Impact evaluation of improved rice varieties and farmer training on food security and technical efficiency in The Gambia

This dissertation aims to evaluate the impact of improved rice varieties and farmer training programs that have been introduced to boost local rice production in The Gambia. Rice is the main staple crop of The Gambia. The per capita consumption level of rice is estimated at 117 kg per annum, which is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. The annual consumption of rice is estimated at 195, 811 metric tons, out of which only 51,137 metric tons are produced nationally. This huge deficit is met through imports, at an estimated cost of about US$50 million annually. As a result, the government is committed to attaining rice self-sufficiency. To achieve this objective, currents efforts have concentrated on the introduction of yield increasing improved rice varieties and farmer training programs. To evaluate how such improved rice varieties and farmer training programs are contributing towards the achievement of rice self-sufficiency in The Gambia is the main focus of this dissertation. To evaluate the impact of improved rice varieties and farmer training programs, this study has obtained a country-wide data from rice growing communities and households that were selected through a multi-stage stratified random sampling procedure. Data were obtained during 2006 and 2010 rice cropping seasons. The data collected were used to address three research topics: (1) How accessibility to seeds affects the potential adoption of an improved rice variety: The case of The New Rice for Africa (NERICA) in The Gambia, (2) The impact of New Rice for Africa (NERICA) adoption on household food security and health in The Gambia, and (3) The impact of agricultural training on technical efficiency of smallholder rice producers in The Gambia. These research topics are the main pillars of this dissertation. The aim of the first research topic was to assess the population adoption rate of NERICA and its determinants. The NERICA is a high yielding rice variety that was officially introduced in The Gambia in 2003. The introduction of NERICA was an attempt taken by the government to increase rice production and productivity in the country. This study focuses on two main constraints that limit the adoption of NERICA: awareness and access to its seeds. We used the treatment evaluation technique to address these constraints and estimate the true population adoption rate of NERICA in The Gambia. The results of our analysis show that the NERICA population adoption rate could have been 76We found farmer contact with extension services and access to in-kind credit as significant determinants of access to and adoption of NERICA varieties. The policy implication of these findings is to increase farmer contact with extension and facilitate access to in-kind credit services like improved seeds to all the rice farming communities. This is likely to increase awareness and access to NERICA seeds, which can help to significantly close the population adoption gap of NERICA in The Gambia. Moreover, when efforts are made to make the entire rice farming population aware of the existence of NERICA varieties and also make the seeds of NERICA accessible to all rice farmers, then it will not be meaningful for future research to attempt to further estimate population adoption rate of NERICA in The Gambia. Under such circumstance, a more meaningful estimate of adoption is given by assessing the intensity of technology use among adopters. For the case of NERICA varieties, it will be more interesting to know the share of total rice area famers are allocating to NERICA varieties. This will give a better picture regarding the desirability of the NERICA technology by the target rice farming population. The second research topic attempts to identify improvements in household food security and health outcome indicators that can be attributed to NERICA adoption. We used food consumption scores (FCS) and sick days per capita among farm households members as outcome indicators of food security and health, respectively. Since NERICA adoption is a decision made by rice farmers, we assume that this selection decision is partly based on unobservable factors, for example, farmers attitude towards work. Therefore, we used the instrumental variable approach to identify causal effects of NERICA adoption on food security and health. The results of our analysis show significant differences in some key socio-economic and demographic characteristics between NERICA adopters and non-adopters. These adopting households. However, the results of our analysis have shown no significant impact of NERICA adoption on health. This could be attributed to the fact that we used information on all household members to create number of sick days per capita. Given the limited scope of the survey data regarding health, more precise indicators of health, such as detailed individual recall data on specific diseases, anthropometric data, or other health indicators