Analysis of Budget Policy on Agriculture under Different Governance Regimes

Towards resolving the role of governance in economic development, a model of factualcounterfactual analysis was formulated to determine the relative preference of two different regimes for agriculture in the public expenditure budget of developing countries. The poster is in eight main slides: Introduction (1); Model presentation (2, 3); Application to Nigeria (4,5); Empirical Results (6, 7); Conclusion (8). The results indicate that (a) the military showed greater preference for capital allocations to agriculture in the budget while the civil regime showed greater preference for recurrent allocation, which reflects the presence of strong opposition during the civilian regime that tends to over blow the size of civil service workforce engaged in agricultural policy administration together with the attendant recurrent commitments such as personal emoluments and general overhead; and (b) on the whole the civil regime reveals greater preference in terms of the total budget than the military regime, which suggests that the incremental recurrent expenditure during the civilian regime more than offsets the incremental capital expenditure during the military regime. Thus the scope for budget restructuring in favour agricultural growth through higher capital allocations in the public expenditure budget exists in the present dem ocratic dispensation to a larger extent than during the previous dictatorship under the military regime.budget policy, governance regimes, factual-counterfactual, preference for agriculture, capital allocation, recurrent allocation, total allocation, Agricultural and Food Policy, H5, H6,

Enhancing the Access of Rural Households to Output Markets for Increased Farm Incomes

In spite of various agricultural development efforts by national and international agencies, which have brought about technological innovations such as improved crop varieties and animal breeds as well as better production techniques, the resultant increase in farm output has not necessarily translated to increased farm income for farmers in Nigeria. This is mostly due to lack of market access and other market related factors. Suffice it to say that the development efforts had hitherto concentrated on the upstream agriculture at the expense of the downstream. Thus the objective of this study is to determine the role of market factors in the translation of incremental agricultural outputs into incremental farm incomes of rural households. Data from 400 households, randomly selected from 100 villages spread across 10 Local Government Areas in the four Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) Zones of Kebbi state, Nigeria were used to model the effect of some market-specific factors on rural households' farm income using Tobit Regression analysis. The result of the analysis revealed that the distance of the farm to the market, cost of transportation, medium of sales of farm produce, fees paid for space to display farm produce in the market and lack of up-to-date market information, had significant impacts on the farm income accruable to rural farming households in the study area. In addition to these, cost of transportation contributed the highest to the transaction cost of marketing farm produce. Therefore, the policies for increasing farming households' income require an integrated approach to intervention in downstream agriculture to enhance the market access, particularly in the area of fees paid to display farm produce in the market and transportation.Farming households, output markets, farm incomes, Nigeria, Consumer/Household Economics,

Land exchange practice and technical efficiency of rice farmers in North-eastern zone of Nigeria

In the context of agricultural development, economic growth, and food security in Africa, examining the practice of land exchange holds significant relevance. This study analyses the practice of land exchange and its effect on farmers' performance in Norther Eastern Zone of Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select a sample of 400 rice farmers engaged in irrigation farming. The selected farmers participated in structured interviews, providing the necessary data for the study. Descriptive analysis (of the mean) revealed that farmers are engaged in land exchange (16.07%) using two methods: land exchange for agricultural use (or farming purposes) and land exchange for property. Using a logistic regression model, it was found that number of plots, decrease in distance among plots, practice of mechanization, decrease in production costs, and improvement of efficiency were factors influencing farmers to exchange land. The result also suggested that farmers exhibited a high level of technical efficiency, implying that there is room for further enhancement in efficiency through the adoption of advanced technologies and the optimal utilization of existing resources. The beta regression's results indicated that land development have a negative effect on technical efficiency, while household size, rented land, and hired labor have positive effects. However, it was found that the practice of land exchange did not affect the level of technical efficiency of rice farmers in the study area, because of the observed limited land market and the high level of crop diversification. Hence, policymakers are advised to define land use rights explicitly and encourage land transactions, such as renting among farmers, selling occupancy rights, and transferring leasehold rights. These measures aim to improve land efficiency and bolster the land market

Analysis of Budget Policy on Agriculture under Different Governance Regimes

Towards resolving the role of governance in economic development, a model of factualcounterfactual analysis was formulated to determine the relative preference of two different regimes for agriculture in the public expenditure budget of developing countries. The poster is in eight main slides: Introduction (1); Model presentation (2, 3); Application to Nigeria (4,5); Empirical Results (6, 7); Conclusion (8). The results indicate that (a) the military showed greater preference for capital allocations to agriculture in the budget while the civil regime showed greater preference for recurrent allocation, which reflects the presence of strong opposition during the civilian regime that tends to over blow the size of civil service workforce engaged in agricultural policy administration together with the attendant recurrent commitments such as personal emoluments and general overhead; and (b) on the whole the civil regime reveals greater preference in terms of the total budget than the military regime, which suggests that the incremental recurrent expenditure during the civilian regime more than offsets the incremental capital expenditure during the military regime. Thus the scope for budget restructuring in favour agricultural growth through higher capital allocations in the public expenditure budget exists in the present dem ocratic dispensation to a larger extent than during the previous dictatorship under the military regime

Rethinking Africa's Food Policy in Terms Rights

The paper argues that basic rights approach is more applicable food policy in Africa than the traditional basic needs approach. The problem pertains to the introduction of right to food as a policy innovation in an environment wherein policy authorities are generally averse to rights issues that put pressure on them for programme accountability, public probity and policy due diligence. Towards resolving the problem, a methodology was stylized as ‘policy action research and development’ (PAR&D) which involved practical engagement of policy stakeholders and general public in practical learning and action for the introduction and adoption of right to food as a policy innovation. Results indicated that the adoption process could be slow in the presence of certain constraints and challenges encountered in the process, but there were positive signals that the policy change would happen as envisaged. The policy and practice changes observed include increasing public knowledge and interest about right to food issues coupled with increased rights consciousness of the people, as well as enhanced recognition of right to food by policy authorities. The recommended way forward is to reinforce the relevant organizations as change agents for institutionalizing right to food as a policy philosophy for the commercialization of Africa’s food sector

NIGERIA

This country brief reviews the major investment and institutional trends in Nigeria’s agricultural research system since the early 1970s, including a new set of survey data for the 1990s collected through the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative (IFPRI–ISNAR 2001–02)

Enhancing the Access of Rural Households to Output Markets for Increased Farm Incomes

In spite of various agricultural development efforts by national and international agencies, which have brought about technological innovations such as improved crop varieties and animal breeds as well as better production techniques, the resultant increase in farm output has not necessarily translated to increased farm income for farmers in Nigeria. This is mostly due to lack of market access and other market related factors. Suffice it to say that the development efforts had hitherto concentrated on the upstream agriculture at the expense of the downstream. Thus the objective of this study is to determine the role of market factors in the translation of incremental agricultural outputs into incremental farm incomes of rural households. Data from 400 households, randomly selected from 100 villages spread across 10 Local Government Areas in the four Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) Zones of Kebbi state, Nigeria were used to model the effect of some market-specific factors on rural households' farm income using Tobit Regression analysis. The result of the analysis revealed that the distance of the farm to the market, cost of transportation, medium of sales of farm produce, fees paid for space to display farm produce in the market and lack of up-to-date market information, had significant impacts on the farm income accruable to rural farming households in the study area. In addition to these, cost of transportation contributed the highest to the transaction cost of marketing farm produce. Therefore, the policies for increasing farming households' income require an integrated approach to intervention in downstream agriculture to enhance the market access, particularly in the area of fees paid to display farm produce in the market and transportation