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Proposing a farm assessment toolkit: evaluating a South African land reform case study Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Aart-Jan Verschoor, Colleta Gandidzanwa, Terence Newby, Anneliza Collett, Sonja Venter
The paper presents a robust, scientific evaluation method to determine the potential viability of a farm, compared to its current performance. The comparison informs recommendations for sustainable...
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The Covid pandemic, cultivation and livelihoods in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Klara Fischer, Nomahlubi Mnukwa, Amanda Bengtsson
South African smallholders have disengaged from cultivation in recent decades despite the lack of alternative incomes. The Covid-19 pandemic led to further rises in poverty and food insecurity. Bet...
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Modelling the exiting of South African producers from commercial agricultural production – an agent-based model Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Kandas Cloete, Anke Möhring, Siphe Zantsi
This paper explores the prospects of commercial producers who would be willing to exit voluntarily in the near future to make land available in the market. In addition, it also considers what facto...
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The single-serve wine option in South African restaurants: product involvement, risk perception and information-related behavioural effects Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Johan Bruwer, Martin Kidd, Nick Vink
Wine is a highly-valued-added end product of an important agricultural value chain. In this product category, the single-serve wine by-the-glass (WBG) option in restaurants presents a largely under...
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Is persistent “loadshedding” pulling the plug on agriculture in the Western Cape, South Africa? Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Kandas Cloete, Louw Pienaar, Melissa Van der Merwe
Besides a few industry reports on the impact of loadshedding on agriculture, there is a dearth of literature on the electricity dependence and the impact of loadshedding on the South African agricu...
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Agricultural productivity, land use intensification and rural household welfare: evidence from Ethiopia Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2024-01-02 Abebayehu Girma Geffersa
While the role of agricultural productivity in alleviating poverty and enhancing household well-being is widely acknowledged, the micro-level evidence on the relationship between smallholder produc...
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Data note: Spatializing South African agricultural censuses, 1918–2017 Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Senait D. Senay, Jan C. Greyling, Philip G. Pardey, Helene Verhoef
Agriculture is an intrinsically spatial production process. Where on the landscape agriculture occurs affects the environmental (e.g., soil, water, climate) factors that have large output and produ...
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Examining the determinants of agricultural innovation activities: a case study of emerging sugarcane farmers in South Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-11 Lloyd J. S. Baiyegunhi
Since innovation is regarded as a source of a firm's development, productivity, and competitive advantage, the identification of the drivers of innovation activities is important for businesses and...
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Estimating oligopsonistic market power in Uganda’s rice industry Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Edgar E. Twine, Stella E. Adur-Okello, Gaudiose Mujawamariya
The study applies the conjectural variations approach to determine whether Ugandan rice traders exercise oligopsony power in the market for domestic rice. The trader margin for milled rice is found...
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Can farmers’ climate change adaptation strategies ensure their food security? Evidence from Ethiopia Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-07-05 Girma Gezimu Gebre, Yuichiro Amekawa, Aneteneh Ashebir
ABSTRACT Climate change poses a significant threat to the sustainability of agricultural production among smallholder farm households in Ethiopia. To reduce the adverse effects of climate risks, farm households have sought to adopt different adaptation strategies. This study investigates factors influencing farm households’ choice of climate adaptation strategies and associated effects on their food
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Assessing the crop productivity and household welfare effects of adopting certified seeds of improved cassava varieties in Uganda Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-06-11 Beine P. Ahimbisibwe, John F. Morton, Shiferaw Feleke, Arega D. Alene, Tahirou Abdoulaye, Kate Wellard, Eric Mungatana, Anton Bua, Solomon Asfaw, Victor Manyong
ABSTRACT This article identifies the determinants, crop productivity, and household welfare impacts of adopting certified seeds of improved cassava varieties (c-ICVs) in Uganda. The determinants were identified using the two-part model while the crop productivity and household welfare impacts were assessed using the endogenous switching regression model. The data came from 609 farm households in Uganda’s
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Agricultural economics: a discipline in crisis? Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-16 Melissa van der Merwe
ABSTRACT Agricultural economists have continuously raised questions about their role in the wider economy and society since the discipline's establishment. This led to continuous reinvention, development and stretching of the discipline's boundaries. We have seen the same critique by scholars in other disciplines; many of these evolved to thrive or regressed to die. This begs the question, is the agricultural
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Economics of Agricultural Development: World Food Systems and Resource Use, Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-16 Felician Andrew Kitole
Published in Agrekon: Agricultural Economics Research, Policy and Practice in Southern Africa (Vol. 62, No. 2, 2023)
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The measurement of agricultural productivity in Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-15 Jenifer Piesse, Nick Vink
ABSTRACT Our purpose here is to provide an introduction to the set of papers in this Special Edition on “The measurement of agricultural productivity in Africa” and to draw lessons for further research.
