Pub Date : 2021-05-19DOI: 10.1177/09730052211005244
Joyee Deb, R. Sinha
Increased competition coupled with commercialisation in the Indian microfinance sector has brought about many major transformations. From an impact-driven development programme, microfinance institutions (MFIs) today emerged as commercially oriented profit-making entities. In addition to bringing their commercial and social objectives into balance, MFIs today are striving for efficient level of operation. Efficiency in the level of operation of MFIs allows them to remain competitive and attain financial sustainability. However, it is also imperative for MFIs to remain socially committed towards the ultimate mission of reaching the poorest at the bottom of the pyramid. Hence, it is of research interest to see the trade-off between MFIs’ social objective of spreading outreach and at the same time remaining financially sustainable. Against this backdrop, this article is devoted to study the potential impact of competition and commercialisation on efficiency of MFIs in India and Bangladesh. The study is carried over 75 MFIs altogether over the period of 8 years from 2009 to 2016. The data have been collected from microfinance information exchange database. Efficiency is measured through technical efficiency (TE) scores as estimated under data envelopment analysis. In order to establish the association between competitions, which is estimated by the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI), tobit regression is used. The study evidenced increasing level of competition in the sector over the years, but it is more pronounced in India as against Bangladesh. In order to analyse the trade-off, TE scores are separately estimated under both financial and social measures. TE score is found to be higher in case of social measures of efficiency as against financial efficiency. Further, under both the measures, competition is found to be having a significant impact on both financial and social efficiency.
{"title":"Impact of Competition on Efficiency of Microfinance Institutions: Cross Country Comparison of India and Bangladesh","authors":"Joyee Deb, R. Sinha","doi":"10.1177/09730052211005244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09730052211005244","url":null,"abstract":"Increased competition coupled with commercialisation in the Indian microfinance sector has brought about many major transformations. From an impact-driven development programme, microfinance institutions (MFIs) today emerged as commercially oriented profit-making entities. In addition to bringing their commercial and social objectives into balance, MFIs today are striving for efficient level of operation. Efficiency in the level of operation of MFIs allows them to remain competitive and attain financial sustainability. However, it is also imperative for MFIs to remain socially committed towards the ultimate mission of reaching the poorest at the bottom of the pyramid. Hence, it is of research interest to see the trade-off between MFIs’ social objective of spreading outreach and at the same time remaining financially sustainable. Against this backdrop, this article is devoted to study the potential impact of competition and commercialisation on efficiency of MFIs in India and Bangladesh. The study is carried over 75 MFIs altogether over the period of 8 years from 2009 to 2016. The data have been collected from microfinance information exchange database. Efficiency is measured through technical efficiency (TE) scores as estimated under data envelopment analysis. In order to establish the association between competitions, which is estimated by the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI), tobit regression is used. The study evidenced increasing level of competition in the sector over the years, but it is more pronounced in India as against Bangladesh. In order to analyse the trade-off, TE scores are separately estimated under both financial and social measures. TE score is found to be higher in case of social measures of efficiency as against financial efficiency. Further, under both the measures, competition is found to be having a significant impact on both financial and social efficiency.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"250 - 270"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09730052211005244","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46304449","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-10DOI: 10.1177/09730052211008294
S. K. Velayudhan
Retail institutions offer economic and social benefits to the participants in a market. It is expected that in a less developed economy the social factors influence economic behaviour much more than in developed economies. The rural markets offer increased opportunities for the influence of social factors on economic transactions. This study examined the case of a rural periodic market. To ensure reliability the case study protocol questions reflected propositions developed on the research questions. It was expected that the participants would exhibit the influence of social relations in their market transactions. The results indicated that the economic benefits than social considerations influenced participant behaviour in the rural periodic market. Contrary to expectations not all consumers in a less developed economy exhibit social embeddedness in economic behaviour. Implications are for policymakers involved in planning and regulating rural markets. They need to take into consideration the differing behaviour of consumer groups in designing or regulating retail markets. This study examining the social embeddedness of buyer behaviour in the rural retail context of a less developed economy is presumably the first.
