Logistic modelling of smallholder livestock farmers’ adoption of tree-based fodder technology in Zimbabwe

Based on field data collected from 131 small scale dairy farmers that were randomly selected from four agro-ecological zones, this study assessed the potential of adoption of fodder bank technology as a means for improving livestock production and income generation for smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. Using a logit modelling approach, it also identified the drivers of adoption of the technology by analysing the influence of household characteristics and ecological factors on farmers’ decision to adopt the technology. The model correctly predicted 75% of observed adoption and non-adoption by farmers. Results reveal that dairy herd size, land holding size, membership of dairy association and agro-ecological potential are the key factors influencing farmers’ adoption of fodder bank. Age, sex, household size and educational level of farmers play lesser role. Male and female farmers were equally likely to take up and practice fodder bank if they are given equal access to information and incentives. The study recommends farmer-led extension approaches where farmers who possess certain key characteristics should constitute the initial group for disseminating information regarding the technology in rural communities. The results highlight the importance of access to dairy product markets as a driver for the adoption of fodder banks. It is recommended that forging a strategic partnership with the Dairy Development Programme (DDP) will offer high potential for enhancing the scaling up of the adoption and impact of fodder bank technology in the country.Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Labor requirements and profitability of alternative soil fertility replenishment technologies in Zambia

Low soil fertility is a major concern in agricultural productivity and development policy discourse in sub-saharan Africa. The problem is exacerbated by government withdrawal from fertilizer input markets and the inability of private sector operators to fill the gap. This warranted a search for other nutrient sources to supplement chemical fertilizers. Based on field data collected in Zambia, this study assessed the labor inputs implications of “improved tree fallows”, continuous maize cropping with and without mineral fertilizer and, evaluated the financial profitability of the different land use systems. Results show that agroforestry-based land use systems are more profitable (NPV between $233 and$309 per ha) than farmers’ practice of continuous maize production without external fertilization ($130/ha) but, they are less profitable than mineral fertilizer ($499). When the effects of the 50% government subsidy on fertilizers are taken into account, the differences in the profitability of fertilizers over improved tree fallows falls from 61% to 13%. The returns per person labor-day is $3.20 for fertilizer and$2.50, $2.40, and$1.90 respectively, for the three agroforestry options evaluated and only $1.10 for unfertilized maize. These returns compare with a daily agricultural wage of$0.50 in the study area. Key determinants of financial attractiveness and by extension, potential adoptability of the land use systems were identified. Given the low rate (20%) of farmers in Zambia who have access to fertilizers, there is a large niche to integrate other soil nutrient replenishing options with fertilizer to improve food security and reduce poverty among resource-poor smallholder farmers in Africa.Agroforestry, improved tree fallows, financial analysis, Production economics, Southern Africa, Sustainable agriculture, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Tranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding. Methods: We did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124. Findings: Between July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98). Interpretation: We found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial

Environmental Conservation and Food Security in Developing Countries: Bridging the Disconnect

In many developing countries, environmental issues are often sacrificed for immediate food production requirements because of perceived tradeoff between two. Some production systems exist however that offers opportunities for achieving the two seemingly divergent objectives because they have the characteristics to produce joint outputs; food production and environmental conservation, but their adoption in farming communities is socially sub-optimal despite proven technological success. Using natural resource economics framework, this study highlights the reasons for the low adoption of such technologies taking Agroforestry technologies as a case study and, uses externality theory to provide environmental economic logic for developing incentives to internalize environmental services "produced" to enhance their adoption and unlock their potential to satisfy both food production and delivery of environmental services for the benefit of the wider public. Taking Agroforestry as a case study, this paper examines environmental conservation through sustainable agriculture development lens and, concludes by outlining strategies for achieving this, taking cognizance of the socio-economic context of farmers in low income countries

Logistic modelling of smallholder livestock farmers’ adoption of tree-based fodder technology in Zimbabwe