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Drivers of rural households’ food insecurity in Ethiopia: a comprehensive approach of calorie intake and food consumption score Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-03-14 Million Sileshi, Stefan Sieber, Teshome Lejissa, Daniel W. Ndyetabula
ABSTRACT Most food insecurity studies in developing countries, including Ethiopia, use a single food security indicator to determine the food insecurity status, thus overlooking the multidimensional nature of food security. Using cross-sectional data collected from 408 households in three districts of East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia, this study combined two food security indicators namely calorie intake
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Farm size and productivity: smallholder dairy production in Eswatini Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-02-22 Jan C. Greyling, Bandile Banele Mdluli, Beatrice Conradie
ABSTRACT In response to the 2015 paper by Henderson published In Journal of Agricultural Economics, this case study of dairy farmers in Eswatini, this case study of dairy farmers in Eswatini tests the explanatory power of two hypotheses to explain the inverse relationship between farm size and productivity. To this end, we fit a stochastic frontier production function with inefficiency effects. We
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Wheat productivity in the Cape Colony in 1825: evidence from newly transcribed tax censuses Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-02-21 Johan Fourie, Jan Greyling
ABSTRACT We calculate, for the first time, farm-level wheat productivity for Cape Colony settler farmers in 1825. We can do so because we now have access to a fully transcribed tax census for that year. Although there is some variation in wheat productivity across the Colony, probably a result of the varying environmental factors, we find much larger variation within districts. We perform various tests
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Productivity growth and the role of mechanisation in African agriculture Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Oliver K. Kirui, Lukas Kornher, Maksud Bekchanov
ABSTRACT This paper compares agricultural productivity growth, specifically, the impact of agricultural mechanisation on total factor productivity and cereal yields, across African countries using contemporaneous and sequential Malmquist index approaches. Contemporaneous approach findings indicate that agricultural productivity grew by 1% annually over 1961–2014, while sequential technology measures
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Economic and environmental comparison of conventional and conservation agriculture in South African wheat production Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Willy Mulimbi, Lawton Lanier Nalley, Johann Strauss, Kristiina Ala-Kokko
ABSTRACT Global wheat yields must increase to meet current and rising global demand despite the increasing threats to production resulting from climate change. One climate change adaptation strategy in wheat production in the Western Cape of South Africa is conservation agriculture (CA). Using a data set of 1,043 plot-level wheat observations collected at Langgewens and Tygerhoek research farms from
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Access to mutual labour support in agriculture: Implications for maize productivity and efficiency of farmers in northern Ghana Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-02-01 Mensah Tawiah Cobbinah, Gideon Danso-Abbeam, Abiodun A. Ogundeji
ABSTRACT Access to cheap labour affects Ghanaian smallholder farmers significantly. Such access can be enhanced through mutual labour support. However, it has become necessary to explore how this form of collective action affects farmers’ productivity and efficiency. In this study, the impact of access to mutual labour support on productivity and technical efficiency was estimated using data collected
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Taking stock of gender gaps in crop production technology adoption and technical efficiency in Ghana Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-01-27 Abigail Ampomah Adaku, Francis Tsiboe, Joseph Clottey
ABSTRACT There is a strong linkage between agricultural performance and economic growth in developing countries. However, the gain from agriculture disproportionately trickles down to the poor which can be partly reduced by addressing gender differences in production. Historically, the validity of gender statistics has been questioned as the way researchers and policymakers describe gender differences
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Total factor productivity growth in livestock production in Botswana: what is the role of scale and mix efficiency change in beef production? Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-01-27 Omphile Temoso, John N. Ng’ombe, Sirak Bahta, David Hadley
ABSTRACT It is well established that improving livestock productivity has the potential to boost food security, income, and employment for rural communities. While the technical efficiency of the livestock sector has been extensively studied in both developing and developed countries, few studies have analysed total factor productivity (TFP) and its components (technical change, technical, scale, and