{"title":"Influence of Economic Benefits and Social Interaction on Buyer Participation in a Rural Retail Institution: Study of an Indian Periodic Market","authors":"S. K. Velayudhan","doi":"10.1177/09730052211008294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09730052211008294","url":null,"abstract":"Retail institutions offer economic and social benefits to the participants in a market. It is expected that in a less developed economy the social factors influence economic behaviour much more than in developed economies. The rural markets offer increased opportunities for the influence of social factors on economic transactions. This study examined the case of a rural periodic market. To ensure reliability the case study protocol questions reflected propositions developed on the research questions. It was expected that the participants would exhibit the influence of social relations in their market transactions. The results indicated that the economic benefits than social considerations influenced participant behaviour in the rural periodic market. Contrary to expectations not all consumers in a less developed economy exhibit social embeddedness in economic behaviour. Implications are for policymakers involved in planning and regulating rural markets. They need to take into consideration the differing behaviour of consumer groups in designing or regulating retail markets. This study examining the social embeddedness of buyer behaviour in the rural retail context of a less developed economy is presumably the first.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"232 - 249"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09730052211008294","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42082578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-05DOI: 10.1177/09730052211000875
H. S. Shylendra
As a new generation development programme, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has sought to promote collectives of the poor women as the corner-stone of its strategy for livelihood promotion. The livelihood enhancement is meant to be actualised through a multi-dimensional strategy of livelihood protection and promotion. The paper hypothesised that despite their avowed goal, the collectives of women are bound to face enormous challenges in the livelihood promotion in the absence of an integrated approach more so in the context of neoliberalism. The findings of the paper corroborate the hypothesis to a great extent. Contrary to the theoretical visualisation of institutionalists, collectives of poor have faced challenges in their self-reliant emergence. The intervention has emerged more as a minimalist microfinance with inherent limitations regarding poverty alleviation. The paper concludes that the collectives of NRLM have a long way to go before they can emerge as strong livelihood promoting agencies. Sustained support to build the capacities of the fledging collectives, a reversal of the top–down elements of their multi-tier structure and the strong need for greater role clarity for the collectives along with professional support are some of the policy suggestions.
{"title":"Livelihood Promotion: Can the Collectives of NRLM Really Do It?","authors":"H. S. Shylendra","doi":"10.1177/09730052211000875","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09730052211000875","url":null,"abstract":"As a new generation development programme, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has sought to promote collectives of the poor women as the corner-stone of its strategy for livelihood promotion. The livelihood enhancement is meant to be actualised through a multi-dimensional strategy of livelihood protection and promotion. The paper hypothesised that despite their avowed goal, the collectives of women are bound to face enormous challenges in the livelihood promotion in the absence of an integrated approach more so in the context of neoliberalism. The findings of the paper corroborate the hypothesis to a great extent. Contrary to the theoretical visualisation of institutionalists, collectives of poor have faced challenges in their self-reliant emergence. The intervention has emerged more as a minimalist microfinance with inherent limitations regarding poverty alleviation. The paper concludes that the collectives of NRLM have a long way to go before they can emerge as strong livelihood promoting agencies. Sustained support to build the capacities of the fledging collectives, a reversal of the top–down elements of their multi-tier structure and the strong need for greater role clarity for the collectives along with professional support are some of the policy suggestions.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"323 - 357"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09730052211000875","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45438945","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-28DOI: 10.1177/09730052211001674
I. Chirisa, V. Nel
The article makes a case for the integration of resilience thinking in the debate on rural human settlements in the regional planning. It observes the numerous definitions of resilience within different research traditions, disciplines and fields, such as sociology, psychology, medicine, engineering, economics, ecology and political science have affected the decision-making processes in different human settlements across the globe. The dynamics of integrating resilience theory and practice into rural settlement planning and implications for sustainable development are little understood. The paper suggests the broadening of resilience drawing on diverse perspectives that appeal to wide ranging interdisciplinary experiences. Using the multi-case study approach, the article suggests how ideas of resilience can be translated into practice and how practices of resilience can be theorised in the context of the regional planning in Zimbabwe. Undoubtedly, an integrated framework for the development country’s space economy should accommodate a wide range of concepts, strategies and models of resilience together with the underpinning policy implementation modalities.
