abate, Gashaw T.

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2017-03-24

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13:

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Adoption of quality-enhancing technologies is often driven largely by farmers’ expected returns from these technologies. Without proper grades, standards, and certification systems, however, farmers may remain uncertain about the actual financial return associated with their quality-enhancing investments. This report summarizes the outcomes of a short video-based randomized training intervention on wheat quality measurement and collective marketing among 15,000 wheat farmers in Ethiopia. Our results suggest that the intervention led to significant changes in farmers’ commercialization behaviors—namely, it prompted farmers to adopt behaviors geared toward assessing their wheat’s quality using easily implementable test-weight measures, assessing the accuracy of the equipment used by buyers in their kebeles (scales, in particular), and contacting more than one buyer before concluding a sale. The training also led to improvements in share of output sold, price received, and collective marketing, albeit with important limitations. First, farmers who measured their wheat quality received a higher price, but only if their wheat was of higher quality. Second, farmers who found that their wheat was of higher quality were more reluctant to aggregate their wheat (that is, sell their products through local cooperatives) than those who found that their wheat was of lower quality. Lastly, the training intervention led to better use of fertilizer in the following season. Our discovery that a short training intervention can significantly change farmers’ marketing and production behavior should encourage the development of further interventions aimed at enhancing farmers’ adoption of improved technologies and commercialization.


Book Synopsis Farmers’ quality assessment of their crops and its impact on commercialization behavior: A field experiment in Ethiopia by : Abate, Gashaw T.

Download or read book Farmers’ quality assessment of their crops and its impact on commercialization behavior: A field experiment in Ethiopia written by Abate, Gashaw T. and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2017-03-24 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adoption of quality-enhancing technologies is often driven largely by farmers’ expected returns from these technologies. Without proper grades, standards, and certification systems, however, farmers may remain uncertain about the actual financial return associated with their quality-enhancing investments. This report summarizes the outcomes of a short video-based randomized training intervention on wheat quality measurement and collective marketing among 15,000 wheat farmers in Ethiopia. Our results suggest that the intervention led to significant changes in farmers’ commercialization behaviors—namely, it prompted farmers to adopt behaviors geared toward assessing their wheat’s quality using easily implementable test-weight measures, assessing the accuracy of the equipment used by buyers in their kebeles (scales, in particular), and contacting more than one buyer before concluding a sale. The training also led to improvements in share of output sold, price received, and collective marketing, albeit with important limitations. First, farmers who measured their wheat quality received a higher price, but only if their wheat was of higher quality. Second, farmers who found that their wheat was of higher quality were more reluctant to aggregate their wheat (that is, sell their products through local cooperatives) than those who found that their wheat was of lower quality. Lastly, the training intervention led to better use of fertilizer in the following season. Our discovery that a short training intervention can significantly change farmers’ marketing and production behavior should encourage the development of further interventions aimed at enhancing farmers’ adoption of improved technologies and commercialization.