Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
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Item Irrigation adoption: A potential avenue for reducing food insecurity among rice farmers in Beni(Water Resources and Economics, 2018) Nonvide, G.M.A.Since the 1960s, the government of Benin has invested in the development of canal irrigation schemes in order to intensify food crop production and reduce food insecurity. This paper em ployed an ordered probit model with sample selection to assess the potential of irrigation in reducing food insecurity in the municipality of Malanville, Benin. The results show that 60% of the irrigation farmers and 46% of the dry land farmers were food secure. Adoption of irrigation has a positive effect on food security. Other variables explaining food security are education, informal training, credit, extension services, use of improved seed, fertilizer and herbicide ap plication, farm and off-farm income. The study recommends that efforts to rehabilitate current irrigation scheme and develop other schemes should be intensified.Item Determinants of maize farmers' performance in Benin, West Africa(Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 2018-03-22) Amegnaglo, C.J.Increased agricultural productivity is the primary aim of all agricultural policies undertaken in developing countries. Increased agricultural productivity involves not only the analysis of factors limiting productivity but also efficiency because improved efficiency leads to productivity improvement. This paper investigated the factors limiting maize productivity in Benin based on a survey of 354 maize farmers. The mean maize yield was 1,347 kg/ha. The low level of maize yield in Benin is due to the lack of access to inputs, capital, and the weak institutional environment in which farmers operate. Furthermore, the efficiency model revealed that an increase in maize output of about 25 percent can be achieved in the short run by adopting the best farming practices and by addressing socioeconomic and structural constraints. Policy should be encouraged that would facilitate access to inputs, capital, and training, and promote the development of infrastructure in farming areas.Item Price transmission in the pangasius value chain from Vietnam to Germany(Aquaculture Reports, 2019-12-31) Ankamah-Yeboah, I.; Thong, N.T.; Bronnmann, J.; Nielsen, M.; Roth, E.; Schulze-Ehlers, B.Evidence of market integration between farmed pangasius and wild-caught whitefish is provided in the literature, pointing towards pangasius prices being determined on the large international whitefish market. In the presence of price transmission in the value chain, global growth of pangasius farming does therefore not in itself reduce the farm-gate prices in Vietnam. In this paper, price transmission in the pangasius value chain from farmers in Vietnam, via export to final consumption in Germany, is tested using the Johansen cointegration framework. Price transmission is identified both between farm-gate prices and export prices in Vietnam and between export prices and retail prices in Germany. The Law of One Price was rejected in both cases, indicating imperfect price transmission. Weak exogeneity tests of market leadership identify a value chain with downstream market leadership consisting of German retailers leading exporters, which themselves lead farmers. The implication is that growth of Vietnamese pangasius farming can continue, ceteris paribus, without reducing prices substantially. Vietnamese farmers can invest in expansions without fearing self-inflicted price falls, but farmers and local communities remain prone to fluctuations following from supply and demand changes at the international whitefish market outside of their control.Item Gender-segregated analysis of the poultry value chain in Ghana(Gender, Technology and Development, 2019-08-26) Mensah-Bonsu, A.; Lartey, N.N.; Kuwornu, J.K.M.This study examined the poultry value chain in the Dormaa District and Sunyani Municipality in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to obtain cross-sectional data from 203 value chain actors through the administration of a structured questionnaire. The poultry products considered were broilers and layers, and the value chain actors were producers, traders, and processors. The results of the Duncan’s Index of Dissimilarity of 75% revealed that the poultry value chains are highly gender-segregated (i.e., men and women cluster at different levels of the value chain). The producer level of the value chain was dominated by men, and the trader and processor levels were dominated by women. The results regarding value addition and return on investment (ROI) revealed that the producers added the highest value in both the broiler and layer value chains. The producers’ ROI was generally higher in the broiler value chain than in the layer value chain. The male value chain actors were found to add higher value compared to their female counterparts. This was because the men generally operated on larger scales than the women. The study highlights the role of the government, researchers, nutritionists and training institutions for the development of the poultry value chain.Item Household Water Quality Testing and Information: Identifying Impacts on Health Outcomes and Sanitationand Hygiene-Related Risk-Mitigating Behaviors(Evaluation Review, 2019-11-11) Okyere, C.Y.; Pangaribowo, E.H.; Gerber, N.Background: In 2014, a group of 512 households