Small-scale inland fisheries in Africa: How to collect data for poverty assessment?

Accurate poverty assessments in developing countries require efforts to collect detailed household level data. Especially in Africa, such procedures are time consuming, expensive and can be subject to numerous constraints. In this paper we discuss the procedure of the collection of data on consumption, income and assets from poor households involved in small-scale inland fisheries as well as agricultural activities. A sampling scheme has been developed that captures the heterogeneity in ecological conditions and the seasonality of livelihood options. Sampling includes a three point panel survey of 300 households. The respondents belong to four different ethnic groups randomly chosen from three strata representing different ecological zones. In the first part of the paper the methodological framework, the survey design and interview procedure adapted to the conditions in Northern Cameroon is discussed. The second part of the paper presents selected results of the baseline study on consumption, income and assets for different types of households. In addition the record of past ecological, economic and social shocks is presented. --

Institutional Constraints for the Success of Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries: The Case of Bt-Cotton in Shandong Province, China

The use of genetically engineered crop varieties has recently become one option to prevent pest damage in agriculture. The promoters of biotechnology stress the great potential for yield increase and pesticide reduction while the critics point out the potential risks for biodiversity and human health as well as institutional problems for implementation especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is an in-depth economic analysis of Btcotton production in North East China under small-scale conditions and several years after technology introduction. Data were collected in 2002 (March - October) in Linqing County, a major cotton growing area of Shandong Province, China. Data collection comprised a seasonlong monitoring of Bt-cotton production with 150 farmers from five villages, and three complementary household interviews. In addition, plot-level biological testing was carried out to determine the actual Bt toxin concentration in the varieties that were used by the farmers. All farmers in the case study were growing insect resistant Bt-cotton varieties in 2002. Nevertheless, they sprayed high amounts of chemical pesticides that were almost entirely insecticides. A proportion of 40% of the pesticides applied belonged to the categories extremely or highly hazardous (WHO classes Ia and Ib). The paper reviews methodological issues inherent to impact assessment of crop biotechnology and identifies market and institutional failure as possible reasons for continued high pesticide use. The production function methodology with damage control function was applied and it was found that for both damage control inputs, i.e. Bt and insecticides the coefficients were not significantly different from zero. In contrast to studies that treat Bt varieties as dummy variable in economic models, in this research it was possible to specify Bt toxin concentration in cotton leaf samples as a continuous variable. The results of this study support the notion that introducing Biotechnology in developing countries without enabling institutions that assure proper use of the technology can considerably limit its benefits. Hence it is important to include institutional criteria in the evaluation of agricultural biotechnology especially in developing countries. --

Diffusion of information among small-scale farmers in Senegal: the concept of Farmer Field Schools

Recent research on the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the economic impacts of this concept and especially the knowledge diffusion effects from trained to non-trained farmers. Based on a study in Senegal this paper hypothesizes that the question of the project placement strategy is vital when analyzing knowledge diffusion effects of FFS in Africa. Results show that the share of trained farmers in a community is a decisive factor for adoption behavior and knowledge diffusion. It is concluded that when introducing an FFS, a critical mass of trained farmers is important to attain effective dissemination of information and to generate positive stimuli for adoption and learning among non-participants.Africa,Senegal,agricultural extension,Farmer Field School,diffusion

The Economics of Biotechnology under Ecosystem Disruption

Economic analysis of chemical pesticide use has shown that the interactions between plants, pests, damage control technology and state of the ecosystem are important variables to be considered. Hence, a bio-economic model was developed for the assessment of Bt variety and pesticide-based control strategies of the cotton bollworm in China. The model simulates plant growth, the dynamics of pest populations and of natural enemies. The model predictions are used as major inputs for a stochastic partial budgeting procedure of alternative control strategies. Results show that: (1) productivity effects of Bt varieties and pesticide use depend on the action of natural control agents, and (2) the profitability of damage control measures increases with the severity of ecosystem disturbance. The findings highlight the importance of the choice of a counterfactual scenario in the assessment of the impact of agricultural biotechnology. Also, some doubts are raised whether the high benefits of Bt cotton varieties based on cross section comparisons are realistic.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q57, Q55, O13, O3,

Ex-ante assessment of returns on research investments to address the impact of Fusarium Wilt tropical race 4 on global banana production

