Policies and institutions to enhance the impact of irrigation development in mixed crop-livestock systemsLength: pp.168-184

Irrigation managementInstitutional developmentPolicyCrop productionLivestockWater demandIrrigation waterSmall scale systemsInvestmentFarmer managed irrigation systemsPovertyFarmersGenderWater users’ associations

Smallholder commercialization: processes, determinants and impact

This paper reviews the literature on smallholder commercialization. It explores the conceptual developments in smallholder commercialization, methodological advancements in measuring the degree of agricultural commercialization at household level, and the impacts of commercialization on different socio-conomic groups. The paper also investigates policy recommendations made by different authors aimed at facilitating the smooth process of transforming smallholder agriculture from subsistence system to a fully commercialized farming. Based on the review, the paper throws light on conceptual and methodological gaps in relation to smallholder commercialization, and finally, draws general conclusions and directions for future research

INTERNATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL R&D SPILLOVERS: ATTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS AMONG SOURCES FOR BRAZIL'S NEW CROP VARIETIES

In general, reported rates of return to agricultural R&D are high, but questions have been raised about upward biases in the evidence. Among the reasons for this bias, insufficient attention to attribution aspects-matching of research benefits and costs-is a pervasive problem, the magnitude of which is illustrated here with new evidence for Brazil. Over the period 1981 to 2003, varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans yielded benefits attributable to research of $14.8 billion in present value (1999 prices) terms; 6.1 percent of the corresponding value of crop output. If all of those benefits were attributed to Embrapa, a public research corporation accounting for more than half Brazil's agricultural R&D spending, the benefit-cost ratio would be 78:1. If a geometric attribution rule based on genetic histories is used in conjunction with quantitative evidence on the extent of research collaborations to account for the innovative effort of others, the ratio drops substantially to 16:1 (or an internal rate of return of 38.7 percent). The sources of these gains vary markedly among crops and over time, making it hard to generalize about the international and institutional origins of varietal innovations in Brazilian agriculture during the past several decades.Brazil, agricultural R&D, attribution, soybeans, rice, beans, benefit-cost ratios, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Trends and Determinants of Rural Poverty: A Logistic Regression Analysis of Selected Districts of Punjab

Poverty is widespread in the rural areas, where the people are in a state of human deprivation with regard to incomes, clothing, housing, health care, education, sanitary facilities and human rights. Nearly 61 percent of the country’s populations live in rural areas. In Pakistan poverty has been increased in rural areas and is higher than urban areas. Of the total rural population 65 percent are directly or indirectly linked with agriculture sector. In Pakistan more than 44.8 percent people generate their income from agriculture sector, and the higher rate of increase in poverty in the rural areas has provoked debate on growth and productivity trends in the agriculture sector. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to determine such factors which affect the poverty status of a rural household. Utilising unique IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) panel data together with sub-sample of PRHS (Pakistan Rural Household Survey) for two districts of Punjab (Attock and Faisalabad) the present study aim at analysing and estimating the rural poverty trends and determinants of rural poverty from the late 1980s to 2002. The data was analysed by using binary logistic model and head count measure. The results show that the chance of a household tripping to poverty increased due to increase in household size, dependency ratio, while, education, value of livestock, remittances and farming decreased the likelihood of being a poor. Moreover, the socio-economic opportunities as represented by the availability of infrastructure in the residential region also play a significant role in the level of poverty faced by a household. This study makes a modest contribution by attempting to analyse the need for focusing on anti-poverty policies, which can nip the evil in the bud.Rural Poverty, Poverty Trends, Agriculture Growth, Determinants

Financing Agricultural Development: The Political Economy of Public Spending on Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledging that the agricultural sector can play an important role as an engine of pro-poor growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, the purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the ?political will? of governments to support this sector. The concept of ?political resources? from the political science literature is used to guide the analysis, as it combines the insights from state-centered and society-centered approaches to explain agricultural policies. Drawing on panel data covering 14 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1980-2001, we present empirical evidence showing that political factors play an important role in determining government?s commitment to supporting agricultural development. We use a measure of democracy that varies both across countries and within countries over time. Estimates are presented for separate samples of democracies and non-democracies, and for a pooled sample of all countries and years irrespective of the democratic status. Our results suggest that the rural poor do exercise electoral leverage in democracies; larger rural population shares are associated with higher spending on agriculture in democracies but not in authoritarian regimes. We also find evidence consistent with the theoretical prior that larger farmers tend to be better organized in interest groups. Specifically, we find that the share of traditional agricultural exports such as coffee and cocoa in the total value of exports, which may be an indicator for the ability of farmers? to organize themselves as interest groups, induces greater spending on agriculture. This result holds true for both democracies and nondemocracies.

The effect of environmental variability on livestock and land-use management: The Borana plateau, southern Ethiopia

The Borana people are the predominant ethnic group on the Borana Plateau in southern Ethiopia. Though traditionally transhumant pastoralists, they have recently increased their reliance on crops. Rainfall in the region averages between 353 mm to 873 mm; variability in rainfall is quite high, with coefficients of variation ranging from.21 to.68. The past decade has witnessed a dramatic increase in land allocated to crops, and land in pastures that are either becoming privatised, or accessible to only a small sub-group of people. In this paper, we derive an empirical model of stocking rates and land allocation, which is then used to estimate the effects of exogenous parameters on stocking densities, land allocated to crops, and land allocated to private pastures. Results indicate the following: a) regions with high coefficients of variation in rainfall have lower livestock densities and less land allocated to crops, b) communities with greater numbers of households and higher population densities have larger indices of non-cooperation, higher stock densities, and more land allocated to crops, c) heterogeneity within a community, measured by the distribution of wealth levels, is positively related to an index of non-cooperation, and to higher stock densities, d) higher relative prices of livestock and shorter distances to market are associated with greater stock densities as well as greater land allocated to crops, e) the greater is mobility into an area, the higher are stock densities, and the lower is the cooperation level, whereas outward mobility by community members has no effect on either stock densities or the level of cooperation reached, f) the proportion of members engaged in wage work outside has a significant negative effect on the ability of the community to cooperate. Outside wage work also increases land allocated to crops, but has a significant negative effect on land allocated to private pastures, and g) the greater is the index of non-cooperation, the higher are stock densities and the greater is land allocated to crops.

Leveraging regional growth dynamics in African agriculture

This study focuses on public investments and policy reforms for leveraging growth spillovers at the Africa regional level. It reviews first the theory and evidence of knowledge and growth spillovers generally and second the evidence in the African context. Given the limited and scattered evidence of actual past spillovers, it reviews recent ex ante simulations using partial and general equilibrium models to stress the potential for spillovers from greater cooperation in agricultural research, and from trade liberalization, policy harmonization and investments in infrastructure. The results show that permitting greater crossborder transfers and adopting improved technologies could have large spillover multiplier effects on overall economic welfare in the region. And simply reducing African countries’ trade barriers and improving cross-border transport could increase agricultural incomes by as much as 10%. These two examples confirm that regional cooperation in agricultural research and harmonization and liberalization of regional trade systems are two important areas that have yet to be optimally harnessed to generate larger spillovers and enhance regional economic take-off.Sub-Saharan Africa, Regional cooperation, Spillovers, Agricultural development, International Development,