Assessing the efficiency of sweet potato producers in the southern region of Ethiopia

Article purchased; Published online: 27 June 2017Applying stochastic frontier Cobb–Douglas production function, the study assessed the efficiency of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) producers in the Southern region of Ethiopia. The study revealed the existence of fairly large technical inefficiency in sweet potato production. The technical efficiency ranged from 12.6 to 93.7%, with more than half of the producers above the mean efficiency level (66.1%). This suggests that there is room for output gains through technical efficiency improvement. If the average producers in the study region are to achieve the technical efficiency level of the most efficient producer in the sample (93.7%), they can realize nearly 30% output gains. The analysis of allocative efficiency also revealed that sweet potato producers were producing sweet potato with sub-optimal utilization of production inputs, suggesting that potential for output gains remains to be exploited through reconfiguration of the existing resource use. They can make more value out of their sweet potato production by reconfiguring their current utilization of production inputs in favour of more land and manure but less seed rate. Furthermore, age and education are important determinants of the efficiency of sweet potato production. In view of these findings, it is advisable to put in place appropriate extension intervention programmes that enable sweet potato producers to exploit the potential gains in sweet potato output through technical and allocative efficiency improvement

Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. isolated from ovine carcasses and faeces in Ethiopia

The foodborne thermophilic Campylobacter species are considered to be the leading cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide with emerging antimicrobial resistant strains. Consumption of raw or undercooked meat is an important source for zoonotic infection. A cross-sectional study was conducted on sheep destined for slaughter at a slaughterhouse in Addis Ababa to determine the prevalence of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. A total of 160 carcass swabs and 160 rectal swabs were bacteriologically examined from which 21 (13.1%) and 12 (7.5%) thermophilic Campylobacter spp. were isolated, respectively. Biochemical test results of the carcass isolates indicated 12 (57.1%) to be C. jejuni, 6 (28.6%) C. coli and 3 (14.3%) C. lari. Similar examination of abattoir environment pool samples of eight sampling days revealed 7 (87.5%) to be positive for the thermophilic Campylobacter spp. None of the wash water samples were positive for the bacteria. Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern test towards twelve antimicrobials using standard disc diffusion method revealed higher resistance (38.1%) for amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and kanamycin (38.1%) followed by streptomycin, oxytetracycline and compound sulphonamide (33.3% each). Most isolates were susceptible to ceftriaxone and clindamycin (4.8% each) and to a lesser degree to erythromycin (9.5%). Multidrug resistance was observed in 52.4% of the isolates examined. Isolation of thermophilic Campylobacter spp., with higher isolation rate for C. jejuni, the primary cause of human campylobacteriosis, from sheep meat and the existence of resistant isolates highlight the potential threat to public health. Therefore, implementation of Campylobacter prevention and control strategies from farm production to consumption of sheep meat are crucial

Measuring the impacts of adaptation strategies to drought stress: the case of drought tolerant maize varieties

Article purchasedThis study measured the impacts of drought tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) on productivity, welfare, and risk exposure using household and plot-level data from rural Nigeria. The study employed an endogenous switching regression approach to control for both observed and unobserved sources of heterogeneity between adopters and non-adopters. Our results showed that adoption of DTMVs increased maize yields by 13.3% and reduced the level of variance by 53% and downside risk exposure by 81% among adopters. This suggests that adoption had a “win-win” outcome by increasing maize yields and reducing exposure to drought risk. The gains in productivity and risk reduction due to adoption led to a reduction of 12.9% in the incidence of poverty and of 83.8% in the probability of food scarcity among adopters. The paper concluded that adoption of DTMVs was not just a simple coping strategy against drought but also a productivity enhancing and welfare improving strategy. The results point to the need for policies and programs aimed at enhancing adoption as an adaptation strategy to drought stress in Nigeria and beyond

Productivity and welfare effects of Nigeria's e-voucher-based input subsidy program

Article purchased; Available online: 9 May 2017In an attempt to go beyond the so called “smart” subsidies, Nigeria has embarked on a potentially innovative mobile phone-based input subsidy program that provides fertilizer and improved seed subsidies through electronic vouchers. In this article, we examined the productivity and welfare effects of the program using household-level data from rural Nigeria. The article employed instrumental variable regression approach to control for the potential endogeneity of the input subsidy program. Our results suggest that the program is effective in improving productivity and welfare outcomes of beneficiary smallholders. The size of the estimated effects suggests a large improvement in productivity and welfare outcomes. Moreover, the distributional effects of the program suggest no heterogeneity effects based on gender and farm land size. These results are robust to using alternative measurements of program participation. The benefit–cost ratio of 1.11 suggests that the program is marginally cost-effective. Overall, our results suggest that while improving average productivity is a good outcome for improving food security, improving the distributional outcome of the program by targeting the most disadvantaged groups would maximize the program’s contribution to food security and poverty reduction

Impacts of extension access and cooperative membership on technology adoption and household welfare

This paper examines the impacts of access to extension services and cooperative membership on technology adoption, asset ownership and poverty using household-level data from rural Nigeria. Using different matching techniques and endogenous switching regression approach, we find that both extension access and cooperative membership have a positive and statistically significant effect on technology adoption and household welfare. Moreover, we find that both extension access and cooperative membership have heterogeneous impacts. In particular, we find evidence of a positive selection as the average treatment effects of extension access and cooperative membership are higher for farmers with the highest propensity to access extension and cooperative services. The impact of extension services on poverty reduction and of cooperatives on technology adoption is significantly stronger for smallholders with access to formal credit than for those without access. This implies that expanding rural financial markets can maximize the potential positive impacts of extension and cooperative services on farmers’ productivity and welfare