{"title":"Resilience Thinking in the Rural Human Settlements’ Development and Management","authors":"I. Chirisa, V. Nel","doi":"10.1177/09730052211001674","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09730052211001674","url":null,"abstract":"The article makes a case for the integration of resilience thinking in the debate on rural human settlements in the regional planning. It observes the numerous definitions of resilience within different research traditions, disciplines and fields, such as sociology, psychology, medicine, engineering, economics, ecology and political science have affected the decision-making processes in different human settlements across the globe. The dynamics of integrating resilience theory and practice into rural settlement planning and implications for sustainable development are little understood. The paper suggests the broadening of resilience drawing on diverse perspectives that appeal to wide ranging interdisciplinary experiences. Using the multi-case study approach, the article suggests how ideas of resilience can be translated into practice and how practices of resilience can be theorised in the context of the regional planning in Zimbabwe. Undoubtedly, an integrated framework for the development country’s space economy should accommodate a wide range of concepts, strategies and models of resilience together with the underpinning policy implementation modalities.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"146 - 160"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09730052211001674","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48814226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-22DOI: 10.1177/0973005221999913
Peter Asare-Nuamah, Mclarence Shungu Mandaza, A. F. Amungwa
This study explores adaptation and farmer-led agricultural innovation strategies of smallholder farmers in Mbire District of Zimbabwe. Guided by explanatory sequential mixed methods design, 201 smallholder farmers were selected through multistage probability sampling technique and 18 participants were purposively selected. The instruments for the study included questionnaire and interview, which were analysed through basic descriptive and thematic analysis, respectively. The results show that smallholder farmers have adapted to climate change through multiple strategies including planting improved and drought resistant crops, cultivating fewer plots, mixed cropping, keeping more livestock, applying agrochemicals and local ecological knowledge as well as livelihood diversification, which are influenced by gender, education and farm size of respondents. The respondents have diversified their livelihood by engaging in brick moulding, sales of livestock, petty trade and dependence on remittance and social safety net as well as reduction in size and number of diets. The study identified financial, technological, social, institutional and information barriers to farmers’ adaptation. Farmer-led innovations identified by this study included planting Kanongo open pollinated variety of maize, pen fattening, over mulching, cassava cultivation and staggered planting. The implications of the results are teased out and policy recommendations are suggested.
{"title":"Adaptation Strategies and Farmer-led Agricultural Innovations to Climate Change in Mbire Districtof Zimbabwe","authors":"Peter Asare-Nuamah, Mclarence Shungu Mandaza, A. F. Amungwa","doi":"10.1177/0973005221999913","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0973005221999913","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores adaptation and farmer-led agricultural innovation strategies of smallholder farmers in Mbire District of Zimbabwe. Guided by explanatory sequential mixed methods design, 201 smallholder farmers were selected through multistage probability sampling technique and 18 participants were purposively selected. The instruments for the study included questionnaire and interview, which were analysed through basic descriptive and thematic analysis, respectively. The results show that smallholder farmers have adapted to climate change through multiple strategies including planting improved and drought resistant crops, cultivating fewer plots, mixed cropping, keeping more livestock, applying agrochemicals and local ecological knowledge as well as livelihood diversification, which are influenced by gender, education and farm size of respondents. The respondents have diversified their livelihood by engaging in brick moulding, sales of livestock, petty trade and dependence on remittance and social safety net as well as reduction in size and number of diets. The study identified financial, technological, social, institutional and information barriers to farmers’ adaptation. Farmer-led innovations identified by this study included planting Kanongo open pollinated variety of maize, pen fattening, over mulching, cassava cultivation and staggered planting. The implications of the results are teased out and policy recommendations are suggested.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"206 - 231"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0973005221999913","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65342796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-22DOI: 10.1177/09730052211007606
S. Mukherjee
Improving economic viability of Indian agriculture is contingent upon agri-environmental sustainability (AES). Objective assessment of environmental costs of agriculture is lacking in India. Unless internalise environmental impacts of agriculture will be borne by the society at large, in terms of depletion and degradation of water resources, land degradation and emissions of greenhouse gases, etc. To assess AES of Indian agriculture, the present article builds a comprehensive agri-environmental sustainability index (AESI) based on 40 agri-environmental indicators. The study captures both spatial and temporal aspects of AES by covering 17 major Indian states over 24 years (1990–1991 to 2013–2014). The estimated AESI scores are validated with outcome indicators (e.g., groundwater depletion, depletion of soil nutrients). The results show that states having higher score in Sustainable Irrigation Index are facing lower fall in groundwater level and there are negative correlations across sub-indices of AESI and macronutrient deficiencies in soil. An inverse relationship between AESI scores and agricultural intensity (as measured by average productivity of foodgrains in kilograms per hectare) is also observed. The study comes out with policy suggestions which could help to attain AES of Indian agriculture.