in multipurpose water systems and also relying on unimproved water, sanitation, and hygiene practices in the Greater Accra region of Ghana were randomly selected to participate in water quality self-testing and also receipt of information in the form of handouts on how to improve water quality. Objectives and Research Design: Using a cluster-randomized controlled design, we study the health, sanitation, and hygiene behavior impacts of the household water quality testing and information experiment. Subjects: The study has three arms: (1) adult household members, (2) schoolgoing children, and (3) control group. Measures: The study measures the effects on handwashing with soap, cleanliness of households, and prevalence of diarrhea and self-reported fever. We also address impacts on child health and nutrition outcomes, particularly diarrhea and anthropometric outcomes. Results: We show that there is high household willingness to participate in this intervention on water quality self-testing. About 7 months after households took part in the intervention, the study finds little impacts on health outcomes and on sanitation- and hygiene-related risk-mitigating behaviors, regardless of the intervention group, either schoolchildren or adult household members. Impacts (direction and extent) are rather homogeneous for most of the outcomes across treatment groups. Conclusions: The study discusses the implications of the findings and also offers several explanations for the lack of transmission of impacts from the household water quality testing and information intervention on health outcomes and on sanitation and hygiene behaviors.Item Determinants of marketing channel choice among smallholder beef cattle farmers in Ghana's forest-savannah transitional zone(International Journal of Value Chain Management (IJVCM),, 2019-06-21) Mensah-Bonsu, A.; Owusu, C.; Amegashie, D.P.K.; Kuwornu, J.K.M.This study sought to understand the determinants of market channel choice among smallholder beef cattle farmers in Ghana's forest-savannah transitional zone. Data was collected from 200 farmers through the administration of a structured questionnaire and analysed using a multinomial logit regression model. The results revealed that the producers' level of education, herd size, mode of payment and price for cattle sold positively influence the producers' choice of marketing channel, whereas the quantity beef cattle sold, the reason for production, farmer access to extension services, years of farming experience, membership of a producers association and marketing cost negatively influenced the choice of marketing channel. The role of farmer-based associations, standardisation of the beef cattle trade, provision of market information to the producers, and profiling of the producers based on the basis of their production capacity are critical for the improvement of the businesses of the beef cattle farmers.Item Health Risk Assessment for Human Exposure to Trace Metals Via Bushmeat in Ghana(Biological Trace Element Research, 2019-10-30) Gbogbo, F.; Rainhill, J.E.; Koranteng, S.S.; Owusu, E.H.; Dorleku, W.P.Consumption and trade in bushmeat are entrenched in sub-Saharan Africa amid growing land degradation and environmental pollution that raise safety concerns, yet sustainability of bushmeat extraction and zoonoses considerations have been the focus of bushmeat research. Here, we evaluated the health risk of trace metals in the skeletal muscle, bone, liver, and skin of the black duiker (Cephalophus niger), brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus), bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus), and Maxwell’s duiker (Cephalophus maxwelli) being the five most hunted and consumed species of bushmeat in Ghana. Sample tissues of the five species were analyzed for Cu, Zn, Se, Cd, As, Pb, and Hg. Targeted hazard quotient (THQ) of Se for black duiker, bushback, and Maxwell’s duiker as well as that of Pb for black duiker, Brush-tailed porcupine, and Maxwell’s duiker were concerning (> 1) for individuals foraging daily on bushmeat. Thus, cane rat was the only species that recorded both estimated daily intake (EDI) and THQ of Se and Pb within safe limits for daily consumption. In respect of Cu, Zn, Cd, As, and Hg, EDI and THQ values indicated no perceived risk to consumers for all five species. Lifetime cancer risk (CR) of As was negligible for all species. At the rate of bushmeat consumption in sub-Saharan Africa (0.104 kg per day), the cane rat was the only species considered safe for daily consumption among the five species.Item Economic Shocks and the Growth of the Construction Industry in Ghana Over the 50-Year Period From 1968 to 2017(Research in World Economy, 2019-06-09) Anaman, K.A.; Egyir, I.S.The study analyses the relationship between the growth of the construction industry and economic shocks in Ghana over the 50-year period from 1968 to 2017 using an autoregressive modelling scheme that incorporates several economic shocks as separate independent variables. The independent variables used in the model included one positive economic shock and five negative shock variables. The positive shock variable was the sharply increased government expenditures on construction activities in selected years that allowed the government to host international events in Ghana within a period of two years. The five adverse economic shocks included in the model were political instability related to military coups, exchange rate