The spread of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4), causal agent of Fusarium wilt of banana (FWB), has been projected to reach 17% of the global banana-growing area by 2040 equaling 36 million tons of production worth over US$10 billion. This potential loss has fueled (inter)national discussions about the best responses to protect production and small-scale growers’ livelihoods. As part of a multi-crop ex ante assessment of returns on research investments conducted by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers, and Bananas (RTB) from 2012 to 2016, four FWB research options were assessed: (i) improved exclusion, surveillance, eradication, and containment (ESEC) measures to reduce Foc TR4 spread, (ii) integrated crop and disease management (ICDM) to facilitate production of partially FWB resistant cultivars on Foc-infested soils, (iii) conventional breeding of FWB-resistant cultivars (CBRC), and (iv) genetically modified (GM) FWB-resistant cultivars (GMRC). Building on a risk index (Foc scale) predicting the initial occurrence and internal spread of Foc TR4 in 29 countries, an economic surplus (ES) model, cost-benefit analysis, and poverty impact simulations were used to assess impact under two adoption scenarios. All options yield positive net present values (NPVs) and internal rates of return (IRRs) above the standard 10% rate. For the conservative scenario with 50% reduced adoption, IRRs were still 30% for ICDM, 20% for CBRC, and 28% for GMRC. ESEC has IRRs between 11 and 14%, due to higher costs of capacity strengthening, on-going surveillance, farmer awareness campaigns, and implementation of farm biosecurity practices, which could be effective for other diseases and benefit multiple crops. The research investments would reach between 2.7 million (GMRC) and 14 million (ESEC) small-scale beneficiaries across Asia/Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America/Caribbean. The options varied in their potential to reduce poverty, with the largest poverty reduction resulting from CBRC with 850,000 and ESEC with 807,000 persons lifted out of poverty (higher adoption scenario). In the discussion, we address the data needs for more fine-grained calculations to better guide research investment decisions. Our results show the potential of public investments in concerted research addressing the spread of Foc TR4 to yield high returns and substantially slow down disease spread

Assessing policy-oriented research: case study of community-based fisheries management in Bangladesh

Paper presented in PowerPoint format

Determining high potential aquaculture production areas - Analysis of key socio-economic adoption factors

Global aquaculture production increased with an average rate of 10% per year since 1990 and 90% of aquaculture production comes from developing countries thus providing livelihood and income especially to marginal groups who have limited access to resources such as agricultural land and financial capital. Geographical information systems (GIS) based decision support models can facilitate the prioritizing of national research, development and extension strategies and targeting of development assistance for aquaculture because they can provide information to stakeholders as to where and under what conditions certain aquaculture technologies would be feasible. Factors that determine the adoption of aquaculture technologies by farmers include agro-ecological (rainfall, temperature, soil type, slope), socio-economic (land, labor, capital, infrastructure, inputs), and institutional characteristics (extension services, producers’ organizations). While maps can be used to display the agro-ecological factors, many important socioeconomic and institutional variables are not explicitly spatial (such as household land holdings or access to education and credits). To enable the integration of socio-economic variables in GIS models, we suggest a methodology comprising of four stages: (1) identification of key factors for successful adoption of target technologies on the micro-level, (2) development of indicators on the meso-level, (3) generation of geo-referenced meso-level indicator data sets for the target area, and (4) assignment of ranking/weights to the indicators. The paper outlines the conceptual framework applied and highlights some of the inherent methodological challenges. Results of the adoption analysis for aquaculture in Bangladesh and Malawi, representing different levels of aquaculture production intensification, are presented and discussed

Adoption and farm-level impact of genetically improved farmed tilapia (GIFT) in the Philippines

Over the last four decades, the aquaculture sector especially in developing countries has experienced dramatic growth. The increase in aquaculture production is a combination of area expansion and technological change (enhanced strains, input of feed and fertilizer, and improved management). One example of such technological change is the selective breeding efforts on tilapia that were initiated in 1988 by the WorldFish Center (then ICLARM) together with (inter-)national partners. The outcome of the selective breeding effort was a tilapia strain called ”GIFT” (genetically improved farmed tilapia) which was first made available in 1993 and which showed significantly higher growth rates in on-farm trials. The strain was first adopted in the Philippines but has since been disseminated in 11 Asian countries. Ex-ante studies had shown the potential of the GIFT strain and concluded that substantial impact from GIFT and GIFT-derived strains can be expected. Our study is an ex-post assessment of the farm-level impact of GIFT and the way the technology has been disseminated and taken up. The study is based on a survey of 780 tilapia producers conducted in 2006/2007 in three different regions in Luzon, the Philippines. We analyze adoption rates of the GIFT strain and compare the performance of GIFT vs. non-GIFT strains and the impact of different factors on tilapia yields. Lastly, we evaluate the profitability of the production of GIFT vs. non-GIFT strains. Our major findings are that based on farmers’ reporting the adoption of pure GIFT strains is very low (6%), while almost half of the farmers reported to use GIFTderived strains. There is uncertainty about the genetic origin of the strains in at least 27% of the cases, and even for the GIFT and GIFT-derived strains questions remain with regard to the purity of the breed. Based on farmers’ ratings and the reported production information, the GIFT and GIFT-derived strains did not perform any better compared to other strains. This is likely to be a result of the poor management of improved strains over the last 15 years rather than a shortcoming of the original GIFT technology

2008 The farmer field school in Senegal: does training intensity affect the diffusion of information

Abstract Recent research on the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in agriculture i

The impact of integrated aquaculture-agriculture on small-scale farm sustainability and farmers' livelihoods: Experience from Bangladesh

Intensification of agriculture often requires external inputs, has negative environmental effects and increases risk, especially for small-scale producers. Integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) instead uses on-farm synergy effects of crop and fish production. The impact of long-term IAA training provided to small-scale farmers in Bangladesh is assessed using panel data from 260 project and 126 control farmers who were monitored from 2002/2003 to 2005/2006. We find that the training had a significant positive impact on farmers' technical efficiency, total factor productivity and net incomes. These result in higher food consumption and better nutrition for trained households compared to control farmers.Integrated aquaculture-agriculture Technical efficiency Farm productivity Food security Nutrition Asia