Drought impacts and related risk management by smallholder farmers in developing countries: evidence from Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

Climate risk studies have largely neglected household coping and adaptation strategies. In this paper we analyze drought impacts, drought risk management, and resulting drought resilience in Awash River Basin of Ethiopia based on socio-economic data collected from 43 randomly selected Peasant Associations. We find that severe drought periods have led to a significant depression of crop yields and to widespread death of livestock in the past. Drought periods have drastically increased the proportion of food insecure households and lengthened the duration of food insecurity in the area. Since, with climate change, drought periods are predicted to become more frequent in this region in the future, the problem of food insecurity is likely to become even more severe. Ex-ante adaptation strategies are widely practised in Awash River Basin and include the storage of crop residues as fodder for livestock, the rearing of drought tolerant livestock, mixed cropping, the use of short duration crop varieties, and the adoption of soil and water conservation practices. Ex-post coping strategies utilized to manage the consequences of drought include the sale of assets and the reliance on consumption loans and support offered by informal networks. Therefore, suitable policies are urgently needed to strengthen farmers’ capacity to adapt to and cope with drought. Training farmers in the production and conservation of livestock fodder as well as in soil and water conservation practices appear to be key policy options relevant in the area. Moreover, improving farmers’ access to climate related information, especially drought forecasts, could improve the timely adoption of effective adaptation measures.drought, drought risk management, Ethiopia, Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics, O13, Q12,

Science in Agricultural Relief and Development Programs: The Case of Conservation Farming In Zimbabwe

Drought is endemic to southern Africa. In Zimbabwe farmers have been experiencing drought once every two to three years. Relief agencies have traditionally responded to drought by providing farmers with enough seed and fertilizer to enable them to re-establish their cropping enterprises. But, in the absence of these interventions there are limited sustainable options for farmers to maintain higher productivity levels. ICRISAT has been working with government, NGOs and the donor community to test more sustainable farming strategies that will increase food production levels even under drought conditions. For years, ICRISAT sought to develop more drought-tolerant varieties of sorghum, pearl millet and groundnut. But these offered only limited gains in productivity. More recently, ICRISAT and its partners have been testing strategies to sustainably improve crop productivity. These encompass two major components – conservation farming techniques that include the use of planting basins, which concentrate limited water and nutrient resources to the plant, and the precision application of small doses of nitrogen-based fertilizer. These simple technologies have increased average yields by 1575 percent, being obtained by more than 300,000 farm households. Rather than simply handing free inputs to farmers, this strategy teaches farmers how to apply the inputs most efficiently. The pursuit of input-use efficiency provides higher and more sustainable productivity gains necessary to achieve food security in drought-prone farming systems. A farm enterprise budget analysis has been employed to show that it is more viable to adopt conservation farming techniques particularly under drought conditions.Drought, Farmers, Relief, Zimbabwe, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, 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,

“Supply and demand trends for fertilizer in Zimbabwe: 1930 to date”: Key drivers and lessons learnt

The fertilizer sector in Zimbabwe has evolved over the years in response to different policy changes based on the government’s priorities on agricultural development. The industry grew from the 1930s that targeted primarily large scale commercial farmers, through the liberalization period of the mid 1990s, and recent changes that have introduced controls on the marketing system. Since 2000, following the fast track land reform program, Zimbabwe has faced food insecurity challenges that have been exacerbated by the political and economic crises. This prompted the government to adopt policies that have reduced private sector interests in fertilizer supply. In this situation where explicit fertilizer markets have been absent, relief programs have been leading in facilitating deliveries of fertilizers to poorer smallholder farmers located even in remote areas. The supply of fertilizers in Zimbabwe has been driven by government policy, finance and infrastructure while the demand has primarily been a function of farmer’s capacity to acquire fertilizers, availability of water and farmers knowledge of fertilizer use. There is need for a policy shift that promotes a competitive fertilizer marketing to support a broader range of farmers in Zimbabwe leading to agricultural productivity growth. Investment in infrastructure is critical to reduce marketing costs and to boost fertilizer demand; policies that strengthen farmer’s capacity to acquire fertilizers and increase their knowledge on fertilizer use complemented by technologies that promote water use efficiencies are needed.Fertilizer, supply and demand, policy reform, consumption trends, Crop Production/Industries,

Drought impacts and related risk management by smallholder farmers in developing countries : evidence from Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

