Review of the Literature on the Economics of Central Anaerobic Digesters

Minnesota can improve the utilization of manure and organic wastes via the production of biogas that can be used to produce heat and electricity. Denmark serves as a role model for Minnesota in the number of central anaerobic digesters that it supports. During anaerobic digestion methane is produced when naturally occurring anaerobic bacteria decompose organic matter in the absence of oxygen. This process produces what is called biogas, which usually is a mixture of 55 – 65 percent methane plus carbon dioxide with trace gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Co-generation using manure and other feedstocks can produce more energy than manure alone. Central digesters are more likely to process wastes from food processing plants and other sources resulting in the need for more specialized unloading facilities and larger storage spaces. Digesters can be owned by farmers or consumers cooperatives, third party/non-farming investor(s), state or municipal government, or established as a cooperative or limited liability corporation. Problems associated with centralized digester operation include capital constraints, low profitability, lower-than-expected waste availability, electricity connection and pricing, and waste disposal constraints.Livestock Production/Industries, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Assessing factors influencing adolescents' dietary behaviours in urban Ethiopia using participatory photography.

OBJECTIVE: To assess factors influencing dietary behaviours of adolescents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. DESIGN: Using the qualitative participatory method Photovoice, participants received training on the basics of Photovoice and took photographs related to (un)healthy eating in their environment. Transcripts of individual interviews, focus group discussions and photographs were coded for thematic analysis. SETTING: One private and one public school located in the same, central neighbourhood in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to explore how school populations of different socio-economic status experience the same neighbourhood environment. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six adolescents aged 14-19 years old, of which there were seventeen girls and nine boys. RESULTS: Findings from the current study indicate that food safety concerns appear to be the major influencing factors for adolescents' dietary choices. Unhealthy and unsafe foods appear to be widely available and/or affordable in adolescents' neighbourhoods and almost half of the photographs taken by adolescents depicted poor hygiene conditions related to food vendors. Participants considered foods available in their environments as generally unsafe, calling for more packaged food. CONCLUSIONS: Concerns for food safety, hygiene and affordability are the dominating factors for adolescents' food choices. These concerns, together with limited nutrition knowledge and preference for packaged foods, could make cheap, ultra-processed packaged foods more desirable

Towards understanding vegetable and fruit markets for improved consumption and nutrition: The case of Ethiopia

PRIFPRI3; ISI; CRP4; 2 Promoting Healthy Diets and Nutrition for all; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural EconomiesDevelopment Strategies and Governance (DSG); Transformation Strategies; Markets, Trade, and Institutions (MTI); Food and Nutrition Policy; Nutrition, Diets, and Health (NDH); Food and Nutrition PolicyCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH

Agricultural transformation in Africa?: Assessing the evidence in Ethiopia

PRIFPRI3; ISI; ESSP; CRP2DSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Programs on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Non-farm income and labor markets in rural Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s economy is rapidly transforming. However, the extent to which this is affecting off-farm income and labor markets in rural areas is not well understood. Based on a large-scale household survey in high potential agricultural areas, we find that total off-farm income (defined as wage and enterprise income) makes up 18 percent of total rural income. Wage income in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors accounts for 10 percent of total household income, equating in importance to livestock income. We show off-farm income and wage income to be relatively more important for the poor and female and youth-headed households. We further find that real rural wages increased by 54 percent over the last decade, mostly driven by high agricultural growth. While this wage increase is good news for the poor, it also induces adjustments in agricultural production practices, including increased adoption of labor-substituting technologies such as herbicides and mechanization. However, it also relaxes liquidity constraints in the off-season for some households, consequently leading to higher productivity.Non-PRIFPRI2; CRP2; ESSPDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Livestock production in Ethiopia

PRIFPRI4DSG

Synopsis: Agricultural prices during drought in Ethiopia

We analyze the evolution of crop and livestock producer prices and wages of unskilled laborers in Ethiopia over the January 2014 to January 2016 period, during which time the country was massively impacted by El Niño triggered droughts. The analyses reveal no evidence of widespread adverse price effects of the drought in the labor and cereal markets. Real prices of the major cereals were lower at the beginning of 2016 compared to two years earlier, especially for maize, sorghum, and wheat, the crops that make up the major source of calories in the areas that were most hit by the drought. Conversely, prices of root crops and pulses increased. Given the large importance attached to cereal consumption, the overall real food consumption basket price declined compared to two years earlier, the decline being lower in drought-affected areas. Considering crop and livestock prices jointly reveals that livestock-cereal terms of trade declined in the worst affected areas, contrasting considerably with improvements seem in areas less affected by the drought. This contrast is mainly due to livestock prices declining faster than cereal prices in such areas. The fluctuating behavior of cereal prices since January 2015 strikingly contrasts with the situation during the major drought of 1997/98. During that period, cereal production declined by 25 percent compared to the year before, with significant simultaneous real price increases of between 15 and 45 percent.Non-PRIFPRI2; CRP2; ESSP; DCA; C Improving markets and trade; E Building ResilienceDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Synopsis: Non-farm income and labor markets in rural Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s economy is rapidly transforming. However, the extent to which this is affecting off-farm income and labor markets in rural areas is not well understood. Based on a large-scale household survey in high potential agricultural areas of the country, we find that total off-farm income (defined as wage and enterprise income) makes up 18 percent of total rural income. Wage income in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors accounts for 10 percent of total household income, equating in importance to livestock income. We show off-farm income and wage income to be relatively more important for the poor and for female and youth-headed households. We further find that real rural wages increased by 54 percent over the last decade, mostly driven by high agricultural growth. While this wage increase is good news for the poor, it also induces adjustments in agricultural production practices, including increased adoption of labor-substituting technologies, such as herbicides.Non-PRIFPRI2; CRP2; ESSPDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Farmers’ grain storage and losses in Ethiopia: Measures and associates

PRIFPRI3; CRP2; ESSP; 3 Building Inclusive and Efficient Markets, Trade Systems, and Food IndustryDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Agricultural growth in Ethiopia (2004-2014): Evidence and drivers

Ethiopia’s agricultural sector has recorded remarkable rapid growth in the last decade. This paper documents aspects of this growth process. Over the last decade, there have been significant increases - more than a doubling - in the use of modern inputs, such as chemical fertilizers and improved seeds, explaining part of that growth. However, there was also significant land expansion, increased labor use, and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth, estimated at 2.3 percent per year. The expansion in modern input use appears to have been driven by high government expenditures on the agricultural sector, including agricultural extension, but also by an improved road network, higher rural education levels, and favorable international and local price incentives.Non-PRIFPRI2; CRP2; ESSP; D Transforming AgricultureDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM