Post-harvest practices and technology adoption in developing countries

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsBenjamin B. SchwabStudy 1: Loss Aversion and Improved Storage Technology Adoption: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Ghana. Farmers in developing countries commonly sell the majority of their grain immediately after harvest, when prices are lowest. Improvements in technologies that reduce post-harvest losses (PHL) could potentially increase farm incomes by offering a more attractive means for farmers to save their output and sell at higher prices later in the season. This study examines how loss aversion affects the demand for one such technology, hermetically sealed bags, in a maize-growing region in Ghana’s Transition zone. Ignoring marketing decisions, loss aversion could potentially increase the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved storage technology because loss averse farmers may strongly desire to decrease grain losses. However, the possibility of selling one’s stock as a grain-loss averting strategy may flip the relationship between loss aversion and storage demand. If highly loss-averse individuals compensate for potential grain losses by immediate sales, improved storage technologies may not provide additional benefits. Using a Becker-Degroot-Marschak (BDM) auction for 386 farmers, the study finds support for the latter. Loss aversion is negatively related to WTP for hermetic bags, and this relationship is entirely driven by farmers whose grains sales occur soon after harvest. Nevertheless, despite limited previous experience with the bags and little access, a majority of farmers value hermetic storage bags at levels at or above market price prevailing in other parts of Ghana.   Study 2: Perceptions of Food Safety Risk, Post-harvest Practices and Intertemporal Staple Crop Allocation: Evidence from Maize in Nepal. Improving food safety is essential for improving food security: i.e. access to sufficient and healthy food. Unsafe food contains hazardous agents or contaminants (e.g. mycotoxins) that can increase people’s risk of chronic diseases; and may have considerable economic implications for developing-country markets due to losses for rejected marketable surpluses and lower prices for inferior quality crops. This study addresses two research questions: Do perceptions of food safety risk alter intertemporal allocation of staple crops? If so, is the change in the intertemporal allocation through the better post-harvest practices? Using a two-round panel data of 320 maize farmers in Nepal, this study finds that farm households who perceive themselves to have better awareness of food safety risks tend to store produced maize longer than the other households. However, there are no statistical differences in post-harvest practices between the households with higher perceived-awareness and the others. The findings imply that providing farmers with food safety information may enhance storage behavior for optimal intertemporal maize allocation. This requires strengthening the research-extension link to provide agricultural extension officers and farmers information on better post-harvest management and the provision of feedback for improved future research

Can food safety shortfalls disrupt nutritional gains from increased animal-source food consumption? Evidence from Eid al-Adha

The international health community has recently increased the focus on raising the consumption of animal-source foods in developing countries. While much of the literature has highlighted the high nutritional potential of such foods, little attention has been paid to infrastructure deficiencies for handling and processing animal-sourced foods, particularly meat. Such shortfalls in food safety have the potential to counteract some health gains, especially if renewed international efforts to increase animal consumption are not combined with improved processing capacity. The spike in meat consumption among Muslims worldwide on Eid al-Adha provides a natural experiment to test the extent to which such food safety concerns are justified. Meat processing on this holiday often exceeds the capacity of formal slaughter and processing infrastructure, and thus provides an excellent opportunity to observe the implications of a rapid intensification of meat production and consumption across several countries. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from nine countries in Africa and Asia, we estimate the impact of meat consumption during this holiday on the incidence of diarrheal illness among children. Eid al-Adha provides a plausibly exogenous source of variation in meat consumption among Muslims, a natural comparison group (Non-Muslims) and independence from seasonal influences (the holiday follows the lunar Islamic calendar). We find that Eid al-Adha increases the incidence of diarrhea in Muslim children, relative to non-Muslims, by approximately 20 percent. These findings lend suggest food safety issues should be an important consideration for livestock intensification programs

Ecological shocks and children’s school attendance and farm work in Ghana

Accelerating the education of children and reducing child labor in agriculture remains an important development pathway to preventing intergenerational poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals. While several studies have analyzed the impact of ecological stressors on yield, income, and food security, there is limited understanding of the linkages of prevailing ecological shocks to child education and farm work. In this paper, we examine the effect of ecological shocks of pest and weed invasion on children’s school attendance and working hours on the farm using the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS). We employ a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model that corrects for selection bias and endogeneity originating from both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. The results show that double shocks (pests and weeds) reduced the number of children attending school by 11% and increased children’s on-farm working hours by 0.75 h. Comparatively, the decline in the number of children attending school due to weed invasion (0.88) is higher than the decline due to pest invasion (0.43). Furthermore, weed invasion increases children’s on-farm working hours by 0.05 h while pest invasion reduces children’s on-farm working hours by 0.08 h. Increasing access to improved agricultural technologies bundled with credit and policies are critical to reducing the threats from ecological shocks and improving farmers’ welfare. To avert the decline in school attendance and children’s working hours requires training farmers to reduce the practice of continuous cropping and to embrace crop rotation and fallow to reduce the spread of pests and weeds

What influences farmers’ choice of indigenous adaptation strategies for agrobiodiversity loss in Northern Ghana?

