Pub Date : 2023-01-12DOI: 10.1177/00307270221150659
Florent Mahoukede Kinkingninhoun Medagbe, Anne Floquet, R. Mongbo, K. N. A. Aoudji, G. Mujawamariya, N. R. Ahoyo Adjovi
This paper identifies some ways to effectively transfer complex and gender-biased technology information and knowledge (TIK) to both men and women by analyzing the diffusion of Smart-valleys technology in West-Africa. ANOVA and Fisher's exact tests were applied to data collected from 1120 lowland rice farmers in West Africa. Results confirm the general gender inequality in TIK communication with male farmers having more access to Smart-valleys TIK than female lowland farmers. Only few female communicators were used in Smart-valleys TIK transfer even if they were found to be as efficient as men at communicating and teaching. However, opposite results obtained in Togo in particular reveal that it is possible to ensure gender equality in agricultural TIK communication, even in case of complex and gender-bias technologies, if specific gender mainstreaming and gender equity actions are undertaken during technology diffusion. Women-to-women communication improved female farmers access to Smart-valleys TIK confirming that involving female communicators will reduce gender inequality in TIK diffusion. On-farm demonstration was identified as the most effective approach, not only in Smart-valleys TIK communication, but also in ensuring gender equity in access of both male and female farmers to the TIK. Therefore, on-farm demonstration combined with oral explanations should be adopted as the main approach in complex and gender-biased technologies diffusion in general, and in Smart-valleys diffusion in particular.
{"title":"Gender and access to complex and gender-biased agricultural technology information and knowledge: Evidence from smart-valleys in West Africa","authors":"Florent Mahoukede Kinkingninhoun Medagbe, Anne Floquet, R. Mongbo, K. N. A. Aoudji, G. Mujawamariya, N. R. Ahoyo Adjovi","doi":"10.1177/00307270221150659","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221150659","url":null,"abstract":"This paper identifies some ways to effectively transfer complex and gender-biased technology information and knowledge (TIK) to both men and women by analyzing the diffusion of Smart-valleys technology in West-Africa. ANOVA and Fisher's exact tests were applied to data collected from 1120 lowland rice farmers in West Africa. Results confirm the general gender inequality in TIK communication with male farmers having more access to Smart-valleys TIK than female lowland farmers. Only few female communicators were used in Smart-valleys TIK transfer even if they were found to be as efficient as men at communicating and teaching. However, opposite results obtained in Togo in particular reveal that it is possible to ensure gender equality in agricultural TIK communication, even in case of complex and gender-bias technologies, if specific gender mainstreaming and gender equity actions are undertaken during technology diffusion. Women-to-women communication improved female farmers access to Smart-valleys TIK confirming that involving female communicators will reduce gender inequality in TIK diffusion. On-farm demonstration was identified as the most effective approach, not only in Smart-valleys TIK communication, but also in ensuring gender equity in access of both male and female farmers to the TIK. Therefore, on-farm demonstration combined with oral explanations should be adopted as the main approach in complex and gender-biased technologies diffusion in general, and in Smart-valleys diffusion in particular.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"52 1","pages":"22 - 33"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45518299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-26DOI: 10.1177/00307270221144641
A. Abdulai, K. Kc, Evan D. G. Fraser
Participation in digital services is critical for the inclusiveness of digitalization in smallholder Africa. However, farmers engagement with digitalization services needs further explorations due to limited empirical research on the topic. This paper thus employs a cross-sectional survey of 1565 farmers in Northern Ghana to assess the factors that affect the likelihood of farmers’ participation in digital agricultural services. We applied a polynomial regression model to show that gender, affiliations to farmer groups, access to extension services, ability to place phone calls, and ownership/access to mobile phones increase the probability of participation in digital services. Thus, farmer characteristics, digital competencies, and access to digital resources are critical in determining who participates in digitalization, essentially positioning these as critical factors to consider in scaling of digital agriculture services. We further argue that access and impacts of digitalization could be exclusive due to existing equities in the identified fundamental elements for participation, adoption, and use of digitalization. Hence, strategies sensitive to the drivers of engagement, including strengthening farmer associations/groups, increasing access to extension services, building digital skills, and scaling access to digital tools (including mobile phones), are required for inclusiveness, scaling and the long-term sustainability of digitalization for smallholders.