depreciation of the local currency, Ghana cedi, with respect to the United States dollar, the average yearly temperature, aggregate electricity energy production shortfall related to a severe El Nino weather phenomenon, and incidence of extreme rainfall. The results of the analysis indicated that the most important factor influencing the growth of the construction industry in Ghana over the 50-year study period was political instability. Beyond political instability, the next most important factor was the purposely-driven sharp increases in government expenditures on construction activities for selected years that allowed the country to host international events in the country. The other significant economic shocks were the exchange rate depreciation, average temperatures, and electricity energy production shortfall; all three factors adversely affected the growth of the construction industry. The results of our study are generally consistent with those obtained from the literature concerning the positive and negative effects of economic shocks on the construction industry.Item Effect of off-farm income on multi-dimensional poverty among rural farm households in Nigeria(International Journal of Social Economics, 2019-08-12) Adeoye, I.D.; Seini, W.; Sarpong, D.; Amegashie, D.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of the different components of off-farm income on multi-dimensional poverty. Furthermore, the study aims to measure multi-dimensional poverty and also identify the determinants of multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria. The paper reveals the different contributions of the dimensions of education, health and living standard. Design/methodology/approach – The study focuses on rural farm households in Nigeria. Data are obtained from the Nigeria General Household Survey, 2013. The survey covers both urban and rural areas of the 36 states of Nigeria. Owing to the interest of this study in the rural farm household’s sub-sector, a nationally representative sample of 836 rural farm households are selected for the study after the data merging process. Rural farm households in this paper earn 50 percent of their total income from crop and livestock production. The paper employs the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) to measure multi-dimensional poverty across the six different geographical zones of Nigeria. The probit regression model is used to estimate and analyze the effect of off-farm income components on multi-dimensional poverty and also to identify the determinants of multi-dimensional poverty. Findings – The results of the study show that among the off-farm income components, the non-farm wage income and non-farm self-employment income have negative association with multi-dimensional poverty. Findings show thatmulti-dimensional poverty is high in Nigeria with deprivations in health contributing themost. Northern Regions have a higher estimate. Results reveal that sex, age, number of adults, formal credit access, access to extension services and location characteristics are key determinants of multi-dimensional poverty. The MPI for Nigeria averaged 47 percent. Across regions, deprivation in the health dimension contributes about 44 percent to multi-dimensional poverty. Deprivation in living standards contributes 40.5 percent, while deprivation in education contributes 15.5 percent to multi-dimensional poverty. Research limitations/implications – Due to the nature of the data used, the health indicators (nutrition and child mortality) are absent but proxies are used instead. Future research could introduce gender dimensions. Practical implications – Improving the involvement of rural farm households in non-farm selfemployment sector could improve their livelihoods and prevent migration to urban centers, especially among the youths. Social implications – Improving the quality of health, education and living standards will lead to lower poverty levels in Nigeria. Farmers can best reduce their multi-dimensional poverty by engaging in more off-farm jobs. Originality/value – This paper provides information to policy makers on the effect of different components of income from the off-farm sector on multi-dimensional poverty alongside with the determinants of multi-dimensional poverty at a national level for the rural farm households. By using MPI, the contribution of the different dimensions used in computing the MPI across the six geographical regions within the country is revealed. This provides policy makers with more information for development purposes.Item Livelihood vulnerabilities and diversification of fishing households in Ghana(Development in Practice, 2019-02-20) Seini, W.A.; Amevenku, F.K.Y.; Kuwornu, J.K.M.; Osei-Asare, Y.B.; Anim-Somuah, H.This article reports on a study that employed the livelihood vulnerability approach and Simpson’s diversification index to examine the vulnerability and diversification of fishing households in Ghana, using primary data from 715 households. It found significant differences between the vulnerability indexes of the combined areas below the Akosombo dam and the area upstream of the dam. A majority of the households have diversified their activities. Therefore, policy interventions to make fishing households less vulnerable should focus on households upstream of the Akosombo dam. Policy interventions that enhance the diversification of the fishing households to enable them reduce their income risks are important.