Franklin Simtowe and Kai Mausch
New agricultural technologies are continuously generated and promoted for adoption by farmers with the expectation that they bring about higher benefits than older technologies…
Abstract
Purpose
New agricultural technologies are continuously generated and promoted for adoption by farmers with the expectation that they bring about higher benefits than older technologies. Yet, depending on the perceived benefits, the user of the technology may choose to stop using it. This paper aims to analyze what drives farmers to dis-adopt climate smart sorghum varieties in Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses cross-sectional farm household level data collected in Tanzania from a sample of 767 households. The determinants of dis-adoption are explored using a bivariate probit with sample selection model.
Findings
The authors find that while farmers switch between different sorghum varieties, most farmers actually quit sorghum production. Older farmers and those facing biotic stresses such attacks by birds are more likely to dis-adopt sorghum.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that there is scope for improving and sustaining the adoption of sorghum varieties in Tanzania once extension services are strengthened. The findings also point to a well-founded theory on the role of markets in enhancing the overall sustainability of food systems.
Social implications
The study findings have broader implications for understanding the sustainability of improved technology adoption
Originality/value
Dis-adoption is also positively associated with the lack of access to markets underscoring the role of markets in enhancing the overall sustainability of technology adoption and food systems.
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Emily Amondo, Franklin Simtowe, Dil Bahadur Rahut and Olaf Erenstein
Productivity and production risks affect the use of agricultural production practices and inputs, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the effects…
Abstract
Purpose
Productivity and production risks affect the use of agricultural production practices and inputs, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) on farm productivity, yield variance and downside risk exposure of maize growing households of Zambia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses household survey data collected from 11 maize producing districts of Eastern, Southern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia using a structured questionnaire. The Antle’s flexible moment-based approach was used in specifying, estimating and testing a stochastic production function. The study further applied an endogenous switching regression model to control for both observable and unobservable sources of bias.
Findings
The study revealed that DTMV adoption increases maize yield by 15 per cent and reduces the risk of crop failure: reducing yield variance by 38 per cent and exposure to downside risk by 36 per cent.
Originality/value
This study establishes the benefits of DTMV adoption in Zambia with regards to productivity, yield stability and downside risk in the face of climate change. Results from this study underscore the need for more concerted efforts to scale-out DTMVs for both maize productivity enhancement and for risk mitigation against weather shocks.
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Franklin Simtowe, Aliou Diagne and Manfred Zeller
Using data from Malawi, this paper examines factors that influence a household’s likelihood of facing credit constraints. Households with larger land holdings have a higher…
Abstract
Using data from Malawi, this paper examines factors that influence a household’s likelihood of facing credit constraints. Households with larger land holdings have a higher probability of reporting credit constraints, apparently due to lack of secure land rights which could enable households to use land as collateral when borrowing. Households with a greater number of active male adults are also more likely to report credit constraints.
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Minh Chau Tran, Christopher E.C. Gan and Baiding Hu
– The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting formal credit constraint status of rural farm households in Vietnam’s North Central Coast (NCC) region.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting formal credit constraint status of rural farm households in Vietnam’s North Central Coast (NCC) region.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the direct elicitation method (DEM), the authors consider both internal and external credit rationing.
Findings
Empirical evidences confirm the importance of household head’s age, gender and education to household’s likelihood of being credit constrained. In addition, households who have advantages in farm land size, labour resources and non-farm income are less likely to be credit constrained. Poor households are observed to remain restricted by formal credit institutions. Results from the endogenous switching regression model suggest that credit constraints negatively impact household’s consumption per capita and informal credit can act as a substitute to mitigate the negative influence of formal credit constraints.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation arises from the usage of the DEM to identify credit constrained households. The method cannot detect effective and ineffective constraints. Another limitation is the inability of cross-section data to capture long-term impacts of credit constraints on household welfare. Finally, causes of credit constraints from the lender’s view cannot be observed.
Practical implications
The results suggest that it is necessary to enhance the credit allocation regime to reduce the transaction cost and provide target households with sufficient credit. It should be emphasized that high transaction cost and the mismatch between credit demand and supply stemming from information asymmetry. The government can help formal financial institutions to reduce information cost by encouraging the active role of social organizations such as Women Unions, Youth Unions and Veteran Unions in bridging rural farm households with formal lenders.
Originality/value
There are limited studies focusing on determinants of credit constraints and their impacts on rural farm households. To the best of the knowledge, there is no study evaluating the impact of credit constraints on rural farm household welfare particularly in Vietnam. In addition, the studies related to credit constraints only considered full quantity rationing (households applied for the loan but were rejected), omitting the case of partly quantity rationing (loan obtained by the borrowers is less than their demand) and self-rationing.
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Franklin Nantui Mabe, Seiba Issifu and Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa
In Ghana, legal and illegal artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) activities have attracted the attention of the general populace and academia with varied opinions. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
In Ghana, legal and illegal artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) activities have attracted the attention of the general populace and academia with varied opinions. This study examined how adopting the coping strategies for ASM operations affected the welfare of farm households.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data were solicited from respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. This paper used the endogenous treatment effect model to quantitatively estimate whether or not farmers who adopt coping strategies for activities of ASM have improved or deteriorated welfare.
Findings
The results revealed that households adopted coping strategies such as diversification, social networking, land reclamation, borrowing, dependence on the market for food and resettlement in other communities. The endogenous treatment effect model results show that households that adopted land reclamation and social networking had improved welfare regarding consumption expenditure and food security compared to non-adopters. Conversely, diversification was associated with lower consumption expenditures and high food insecurity among adopters.
Practical implications
This paper recommends that farm households in mining communities form cooperatives and farmer-based organizations to ensure improved access to joint resources for enhanced capacity to cope with ASM-induced shocks. There is a need for government and civil society organizations to encourage and support land reclamation measures.
Originality/value
This paper covers a broader perspective and deploys more than one welfare proxy, which has not been considered before in previous studies.
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Adem Nemo Eresso and Yared Deribe Tefera
Cooperatives are used as one of the strategic tools to reach smallholder farmers and reduce household poverty through augmenting access to inputs, technologies, farm productivity…
Abstract
Purpose
Cooperatives are used as one of the strategic tools to reach smallholder farmers and reduce household poverty through augmenting access to inputs, technologies, farm productivity and markets. Our study aims to investigate the impacts of the Meki Batu Cooperative Union on reducing household poverty.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a cross-sectional survey of households in the Dugda district of the East Shewa zone in the Oromia region. A two-stage sampling design was applied, where four rural Kebeles were first randomly picked, followed by stratified random samples of 217 producers comprising 100 members and 117 non-members of cooperatives. The standard probit model was estimated with a set of observable factors. Propensity score matching (PSM), doubly robust inverse probability weighting and treatment effect estimation were performed along with matching techniques.
Findings
The results reveal that education, livestock assets, access to irrigation and extension contact positively determine participation in cooperatives. As the income-based poverty attests, the poverty gap was reduced by 5.9–6.3% and the severity of poverty by 3.7–3.8% due to the cooperative membership.
Research limitations/implications
The investigation suggests the need for continued and comprehensive social services to address development challenges through the facilitation of producers’ engagement in collective actions and agribusinesses.
Originality/value
Existing research evidence is inconclusive with the view of impacts of collective actions on housed welfare in Ethiopia. This study empirically tested the impacts in connection to the production and marketing of high-value crops.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2024-0231