Support for smallholder farmers through Islamic instruments: The case of Bangladesh and lessons for Nigeria

Purpose: In societies with strong presence of Islam, Islamic instruments with more scope for fairness and equity can be innovatively harnessed to play an increasing role in the development process and poverty alleviation schemes. Poor smallholder farmers dominate agricultural production in many developing countries and contribute a significant portion of global food production. This paper aims to develop a scheme to improve poor smallholder farmers vulnerable financial situation through the application of Zakah and Salam contract, using Bangladesh as a case study. Secondary goals are to show the effect of the scheme on food security and relevance to Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: The authors explore the existing traditional modes of financing available to poor smallholders, identify their challenges and propose an appropriate Islamic financing scheme. Findings: With the Zakah-based Salam forward contract, the proposed scheme would procure food through Institutional Demand to offer interest free financing, fair price and access to new marketing channels and reduce income uncertainty for the rural smallholders. The discussions indicate that the local food security will be enhanced through incentivized farming activities and disbursement of food from the food bank to the Zakah-eligible food insecure local people. Research limitations/implications: This proposal brings forth a potentially powerful idea that needs further empirical validation. Originality/value: The religion-based Institutional Demand initiative to promote smallholder agricultural development and social protection is a novel one. The attempt to apply the framework to Nigeria context shows the potential of the framework to generalize for other Muslim developing countries with similar characteristics, especially the poorer agriculture-based countries.Scopu

Control of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia: knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices in Narok district of Kenya

CBPP is an important transboundary disease in sub-Saharan Africa whose control is urgent. Participatory data collection involving 52 focus group discussions in 37 village clusters and key informant interviews, a cross-sectional study involving 232 households and a post-vaccination follow up involving 203 households was carried out in 2006–2007 in Narok South district of Kenya. This was to investigate knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practices (KAPP) associated with control of CBPP as well as the adverse post-vaccination reactions in animals in order to advice the control policy. The community perceived trans-boundary CBPP threat to their cattle. They had traditional disease coping mechanisms and were conversant with CBPP prevention and control with 49.8% (95%CI: 42.8–56.7%) giving priority to CBPP control. However, 12.9% (95%CI: 9.0–18.1%) of pastoralists had no knowledge of any prevention method and 10.0% (95%CI: 6.5–14.7%) would not know what to do or would do nothing in the event of an outbreak. Although 43.5% (95%CI: 37.1–50.2%) of pastoralists were treating CBPP cases with antimicrobials, 62.5% (95%CI: 52.1–71.7%) of them doubted the effectiveness of the treatments. Pastoralists perceived vaccination to be the solution to CBPP but vaccination was irregular due to unavailability of the vaccine. Vaccination was mainly to control outbreaks rather than preventive and exhibited adverse post-vaccination reactions among 70.4% (95%CI: 63.6–76.5%) of herds and 3.8% (95%CI: 3.5–4.2%) of animals. Consequently, nearly 25.2% (95%CI: 18.5–33.2%) of pastoralists may resist subsequent vaccinations against CBPP. Pastoralists preferred CBPP vaccination at certain times of the year and that it is combined with other vaccinations. In conclusion, pastoralists were not fully aware of the preventive measures and interventions and post-vaccination reactions may discourage subsequent CBPP vaccinations. Consequently there is need for monitoring and management of post vaccination reactions and awareness creation on CBPP prevention and interventions and their merits and demerits. CBPP vaccine was largely unavailable to the pastoralists and the preference of the pastoralists was for vaccination at specified times and vaccine combinations which makes it necessary to avail the vaccine in conformity with the pastoralists preferences. In addition, planning vaccinations should involve pastoralists and neighbouring countries. As the results cannot be generalized, further studies on CBPP control methods and their effectiveness are recommended

Livestock, livelihoods and vulnerability in Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia: designing livestock interventions for emergency situations

This study assesses the contributions of livestock to risk management and coping strategies and to identify livestock-centred interventions that can be used to save lives and livelihoods in crisis and emergency situations in selected countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The specific objectives are to analyse the roles of livestock in household livelihood strategies; to examine different sources of risks and household risk management and coping strategies, paying particular attention to livestock-based strategies; to identify emergency response interventions including targeted livestock interventions for reducing food insecurity and vulnerability; and to provide a framework for identifying guiding principles for linking livelihood analysis, project and program design, and implementation in emergency situations. The countries covered in this study are Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia. The ratio of vulnerability to food insecurity appears to be growing in all of these countries with vulnerable households facing dwindling food stocks and rising prices of staple food at the time of the study (UN-RIACSO 2005)