Based on field data collected from 131 small scale dairy farmers that were randomly selected from four agro-ecological zones, this study assessed the potential of adoption of fodder bank technology as a means for improving livestock production and income generation for smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. Using a logit modelling approach, it also identified the drivers of adoption of the technology by analysing the influence of household characteristics and ecological factors on farmers’ decision to adopt the technology. The model correctly predicted 75% of observed adoption and non-adoption by farmers. Results reveal that dairy herd size, land holding size, membership of dairy association and agro-ecological potential are the key factors influencing farmers’ adoption of fodder bank. Age, sex, household size and educational level of farmers play lesser role. Male and female farmers were equally likely to take up and practice fodder bank if they are given equal access to information and incentives. The study recommends farmer-led extension approaches where farmers who possess certain key characteristics should constitute the initial group for disseminating information regarding the technology in rural communities. The results highlight the importance of access to dairy product markets as a driver for the adoption of fodder banks. It is recommended that forging a strategic partnership with the Dairy Development Programme (DDP) will offer high potential for enhancing the scaling up of the adoption and impact of fodder bank technology in the country

Environmental Conservation and Food Security in Developing Countries: Bridging the Disconnect

In many developing countries, environmental issues are often sacrificed for immediate food production requirements because of perceived tradeoff between two. Some production systems exist however that offers opportunities for achieving the two seemingly divergent objectives because they have the characteristics to produce joint outputs; food production and environmental conservation, but their adoption in farming communities is socially sub-optimal despite proven technological success. Using natural resource economics framework, this study highlights the reasons for the low adoption of such technologies taking Agroforestry technologies as a case study and, uses externality theory to provide environmental economic logic for developing incentives to internalize environmental services "produced" to enhance their adoption and unlock their potential to satisfy both food production and delivery of environmental services for the benefit of the wider public. Taking Agroforestry as a case study, this paper examines environmental conservation through sustainable agriculture development lens and, concludes by outlining strategies for achieving this, taking cognizance of the socio-economic context of farmers in low income countries.Externalities, Agricultural Policy, Agricultural technology, Sustainability, Ecosystem services, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty,

Labor requirements and profitability of alternative soil fertility replenishment technologies in Zambia

Low soil fertility is a major concern in agricultural productivity and development policy discourse in sub-saharan Africa. The problem is exacerbated by government withdrawal from fertilizer input markets and the inability of private sector operators to fill the gap. This warranted a search for other nutrient sources to supplement chemical fertilizers. Based on field data collected in Zambia, this study assessed the labor inputs implications of “improved tree fallows”, continuous maize cropping with and without mineral fertilizer and, evaluated the financial profitability of the different land use systems. Results show that agroforestry-based land use systems are more profitable (NPV between $233 and$309 per ha) than farmers’ practice of continuous maize production without external fertilization ($130/ha) but, they are less profitable than mineral fertilizer ($499). When the effects of the 50% government subsidy on fertilizers are taken into account, the differences in the profitability of fertilizers over improved tree fallows falls from 61% to 13%. The returns per person labor-day is $3.20 for fertilizer and$2.50, $2.40, and$1.90 respectively, for the three agroforestry options evaluated and only $1.10 for unfertilized maize. These returns compare with a daily agricultural wage of$0.50 in the study area. Key determinants of financial attractiveness and by extension, potential adoptability of the land use systems were identified. Given the low rate (20%) of farmers in Zambia who have access to fertilizers, there is a large niche to integrate other soil nutrient replenishing options with fertilizer to improve food security and reduce poverty among resource-poor smallholder farmers in Africa

Labour inputs and financial profitability of conventional and agroforestry-based soil fertility management practices in Zambia

