Gender and innovation processes in maize-based systems

This MAIZE report offers a panorama of the gender dimensions of local agricultural innovation processes in the context of maize-based farming systems and livelihoods

Faculty Impact Statements, 2010

Each issue [in the Research Series] has a distinctive titl

Reducing the carbon footprint of red meat

ThesisDoctoral thesisThe contribution of ruminant agriculture towards climate change is significant and responsible for approximately 14.5% of anthropogenic global greenhouse gas emissions. The reduction of sectorial emissions is dependent on farmer decision-making at a multitude of scales, which comprise of the field scale, the farm, farmer typologies (farm scale with focus on farmers), and the community-scale. This conceptual framework provides the basis for the research carried out in this PhD. The first research chapter builds upon previous work carried out by Bangor University where farmers deemed the most practical mitigation measure they could adopt on their farming enterprises was the planting of leguminous crops. The research in this thesis demonstrated that grass-clover systems offered the same yield as grass swards receiving conventional amounts of nitrogen fertiliser. However, nitrous oxide emissions from the grass-clover sward were significantly lower. My second research chapter moves onto the farm scale and investigates the carbon footprint (CF) from 15 farming enterprises over two timescales. Considerable reductions in the CF of beef and lamb were demonstrated if efficiencies were increased to match those of the least-emitting producers. On-farm decisions are motivated by personal interests and goals. Hence, the third research chapter identifies distinct types of farmers based on perceptions of climate change. Four farmer types were identified which can aid the dissemination of climate change information and consequently increase the adoption of climate change measures. The final chapter evaluates social capital and collaboration amongst farmers at the community scale; such interactions can serve to facilitate mitigation and adaptation. Although overall collaboration was low, there was considerable latent social capital which can be used to further encourage collective action. The work carried out in this thesis can help reduce the livestock sector’s greenhouse gas emissions across numerous scales; thereby helping the industry meet its emission targets

The Social Sustainability of Digital Information Services in Sub-Saharan Africa

Nowadays, mobile phone-enabled services are reaching the rural poor farmer in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with digital information for agricultural development. These digital services consist of access to social networks and customised information that are expected to enhance farm management due to knowledge exchange and learning. This thesis aimed to analyse the farmers’ use of digital services and discuss its implications for social sustainability in agriculture by looking at how digital information merges, coexists or competes with other bodies of local knowledge. The analysis was based on participant observation with eleven farmers that use iShamba, a digital platform providing agricultural information services to smallholder farmers in rural Kenya. A social practice perspective implies that digital information must consider the contextual realities of farmers in terms of material, competence and meaning. Considering that access to inputs is constrained in the context of the study, this thesis suggests that digital services could contribute to social sustainability by promoting biological-based innovations that are locally applicable in terms of the materials available to farmers. Moreover, digital services could complement their service with field advisory visits or training courses, where the role of human intermediation appeared to be fundamental. Social sustainability in agriculture is that associated with the generation of knowledge and meaning that legitimises a particular model of agricultural development. This thesis found that digital services increase the diversity of knowledge by offering several options to farmers which contributes to social sustainability in agriculture. However, digital services do not encourage innovation, directing research toward attending to the demands of poor rural farmers but rather provide farmers with the available innovations. Additionally, a key point is the potential of digital services to co-construct the meaning associated with agricultural development. But since digital information integrates diverse trajectories of agricultural development, social sustainability requires that the institutional arrangement promote and support models of sustainable agriculture at the landscape leve

Exploring Perceptions of the Potential of Agricultural Insurance for Crop Risks Management Among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana

Smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana are exposed to multiple agricultural risks, which require various adaptation strategies to address. However, these strategies are only partially effective. Agricultural insurance has been promoted to assist smallholders in low-income countries to manage their key agricultural risks. The Ghanaian government and its collaborating partners introduced three agricultural insurance programs (AIPs) since 2009. In countries other than Ghana, some post-piloting evaluations of AIPs have revealed mixed outcomes, with some schemes resulting in unintended socio-ecological and maladaptive consequences. Despite these concerns, no study has explored the potential of agricultural insurance for smallholders’ crop risks management in Ghana. Thus, this research was undertaken to address this gap. It also investigates stakeholders’ perspectives of the potential of AIPs in promoting sustainable farming agricultural practices and climate change mitigation. I employed a convergent research design to address these issues using stratified, purposeful, and random sampling. Focus groups, informant interviews, and questionnaires were utilized to solicit responses. The resultant data and themes were analyzed using SPSS and Excel. This research revealed that agricultural risks, including those related and unrelated to weather and climate—have been adversely affecting smallholders, and have been addressed by farmers through food rationing, out-migration, and technology-based adaptation strategies. Some reported benefits of AIPs were the motivations to increase crop production, farm investments, and financial protection. This study provides scholarly, practical, regulatory, and policy-focused insight into agricultural insurance growth. My findings indicate that further attention and research are needed to building awareness about AIPs, the design of farmer-sensitive contracts, and their subsidization by government. I recommend future research focus on addressing issues of upstream and downstream agro-risks management and on replicating this study in other geographical locations where smallholder farmers struggle to survive