were not available. Number of sick days per capita is a highly noisy indicator which tend to be negatively correlated with household size. When one individual respondent reports on the health status of all households members, it can lead to under estimation if the household is large. For this reason, we recommend that future studies that intend to identify the impact of NERICA adoption on health should focus on individual recall data, which may be a better outcome indicator. Finally, the third research topic aims to identify improvements in technical efficiency of smallholder rice farmers that can be attributed to agricultural rice farmer training programs introduced in The Gambia to increase rice production and productivity. Technical efficiency is a measure of how the use of best rice farming practices affects the total yield of rice farmers. Technical efficiency is achieved when it is not possible to increase output without increasing inputs. Due to technical inefficiencies, there is a huge gap between actual and potential yields of rice farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, the rice yield of upland farmers, in sub-Saharan Africa, is estimated at 1 t/ha whereas the yields at research stations ranges between 2.5 to 5 t/ha. This yield gap is mainly attributed to inappropriate farming practices and lack of farmers access to modern inputs that influence efficiency in farmers fields. As a result, this study assesses how the introduction of best agricultural rice farming practices, through agricultural training programs, affects the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers in The Gambia. In the first stage, we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique to estimate technical efficiency scores for each sampled household and used Tobit regression to identify factors influencing technical efficiency. In the second stage, we employ propensity score matching to assess program impact on participants using technical efficiency scores as our outcome indicator. The results of the analysis indicate that agricultural training significantly increases technical efficiency of smallholder rice farmers by 10 percent. This translates to rice yield increase of 260 kg/ha, which results in net social and private benefits per annum of US$ 43700 for 900 rice farming households and 30 extension agents, and US$53 per household, respectively. Our analysis of investment on agricultural training yields a Net Present Value (NPV) of US$ 195816, a Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) of 5.3 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 99%. These results justify increased investment on agricultural training programs to boost rice production and productivity. Further analysis to identify determinants of technical efficiency show farmers contact with extension workers and a farmers association membership as significant factors influencing technical efficiency. The significance of farmers contact with extension and association membership in determining technical efficiency indicates that extension contact and association membership could be important impact pathways to improve technical efficiency among smallholder farmers. The policy implication of these findings is to encourage rice farmers, through agricultural extension services, to be members of rice farmers associations and motivate them to meet regularly to exchange ideas and information about new developments within and outside their rice farming communities. Moreover, we define agricultural training as participation in at least one rice farmer training program. Since some training programs are likely to be more effective than others, defining participation as receipt of at least one training on rice cultivation practices is likely to underestimate the impact of highly effective training programs. Consequently, we recommend that future studies that intend to assess the impact of agricultural training on technical efficiency should identify specific training programs and assess their impact on technical efficiency separately.Die vorliegende Arbeit hat zum Ziel, den Einfluss von verbesserten Technologien und Programmen, die im Rahmen des Reisanbaus in Gambia eingeführt wurden um die lokale Reisproduktion zu steigern, zu evaluieren. Reis ist Hauptnahrungsmittel in Gambia. Der Reiskonsum pro Kopf wird auf 117kg pro Jahr geschätzt, und ist damit einer der höchsten in Subsahara-Afrika. Der landesweite jährliche Reiskonsum wird auf 195.811 Tonnen geschätzt, wovon 51.137 Tonnen im Inland produziert werden. Das gewaltige Defizit wird durch Importe zu geschätzten Kosten von jährlich 50 Millionen US$ausgeglichen. Die Regierung ist daher bestrebt, im Bezug auf Reisproduktion wirtschaftliche Unabhängigkeit zu erlangen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, haben sich die aktuellen Bemühungen darauf konzentriert, ertragssteigernde landwirtschaftliche Technologien und Programme einzuführen. Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, auszuwerten, wie solche Technologien und Programme dazu beitragen, wirtschaftliche Unabhängigkeit in der Reisproduktion in Gambia zu erreichen. Um die Auswirkungen der Technologien und Programme in der Reisproduktion zu evaluieren, liegt der Studie ein landesweiter Datensatz von reisproduzierenden Gemeinschaften und Haushalten vor, die über ein mehrstufiges Stichprobenverfahren ausgewählt wurden. Die Daten wurden in den Erntejahren 2006-2010 gesammelt, und wurden verwendet um drei verschiedene Forschungsfragen aufzustellen: (1) Wie beeinflusst der Zugang zu Saatgut die potentielle Einführung einer verbesserten Reisvariante? Der Fall New Rice for Africa (NERICA) in Gambia, (2) Die Auswirkungen der Einführung von New Rice for Africa (NERICA) auf Ernährungssicherheit und Gesundheit in gambischen Haushalten, und (3) Die Auswirkungen landwirtschaftlicher Weiterbildungen kleinbäuerlicher Reisproduzenten zu technischer Effizienz in Gambia. Diese drei Forschungsfragen stellen die drei Hauptsäulen der vorliegenden Dissertation dar. Ziel der ersten Forschungsfrage war, den Bevölkerungsanteil festzustellen, der NERICA Saatgut einsetzt, sowie die Faktoren die zu dessen Einsatz beitragen. NERICA ist eine ertragreiche Reissorte, welche offiziell im Jahr 2003 in Gambia eingeführt wurde. Die Einführung von NERICA war ein Versuch der Regierung, die Reisproduktion und die Produktivität des Landes zu erhöhen. Die vorliegende Studie konzentriert sich auf zwei primäre Einschränkungen welche den Einsatz von NERICA Saatgut limitieren: Das Wissen der Produzenten über das Vorhandensein von NERICA Saatgut, sowie den Zugang dazu. Um diese Einschränkungen anzugehen, und die unverzerrte Anwendung von NERICA Saatgut durch die gambische Bevölkerung abzuschätzen, wurde eine Wirkungsanalyse durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse zeigen, dass die Anwendungsquote statt der in der Stichprobe vom Jahr 2010 tatsächlich beobachteten Quote von 66Weitere Untersuchungen zeigen, dass der Einsatz von NERICA Saatgut bei 92Der Kontakt der Reisproduzenten zu landwirtschaftlichen Beratungsdiensten und ein erleichterter Zugang zu nichtmonetären Krediten wurden als bedeutende Faktoren für den Zugang zu und den Einsatz von NERICA Saatgutsorten herausgestellt. Die Politikempfehlung zu den Ergebnissen lautet, den Kontakt der Reisproduzenten zu landwirtschaftlichen Beratungen zu verbessern, und den Zugang zu nichtmonetären Krediten, wie z.B. verbessertem Saatgut, für alle Reisproduzenten zu erleichtern. Dies würde höchstwahrscheinlich das Wissen um die Existenz von NERICA Saatgut und den Zugang dazu verbessern, was wiederum dazu beitragen würde, die Anwendungslücke bei NERICA Saatgut in der gambischen Bevölkerung beträchtlich zu verkleinern. Wenn es Bemühungen dahingehend gibt, die alle Reisproduzenten über das Vorhandensein von NERICA Saatgutsorten in Kenntnis zu setzen, und überdies das Saatgut für alle zugänglich gemacht wird, wird es außerdem für künftige Forschungsvorhaben nicht mehr bedeutsam sein, weiterhin die Anwendungsquote von NERICA Saatgut in der gambischen Reisproduzentenschaft zu erheben. Unter solchen Umständen wäre es sinnvoller, den Einsatz von NERICA zu bewerten, indem die Intensität in der Technologienutzung unter den Anwendern erhoben wird. Letzteres würde ein detaillierteres Bild bezüglich der Attraktivität der NERICA Technologie für die Zielgruppe der Reisproduzentenschaft ergeben. Die zweite Forschungsfrage zielt darauf ab, Verbesserungen hinsichtlich der Ernährungssicherheit in den Haushalten, sowie Ergebnisindikatoren zu gesundheitlichen Auswirkungen zu identifizieren, die der Anwendung von NERICA Saatgut zugeschrieben werden können. Hierfür wurden Food Consumption Scores (FCS) und Krankheitstage pro Kopf der reisproduzierenden Haushaltsmitglieder als Ergebnisindikatoren für Ernährungssicherheit und Gesundheit herangezogen. Da die Entscheidung zum Einsatz von NERICA Saatgut von den Reisproduzenten getroffen wird, wird angenommen, dass diese Auswahlentscheidung teilweise auf nicht beobachtbaren Faktoren basiert, wie beispielsweise die Einstellung der Reisproduzenten zu ihrer Arbeit. Daher wurde eine Instrumentvariable angewendet, um kausale Effekte des Einsatzes von NERICA Saatgut auf Ernährungssicherheit und Gesundheit zu ermitteln. Die Ergebnisse dieser Analyse zeigen signifikante Unterschiede bei einigen sozioökonomischen und demografischen Schlüsselmerkmalen zwischen NERICA Anwendern und Nicht-Anwendern. Diese beinhalten die Erfahrung beim Reisanbau in Hochlagen, das außerlandwirtschaftliche Einkommen, den Kontakt zu landwirtschaftlichen Beratungen und Zugang zu Krediten. Solche Variablen können die Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von NERICA Saatgut verzerren, wenn sie nicht in ausgeglichenem Umfang bei den Behandlungs- und Kontrollgruppen vorkommen. Wenn eine Gruppe beispielsweise ein höheres außerlandwirtschaftliches Einkommen hat, könnten Unterschiede innerhalb der beiden Gruppen in Ernährungssicherheit und Gesundheitsversorgung ursächlich von dieser Variablen stammen und sind nicht notwendigerweise dem Einsatz von NERICA Saatgut zuzuschreiben. Um solche Differenzen zu regulieren, und eine kausale Interpretation der Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von NERICA Saatgut zu ermöglichen, wird der Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) kalkuliert. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass der Einsatz von NERICA Saatgut den Lebensmittelkonsum innerhalb eines Haushalts signifikant um durchschnittlich 14Die Tatsache, dass die positiven Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von NERICA Saatgut auf die Ernährungssicherheit für Haushalte mit Zugang zu Naturalkrediten wie beispielsweise in Form von verbessertem Saatgut, größer sind, macht es für die Politik erforderlich, die notwendigen Bemühungen zu unternehmen, um NERICA Saatgut von Gebieten mit hoher Produktionsleistung zu reisproduzierenden Dörfern mit niedrigem Zugang auf nicht-monetäre Kredite umzuverteilen. Dass die Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von NERICA Saatgut auf Ernährungssicherheit bei Haushalten mit männlichem Haushaltsvorstand größer sind, weist nicht notwendigerweise darauf hin dass der Einsatz von NERICA Saatgut keine signifikanten Auswirkungen auf die Ernährungssicherheit von Frauen auf individueller Ebene hat. Die verwendeten Daten wurden auf Haushaltsebene gesammelt, so dass es nicht möglich war, die Ernährungssicherheit bei einzelnen Personen zu erfassen. Daher empfehlen wir, dass sich künftige Studien, welche die Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von NERICA auf die Ernährungssicherheit erfassen wollen, Daten auf individueller Ebene sammeln sollten, um einen geschlechtsspezifischen Vergleich zur Ernährungssicherheit bei Männern und Frauen zu ermöglichen.Weiterhin gibt es Behauptungen, dass NERICA Saatgutsorten im Vergleich zu traditionellen und importierten Reisvarianten einen höheren Proteingehalt und eine ausgeglichenere Komposition von Aminosäuren hätten. Dies könnte bei Haushalten die NERICA einsetzen zu positiven Auswirkungen im Gesundheitsbereich führen. Allerdings haben die Ergebnisse unserer Studie keine signifikanten Auswirkungen des Einsatzes von NERICA auf die Gesundheit ergeben. Letzteres könnte der Tatsache geschuldet sein, dass die Informationen aller Haushaltsmitglieder verwendet wurden um die Krankheitstage pro Kopf zu ermitteln. Derzeit gibt es in Gambia einen kostenlosen Gesundheitsdienst für die meisten Kurzzeit-Erkrankungen bei Kindern, woraus sich die insignifikanten Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Studie ergeben haben könnten. Daher empfehlen wir, dass künftige Studien die sich mit den Auswirkungen des NERICA Einsatzes auf die Gesundheit befassen, sich auf erwachsene, arbeitsfähige Haushaltsmitglieder konzentrieren sollten, da diese ein besserer Ergebisindikator sein könnten. Die dritte Forschungsfrage zielt schließlich darauf ab, Verbesserungen in der technischen Effizienz bei Kleinbauern im Reisanbau zu ermitteln, die den landwirtschaftlichen Weiterbildungsprogrammen für Reisproduzenten zuzuschreiben sind, welche in Gambia eingeführt wurden um die Reisproduktion und Produktivität zu steigern. In der vorliegenden Studie wird gemessen, wie die Anwendung der besten Reisanbaumethoden den Gesamtertrag der Reisproduzenten erhöht. Aufgrund technischer Ineffizienzen klafft eine große Lücke zwischen dem tatsächlichen und dem potentiell möglichen Ertrag der Reisproduzenten in Subsahara Afrika. Der Reisertrag der Produzenten im Hochland liegt etwa bei einer Tonne pro Hektar, während die Erträge an Forschungsstandpunkten 2,5 bis 5 Tonnen pro Hektar betragen. Diese Ertragslücke wird hauptsächlich unangemessenen Anbaumethoden zugeschrieben, die auf den Reisfeldern weit verbreitet sind. Infolgedessen soll die vorliegende Studie erfassen, wie eine Einführung der besten Reisanbaumethoden durch landwirtschaftliche Weiterbildungsprogramme die technische Effizienz der gambischen Kleinbauern beeinflusst. Der kausale Wirkungszusammenhang der landwirtschaftlichen Weiterbildung mit technischer Effizienz wird in zwei Phasen bemessen. In der ersten Phase wird die Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) verwendet, um technische Effizienz-Werte für jeden befragten Haushalt zu ermitteln, sowie eine Tobit-Regressionsanalyse durchgeführt, um die Faktoren zu ermitteln, die einen Einfluss auf die technische Effizienz haben. In der zweiten Phase wird die Propensity Score Matching Methode angewendet, um die Auswirkungen von Weiterbildungsprogrammen auf deren Teilnehmer zu erfassen, wobei technische Effizienz-Werte als Ergebnisindikator dienen. Die Ergebnisse der Analyse zeigen, dass landwirtschaftliche Weiterbildungen die Fähigkeit der reisproduzierenden Kleinbauern, die besten Anbaumethoden anzuwenden, signifikant um 10$ für 900 reisproduzierende Haushalte und 30 Berater, bzw. 53 US$pro Haushalt. Eine Analyse der Investitionen die in landwirtschaftliche Beratung getätigt werden ergibt einen Kapitalwert (NPV) von 195.815,8 US$, ein Kosten-Nutzen-Verhältnis von 5,3 und einen internen Zinssatz (IRR) von 99%. Diese Ergebnisse rechtf

