Can Africa replicate Asia's green revolution in rice ?

Asia's green revolution in rice was transformational and improved the lives of millions of poor households. Rice has become an increasingly important part of African diets and imports of rice have grown. Agronomists point out that large areas in Africa are well suited for rice and are encouraged by the field tests of new rice varieties. So is Africa poised for its own green revolution in rice? This study reviews the recent literature on rice technologies and their impact on productivity, incomes, and poverty, and compares current conditions in Africa with the conditions that prevailed in Asia as its rice revolution got under way. An important conclusion is that, to a degree, a rice revolution has already begun in Africa. Moreover, many of the same practices that have proved successful in Asia and in Africa can be applied where yields are currently low. At the same time, for many reasons, Africa's rice revolution has been, and will continue to be, characterized by a mosaic of successes, situated where the conditions are right for new technologies to take hold. This can have profound effects in some places. But because diets, markets, and geography are heterogeneous in Africa, the successful transformation of the Africa's rice sector must be matched by productivity gains in other crops to fully launch Africa's Green Revolution.Agricultural Research,Crops&Crop Management Systems,Climate Change and Agriculture,Food&Beverage Industry,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems

Gender discrimination and its impact on income, productivity, and technical efficiency: evidence from Benin

This paper examines the occurrence and impact of gender discrimination in access to production resources on the income, productivity, and technical efficiency of farmers. Through an empirical investigation of farmers from Koussin-Le´le´, a semi-collective irrigated rice scheme in central Benin, we find that female rice farmers are particularly discriminated against with regard to scheme membership and access to land and equipment, resulting in significant negative impacts on their productivity and income. Although women have lower productivity, they are as technically efficient as men. The findings suggest that there is considerable scope for improving the productivity of women through increasing their access to production resources

Pauvreté et distribution de revenus au Sénégal: une approche par la modélisation en équilibre général calculable micro-simulé

La nouvelle orientation de la politique économique au Sénégal vise à accroître les revenus des pauvres et à attaquer la pauvreté là où elle est principalement localisée. La stratégie de réduction de la pauvreté va être mise en oeuvre dans un contexte de libéralisation des échanges commerciaux internationaux notamment dans le secteur agricole. Dans ce contexte, nous avons développé un modèle d'équilibre général calculable micro-simulé multi-ménages du type Decaluwé et al. (1999) permettant d'évaluer l'impact que pourront avoir ces politiques agricoles à l'échelle des ménages et de faire le lien entre ces réformes économiques, la pauvreté et la distribution de revenu. Ce modèle offre beaucoup de flexibilité en permettant notamment de modifier la distribution des groupes cibles qui n'ont pas à être revenus avant l'exercice de simulation afin d'effectuer l'analyse de pauvreté et d'inégalité ex post à l'exercice de modélisation. Dans ce travail, nous avons également comparé les effets en terme d'analyse de pauvreté et d'inégalité entre une distribution paramétrique (Dagum, 3 paramètres) et une distribution non-paramétrique et montré que ce choix engendrait des différences significatives quant aux effets sur la pauvreté. Contrairement aux applications faite par Decaluwé et al. (1999) et Cockburn (2002) au Népal, les impacts sur la pauvreté sont assez importants, ce qui montre que cette approche offre un outil riche permettant d'évaluer l'impact de politiques économiques ou chocs externes sur la pauvreté et la distribution de revenu.Modèle d'équilibre général calculable, micro-simulation, analyse de pauvreté, distribution de revenu

The impact of credit constraints on the adoption of hybrid maize in Malawi

This paper investigates the impact of credit constraints on the adoption of hybrid maize among rural households in Malawi. To address the endogenous and binary nature of the household's credit constraints status, we employ a treatment-effects model to consistently estimate the effect of credit constraints. Results reveal that after effectively correcting for endogeneity, credit constraints have a negative and significant effect on the amount of land allocated to hybrid maize. Results also show that farmers with larger land holdings allocate more land to hybrid maize. Although less likely to report credit constraints, older farmers allocate less land to hybrid maize than younger farmers. These findings suggest that there is scope for increasing the cultivation of hybrid maize in Malawi if credit is targeted at younger farmers that are credit-constrained

Electrochemical properties and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of polypyrrole-coated platinum electrodes