Exploring Perceptions of the Potential of Agricultural Insurance for Crop Risks Management Among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana

Smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana are exposed to multiple agricultural risks, which require various adaptation strategies to address. However, these strategies are only partially effective. Agricultural insurance has been promoted to assist smallholders in low-income countries to manage their key agricultural risks. The Ghanaian government and its collaborating partners introduced three agricultural insurance programs (AIPs) since 2009. In countries other than Ghana, some post-piloting evaluations of AIPs have revealed mixed outcomes, with some schemes resulting in unintended socio-ecological and maladaptive consequences. Despite these concerns, no study has explored the potential of agricultural insurance for smallholders’ crop risks management in Ghana. Thus, this research was undertaken to address this gap. It also investigates stakeholders’ perspectives of the potential of AIPs in promoting sustainable farming agricultural practices and climate change mitigation. I employed a convergent research design to address these issues using stratified, purposeful, and random sampling. Focus groups, informant interviews, and questionnaires were utilized to solicit responses. The resultant data and themes were analyzed using SPSS and Excel. This research revealed that agricultural risks, including those related and unrelated to weather and climate—have been adversely affecting smallholders, and have been addressed by farmers through food rationing, out-migration, and technology-based adaptation strategies. Some reported benefits of AIPs were the motivations to increase crop production, farm investments, and financial protection. This study provides scholarly, practical, regulatory, and policy-focused insight into agricultural insurance growth. My findings indicate that further attention and research are needed to building awareness about AIPs, the design of farmer-sensitive contracts, and their subsidization by government. I recommend future research focus on addressing issues of upstream and downstream agro-risks management and on replicating this study in other geographical locations where smallholder farmers struggle to survive

Gender and innovation processes in wheat-based systems

This WHEAT report is based on 43 village case studies from eight countries set in diverse wheat-based farming regions of the Global South

An investigation into the feasibility and potential benefits of integrating microalgae culture with livestock farming in Nigeria

Nigeria continues to struggle to meet the demand for animal sourced protein despite its sizeable livestock population. In fact, the average daily intake of 0.75 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for developing countries, is met by only 31% of the nation’s population. The high-priced and poor quality of the feeds currently available in Nigeria causes high animal mortalities, stimulates low productivity and as a result, produces a low rate of return on investment. An efficient animal cum feed production system is therefore vital to the sustainability of viable livestock and aquaculture production enterprises in Nigeria. The purpose of this interdisciplinary research was to determine the status of animal feeds in Nigeria, and to investigate the country’s livestock farmers ability to adopt animal cum microalgae farming as a potential solution to the low-quality feed materials challenges. Survey of the existing livestock and aquaculture market in Nigeria was undertaken to capture farmer’s expectations, preferences, and aversions with regards to feeds and feed materials. It was found that animal farmers in Nigeria fed livestock and fingerlings (in aquaculture) with imported commercial feed brands at the beginning of the farming cycle and then switch to local brands or on-farm formulation to save on cost. Farmers' are also in desperate need for affordable protein and lipids rich feed materials to supplement and/or balance the readily available low nutrient feed materials. It was also found that sufficient credit and/or loan facilities are not made available to livestock farmers in Nigeria and thus, there is the need for better access to credit facilities through non-private government sources. Finally, the results of the market survey indicate that despite their willingness to undertake trainings and other learning programmes, animal farmers are lacking in basic education and thus limited in their ability to adopt innovative farming practices and technologies such as microalgae culture. The aforementioned findings offer the voice of the customer and defines the farmer’s needs with regards to feeds and feed materials in Nigeria. These were key inputs for setting up the appropriate process and design specifications for the case study analysis of an open pond microalgae farm. A conceptual framework based on the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) model was developed as a roadmap for the process improvement case study analysis. The case study analysis focuses on both the potential causes of failure and process capability (in terms of repeatability, reproducibility and/or transferability) with regards to human capability/manpower. It was found that the sun drying process of the microalgae biomass is the only “off-centred” process that exhibits special causes of variation due its reliance on the weather. The study also found that microalgae culture contamination rate is higher during the scaling-up process of the inoculate from the mother culture to higher concentration in the ponds. In addition, it was found that the cultivation medium composition can be diluted up to five times (depending on the type of water supply used) the prescribed Zarrouk’s medium requirement, which could reduce the cost of nutrients. The study concludes that adequately funded training programmes and a shift of the animal industry focus from imported overpriced commercial feed products to an animal cum microalgae (plant) culture systems integration could off-set the current cost of feedstuff in Nigeria. This is particularly true for protein source feed materials like fishmeal. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the existing feed market in Nigeria and the opportunities and challenges for the implementation of microalgae cultivation systems