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Technological differences in South African sheep production: a stochastic meta-frontier analysis Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2023-01-27 Nicolette Matthews, Beatrice Conradie, Jenifer Piesse
ABSTRACT This study compared four South African sheep producing districts relative to each other and a common metafrontier to analyse within and between group efficiency and explored what could be learnt from this technique compared to simple frontiers. A sample was compiled from sources that were previously successfully used in local benchmarking exercises, and despite very modest sample sizes at
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Potential improvement in the performance of dairy farms in South Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-12-30 David Beca
ABSTRACT Over 2003–2021, the pasture harvested on South African pasture-based dairy farms increased markedly. This increased production and consumption of pasture has helped to reduce the cost of producing milk in South Africa relative to dairying in other countries and delivered comparatively high levels of profit. National milk production has grown steadily. Over this same time, pasture as a proportion
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The effect of agricultural technology transfer on Zimbabwe’s economic development: a dynamic global trade analysis project approach Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-12-30 Rutendo H. Jonga, Huang Delin, Courage Masona, Christopher Belford
ABSTRACT Since 2000, Zimbabwe’s agricultural output has fluctuated despite the transfer of agricultural technology by various organisations and international partners. The low output response to technology transfer is attributed to the twin problems of lack of access and adoption of technology, which are largely explained by weak institutions, financial constraints, skill and knowledge deficiency,
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Do youth farmers benefit from participating in contract farming? Evidence from French beans youth farmers in Arusha, Tanzania Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-09-04 Mwita Erick Marwa, Julius Manda
ABSTRACT Contract farming (CF) is often seen as a system that enhances production efficiency leading to increased agricultural productivity and improved farmer livelihoods. However, there is a conflict in the literature on its impact on young farmers who are involved in farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper evaluates the impacts of CF on crop yield, crop and household income among the youth farmers
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Determinants of smallholder farmers’ livelihood trajectories. Evidence from rural Malawi Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-08-24 Mirriam Matita, Ephraim Wadonda Chirwa, Stevier Kaiyatsa, Jacob Mazalale, Masautso Chimombo, Loveness Msofi Mgalamadzi, Blessings Chinsinga
ABSTRACT This paper examines the determinants of livelihood trajectories of households surveyed in rural Malawi in 2007 that were tracked in 2018. Using a set of indicators, including income source diversification and participation in social assistance programmes, households were placed in different trajectories, namely, dropping out, stepping up, hanging in and stepping in. A multinomial logit model
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Factors affecting adoption of technical, organisational and institutional dairy innovations in selected milksheds in Kenya Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-08-11 Edith Wairimu, John Mburu, Asaah Ndambi, Charles Gachuiri
ABSTRACT Technical dairy innovations (TDI), such as improved cow feeding, health management and genetic improvement, could boost milk production. At the same time, organisational and institutional dairy innovations (OIDI), including group milk sales, feed and credit access, could boost dairy supply chain efficiency. This study examined the TDI adoption determinants and the OIDI adoption intensity.
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Socioeconomic inequalities in household resilience capacity in the context of COVID-19 in the fisheries sector in Malawi Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-07-11 Gowokani Chijere Chirwa, Levison Chiwaula
ABSTRACT Malawi relies on fish as a source of protein, and the fisheries sector employs many individuals. The COVID-19 shock has affected the fisheries sector. The current study measured household resilience in the fisheries sector. We collected primary data from 405 respondents. We used TANGO International's resilience capacity indices (RCI) and concentration indices (CI) to measure resilience and
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Food loss and waste in maize in Mozambique and its economic impacts: a system dynamics assessment approach Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-07-03 Meizal Popat, Oscar Cacho, Garry Griffith, Stuart Mounter
ABSTRACT Food loss and waste are of global concern. In developing countries like Mozambique, it seems to be a major issue at the upstream end of supply chains, which is also regarded as postharvest losses (PHL). In this study, PHL is analysed in the context of maize in Mozambique, which is the most important crop in that country. The analysis focuses on empirically testing a simulation modelling approach