Polypyrrole (PPy) films of different thickness were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in acetonitrile and aqueous solutions, containing 0.1 M NaClO4 or sodium dodecylsulfate as the dopant. The PPy films were electrochemically deposited on Pt, and their electrochemical properties studied by cyclic voltammetry. Impedance spectra were obtained at potentials ranging from 0 to 0.8 V/SCE. The EIS data were fitted using two different equivalent electrical circuits (depending on the nature of the dopant). They involve a diffusive capacitance, which increased with the passing charge during electrosynthesis (i.e. film thickness) for ClO4--doped PPy, but was practically unaffected by the film thickness in the case of SDS-doped PPy. Also, a double-layer capacitance was found only in the circuit of ClO4--doped PPy. It increased with the film thickness, and showed a minimum near the open-circuit potential. Finally the charge-transfer resistance (Rct) obtained with SDS is nearly 200-fold higher than that obtained with ClO4- in the same solvent (H2O). With the same dopant (ClO4-), Rct is about five times higher in acetonitrile relative to water. All these EIS results of the different types of PPy suggest a relation with the wettability of the polymer.KEY WORDS: Conducting polymers, Polypyrrole, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Equivalent-electrical circuit, Micellar mediaBull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2006, 20(2), 279-293

Determinants of Agricultural Technology adoption: the case of improved groundnut varieties in Malawi

This paper applies the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) framework on data obtained from a random cross-section sample of 594 farmers in Malawi to document the actual and potential adoption rates of improved groundnut varieties and their determinants conditional on farmers’ awareness of the technology. The fact that not all farmers are exposed to the new technologies makes it difficult to obtain consistent estimates of population adoption rates and their determinants using direct sample estimates and classical adoption models such as probit or tobit. Our approach tries to control for exposure and selection bias in assessing the adoption rate of technology and its determinants. Results indicate that only 26% of the sampled farmers grew at least one of the improved groundnut varieties. The potential adoption rate of improved groundnut for the population is estimated at 37% and the adoption gap resulting from the incomplete exposure of the population to the improved groundnut is 12%. We further find that the awareness of improved varieties is mainly influenced by information access variables, while adoption is largely influenced by economic constraints. The findings are indicative of the relatively large unmet demand for improved groundnut varieties suggesting that there is scope for increasing the adoption rate of improved groundnut varieties in Malawi once the farmers are made aware of the technologies and if other constraints such as lack of access to credit are addressed

Determinants of Agricultural Technology adoption: the Case of Improved Pigeonpea Varieties in Tanzania

If dryland legumes are to meet the expectations of reducing poverty and hunger in the semi-arid tropics, there will be need for a full understanding of their potential for diffusion and the barriers to adoption. We apply a program evaluation technique to data obtained from Tanzania to derive estimates of the actual and potential adoption rates of improved pigeonpea varieties and their determinants. The study reveals that only 33% of the sampled farmers were aware of the improved pigeonpea varieties which consequently restricted the sample adoption rate of improved varieties to only 19%. The potential adoption rate of improved pigeonpea if all farmers had been exposed to improved varieties is estimated at 62% and the adoption gap resulting from the incomplete exposure of the population to the improved pigeonpea is 43%. We further find that the awareness of improved varieties is mainly influenced by attendance of Participatory Variety Selection activities. The adoption of improved varieties is more pronounced among farmers with smaller landholdings suggesting that farmers facing land pressure intensify pigeonpea production through the adoption of improved high yielding varieties. The findings are indicative of the relatively large demand for improved pigeonpea varieties suggesting that there is scope for increasing their adoption rate in Tanzania once the farmers are made aware of the existence of the technologies

Biting by Anopheles funestus in broad daylight after use of long-lasting insecticidal nets: a new challenge to malaria elimination.

BACKGROUND: Malaria control is mainly based on indoor residual spraying and insecticide-treated bed nets. The efficacy of these tools depends on the behaviour of mosquitoes, which varies by species. With resistance to insecticides, mosquitoes adapt their behaviour to ensure their survival and reproduction. The aim of this study was to assess the biting behaviour of Anopheles funestus after the implementation of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). METHODS: A study was conducted in Dielmo, a rural Senegalese village, after a second massive deployment of LLINs in July 2011. Adult mosquitoes were collected by human landing catch and by pyrethrum spray catch monthly between July 2011 and April 2013. Anophelines were identified by stereomicroscope and sub-species by PCR. The presence of circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum and the blood meal origin were detected by ELISA. RESULTS: Anopheles funestus showed a behavioural change in biting activity after introduction of LLINs, remaining anthropophilic and endophilic, while adopting diurnal feeding, essentially on humans. Six times more An. funestus were captured in broad daylight than at night. Only one infected mosquito was found during day capture. The mean of day CSP rate was 1.28% while no positive An. funestus was found in night captures. CONCLUSION: Mosquito behaviour is an essential component for assessing vectorial capacity to transmit malaria. The emergence of new behavioural patterns of mosquitoes may significantly increase the risk for malaria transmission and represents a new challenge for malaria control. Additional vector control strategies are, therefore, necessary