Heavy dependence on the natural environment for agricultural production in northern Ghana adversely affects the availability of agrobiodiversity and in turn household livelihoods. Farmers have over the years developed strategies for adapting to reduction in agrobiodiversity but the extent of adoption varies among farmers. This study used the multinomial logit model to determine the factors influencing farmers’ choice of indigenous adaptation strategies in response to agrobiodiversity loss in northern Ghana. The analysis is based on a sample of 310 farmers drawn from 31 communities in northern Ghana. The factors that positively influence the choice include household head’s sex, farming experience, radio ownership, household size, borrowing credit and awareness of reduction in crop diversity. On the other hand, age, education, farm size, awareness of climate change, farm cash income and existence of market in community, negatively influence choice of strategies. Furthermore, farmer to farmer extension and off-farm income influence adoption either positively or negatively with respect to the adoption option in question. Thus, to encourage adaptation and conservation mechanisms, policies should strengthen farmer based organizations and promote education on the sustainable use of the natural environment. Government policies must also enhance access to offfarm income generating activities

Factors associated with phosphatidylethanol (PEth) sensitivity for detecting unhealthy alcohol use: An individual patient data meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Objective measurement of alcohol consumption is important for clinical care and research. Adjusting for self-reported alcohol use, we conducted an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to examine factors associated with the sensitivity of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an alcohol metabolite, among persons self-reporting unhealthy alcohol consumption. METHODS: We identified 21 eligible studies and obtained 4073 observations from 3085 participants with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) positive scores (≥3 for women and ≥4 for men) and PEth measurements. We conducted 1-step IPD meta-analysis using mixed effects models with random intercepts for study site. We examined the associations between demographic (sex, race/ethnicity, and age) and biologic (body mass index-BMI, hemoglobin, HIV status, liver fibrosis, and venous versus finger-prick blood collection) variables with PEth sensitivity (PEth≥8 ng/ml), adjusting for the level of self-reported alcohol use using the AUDIT-C score. RESULTS: One third (31%) of participants were women, 32% were African, 28% African American, 28% White, and 12% other race/ethnicity. PEth sensitivity (i.e., ≥8 ng/ml) was 81.8%. After adjusting for AUDIT-C, we found no associations of sex, age, race/ethnicity, or method of blood collection with PEth sensitivity. In models that additionally included biologic variables, those with higher hemoglobin and indeterminate and advanced liver fibrosis had significantly higher odds of PEth sensitivity; those with higher BMI and those living with HIV had significantly lower odds of PEth sensitivity. African Americans and Africans had higher odds of PEth sensitivity than whites in models that included biologic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Among people reporting unhealthy alcohol use, several biological factors (hemoglobin, BMI, liver fibrosis, and HIV status) were associated with PEth sensitivity. Race/ethnicity was associated with PEth sensitivity in some models but age, sex, and method of blood collection were not. Clinicians should be aware of these factors, and researchers should consider adjusting analyses for these characteristics where possible

Factors associated with phosphatidylethanol (PEth) sensitivity for detecting unhealthy alcohol use: An individual patient data meta-analysis.

BackgroundObjective measurement of alcohol consumption is important for clinical care and research. Adjusting for self-reported alcohol use, we conducted an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to examine factors associated with the sensitivity of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an alcohol metabolite, among persons self-reporting unhealthy alcohol consumption.MethodsWe identified 21 eligible studies and obtained 4073 observations from 3085 participants with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) positive scores (≥3 for women and ≥4 for men) and PEth measurements. We conducted 1-step IPD meta-analysis using mixed effects models with random intercepts for study site. We examined the associations between demographic (sex, race/ethnicity, and age) and biologic (body mass index-BMI, hemoglobin, HIV status, liver fibrosis, and venous versus finger-prick blood collection) variables with PEth sensitivity (PEth≥8 ng/ml), adjusting for the level of self-reported alcohol use using the AUDIT-C score.ResultsOne third (31%) of participants were women, 32% were African, 28% African American, 28% White, and 12% other race/ethnicity. PEth sensitivity (i.e., ≥8 ng/ml) was 81.8%. After adjusting for AUDIT-C, we found no associations of sex, age, race/ethnicity, or method of blood collection with PEth sensitivity. In models that additionally included biologic variables, those with higher hemoglobin and indeterminate and advanced liver fibrosis had significantly higher odds of PEth sensitivity; those with higher BMI and those living with HIV had significantly lower odds of PEth sensitivity. African Americans and Africans had higher odds of PEth sensitivity than whites in models that included biologic variables.ConclusionsAmong people reporting unhealthy alcohol use, several biological factors (hemoglobin, BMI, liver fibrosis, and HIV status) were associated with PEth sensitivity. Race/ethnicity was associated with PEth sensitivity in some models but age, sex, and method of blood collection were not. Clinicians should be aware of these factors, and researchers should consider adjusting analyses for these characteristics where possible

Factors associated with phosphatidylethanol (PEth) sensitivity for detecting unhealthy alcohol use: An individual patient data meta-analysis.