Climate risk studies have largely neglected household coping and adaptation strategies. In this paper we analyze drought impacts, drought risk management, and resulting drought resilience in Awash River Basin of Ethiopia based on socio-economic data collected from 43 randomly selected Peasant Associations. We find that severe drought periods have led to a significant depression of crop yields and to widespread death of livestock in the past. Drought periods have drastically increased the proportion of food insecure households and lengthened the duration of food insecurity in the area. Since, with climate change, drought periods are predicted to become more frequent in this region in the future, the problem of food insecurity is likely to become even more severe. Ex-ante adaptation strategies are widely practised in Awash River Basin and include the storage of crop residues as fodder for livestock, the rearing of drought tolerant livestock, mixed cropping, the use of short duration crop varieties, and the adoption of soil and water conservation practices. Ex-post coping strategies utilized to manage the consequences of drought include the sale of assets and the reliance on consumption loans and support offered by informal networks. Therefore, suitable policies are urgently needed to strengthen farmers? capacity to adapt to and cope with drought. Training farmers in the production and conservation of livestock fodder as well as in soil and water conservation practices appear to be key policy options relevant in the area. Moreover, improving farmers? access to climate related information, especially drought forecasts, could improve the timely adoption of effective adaptation measures

Cost effectiveness of seed fairs relative to direct relief distribution in Zimbabwe

Seed fairs were being promoted in Zimbabwe as an alternative seed distribution approach to sustain local input markets. Using data from ICRISAT monitoring surveys of 2005–06 and records maintained by non-governmental organisations, this article reveals that seed fairs were more cost effective in distributing local seed compared to direct distribution of imported seed. The article found that, in order to supply one household with a seed pack, it will cost an agency US$5.18 through seed fair compared to US$8.22 through direct seed distribution. Vouchers redeemable in retail shops are proposed as an incentive for local shops to stock and distribute agricultural inputs.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdip2

Farm production diversification and dietary diversity among subsistence farming households : panel data evidence from South Africa

The study data indicated a moderate level of household dietary diversity that shows a declining trend between 2008 and 2017. Farm households produced three food groups (meat, cereals, and vegetables), suggesting more reliance on food purchases than their own production. Findings suggest that encouraging subsistence farming households to produce various crop and animal species can be an effective strategy to improve dietary diversity among poor households in South Africa. Production diversity was not significantly associated with the consumption of micronutrient-rich foods such as fruits or vegetables. Higher levels of education, income per capita, food expenditure, and geographic location were factors in dietary diversity

An Empirical Comparison of Consumer Innovation Adoption Models: Implications for Subsistence Marketplaces

So called “pro-poor” innovations may improve consumer wellbeing in subsistence marketplaces. However, there is little research that integrates the area with the vast literature on innovation adoption. Using a questionnaire where respondents were asked to provide their evaluations about a mobile banking innovation, this research fills this gap by providing empirical evidence of the applicability of existing innovation adoption models in subsistence marketplaces. The study was conducted in Bangladesh among a geographically dispersed sample. The data collected allowed an empirical comparison of models in a subsistence context. The research reveals the most useful models in this context to be the Value Based Adoption Model and the Consumer Acceptance of Technology model. In light of these findings and further examination of the model comparison results the research also shows that consumers in subsistence marketplaces are not just motivated by functionality and economic needs. If organizations cannot enhance the hedonic attributes of a pro-poor innovation, and reduce the internal/external constraints related to adoption of that pro-poor innovation, then adoption intention by consumers will be lower

Mobile money and household food security in Uganda

Despite the fact that the use of mobile money technology has been spreading rapidly in developing countries, empirical studies on the broader welfare effects of the technology on rural households are still limited. Using household survey data, we analyse the effect of mobile money on household food security in Uganda. Unlike previous studies that rely on a single measure of food security, we measure food security using two indicators – a food insecurity index and food expenditures. To account for selection bias in mobile money use, we estimate treatment effects and instrumental variables regressions. Our results indicate that the use of mobile money per se as well as the volumes transferred are associated with a reduction in food insecurity. Furthermore, the use, frequency of use, and volumes of mobile money transferred are associated with increases in food expenditures. Policy interventions and strategies aiming to improve household food security should consider the promotion of mobile money among rural households in Uganda and other developing countries as a promising instrument