Several agro-ecological practices have been developed to increase the range of soil fertility management options available to farmers, but little information is available on their labour input requirement and profitability relative to conventional practices. This study used a multiple visit cost-route method to estimate labour inputs and financial profitability of agroforestry-based and conventional (with and without fertiliser) soil fertility management practices in eastern Zambia. Results show that aggregated over a five-year cycle, labour inputs used under agroforestry practices were lower than fertilised maize fields but higher than non-fertilised continuous cropped maize. Agroforestry practices were more profitable (NPV ranging between $233 and$327 ha-1) than unfertilised maize fields (NPV of $130 ha-1) but less profitable than fertilised maize fields. The NPV for the latter is$499 ha-1 under a 50% government subsidy on fertiliser but, it fell to $349 ha-1 when the subsidy effect is removed. In terms of return per unit investment cost, agroforestry practices performed better with a benefit to cost ratio ranging between 2.77 to 3.13 in contrast to 2.65 (subsidised fertiliser) and 1.77 (non-subsidised fertiliser). The returns to labour per person day was$2.56 in (non-subsidised) fertilised maize field, $3.16 in subsidised fertiliser field,$2.63 in Gliricidia fields, $2.41 in Sesbania fields,$1.90 in Tephrosia fields, and $1.10 in non-fertilised maize fields. The results do not support the popular notion that agroforestry practices are more labour intensive. It suggests that in addition to total labour use requirements, the temporal distribution of labour use during the farming season is important. It is concluded that agroforestry practices are profitable, and could contribute to food security

Improved Fallows in Eastern Zambia: History, Farmer Practice and Impacts

The decline in soil fertility in smallholder systems is a major factor inhibiting equitable development in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Some areas fallow in order to strength soil fertility for later planting, but as populations increase, demand follows. and continuous cropping becomes the norm and there is a reduction in yields. This case study summarizes the development of improved tree fallows by researchers and farmers in eastern Zambia to help solve the problem of poor soil fertility. Many farmers are finding that by using improved fallows, they can substitute relatively small amounts of land and labor for cash, which they would need to buy mineral fertilizer. The study has three phases: the historical background (phase 1); an assessment of problems, description of the technology, and how it was developed (phase 2); and how the improved fallows practices were disseminated and spread (phase 3). This paper will describe each phase, the goals, and results

Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT): an international randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

BackgroundTranexamic acid reduces surgical bleeding and reduces death due to bleeding in patients with trauma. Meta-analyses of small trials show that tranexamic acid might decrease deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to assess the effects of tranexamic acid in patients with gastrointestinal bleeding.MethodsWe did an international, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 164 hospitals in 15 countries. Patients were enrolled if the responsible clinician was uncertain whether to use tranexamic acid, were aged above the minimum age considered an adult in their country (either aged 16 years and older or aged 18 years and older), and had significant (defined as at risk of bleeding to death) upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Patients were randomly assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients received either a loading dose of 1 g tranexamic acid, which was added to 100 mL infusion bag of 0·9% sodium chloride and infused by slow intravenous injection over 10 min, followed by a maintenance dose of 3 g tranexamic acid added to 1 L of any isotonic intravenous solution and infused at 125 mg/h for 24 h, or placebo (sodium chloride 0·9%). Patients, caregivers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. The primary outcome was death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation; analysis excluded patients who received neither dose of the allocated treatment and those for whom outcome data on death were unavailable. This trial was registered with Current Controlled Trials, ISRCTN11225767, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01658124.FindingsBetween July 4, 2013, and June 21, 2019, we randomly allocated 12 009 patients to receive tranexamic acid (5994, 49·9%) or matching placebo (6015, 50·1%), of whom 11 952 (99·5%) received the first dose of the allocated treatment. Death due to bleeding within 5 days of randomisation occurred in 222 (4%) of 5956 patients in the tranexamic acid group and in 226 (4%) of 5981 patients in the placebo group (risk ratio [RR] 0·99, 95% CI 0·82–1·18). Arterial thromboembolic events (myocardial infarction or stroke) were similar in the tranexamic acid group and placebo group (42 [0·7%] of 5952 vs 46 [0·8%] of 5977; 0·92; 0·60 to 1·39). Venous thromboembolic events (deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism) were higher in tranexamic acid group than in the placebo group (48 [0·8%] of 5952 vs 26 [0·4%] of 5977; RR 1·85; 95% CI 1·15 to 2·98).InterpretationWe found that tranexamic acid did not reduce death from gastrointestinal bleeding. On the basis of our results, tranexamic acid should not be used for the treatment of gastrointestinal bleeding outside the context of a randomised trial.</div