Designing livestock interventions for emergency situations in Southern Africa

This brief is a review of the research conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and partners in Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia aimed to assess the contribution of livestock to livelihoods and its role in risk management. The objective of the study was to identify the livelihood assets and strategies of households, taking into account differences between men and women and the contexts that translate household capabilities into livelihood opportunities. The study suggests that there are marked differences in ownership of productive assets, in livelihood strategies and in vulnerability between men and women. The results of the study showed that households in southern Africa are exposed to a variety of shocks with cumulative impacts that can trigger an emergency. The main factors contributing to vulnerability to food insecurity include drought, widespread crop failure, animal diseases and declining access to livestock service delivery. These factors affect all households in a community but in different ways

Quantifying the economic impacts of a policy shift towards legalizing informal milk trade in Kenya

This study quantifies the impacts resulting from a significant policy change associated with ILRI’s collaborative smallholder dairy research and policy advocacy activities: the policy shift toward legalisation of small scale raw milk marketing, in Kenya. A multi-market model was developed to quantify the economic impacts based on data from various datasets collected by ILRI and partners. Model results indicate sharp declines in consumer prices for milk as a result of a decline in small-scale trader transactions costs, with consequent small increases in grain production and farm income that are concentrated among rural and poorer groups

Influence pathways and economic impacts of policy change in the Kenyan dairy sector

This study is an ex post assessment of the impact of the revised Kenya dairy policy. It outlines the policy change process, investigates induced behavioral changes at the levels of field regulators and SSMVs (small-scale milk vendors), and estimates economic impacts on producers, SSMVs and consumers. It also provides a strategic assessment of the research and coordinating roles played by ILRI, recognizing that ILRI was only one partner in a complex project with many people and organizations involved, and estimates how much of the overall gains can be attributed to this research/coordination component. It was designed to evaluate the impact of a revised Kenyan dairy policy that encouraged relevant government agencies to engage with SSMVs and, in particular, to explore and analyse the role that research/coordination played in contributing to the policy change and the net benefits to the investment in the policy research component. The study describes the policy, institutional (in the broad sense of ‘rules of the game’) and behavioral changes that have occurred in Kenya’s dairy sector and how they occurred and what role the research and coordination component of SDP (Smallholder Dairy Project) played. It quantifies transaction costs and evaluates how reduced transaction costs have impacted the prices paid by consumers and those received by producers. It measures the overall economic benefits of the policy change to consumers, producers and SSMVs, and presents a counterfactual situation, depicting what might have happened if SDP had not been implemented and the dairy policy had not changed

The impact of non-tariff barriers on maize and beef trade in East Africa

On March 2, 2004, the East African Community (EAC) member states signed the protocol for the establishment of the East African Community Customs Union, which commits them, among others, to eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to increase intraregional trade. However, several NTBs are still applied by member states, raising concerns among policy makers and the business community. There is, however, no information about the magnitude of the impact of these NTBs. This study identifies the existing NTBs on maize and beef trade in East Africa and quantifies their impact on trade and the welfare of EAC citizens using a Spatial Equilibrium Model (SEM). Data on NTBs were collected from traders and transporters of maize and beef cattle in East Africa. In addition, the study found that the main types of NTBs within the three founding members of the EAC (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) are similar. They include administrative requirements (mainly licenses, municipal and council permits), taxes/duties (mainly excise and cess duty), roadblocks, customs barriers, weighbridges, licensing, corruption (e.g., through bribes) and transiting. The results of the welfare analysis vary across the three countries, but the net monetary gains are positive in all cases. A complete abolishment or a reduction of the existing NTBs in maize and beef trade increases intra-EAC maize and beef trade flows, with Kenya importing more maize from both Uganda and Tanzania, while Uganda’s beef exports to Kenya and Tanzania increase. As a result, positive net welfare gains are attained for the entire EAC maize and beef sub-sectors. In all cases, those who gain from the proposed reductions in NTBs can potentially compensate the losers, leading to potential improvements in welfare. These findings give compelling evidence in support of the elimination of NTBs within the EAC customs union. The study recommends taking a regional approach to eliminating the existing NTBs since they are similar across the member countries and across commodities so as to exploit economies of scale. Other policy recommendations include streamlining of administrative procedures at border points to improve efficiency, and speeding up the implementation of procedures at point of origin and at the border points. Finally, the study recommends the need to design and implement monitoring systems to provide feedback to the relevant authorities on the implementation of measures to remove unnecessary barriers to trade within the EAC region