Biotechnology as a Change Agent for National Development: Review in The Gambia

Biotechnology is an important tool which can ensure the production of crop that will have longer shelf live, drought resistant, high saline tolerance, ability to withstand adverse conditions among others. The Gambia among the low-income West African countries, where agriculture is practiced by two-thirds of its citizens and couple with global population which is now around 7 billion predicted to rise to 9 billion by 2050, the Gambian government really needs to act fast and positively in welcoming genetically modified crops if it’s to be able to feed its population now roughly around 2 million people. Application of Biotechnology in crop and animal farming through genetic engineering has led to the development of crops with desirable characteristics such as crop varieties that cope better with drought and salinity, crops that more resistant to pest and diseases and crops that use nutrients more efficiently. This can help transform The Gambia into a country with a robust agriculture capable of not feeding the nation but also generating substantial foreign exchange. Through Agricultural biotechnology, this looming crisis can be averted  eradicating malnutrition by ensuring food self-sufficiency through the production of resistant crops to pests and diseases, having longer shelf-lives, higher nutritional content and palatability, higher yields and early maturity period, tolerant to adverse weather and soil conditions. Achieving food sufficiency which is a direct consequence of a flourishing agricultural sector will facilitate a shift from other natural resources as a source of foreign exchange thus promoting economic diversity through agriculture

Immunoinformatic design of a putative multi-epitope vaccine candidate against Trypanosoma brucei gambiense