Analysis of technical efficiency among youth involved in crop production in Njombe Region, Tanzania

Open Access JournalThis study aimed to estimate the Technical Efficiency (TE) of youth crop farmers in Njombe Region of Tanzania, and analyze the determinants of technical inefficiency for crops produced. Data were collected from 572 youths in 16 villages of Njombe Region by using a random sampling technique. The Stochastic Production Function (SPF) model analysed technical efficiency among the youth crop farmers. Results show that youth crop farmers in the study region exhibited decreasing returns to scale, as confirmed by the Returns to Scale of 0.275. The mean TE of crops produced was 19.32%, implying that youth farmers still have room to improve their farming efficiency by 80.68% using the same land resources. Most youth farmers had technical efficiency scores from 18.5% to 20.5%. In addition, the estimated SPF model and inefficiency parameters showed that age, land ownership, and extension contact are factors which reduced technical inefficiency in the study region. Thus, more emphasis might focus on enhancing the accessibility of youth farmers to extension services, land ownership, and efficient use of farm inputs might improve the TE of youth crop farmers in Tanzania and the world as a whole

Comparative fatality risk for different travel modes by age, sex, and deprivation

BACKGROUND: Cycling is perceived as an unsafe travel mode in many countries. However, road deaths in England have fallen sharply since 2007. We explored whether differences in fatality rates by age, sex and mode persist, and the impact of deprivation on these. METHODS: Using ONS (cycling, pedestrian) and STATS19 (driving) 2007-2012 data for travel-related deaths, including pedestrian falls, and National Travel Surveys 2007-2012 travel data, we calculated fatality rates for England by distance (f/bnkm) and time travelled (million hours’ use, f/mhu) by age, travel mode, and sex or residential Index of Multiple Deprivation. RESULTS: Fatality rates fell significantly 2007-2009 to 2010-2012: male f/bnkm from 2.8 (95%CI 2.7-2.9) to 2.0(1.9-2.1) for driving; 32.1(28.5-36.0) to 20.8(18.1-23.9) for cycling; and 51.4(48.5-54.4) to 36.7(34.3-39.3) for walking. Fatality rates varied by gender, age, and mode. Fatality rate ratios were generally higher for males than females for driving and walking. For males 17-20y, fatality rates were 19.5(17.7-21.4)/bnkm (0.76(0.69-0.83)/mhu) for drivers and 22.5(14.2-33.7)/bnkm (0.28(0.18-0.42)/mhu) for cyclists. Age-specific rates were J-shape for cycling, U-shape for driving, and increased exponentially with age for walking. Fatality rates aged 80+ were an order of magnitude higher in each mode than the all-age mean. Compared with those aged 17-20, rate ratios were significantly lower for male drivers 21+ and female drivers 21-74, but were higher for male cyclists aged 55+ and pedestrians 45+ (male) and 65+ (female). People living in the most deprived quintile generally had higher fatality rates than those in the least deprived quintile overall (three modes combined) and for walking but not for cycling; Rate ratios were highest for pedestrians 35-64 and drivers 35-54.CONCLUSIONS: Fatality rates for walking, cycling and driving are higher for males than females at almost every age and vary more by age than by travel mode. Deprivation exacerbates walking and driving fatality rates

IMPROVING SOLUBILITY OF BCS CLASS II DRUGS USING SOLID DISPERSION: A REVIEW

Biopharmaceutics Classification System is important for determining the bioavailability of the drugs. Drug development tool that allows estimation of the 3 major factors that affect oral drug absorption from immediate release solid oral dosage form is Dissolution, Solubility and Intestinal permeability. The bioavailability issue can be due to insufficient solubility of permeability. Most compounds face the solubility problems. The dissolution rate of drug from its dosage form is considered as an important parameter in the absorption. Dissolution is the rate-limiting step in the absorption of drugs from 1 solid dosage form especially when the drug is poorly water soluble. Poor wettability of drugs leads to the decrease in their bioavailability. Presently only 8% of new drug candidates have both high solubility and permeability and more than 60% of the products have poor water solubility. As a result the potentially important drugs do not reach the market and are not achieving their full potential. Hence, with the advancement of chemical science, the need of development of pharmaceutical technologies is also increasing. Solid dispersions have attracted considerable interest as an efficient means of improving the dissolution rate and hence the bioavailability of many drugs belonging to BCS class II. Solid dispersion has been used over last 20 to 30 years and has been known to give fruitful result in improving the release rate and oral bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs. Solid dispersion with different polymers and at different ratios is carried out and is known to show good release when compared to the drug alone and the physical mixture. Improvement in dissolution of drug was observed in all the solid dispersions as compared to pure drug. Keywords: Solid dispersion,eutectic mixtures,isothermal titration calorimetry,kneading metho

Who does what and why? Intra-household roles and explanatory models for sourcing soybean seed from the formal sector in Malawi

Open Access ArticleThis study asks whether there is utility in knowing who sources soybean seed within the household and why when explaining variation in seed obtained from the formal versus informal sector. Survey data collected in Malawi in 2018 were used to explore the question. Results suggest that the identity of the person who sources seed has little to do with whether the seed was obtained from the formal sector. Instead, why the person sources soybean seed is the better predictor. As formal seed system actors mobilize to persuade more smallholder farmers to adopt improved varieties, understanding why people source seed may be key for targeting and when designing agricultural development interventions