PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF THE WORLD FOOD SITUATION

Although world food and agricultural production, based on current trends, will be sufficient to meet demand in the decades ahead, the world still faces a serious food crisis, at least as perilous and life-threatening for millions of poor people as those of the past. To this end, the main objective of this paper is to illuminate the world food situation and to provide a critical analysis of the core causes of world food insecurity by identifying the various misconceptions surrounding our understanding of hunger, starvation, and poverty. A clear and deeper awareness of the real causes of hunger and malnutrition in poor countries is imperative to enable and challenge policy makers and planners to lay the groundwork at the grass-roots level for appropriate policy measures and development programs designed to alleviate poverty and ensure food security.food distribution, food security, food supply, hunger, malnutrition, poverty, Food Security and Poverty,

The biology and control of red tef worm, Mentaxya ignicollis (walker) (Lepidoptera: noctuidae) in Ethiopia

Imperial Users onl

THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF CROP ROTATION SYSTEMS: EVIDENCE FROM THE LITERATURE

Agricultural sustainability requires that the individual farm firm be competitive and profitable while simultaneously enhancing environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the farm firm and agricultural economy depends. The reliance of conventional agriculture systems on purchased inputs external to the firm presents possible challenges to the long-term sustainability of the system. Crop rotation systems are one cropping system alternative that can reduce agriculture's dependence on external inputs through internal nutrient recycling, maintenance of the long-term productivity of the land, and breaking weed and disease cycles. Decision criteria to choose among competing crop rotation systems can include impact on soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, and farm profitability. However, most of the comparative economic analysis work reviewed for this paper considered only farm profitability as a criterion to rank alternative crop rotation systems. Most rotation research is focused around a target crop that is the foundation for the crop rotation system. When corn is the target crop, comparative profitability performance of continuous corn vs. corn grown in rotation showed that neither system is consistently more profitable than another. Corn yield in Michigan does respond favorably to crop diversity. Wheat as the target crop in rotation tends to outperform continuous wheat both in terms of profitability and income risk. Sugar beet prices hold the key in determining the profitability ranking of alternative sugar beet-based crop rotations. Potato in rotations tends to outperform continuous potato both in terms of yield and profitability. Future studies addressing the economic performance of crop rotations need to consider the environmental benefits/costs both on and off the farm site that accrue to society. Keywords: Agricultural sustainability, external inputs, soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, crop rotations, comparative economic analysis, farm profitability.Agricultural sustainability, external inputs, soil quality and fertility, environmental quality, crop rotations, comparative economic analysis, farm profitability., Crop Production/Industries,

Cereal Marketing and Household Market Participation in Ethiopia: The Case of Teff, Wheat and Rice

Teff, wheat and rice are becoming important market oriented crops in Ethiopia. This study aims at analyzing the market participation of farm households, market actors, market channels and determinants of household market participation for these crops. Results are based on analysis of data collected from community and household surveys in three districts in three regional states of the country in 2005. Analysis of descriptive information and econometric analysis are used. About 65 - 77% of households produce these market oriented commodities, on about 27 – 44% of the total cultivated area. About 47 – 60% of the produce of these market oriented commodities is sold. The important market places for producers of these commodities are the district town markets and markets located at the peasant associations. Markets in other district towns or regional markets are not important for producers. Wholesalers and retailers are the most important buyers from producers. Average distance to market places for these commodities is about two walking hours. Econometric analyses showed that access to markets as measured by distance to market places does not have effect on market orientation of households in the study area. We find evidence of an U-shaped relationship between age of household head and market orientation of households in the cereal crops. Availability of cultivated land, traction power and household labor supply are important factors that induces households to be market oriented. The resource poverty of female headed households seems to detract from market orientation. While household size tends to favor food security objectives, number of dependents is associated with market orientation. Our results imply that improvements of markets to benefit producers need to be targeted at the district level. Improving the operations of factor markets of land, traction and farm labor could contribute to enhancing market orientation of farm households. Special attention is needed to female headed households to induce them to be market oriented.Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Policies and institutions to enhance the impact of irrigation development in mixed crop-livestock systemsLength: pp.168-184

Irrigation managementInstitutional developmentPolicyCrop productionLivestockWater demandIrrigation waterSmall scale systemsInvestmentFarmer managed irrigation systemsPovertyFarmersGenderWater users’ associations

Crop-Livestock Interactions in Smallholders’ Market Participation: Evidence from Crop-Livestock Mixed Systems in Ethiopia

