Agricultural extension reform in Africa: Insights and lessons from livestock disease control in South-West Ethiopia

Agricultural extension systems across Africa are under great pressure to become more efficient and effective. Whereas proposals abound as to what African governments should do in order to achieve these goals, those addressing how they might do so are rare. The literature still offers little guidance as to specific factors and processes that likely influence development and diffusion of agricultural technologies in given circumstances. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the outcome of a multi-year, farmer-centred intervention to control trypanosomosis a devastating livestock disease transmitted by tsetse flies carried out by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in South-West Ethiopia. While not conceived as such at the time, this intervention emerges, in retrospect, as a real-world experiment in decentralised private provision of a traditional public extension activity. The nature of the control technology and several biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the region selected for control combined to produce a self-reinforcing process key to the success of the initiative. The intervention suggests that it is the demand-side of agricultural extension systems that matters the most, and that in most cases, an 'organised articulation of demand' will be required. The internal logic of that 'articulation' is the exact reverse of that driving privatisation and decentralisation of extension systems. That logic also differs significantly from that guiding 'demand-led, farmer-participatory' approaches to extension reform

Fertilizer trade under market liberalizations: Preliminary evidence from Kenya

This paper reports results of a study aimed at identifying broad demand-side and supply-side influences on trade in inorganic fertilizers in Kenya, where, following decades of government control, the fertilizer market has been fully liberalized. Multiple regression analysis using data from a country-wide survey of fertilizer traders indicates that significant demand-side factors include agroecological conditions and maize market prices in the regions in which fertilizer traders operate. On the supply side, the number of years in fertilizer trading and access to credit are important. Implications for policy and research are drawn

Managing animal trypanosomosis in Africa: Issues and options

This paper discusses past and present approaches to managing tsetse-transmitted animal trypanosomosis in Africa and describes the three main weaknesses of these approaches, i.e., inappropriate objectives, inadequate links between research and policy-making and a lack of recognition that trypanosomosis should be high up on the social science research agenda. Making progress in managing trypanosomosis has been difficult and the authors argue that the weaknesses of the approaches must be corrected if Africa is to benefit from the few advances made so far, and for the continent to make further sustained efforts to combat the disease. The authors explain that this can be achieved by replacing the current widespread preoccupation among researchers and policymakers with controlling (or eradicating) trypanosomosis with a focus on managing (or coping with) the disease. In addition, ways of achieving greater coherence between research and policy-making must be explored. Finally, the social science issues raised by the question of which practical steps need to be taken to manage trypanosomosis in Africa should be placed at the forefront of research efforts

Issues related to sustainable tsetse and trypanosomosis management strategies and rural Development

This paper explores the elements of a sound policy toward tsetse and trypanosomosis control by highlighting key issues in policy design and implementation. A framework is proposed that suggests that consistent policy toward tsetse and trypanosomosis control hinges on strong links with broad rural Development objectives and strategies, and in particular on the potential for increasing agricultural productivity via control. A broad review of recent trends in tsetse and trypanosomosis control in Africa is presented. The policy framework is then detailed and illustrated by examples from a number of African countries. Conclusions are drawn regarding policy coherence and transparency and implications for policy research

Smallholder production structure and rural roads in Africa: the case of Nakuru District, Kenya

Data from a 1998 survey of farming households in Kenya is used to estimate the effects of poor rural road infrastructure (and high market access costs) on the structure of smallholder farm production. Simultaneous estimation of cost and input share equations reveals rational responses by farmers to high access costs. In the expected continued absence of major investments in rural infrastructure in countries such as Kenya, the policy challenge is to identify and catalyse institutional innovations that reduce a range of transaction costs, increase financial liquidity, increase social capital, and reduce risk. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

An ex ante economic and policy analysis of research on genetic resistance to livestock disease: Trypanosomiasis in Africa

This paper undertakes an ex ante economic analysis of research on how resistance to trypanosomosis - a dominant livestock disease in Africa - can be maintained and enhanced while retaining and reinforcing characteristics of economic importance to farmers, and on how 'trypanotolerance' can be imparted to susceptible animals while retaining their other important traits. The results indicate that potential benefits to research - historically field-based but increasingly biotechnology-driven - range from two to nine times potential costs and that the internal rate of return on investments can be six times the real interest rate. Field-based research, while exhibiting lower potential benefits on aggregate than does biotechnology research, is also less costly and, because of its more immediate payback, has higher internal rates of return. Returns to biotechnology research hinge on close links with field-based research and on strategic but relatively small incremental human and capital investments. The results also suggest that further research is needed to consistently identify and track the impacts of alternative intellectual property rights (IPRs) options on the levels and distributions of biotechnology research benefits

Soil fertility management on small farms in Africa: Evidence from Nakuru district, Kenya

This paper uses data from a 1998 survey of farming households in Nakuru district, Kenya to explore factors influencing soil fertility management decisions of smallholder farmers in Africa. The modeling strategy builds on results of research in soil science that point to the joint determination of inorganic and organic soil nutrient stocks and flows on-farm. Farmers' decisions on levels of inorganic and organic fertilizer use are hypothesized to be similarly mutually dependent, and to be further influenced by various farmer-specific socioeconomic factors. Econometric estimations indicate that once the effects of cropping patterns, farm-to-market transport costs, and labor availability are taken into account, smallholder applications of inorganic and organic fertilizers appear to be substitutes. Implications for research and policy are drawn