POTENTIAL OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT TO INCREASE RURAL EMPLOYMENT

The paper examined whether increasing agricultural output would lead to an expansion of employment in rural areas in the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper found that the agricultural development problems in the Caribbean and SSA are very similar, especially, declining export demand for products, adverse trade policies and the actions of nature, causing damage to agricultural production. The simulations performed showed that in both regions, even a 4% annual increase in agricultural output has the potential for annually increasing agricultural employment by over 6%, even with an annual technical progress of 1.5% in the case of SSA and 2% in the case of the Caribbean. Expanding rural employment through expansion of agricultural output is therefore a definite opportunity in the two regions.Increasing rural employment, Rural Development, Agricultural Development in Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

POTENTIAL OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT TO INCREASE RURAL EMPLOYMENT

The paper examined whether increasing agricultural output would lead to an expansion of employment in rural areas in the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The paper found that the agricultural development problems in the Caribbean and SSA are very similar, especially, declining export demand for products, adverse trade policies and the actions of nature, causing damage to agricultural production. The simulations performed showed that in both regions, even a 4% annual increase in agricultural output has the potential for annually increasing agricultural employment by over 6%, even with an annual technical progress of 1.5% in the case of SSA and 2% in the case of the Caribbean. Expanding rural employment through expansion of agricultural output is therefore a definite opportunity in the two regions

Prevalence and drivers of seed and pollen-mediated geneflow in sorghum: implications for biosafety regulations and policy in Kenya

This paper uses a random sample of 881 farmers drawn from eastern and western Kenya to examine the prevalence and drivers of seed and pollen mediated geneflow in the two major sorghum growing regions. It employs both qualitative and quantitative techniques to assess farmers’ awareness of wild sorghum varieties, the practices they use in maintaining varietal purity and the conditioners of their success in maintaining the purity of cultivated varieties. The study finds that, among others, cultural differences, agro-climate and poverty affect the awareness, practices used in maintaining varietal purity and farmers’ success in doing so. These findings have implication for biosafety and policy in Kenya due to the clamour to introduce genetically modified bio-fortified sorghum varieties in Africa