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a neglected tropical disease that is caused by flagellated parasites of the genus Trypanosoma. HAT imposes a significant socio-economic burden on many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and its control is hampered by several drawbacks ranging from the ineffectiveness of drugs, complex dosing regimens, drug resistance, and lack of a vaccine. Despite more than a century of research and investigations, the development of a vaccine to tackle HAT is still challenging due to the complex biology of the pathogens. Advancements in computational modeling coupled with the availability of an unprecedented amount of omics data from different organisms have allowed the design of new generation vaccines that offer better antigenicity and safety profile. One of such new generation approaches is a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) designed from a collection of antigenic peptides. A MEV can stimulate both cellular and humoral immune responses as well as avoiding possible allergenic reactions. Herein, we take advantage of this approach to design a MEV from conserved hypothetical plasma membrane proteins of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, the trypanosome subspecies that is responsible for the west and central African forms of HAT. The designed MEV is 402 amino acids long (41.5 kDa). It is predicted to be antigenic, non-toxic, to assume a stable 3D conformation, and to interact with a key immune receptor. In addition, immune simulation foresaw adequate immune stimulation by the putative antigen and a lasting memory. Therefore, the designed chimeric vaccine represents a potential candidate that could be used to target HAT

Prevention and treatment for COVID-19 associated severe pneumonia in the Gambia (PaTS-COVID-19), a single-blinded randomized clinical trial: study protocol

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in an unprecedent global response for the development of COVID-19 vaccines. However, as viral mutations continue to occur, potentially decreasing the efficacy of currently available vaccines, and inequity of vaccine access continues, identifying safe and effective drugs to minimise severity of COVID-19 disease remains a priority. Methods: We designed an adaptive individually randomised single blinded non identical placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of repurposing licenced treatments for COVID-19 patients in an African setting. The trial has two cohorts: Cohort 1 recruits mild and moderate COVID-19 cases and their household contacts. Cases are actively followed up for 14 days, with a final visit at day 28. There are two co-primary endpoints: clinical progression to severe-pneumonia and persistence of the virus at day 14. The primary endpoint for household contacts is infection during a 14-day follow-up period. Cohort 2 recruits hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 associated pneumonia followed up actively until discharge or death, and passively until day 90, with a final visit. The primary endpoint is clinical progression or death. Conclusions: This randomised trial will contribute African-specific data to the global response to COVID-19. Besides the efficacy of drugs on clinical progression, the trial will provide information on the dynamics of intra-household transmission. Trial registration: This study is registered with Clinical Trials.gov with registration number NCT04703608 and with Pan African clinical trials registry with registration number PACTR202101544570971

Belirsizlik ve ihtiyat güdüsüyle tasarruf analizi: Türkiye örneği

30.04.2021 tarihine kadar kullanımı yazar tarafından kısıtlanmıştır.YÖK Tez No: 652630İhtiyat güdüsüyle tasarruf, tüketicilerin geleceteki gelir belirsizlikler veya beklenmedik olaylar nedeniyle gelecek gelirlerinin düşmesine karşı önlem almak niyetiyle para veya varlık biriktirmesi olarak tanımlanmaktadır (Warneryd, 1999; Keynes, 1936). Bu tezin amacı Türk hanehalkının ihtiyat güdüsüyle tasarruf edip etmediğini araştırmaktır. Araştırmayı yürütmek için, 2011 ile 2017 yıllar arasındaki Türk Hanehalkı Bütçe Anketi veri setini kullanarak sentetik veya sanal panel veriyi oluşturmaktayım. Ayrıca, kohort analizini yaparak gelir artışı varyansı ile tasarruf ve toplam net varlık arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemekteyim. Böylece, gelir artışı varyansı, gelir riskini ölçen bir değişken olarak kullanarak en küçük kareler yöntemiyle gelir artışı varyansının tasarruf ve toplam net varlık üerindeki etkisini incelemekteyim. Bulgularıma göre, gelir artışı varyansının hem tasarruf hemde toplam net varlık üzerindeki etkisi pozitif olup Türk hanehalkının ihtiyat güdüsüyle tasarruf ettiğini kanıtlamaktadır.The precautionary saving motive is when consumers save money or accumulate more wealth to insure themselves against future income uncertainties or unforeseen events which may lead to any unexpected decrements in their future income (Warneryd, 1999; Keynes, 1936). This thesis aims to investigate the precautionary saving motive of Turkish households. I investigate this issue by constructing a pseudo panel data set from the Turkish Household Budget Survey data between 2011 and 2017. Then, I conduct a cohort-level analysis and explore the relationship between the variance of income growth and saving as well as total net-worth. So I use the variance of income growth as my measure of income risk and apply a pooled OLS regression to determine the impact of income growth variance on saving and total net-worth. The results show a positive impact of the variance of income growth on saving and total net-worth, thereby leading me to conclude that there's a precautionary saving motive among Turkish households