{"title":"Agri-Environmental Sustainability of Indian Agriculture: A State Level Analysis","authors":"S. Mukherjee","doi":"10.1177/09730052211007606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09730052211007606","url":null,"abstract":"Improving economic viability of Indian agriculture is contingent upon agri-environmental sustainability (AES). Objective assessment of environmental costs of agriculture is lacking in India. Unless internalise environmental impacts of agriculture will be borne by the society at large, in terms of depletion and degradation of water resources, land degradation and emissions of greenhouse gases, etc. To assess AES of Indian agriculture, the present article builds a comprehensive agri-environmental sustainability index (AESI) based on 40 agri-environmental indicators. The study captures both spatial and temporal aspects of AES by covering 17 major Indian states over 24 years (1990–1991 to 2013–2014). The estimated AESI scores are validated with outcome indicators (e.g., groundwater depletion, depletion of soil nutrients). The results show that states having higher score in Sustainable Irrigation Index are facing lower fall in groundwater level and there are negative correlations across sub-indices of AESI and macronutrient deficiencies in soil. An inverse relationship between AESI scores and agricultural intensity (as measured by average productivity of foodgrains in kilograms per hectare) is also observed. The study comes out with policy suggestions which could help to attain AES of Indian agriculture.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"184 - 205"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/09730052211007606","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49349767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-07DOI: 10.1177/0973005221998244
Ojide Gabriel Makuachukwu, Maziya-Dixon Busie, A. Tahirou
In the smallholder value chains of maize, diversification of utilisation is an essential strategy towards enhancing the benefits drivable from the increase in maize production. This article identifies the contribution of maize-based products on poverty level among smallholder processors. The study, which was conducted in 30 rural communities in northern Nigeria, involved Focus Group Discussions and survey of 300 smallholder processors of maize-based products. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used. The results show that average annual profit among the interviewed smallholder processors of maize-based products was approximately N425,506 (about US$1,400). These processors faced several constraints which tend to keep them under poverty trap (vicious cycle of poverty). The result of the estimated two-step Tobit model shows that, with necessary interventions, profit from maize-based products has the capacity of keeping these processors out of poverty trap. The result indicates that as profit from maize-based products increases, the poverty probability index that household is not below poverty line of $1.90/day at 2011 purchase–power parity increases (p < 0.05). Thus, household poverty among rural smallholder processors of maize-based product could be reduced drastically through interventions targeted at mitigating the identified constraints.
