MIGRANT FARM WORKERS ON VIRGINIA'S EASTERN SHORE: AN ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS

The economic impact of migrant farmworkers on an agriculture-dependent region is investigated. The direct effects of inflows of state and federal dollars for migrant services, and production of high-valued commodities are computed. Indirect and induced effects are modelled through the use of the IMPLAN input output model. Various alternatives to migrant labor are investigated, including production of less labor-intensive crops, acreage retirement, and contract H2A workers. Migrants are found to create substantial economic activity on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.Economic impact, Input-output, Migrant labor, Labor and Human Capital,

Pathways from research on improved staple crop germplasm to poverty reduction for smallholder farmers

Innovations to improve staple crop germplasm can reduce poverty and otherwise improve farmer livelihoods through complex and multiple pathways. This paper reviews the evidence for one prominent pathway—through increased incomes (in cash and kind) for poor farmers who adopt the technology. An important determinant of poverty reduction is the ability of poor producers to adopt productivity-enhancing varieties, and the paper analyzes recent household-level data from two African countries to examine if poor producers face unique barriers to adoption. A second determinant of poverty reduction is the area available to plant these varieties and whether the intensity of adoption is great enough to significantly reduce poverty. The paper uses a double-hurdle estimation framework to model the adoption/area planted joint decision for maize farmers in Ethiopia and sweet potato farmers in Uganda. The focus of the analysis is the effect of poverty-related variables on adoption/area planted decisions. Farmer wealth, landholding, education, location, and access to support and information services are included to understand how correlates of poverty affect adoption decisions. We find evidence that landholding size is an important barrier to poverty reduction; poor farmers are able to adopt improved varieties, but their intensity is constrained by land availability. In Uganda, farmers at the 95th percentile of adoption area received about $0.13 per person per day from the incremental yield, covering < 50% of the mean household poverty gap. This gain only comes under optimistic assumptions and most adopters do not have sufficient area for the direct income effect to be large. The evidence suggests that direct, short-term impacts of increased productivity to increased income may be limited in magnitude. Nonetheless, we recognize that other, less direct pathways may be important, particularly over longer times. Impacts through indirect pathways are, however, more difficult to measure. This has implications for the design of M&E and the crafting of appropriate targets for outcomes of research on staple crops which should focus perhaps on the other pathways where poverty reduction is more probable

Land ownership and technology adoption revisited: improved maize varieties in Ethiopia

The lack of land ownership can discourage agricultural technology adoption, yet there is scarce evidence of the impact of land rental contracts on the adoption of improved crop varieties in developing countries. The current study investigates such impact using a nationally representative survey of Ethiopian maize farmers. In contrast to many previous studies, we show in a simple model that cash-renters are as likely to adopt improved maize varieties as owner-operators, while sharecroppers are more likely to adopt given that such varieties are profitable. Empirical analysis reveals a significant impact of sharecropping on improved maize variety adoption, and no significant impact from cash-rental, lending support to the above hypotheses. These results imply that improvements in land rental markets can potentially enhance household welfare through crop variety adoption in agrarian economies where land sales markets are incomplete or missing.Di Zeng, Jeffrey Alwang, George Norton, Moti Jaleta, Bekele Shiferaw, Chilot Yirg

Economic feasibility of an augmentative biological control industry in Niger

Farmers in Niger are vulnerable to high millet yield losses due to the millet head miner, Heliocheilus albipunctella De Joannis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), for which pest control options are limited. Researchers have developed a procedure to multiply and spread an augmentative biological control agent Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) which is effective in limiting millet yield losses due to the pest. This study assesses the economic viability of small businesses to produce and sell biological control agents. It analyzes the profitability of the businesses under alternative pricing regimes given estimated costs to produce and distribute biological control agents. The economic assessment provides budget analysis for potential businesses and discusses options for scaling, price setting, and organizing. Our study suggests that the small H. hebetor industry should turn a profit in Niger at relatively low prices for the biological control agents of $3.00-$4.00 per bag with 15 bags needed per village. Competitive wages are achievable for the businesses that sell to at least 13 villages. Each business would hire three workers from late May to late August. Commercialization of H. hebetor would generate opportunities for wide geographic distribution of the technology on a sustainable basis in Niger

Vulnerability, equity and universal coverage – a concept note

Daniel Reidpath - ORCID: 0000-0002-8796-0420 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8796-0420https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-S1-S212pubpubS

Varietal Adoption, Outcomes and Impact

Parallel to the preceding chapter, we synthesize the results of Chapters 6–17 here. The focus is on outcomes and impacts. Outcomes centre on varietal adoption and turnover; impacts refer to changes in on-farm productivity, poverty and food security. Hypotheses from Chapter 3 are revisited at the end of each thematic section..

Chronic and structural poverty in South Africa: Challenges for action and research

Ten years after liberation, the persistence of poverty is one of the most important and urgent problems facing South Africa. This paper reflects on some of the findings based on research undertaken as part of the participation of the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) at the University of the Western Cape in the work of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), situates it within the broader literature on poverty in South Africa, and considers some emergent challenges. Although PLAAS’s survey, being only the first wave of a panel study, does not yet cast light on short term poverty dynamics, it illuminates key aspects of the structural conditions that underpin long-term poverty: the close interactions between asset poverty, employment-vulnerability and subjection to unequal social power relations. Coming to grips with these dynamics requires going beyond the limitations of conventional ‘sustainable livelihoods’ analyses; and functionalist analyses of South African labour markets. The paper argues for a re-engagement with the traditions of critical sociology, anthropology and the theoretical conventions that allow a closer exploration of the political economy of chronic poverty at micro and macro level