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The COVID-19 effects on agricultural commodity markets Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-07-03 Mehmet Balcilar, Kamil Sertoglu, Busra Agan
ABSTRACT This study examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on major agricultural commodity prices (cattle, cocoa, coffee, corn, cotton, hog, rice, soya oil, soybeans, soybean meal, sugar and wheat) using daily data from 1 January 2016 to 25 February 2022. We measured COVID-19 effect using a news-based sentiment index. A robust nonparametric Granger causality-in-quantiles test is used to test
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Perceived changes in food security, finances and revenue of rural and urban households during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-06-01 Olubunmi Bamiwuye, Olaide Akintunde, Lateef Jimoh, Khadijat Olanrewaju
ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic has generated shocks that have affected the global economy. The study examined perceived changes in food security as well as finances and revenue of rural and urban households during Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Data were sourced from the National Longitudinal Phone Survey executed between April and June 2020 by the National Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with
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Rainfall variability and alternative technology adoption: evidence from Ethiopia Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-06-01 Dambala Gelo
ABSTRACT This paper investigates the effects of rainfall variability on agricultural input demand while controlling for risk preference and other covariates. For the empirical analysis, rural household survey data, which was matched with rainfall variability data and experimentally generated measures of risk preference, was used. The results show that increased rainfall variability prompts households
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Agricultural trade liberalisation, agricultural total factor productivity growth and food security in Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-05-06 Regret Sunge, Nicholas Ngepah
ABSTRACT The study draws inference on the impact of agricultural trade openness, total factor productivity (TFP) growth, and domestic agriculture support on food security in Africa. To retain estimates efficiency and consistency in the presence of complex error terms, we employed the Panel-Corrected-Standard-Error (PCSE) estimator on panel data spanning 2005–2016 for 13 African countries. Results suggest
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Intolerance, xenophobia and cross-border supermarket groups’ operations in South Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-05-04 Nixon S. Chekenya, Laurine Chikoko
ABSTRACT We examine whether there is a relationship between xenophobic attacks and the stock market value of supermarket groups in South Africa. We perform an event study analysis on significant incidents of violent attacks targeted at shops owned by foreigners in South Africa for the period 2006–2017. Using an event study approach with an augmented market model, we uncover evidence that the stock
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Investigating the motivations driving meat analogue purchase among middle-income consumers in Mbombela, South Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-04-28 C. Z. Tsvakirai, N. M. Zulu
ABSTRACT Meat analogues are becoming widely accepted in high-income countries as substitutes for meat. As consumer acceptance of faux meat is beginning to follow a similar trend in South Africa, this study investigated the aspects of the product’s positioning that could be used to further grow the product’s market. Using data collected from 130 middle-income consumers in Mbombela, the study determined
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Private extension delivers productivity growth in pasture-based dairy farming in the Eastern Cape, 2012–2018 Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-04-26 Beatrice Conradie, Craig Galloway, Andrea Renner
ABSTRACT This study presents a novel way to measure the contribution of private extension to farm productivity for club data. Club data refers to any convenience sample obtained from a study group, consulting firm, cooperative or producer organisation. The study develops a stochastic frontier production function model with the inefficiency effects of pasture-based dairy farming in the Eastern Cape
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Are SACU countries self-sufficient in cereals? A dynamic panel analysis Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-03-31 H. J. Sartorius von Bach, K. M. Kalundu
ABSTRACT Most countries within Southern Africa are reliant on cereal imports from South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region, cereal insecure countries are often import-dependent. Changing income levels, pandemics, climatic conditions and the trade environment all create a wedge and put pressure on food self-sufficiency. This paper uses a robust dynamic
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Special collection of articles on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South African agriculture Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-03-22 Johann Kirsten
(2022). Special collection of articles on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South African agriculture. Agrekon: Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 1-2.