{"title":"Contribution of Maize-based Products to the Livelihood of Smallholder Processors in Rural Northern Nigeria","authors":"Ojide Gabriel Makuachukwu, Maziya-Dixon Busie, A. Tahirou","doi":"10.1177/0973005221998244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0973005221998244","url":null,"abstract":"In the smallholder value chains of maize, diversification of utilisation is an essential strategy towards enhancing the benefits drivable from the increase in maize production. This article identifies the contribution of maize-based products on poverty level among smallholder processors. The study, which was conducted in 30 rural communities in northern Nigeria, involved Focus Group Discussions and survey of 300 smallholder processors of maize-based products. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used. The results show that average annual profit among the interviewed smallholder processors of maize-based products was approximately N425,506 (about US$1,400). These processors faced several constraints which tend to keep them under poverty trap (vicious cycle of poverty). The result of the estimated two-step Tobit model shows that, with necessary interventions, profit from maize-based products has the capacity of keeping these processors out of poverty trap. The result indicates that as profit from maize-based products increases, the poverty probability index that household is not below poverty line of $1.90/day at 2011 purchase–power parity increases (p < 0.05). Thus, household poverty among rural smallholder processors of maize-based product could be reduced drastically through interventions targeted at mitigating the identified constraints.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"167 - 183"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0973005221998244","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45893050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-29DOI: 10.1177/0973005221997591
P. Singh, Abhishek Nair, Jofri Issac
Land conflicts are impediments to socio-economic development. Understanding drivers and types of land conflicts is vital for peaceful conflict resolution and enhancing the effectiveness of institutions and agencies dealing with such issues. This article tries to develop and apply a methodology for tracking and characterising drivers and the types of land conflicts in India. We have applied the methods to peer-reviewed articles and thesis in the English language on land conflicts in India. Our results shed light on the most evident drivers and types of land conflict in India while challenging and supporting common assumptions. The key finding of our study indicates land administration as being the primary driver of land conflicts in India, followed by political, socio-economic and sociocultural factors. The most important type of land conflict occurring in India involves boundary or territorial conflicts. Of late, several conflicts are reported over special economic zones, which are also related to poor land administration and erroneous planning processes by the government actors. However, the published study reporting land conflicts in India fails to identify the root cause of such conflicts. In order to ensure better land administration, there need to have reasonably accurate and up-to-date records, which studies have not been able to identify. Another primary reason of land conflicts, which the studies have failed to acknowledge, is the problems germane to the prevailing land tenure system in India.
{"title":"Are Land Conflicts Documented Sufficiently in India?","authors":"P. Singh, Abhishek Nair, Jofri Issac","doi":"10.1177/0973005221997591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0973005221997591","url":null,"abstract":"Land conflicts are impediments to socio-economic development. Understanding drivers and types of land conflicts is vital for peaceful conflict resolution and enhancing the effectiveness of institutions and agencies dealing with such issues. This article tries to develop and apply a methodology for tracking and characterising drivers and the types of land conflicts in India. We have applied the methods to peer-reviewed articles and thesis in the English language on land conflicts in India. Our results shed light on the most evident drivers and types of land conflict in India while challenging and supporting common assumptions. The key finding of our study indicates land administration as being the primary driver of land conflicts in India, followed by political, socio-economic and sociocultural factors. The most important type of land conflict occurring in India involves boundary or territorial conflicts. Of late, several conflicts are reported over special economic zones, which are also related to poor land administration and erroneous planning processes by the government actors. However, the published study reporting land conflicts in India fails to identify the root cause of such conflicts. In order to ensure better land administration, there need to have reasonably accurate and up-to-date records, which studies have not been able to identify. Another primary reason of land conflicts, which the studies have failed to acknowledge, is the problems germane to the prevailing land tenure system in India.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"123 - 145"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0973005221997591","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48388010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-23DOI: 10.1177/0973005221991660
Mamta Mourya, M. Mehta
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are designed for the betterment of the underprivileged and the marginalised. Some of the sub-goals target doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of the small-scale food producers to realise the SDGs. Access to land, technology, inputs and financial services, opportunities for value addition and markets, non-farm employment and effective and transparent institutions that ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels are assumed to be the means to that end. Based on the Alagh Committee report’s recommendations, to address the voids in the existing form of collectives, producer company as a new legal option was introduced in 2003 by amending the Companies Act. This new form of collective is expected to combine efficiency and professional management of the company form and the cooperative principles necessitating ownership and participation of and governance by producers. This study takes a mixed-method approach. It qualitatively inquires about member’s perception of roles farmer producer companies (FPCs) play in their lives and livelihood. With the help of performance data from five FPCs, this study elaborates on the promises this form holds in realising some of the SDGs and challenges FPCs facing that could make achieving these promises a distant dream.