BackgroundObjective measurement of alcohol consumption is important for clinical care and research. Adjusting for self-reported alcohol use, we conducted an individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis to examine factors associated with the sensitivity of phosphatidylethanol (PEth), an alcohol metabolite, among persons self-reporting unhealthy alcohol consumption.MethodsWe identified 21 eligible studies and obtained 4073 observations from 3085 participants with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) positive scores (≥3 for women and ≥4 for men) and PEth measurements. We conducted 1-step IPD meta-analysis using mixed effects models with random intercepts for study site. We examined the associations between demographic (sex, race/ethnicity, and age) and biologic (body mass index-BMI, hemoglobin, HIV status, liver fibrosis, and venous versus finger-prick blood collection) variables with PEth sensitivity (PEth≥8 ng/ml), adjusting for the level of self-reported alcohol use using the AUDIT-C score.ResultsOne third (31%) of participants were women, 32% were African, 28% African American, 28% White, and 12% other race/ethnicity. PEth sensitivity (i.e., ≥8 ng/ml) was 81.8%. After adjusting for AUDIT-C, we found no associations of sex, age, race/ethnicity, or method of blood collection with PEth sensitivity. In models that additionally included biologic variables, those with higher hemoglobin and indeterminate and advanced liver fibrosis had significantly higher odds of PEth sensitivity; those with higher BMI and those living with HIV had significantly lower odds of PEth sensitivity. African Americans and Africans had higher odds of PEth sensitivity than whites in models that included biologic variables.ConclusionsAmong people reporting unhealthy alcohol use, several biological factors (hemoglobin, BMI, liver fibrosis, and HIV status) were associated with PEth sensitivity. Race/ethnicity was associated with PEth sensitivity in some models but age, sex, and method of blood collection were not. Clinicians should be aware of these factors, and researchers should consider adjusting analyses for these characteristics where possible

Adaptation of the Wound Healing Questionnaire universal-reporter outcome measure for use in global surgery trials (TALON-1 study): mixed-methods study and Rasch analysis

BackgroundThe Bluebelle Wound Healing Questionnaire (WHQ) is a universal-reporter outcome measure developed in the UK for remote detection of surgical-site infection after abdominal surgery. This study aimed to explore cross-cultural equivalence, acceptability, and content validity of the WHQ for use across low- and middle-income countries, and to make recommendations for its adaptation.MethodsThis was a mixed-methods study within a trial (SWAT) embedded in an international randomized trial, conducted according to best practice guidelines, and co-produced with community and patient partners (TALON-1). Structured interviews and focus groups were used to gather data regarding cross-cultural, cross-contextual equivalence of the individual items and scale, and conduct a translatability assessment. Translation was completed into five languages in accordance with Mapi recommendations. Next, data from a prospective cohort (SWAT) were interpreted using Rasch analysis to explore scaling and measurement properties of the WHQ. Finally, qualitative and quantitative data were triangulated using a modified, exploratory, instrumental design model.ResultsIn the qualitative phase, 10 structured interviews and six focus groups took place with a total of 47 investigators across six countries. Themes related to comprehension, response mapping, retrieval, and judgement were identified with rich cross-cultural insights. In the quantitative phase, an exploratory Rasch model was fitted to data from 537 patients (369 excluding extremes). Owing to the number of extreme (floor) values, the overall level of power was low. The single WHQ scale satisfied tests of unidimensionality, indicating validity of the ordinal total WHQ score. There was significant overall model misfit of five items (5, 9, 14, 15, 16) and local dependency in 11 item pairs. The person separation index was estimated as 0.48 suggesting weak discrimination between classes, whereas Cronbach's α was high at 0.86. Triangulation of qualitative data with the Rasch analysis supported recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ items 1 (redness), 3 (clear fluid), 7 (deep wound opening), 10 (pain), 11 (fever), 15 (antibiotics), 16 (debridement), 18 (drainage), and 19 (reoperation). Changes to three item response categories (1, not at all; 2, a little; 3, a lot) were adopted for symptom items 1 to 10, and two categories (0, no; 1, yes) for item 11 (fever).ConclusionThis study made recommendations for cross-cultural adaptation of the WHQ for use in global surgical research and practice, using co-produced mixed-methods data from three continents. Translations are now available for implementation into remote wound assessment pathways