{"title":"What factors influence the likelihood of rural farmer participation in digital agricultural services? experience from smallholder digitalization in Northern Ghana","authors":"A. Abdulai, K. Kc, Evan D. G. Fraser","doi":"10.1177/00307270221144641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221144641","url":null,"abstract":"Participation in digital services is critical for the inclusiveness of digitalization in smallholder Africa. However, farmers engagement with digitalization services needs further explorations due to limited empirical research on the topic. This paper thus employs a cross-sectional survey of 1565 farmers in Northern Ghana to assess the factors that affect the likelihood of farmers’ participation in digital agricultural services. We applied a polynomial regression model to show that gender, affiliations to farmer groups, access to extension services, ability to place phone calls, and ownership/access to mobile phones increase the probability of participation in digital services. Thus, farmer characteristics, digital competencies, and access to digital resources are critical in determining who participates in digitalization, essentially positioning these as critical factors to consider in scaling of digital agriculture services. We further argue that access and impacts of digitalization could be exclusive due to existing equities in the identified fundamental elements for participation, adoption, and use of digitalization. Hence, strategies sensitive to the drivers of engagement, including strengthening farmer associations/groups, increasing access to extension services, building digital skills, and scaling access to digital tools (including mobile phones), are required for inclusiveness, scaling and the long-term sustainability of digitalization for smallholders.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"52 1","pages":"57 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41529795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1177/00307270221141455
A. Nowak, L. Cramer, T. Schuetz, Allison Poulos, Yuling Chang, P. Thornton
CGIAR consists of a network of international publicly funded agricultural research for development institutes. Over five decades it has worked to increase food abundance, reduce hunger and poverty rates, and lower the geographical footprint of agriculture in lower- and middle-income countries. CGIAR's first formalised research program on climate change was set up in 2009. Here we report on an analysis of 300 outcomes generated over the lifetime of this program, which ran until 2021. Outcomes were characterised in relation to the climate objective, geography, thematic scope, and contribution to global goals. More than half of the outcomes analysed were related to policies for agriculture development under climate change. Twenty-six percent of outcomes related to climate, information and financial services, and 22 percent were related to organisational programming. Most outcomes analysed were at an early stage of maturity, focusing on design and planning stages of policies, strategies, and investments. Fewer than five percent of outcomes had evidence of impact at scale. Outcomes were facilitated by a wide network of partners and contributed to more than ten Sustainable Development Goals. The results of the analysis show the value of outcome-oriented science in being able to harness diversity, balance strategy with opportunism, plan flexibly, work across multiple vulnerability contexts, and allocate resources towards outcomes. These elements have played a significant role in fostering change across contexts, in adjusting research to emerging needs and context changes, in creating conditions for spillovers, and in ensuring global relevance. To transform the food system, the research for development agenda needs to be bolder. It will require more outcomes of various types, achieved through diverse partnerships, spanning a diversity of geographies, vulnerable contexts, and priorities. Significant and intentional investments in strengthening monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning capacity will be required to further realize the potential for outcome-oriented research.
{"title":"What does CGIAR do to address climate change? Perspectives from a decade of science on climate change adaptation and mitigation","authors":"A. Nowak, L. Cramer, T. Schuetz, Allison Poulos, Yuling Chang, P. Thornton","doi":"10.1177/00307270221141455","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221141455","url":null,"abstract":"CGIAR consists of a network of international publicly funded agricultural research for development institutes. Over five decades it has worked to increase food abundance, reduce hunger and poverty rates, and lower the geographical footprint of agriculture in lower- and middle-income countries. CGIAR's first formalised research program on climate change was set up in 2009. Here we report on an analysis of 300 outcomes generated over the lifetime of this program, which ran until 2021. Outcomes were characterised in relation to the climate objective, geography, thematic scope, and contribution to global goals. More than half of the outcomes analysed were related to policies for agriculture development under climate change. Twenty-six percent of outcomes related to climate, information and financial services, and 22 percent were related to organisational programming. Most outcomes analysed were at an early stage of maturity, focusing on design and planning stages of policies, strategies, and investments. Fewer than five percent of outcomes had evidence of impact at scale. Outcomes were facilitated by a wide network of partners and contributed to more than ten Sustainable Development Goals. The results of the analysis show the value of outcome-oriented science in being able to harness diversity, balance strategy with opportunism, plan flexibly, work across multiple vulnerability contexts, and allocate resources towards outcomes. These elements have played a significant role in fostering change across contexts, in adjusting research to emerging needs and context changes, in creating conditions for spillovers, and in ensuring global relevance. To transform the food system, the research for development agenda needs to be bolder. It will require more outcomes of various types, achieved through diverse partnerships, spanning a diversity of geographies, vulnerable contexts, and priorities. Significant and intentional investments in strengthening monitoring, evaluation, reporting and learning capacity will be required to further realize the potential for outcome-oriented research.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"423 - 434"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43140399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1177/00307270221127717