{"title":"Farmer Producer Company: India’s Magic Bullet to Realise Select SDGs?","authors":"Mamta Mourya, M. Mehta","doi":"10.1177/0973005221991660","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0973005221991660","url":null,"abstract":"Sustainable development goals (SDGs) are designed for the betterment of the underprivileged and the marginalised. Some of the sub-goals target doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of the small-scale food producers to realise the SDGs. Access to land, technology, inputs and financial services, opportunities for value addition and markets, non-farm employment and effective and transparent institutions that ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels are assumed to be the means to that end. Based on the Alagh Committee report’s recommendations, to address the voids in the existing form of collectives, producer company as a new legal option was introduced in 2003 by amending the Companies Act. This new form of collective is expected to combine efficiency and professional management of the company form and the cooperative principles necessitating ownership and participation of and governance by producers. This study takes a mixed-method approach. It qualitatively inquires about member’s perception of roles farmer producer companies (FPCs) play in their lives and livelihood. With the help of performance data from five FPCs, this study elaborates on the promises this form holds in realising some of the SDGs and challenges FPCs facing that could make achieving these promises a distant dream.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"17 1","pages":"115S - 147S"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0973005221991660","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48014856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-23DOI: 10.1177/0973005221997580
R. Mandal, Shrabanti Maity
The agriculture sector in India is beset with twin limitations of shrinking cultivable area and absence of major technological breakthroughs in the recent past. In such a situation, a judicious management of the farm in the form of adjustment in a crop portfolio can be quite useful to maximise output and minimise wastage of resources. This article seeks to examine whether a diversified crop portfolio makes the farmers more efficient using farm-level survey data collected from geographically diverse areas of Assam, a state in northeast India. The results of a stochastic production frontier analysis show that adoption of a diversified crop portfolio across crops and seasons makes the farmers more efficient in cultivation by helping them reduce weather-induced damages to crops and reap better returns from farming. This efficiency-enhancing effect of crop diversification is found to be heterogeneous among the regions. However, too much diversification reduces the efficiency of farmers. The results have important implications for Assam where floods cause extensive damage to crops every year. Moreover, access to extension services and government support are found to make the farmers more efficient. On the other hand, fixed-rent form of tenancy reduces efficiency of the farmers while household size has a positive impact on the same.
{"title":"Does a Diversified Crop Portfolio Make Farmers More Efficient? A Stochastic Production Frontier Analysis of Farm-level Data from Assam, India","authors":"R. Mandal, Shrabanti Maity","doi":"10.1177/0973005221997580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0973005221997580","url":null,"abstract":"The agriculture sector in India is beset with twin limitations of shrinking cultivable area and absence of major technological breakthroughs in the recent past. In such a situation, a judicious management of the farm in the form of adjustment in a crop portfolio can be quite useful to maximise output and minimise wastage of resources. This article seeks to examine whether a diversified crop portfolio makes the farmers more efficient using farm-level survey data collected from geographically diverse areas of Assam, a state in northeast India. The results of a stochastic production frontier analysis show that adoption of a diversified crop portfolio across crops and seasons makes the farmers more efficient in cultivation by helping them reduce weather-induced damages to crops and reap better returns from farming. This efficiency-enhancing effect of crop diversification is found to be heterogeneous among the regions. However, too much diversification reduces the efficiency of farmers. The results have important implications for Assam where floods cause extensive damage to crops every year. Moreover, access to extension services and government support are found to make the farmers more efficient. On the other hand, fixed-rent form of tenancy reduces efficiency of the farmers while household size has a positive impact on the same.","PeriodicalId":39177,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rural Management","volume":"18 1","pages":"103 - 122"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/0973005221997580","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43722766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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