Most studies on smallholder market participation decisions analyze crop or livestock market participation separately. However, in mixed crop-livestock farming systems, smallholders’ participation decisions in crop and livestock markets may not be separate as a household’s position in one market may be influenced by its position in the other. Where there is limited income from off-farm and/or non-farm activities, household cash requirements for crop production or household consumption are usually met by selling livestock. Similarly, livestock purchase is usually financed by income from crop sales. However, to what extent the position in one market influences the other is still not well explored in the literature. The aim of this paper is to investigate the interactions of crop and livestock output market participation of smallholders, by analyzing the determinants of household market participation positions in both commodities simultaneously. Household level data collected in 2009 from 1075 sample households in ten districts of the four major regions of Ethiopia is used for the analyses. Using simultaneous equation models, we test whether the position of being a net seller in crop market is affected by the position of being a net buyer in the livestock market, and vice versa. Results show that the decision to be a net buyer in crop market is associated positively with the decision to be a net seller in livestock market. Similarly, the decision to be a net seller in crop market is associated positively with the decision to be a net buyer in livestock market. This implies that crop purchase is financed by livestock sale and excess income from crop sale is saved in the form of livestock asset. Thus, policies/strategies enhancing smallholders’ participation in crop and livestock markets in mixed crop-livestock system should pay attention to the production and marketing of both commodities simultaneously.market participation, market position, crop-livestock system, smallholder, Ethiopia, Farm Management,

Prices and Poverty in Urban Ethiopia

Poverty is an ongoing issue in Ethiopia. The identification of policy options to address the problem primarily requires that poverty be measured accurately. One of the most important ingredients in the measurement of poverty are prices. The magnitude of poverty is affected by how cost of living differences across time and regions are adjusted. This paper derives a set of price indices for Urban Ethiopia using data from four urban household surveys conducted in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 2000. The results show that the cities of Dire Dawa and Mekelle are the two most expensive cities, while Jimma and Bahir Dar are the least expensive. The findings also confirm that poverty is indeed high in urban Ethiopia with poverty head count of over 40 percent. Poverty estimates derived using country level consumer price indexes, which do not adjust for spatial cost of living differences, are misleading. But using poverty lines as deflators to account for price differences does not affect the poverty estimates obtained.Poverty; Urban Ethiopia; Price indexes

Commercialization of Smallholders: Is Market Participation Enough?

The literature on commercial transformation of smallholders makes little distinction between market orientation (production decision based on market signals) and market participation (sale of output). However, policy implications to enhance commercial transformation of subsistence agriculture drawn from the analysis of the determinants of household market participation alone could be inadequate, if in fact, the determinants of market orientation and market participation are not the same or not consistent with each other. This paper analyzes the determinants of market orientation and market participation in Ethiopia separately and examines if market orientation translates into market participation. Empirical results show that the determinants of market orientation and market participation in crop output markets are not the same, but market orientation translates strongly into market participation. Results imply that while interventions to enhance market orientation could also help in promoting market participation, interventions to promote market participation may not be adequate to promote market orientation.commercialization, smallholders, market orientation, market participation, Marketing, C21, C24, Q12, Q13,

INVESTMENT IN SOIL CONSERVATION IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: THE ROLE OF LAND TENURE SECURITY AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Soil erosion seriously threatens the future agricultural productivity of Ethiopia's highlands. In analyzing the determinants of soil conservation investments there, this study goes beyond the conventional physical factors to examine institutional, social capital and public program effects. The double hurdle statistical analysis from 250 farms in the Tigray region reveals different causal factors for soil conservation adoption versus intensity of use. The determinants of adoption of soil conservation measures vary sharply between stone terraces and soil bunds. Physical propensity toward erosion (e.g., slope, slope shape and soil texture) and land suitability for conservation helped determine conservation investments in all cases. But institutional and social determinants of investment differed importantly between bunds and terraces. Long-term investments in stone terraces were associated with secure land tenure, labor availability, proximity to the farmstead, and learning opportunities via the availability of food-for-work projects. By contrast, short-term investments in soil bunds were strongly linked to insecure land tenure and the absence of food-for-work projects. Farm beneficiaries of public soil conservation programs were less likely to invest privately in either type of conservation practice. Social capital, as measured by farmer perception of community pressure to curb soil erosion, did not contribute significantly to either kind of conservation investment. The intensity of stone terrace adoption (measured as meters of terrace per hectare) was determined by expected returns but not by capacity to invest. Higher intensity of stone terrace construction was favored by fertile-but-erodible silty soils in (rainy) highland settings that offered valuable yield benefits from soil conservation. Intensity of terracing was also greater in remote villages where limited off-farm employment opportunities made construction costs relatively low. Previous research has highlighted the need for public policy interventions to supplement private incentives to make soil conservation investments in erosion-prone mountain areas. Our results highlight the importance of the right kind of public interventions. Direct public involvement in constructing soil conservation structures on private lands appears to undermine incentives for private conservation investments. When done on public lands, however, public conservation activities may encourage private soil conservation by example. Secure land tenure rights clearly reinforce private incentives to make long-term investments in soil conservation.Land Economics/Use,