Katharina Löhr, Paschal Mugabe, Ana Paula Dias Turetta, Jonathan Steinke, Camilo Lozano, Michelle Bonatti, Luca Eufemia, Larissa Hery Ito, Alexandra Konzack, Stefan Kroll, Charles Peter Mgeni, Dina Ramanank' Andrasana, Sophia Tadesse, Masoud Yazdanpanah, Stefan Sieber
This study investigates the impacts of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder farmers and their coping strategies in three contrasting Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The case studies include Brazil (South region), Madagascar (Atsimo Atsinanana region), and Tanzania (Morogoro/Eastern Tanzania). These countries were chosen because i) the economies are strongly influenced by the agricultural sector; ii) their national food security is strongly affected by smallholder production, and, iii) they represent a set of contrasting government responses to COVID-19 including the denial of the pandemic. Data were collected through semi-structured household interviews in all three countries in rural areas. COVID-19 induced effects were found in all three countries, including in Brazil and Tanzania where both national governments initially neglected the existence of COVID-19 and introduced few containment measures only. Here, mobility and trade restrictions of other countries impact also on agricultural trade and production in countries in which governments took less action to COVID-19 and also people remained home and practiced social distancing even if no official government policy was issued. The findings in all three countries suggest that the COVID-19 crisis had negatively affected smallholders' agricultural production, leading to a vicious cycle of low production, low incomes, and higher food insecurity. Results of this study raise the thorny issue of how best to balance containment of pandemic and future shocks against the well-being of the vulnerable rural population in lower- and middle-income countries; especially considering also the degree of global interconnected and the potential of polices to effect people beyond the national scale.
{"title":"Assessing impacts of COVID-19 and their responses among smallholder farmers in Brazil, Madagascar and Tanzania.","authors":"Katharina Löhr, Paschal Mugabe, Ana Paula Dias Turetta, Jonathan Steinke, Camilo Lozano, Michelle Bonatti, Luca Eufemia, Larissa Hery Ito, Alexandra Konzack, Stefan Kroll, Charles Peter Mgeni, Dina Ramanank' Andrasana, Sophia Tadesse, Masoud Yazdanpanah, Stefan Sieber","doi":"10.1177/00307270221127717","DOIUrl":"10.1177/00307270221127717","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study investigates the impacts of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder farmers and their coping strategies in three contrasting Low- and Middle-Income Countries. The case studies include Brazil (South region), Madagascar (Atsimo Atsinanana region), and Tanzania (Morogoro/Eastern Tanzania). These countries were chosen because i) the economies are strongly influenced by the agricultural sector; ii) their national food security is strongly affected by smallholder production, and, iii) they represent a set of contrasting government responses to COVID-19 including the denial of the pandemic. Data were collected through semi-structured household interviews in all three countries in rural areas. COVID-19 induced effects were found in all three countries, including in Brazil and Tanzania where both national governments initially neglected the existence of COVID-19 and introduced few containment measures only. Here, mobility and trade restrictions of other countries impact also on agricultural trade and production in countries in which governments took less action to COVID-19 and also people remained home and practiced social distancing even if no official government policy was issued. The findings in all three countries suggest that the COVID-19 crisis had negatively affected smallholders' agricultural production, leading to a vicious cycle of low production, low incomes, and higher food insecurity. Results of this study raise the thorny issue of how best to balance containment of pandemic and future shocks against the well-being of the vulnerable rural population in lower- and middle-income countries; especially considering also the degree of global interconnected and the potential of polices to effect people beyond the national scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"460-469"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9515754/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44611948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1177/00307270221137911
J. Franks
UK farming is at a crossroads. Its continued dependency on decoupled direct payments, shortage of investment finance, difficulties in changing cost structure and the reduced scope to differentiate and diversity sources of farm revenue, exacerbated by the unprecedented increases in the price of key inputs, means farmers face stark choices with fewer remaining effective management options. This study reviews two previous crossroads moments in UK agriculture and considers how the current crossroads moment is different from those. It then provides an estimate of the impacts of the current challenges on the size of the future farming population, based on the methodology used by McInerney. The inter-farm distribution of assets, debts and earnings, differences in farm specialisation, availability of finance and farm-succession arrangements mean it is not easy to identify which individual farms are most likely to fail. Nevertheless, upland grazing, lowland grazing and mixed farm-types seem to be the most vulnerable. Assuming low but realistic returns to fixed and working capital and income/farm, the future farming population is estimated to be 138,000: a 23% reduction from the number of 2019 farming population. The population falls to 15,000 if all subsidies paid in 2021 are removed from the calculation. The actual fall will be smaller than this because farmers will develop new revenue streams and farming systems. But a reduction even approaching 23% is likely to result in more generous assistance being made available, and perhaps even a reversal of some key elements of the new policies.