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Can digital solutions transform agri-food systems in Africa? Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-03-22 Edward Mabaya, Jaron Porciello
ABSTRACT Digital agriculture solutions hold a promise to build agri-food food systems that are more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive, thereby contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In most African countries, the rapid adoption of mobile phones and other digital tools have accelerated the deployment of agricultural services for farmers and other value
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Adoption and impact of improved wheat varieties on productivity and welfare among smallholder farmers in the Arsi Highland of Ethiopia Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-03-18 Bedilu Demissie Zeleke, Adem Kedir Geleto, Sisay Asefa, Hussien H. Komicha
ABSTRACT This article evaluates the adoption and impact of improved wheat varieties on rural farm household welfare measured by consumption expenditure per adult equivalent and productivity per hectare in rural Ethiopia. The study utilises cross-sectional farm household-level data collected in 2017/2018 from a randomly selected sample of 323 farmers in Arsi Highland of Ethiopia. We estimate the adoption
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Producer prices, carcass classification and consumers’ willingness to pay for different sheep meat grades: an experimental auction approach Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-03-14 Carina Troost, Johann F. Kirsten
ABSTRACT South African sheep farmers receive different prices for animals of different age, carcass form and fat level. Older animals trade at a substantive discount to the younger animals due to the perceived tenderness and juiciness of the younger animal. There is however a question whether the size of the discount is warranted given that certain cuts from older animals are preferred by consumers
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Identifying possible misspecification in South African soybean oil futures contracts Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-03-08 Andre Van der Vyver, Ulonka Barnard, Jean-Pierre Nordier
ABSTRACT With the inclusion of a locally traded soybean oil futures contract, that is dual-listed and cash-settled of the Chicago Board of Trade futures contract, the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) aimed to provide local soybean crushing plants, the opportunity for managing their exposure toward the variation in soybean oil prices using effective hedging strategies. Which is only viable assuming
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A sector-wide review of the COVID-19 impact on the South African agricultural sector during 2020–21 Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-02-15 Ferdinand Meyer, Johann Kirsten, Tracy Davids, Marion Delport, Hester Vermeulen, Wandile Sihlobo, Lucia Anelich
ABSTRACT The agriculture value chain is a complex web of interactions which includes activities within the agricultural sector and various support industries less directly linked to the sector. Despite being declared an essential service when the COVID-19 regulations were promulgated and lockdown restrictions imposed, the value chain still faced multiple bottlenecks and disruptions that needed to be
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Crop mix portfolio response to climate risks: evidence from smallholder farmers in Kisumu County, Kenya Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-02-03 Hezbon Akelo Awiti, Eric Obedy Gido, Gideon Aiko Obare
ABSTRACT Farm households respond to market uncertainties and household demand for food commodities by diversifying their farm-level crop portfolio. However, it is unclear if farmers’ crop mix also responds to unpredictable climate variability. We use primary data from 267 randomly selected respondents and apply a multinomial logit model to test the hypothesis that crop portfolio choice is an ex-ante
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Strategic perspectives on quitting or remaining in commercial agriculture in South Africa and why it matters Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2022-01-30 Kandas Cloete, Jan Greyling, Marion Delport
ABSTRACT This paper explores reasons why some commercial producers in South Africa are expecting to quit and sell their farms, and others are not. Of 450 respondents to a voluntary survey, distinctly different groups of producers emerged concerning their longer-term strategic planning and how they experience and absorb current threats and challenges. Unsupervised learning on the dataset is imposed
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Hotspots of vulnerability and disruption in food value chains during COVID-19 in South Africa: industry- and firm-level “pivoting” in response Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-12-24 Ferdinand Meyer, Thomas Reardon, Tracy Davids, Melissa van der Merwe, Daniel Jordaan, Marion Delport, Gerhard Van Den Burgh
ABSTRACT We use a primary data set from a survey of medium and large firms and farms in the beef, citrus, and maize value chains in South Africa during March-June 2020, the early and late phases of the initial COVID-19 lockdowns. We have five main findings. (1) The initial lockdown regulations declared as “essential” the product (vertical) value chains but left as “inessential” the important “lateral”
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Do changes in maize prices and input prices affect smallholder farmers’ soil fertility management decisions? panel survey evidence from Kenya Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-12-24 David Olson, Nicole M. Mason, Lilian Kirimi, Joyce Makau
ABSTRACT Soil fertility management (SFM) practices such as maize-legume intercropping and organic fertiliser, particularly when used jointly with inorganic fertiliser, have the potential to increase yields and yield response to inorganic fertiliser, improve soil health, and contribute to sustainable intensification (SI). However, relatively little is known about the drivers of adoption of these practices
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Does the use of multiple agricultural technologies affect household welfare? Evidence from Northern Ghana Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-11-02 Wencong Lu, Kwabena Nyarko Addai, John N. Ng’ombe
ABSTRACT Agricultural intensification has been encouraged through the promotion of various agricultural technologies, but the synergies between different technologies have not been fully explored among various specific crops. Using the multinomial endogenous switching regression model complemented with the multivalued inverse probability regression model, this study determines the impacts of the adoption