Gambia Radio and Television Services: An Analysis of Program Selection Strategies in Comparison to the Needs of its Viewing Audience and Potential Advertisers

The Gambia, West Africa has only one operational television station. The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) serves as the sole television station in the country and is government owned. Although GRTS is a public government owned station, it does sell airtime for commercial use. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the television program selection and scheduling strategies at GRTS in comparison to the needs of its viewing audience and potential advertisers.The goal of this research is not only to provide a current analysis of the programming department of GRTS in terms of scheduling and strategies, it is also to highlight the effects of those decisions on the audience as well as the current and potential advertisers utilizing the platform. To give a broader understanding of the inner workings of GRTS, a more in depth analysis will be utilized regarding other relevant departments within the institution. For this study, the methodologies used were interviews, surveys and field observations.M.S., Television Management -- Drexel University, 201

How Accessibility to Seeds Affects the Potential Adoption of an Improved Rice Variety: The Case of The New Rice for Africa (NERICA) in The Gambia

This study estimates the adoption gap of NERICA that exists in the population when access to seeds is a constraint. Treatment evaluation technique is applied to con-sistently estimate the potential NERICA adoption rate and its determinants using panel data from a stratified random sample of 515 rice farmers in The Gambia. The results show that the NERICA adoption rate could have been 76% instead of the observed 66% sample estimate in 2010 provided that every rice farmer had been aware of NERICA’s existence before the 2010 rice growing season. However, further investigation finds that if all the rice farmers had been aware of and had access to NERICA seeds, adoption would have been 92%. This reveals that if awareness had not been a constraint, 16% of farmers would have failed to adopt NERICA due to lack of access to seeds. Farmer contact with extension services and access to in-kind credit are significant determinants of access to and adoption of NERICA varieties

The impact of new Rice for Africa (NERICA) adoption on household food security and health in the Gambia

PRIFPRI3; ISI; CRP4HarvestPlus; A4NHCGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH

Grain yield response of fonio (Digitaria exilis) varieties to fertilizer and cost- effectiveness under two different production systems in The Gambia

Fonio is an easy crop to grow because it grows well even on poor sandy soils, as well as in areas with low rainfall. The crop can withstand long dry spells during the production season which are becoming a common occurrence in the West African sub-region. In The Gambia, the common name for the crop is “Findi”. It is commonly grown in fields that were previously cultivated with groundnut. Fonio is one of the oldest cereal crops grown in the country; however, its cultivation has drastically declined to the extent that it is currently considered a minor crop in the country. Fonio is a very fast-growing crop and matures earlier than most cereals. Its ability to withstand dry spells and its high nutritive value makes it an ideal climate-smart crop. For this reason, there is renewed momentum in promoting the crop in the country. Despite these renewed efforts in its promotion, there still exists a huge gap in terms of information on improved production practices that could help uplift the existing low yields. Appropriate agronomic practices that can boost fonio productivity are not well documented at national level. To gather information on the input requirements and utilizations, adaptability and productivity of fonio in The Gambia, experiments were conducted in 2018 and 2019 with the aim of generating important production information that could guide efficient production and enhance productivity. Results obtained showed that fonio responded positively to application of fertilizer. Application of 100 kg ha -1 comprising half NPK (15-15-15) and half urea was sufficient to produce financially beneficial yields. Results also indicated that “Findiba”, which is a landrace may not be suitable for cultivation anymore due to its long growth period amidst the short and erratic nature of the rainfall. The Momo and the Momosato varieties which are of shorter durations and high-yielding are more suitable in the existing climatic conditions of the country

COVID 19 kap survey tool questionnaires.

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