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Selling at the farmgate? Role of liquidity constraints and implications for agricultural productivity Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-10-19 Josiah M. Ateka, Perez Ayieko Onono-Okelo, Martin Etyang
ABSTRACT Market trends in many developing countries indicate that selling agricultural produce to itinerant traders at the farmgate has been rising, despite criticism that the practice preys on and exploits farmers. Using a cross-sectional data set of 525 households, we investigate the factors influencing participation in farmgate trading and its effects on agricultural productivity in western Kenya
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Smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for access to agricultural market information in Tanzania Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-10-06 Mawazo Mwita Magesa, Noah Nasson Mkasanga
ABSTRACT Introducing user access charges to smallholder farmers accessing agricultural market information is considered as a strategy of financing operations of agricultural market information services. This research studied smallholders' willingness to pay for access charges as a strategy of sustaining information provision operations. Using questionnaires, data were collected from smallholders, randomly
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Farm- and community-level factors underlying the profitability of fertiliser usage for Ethiopian smallholder farmers Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-12-05 B. T. Assefa, P. Reidsma, J. Chamberlin, M. K. van Ittersum
ABSTRACT While adoption rates for inorganic fertiliser are relatively high in Ethiopia, application rates are generally considered agronomically suboptimal. Using recent data on Ethiopian smallholder maize producers, we showed that maize response to nitrogen, and the profitability of fertiliser use depended on maize agronomy. The agronomic optimum ranged from 0 to 344 kg/ha with a mean value of 209
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Analysis of the Kenyan economy: an input-output approach Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-11-08 Sofía Jiménez, Alfredo J. Mainar-Causapé, Emanuele Ferrari
ABSTRACT Since the beginning of the 2008 economic crisis, economic growth and development have been in the forefront of economic research. In a global context, the highest levels of poverty as well as malnutrition problems are found in sub-Saharan African countries. Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) are useful tools to describe the economic situation of these countries, the interactions among economic
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Social protection policy and agricultural labour outcome in West Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-11-16 Romanus Osabohien, Oluwatoyin Matthew, Hajra Maqsood
ABSTRACT This study engages panel data consisting of 15 West African countries that are members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). To resolve the possible issues of endogeneity, the system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) was applied. The data for the analysis was sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA)
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The financial burden of African Horse Sickness: a case of the European Union trade ban on South Africa’s horse industry Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-09-29 Zimbini Mdlulwa, Mampe Masemola, Baratang A. Lubisi, Petronella Chaminuka
ABSTRACT Globalisation and the increased movement of goods such as live animals and animal products across national borders can exacerbate the introduction and spread of diseases. This risk can be mitigated through adherence to trade control measures such as the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, compliance with SPS measures usually results in
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Covid-19 and the South African wine industry Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-09-19 Tracy Davids, Nick Vink, Kandas Cloete
ABSTRACT South Africa has faced multiple waves of COVID-19 infections since March 2020 with various levels of economic restrictions imposed to control the pandemic’s spread. Such actions included intermittent bans on alcoholic beverage sales, which have had a substantial impact on the wine sector. This purpose of this paper is to quantify this impact, using a partial equilibrium simulation model to
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The impact of Covid-19 on black farmers in South Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-09-13 Marc Wegerif
ABSTRACT Covid-19 is impacting on food systems and food security around the world, including in South Africa, revealed most starkly in rising food prices and increasing food insecurity. Debates on what kind of food system we need to respond to this crisis remain unresolved and lacking in a good understanding of the impacts of Covid-19 on farmers who are key actors in food systems. This article contributes
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Productive efficiency and farm size in East Africa Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-08-04
ABSTRACT In this study, we undertake a comparative analysis to re-examine the inverse relationship hypothesis between farm size and land productivity, paying special attention to possible errors in land measurement and the role of technical efficiency (TE). Our primary focus is on the distribution of TE over farm size, so that we may assess the productivity and efficiency relationship with land that
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Changing income portfolios and household welfare in rural Uganda Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-06-17 Moses Kakungulu, Moses Isabirye, Kevin Teopista Akoyi, Kaat Van Hoyweghen, Liesbet Vranken, Miet Maertens
ABSTRACT This paper provides evidence on the heterogeneous welfare implications of rural income portfolios in eastern Uganda. We use household survey data from two-panel rounds, and fixed and random effects estimation and quantile regressions to estimate average and heterogeneous effects. While the literature mostly focuses on either income diversification or participation in non-farm activities, we
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What factors influence smallholder farmers’ decision to select a milk marketing channel in Zambia? Agrekon (IF 1.3) Pub Date : 2021-07-18
ABSTRACT Farmers are faced with computational and informational limitations when making marketing decisions. This holds true for Zambian dairy farmers. This study examined the factors that influence the choice of milk marketing channels among 251 smallholder farmers in Zambia participating in milk production and marketing using a multinomial logit model approach. Three milk marketing channels were