{"title":"UK agriculture at a crossroads","authors":"J. Franks","doi":"10.1177/00307270221137911","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221137911","url":null,"abstract":"UK farming is at a crossroads. Its continued dependency on decoupled direct payments, shortage of investment finance, difficulties in changing cost structure and the reduced scope to differentiate and diversity sources of farm revenue, exacerbated by the unprecedented increases in the price of key inputs, means farmers face stark choices with fewer remaining effective management options. This study reviews two previous crossroads moments in UK agriculture and considers how the current crossroads moment is different from those. It then provides an estimate of the impacts of the current challenges on the size of the future farming population, based on the methodology used by McInerney. The inter-farm distribution of assets, debts and earnings, differences in farm specialisation, availability of finance and farm-succession arrangements mean it is not easy to identify which individual farms are most likely to fail. Nevertheless, upland grazing, lowland grazing and mixed farm-types seem to be the most vulnerable. Assuming low but realistic returns to fixed and working capital and income/farm, the future farming population is estimated to be 138,000: a 23% reduction from the number of 2019 farming population. The population falls to 15,000 if all subsidies paid in 2021 are removed from the calculation. The actual fall will be smaller than this because farmers will develop new revenue streams and farming systems. But a reduction even approaching 23% is likely to result in more generous assistance being made available, and perhaps even a reversal of some key elements of the new policies.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"448 - 459"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47651739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-25DOI: 10.1177/00307270221140572
K. Zander, Pascal Blaise, K. Holm-Müller
Disease resistant crop varieties are important for both disease control and for reducing chemical pesticide use. However, there is often a trade-off between disease resistance and yield. While the European Union has banned the use of some pesticides in agriculture, large amounts are still applied to various crops, including wheat. Market-based instruments could motivate farmers to adopt more environmentally friendly production methods. In this study we aimed to explore farmers’ adoption of resistant varieties in different wheat price scenarios and their willingness to forgo yield when cultivating more resistant varieties. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 192 farmers using a choice experiment. Results showed that farmers preferred traits of yield stability (fungal disease resistance, lodging resistance and drought tolerance) over yield. Preferences for traits varied with the production system; livestock production was negatively associated with the importance of yield; cultivated land area was positively associated with protein content. The market price scenario did not change preferences. We calculate that farmers are willing to forgo more yield by cultivating highly disease resistant varieties than they are likely to recuperate from reducing costs of pesticides. Overall, we conclude that farmers’ choices are based more on a combination of the production system, drought experience, climate change belief and the potential impact of further regulations to reduce the use of chemical pesticides than on the expected wheat price.
{"title":"Assessing German farmers’ trade-offs between disease resistance and yield in winter wheat varieties","authors":"K. Zander, Pascal Blaise, K. Holm-Müller","doi":"10.1177/00307270221140572","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221140572","url":null,"abstract":"Disease resistant crop varieties are important for both disease control and for reducing chemical pesticide use. However, there is often a trade-off between disease resistance and yield. While the European Union has banned the use of some pesticides in agriculture, large amounts are still applied to various crops, including wheat. Market-based instruments could motivate farmers to adopt more environmentally friendly production methods. In this study we aimed to explore farmers’ adoption of resistant varieties in different wheat price scenarios and their willingness to forgo yield when cultivating more resistant varieties. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 192 farmers using a choice experiment. Results showed that farmers preferred traits of yield stability (fungal disease resistance, lodging resistance and drought tolerance) over yield. Preferences for traits varied with the production system; livestock production was negatively associated with the importance of yield; cultivated land area was positively associated with protein content. The market price scenario did not change preferences. We calculate that farmers are willing to forgo more yield by cultivating highly disease resistant varieties than they are likely to recuperate from reducing costs of pesticides. Overall, we conclude that farmers’ choices are based more on a combination of the production system, drought experience, climate change belief and the potential impact of further regulations to reduce the use of chemical pesticides than on the expected wheat price.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"52 1","pages":"67 - 78"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46318663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-10DOI: 10.1177/00307270221138118
E. Dumitru, M. Micu, C. Sterie
Cooperatives are known worldwide as important institutional commitments to overcome the constraints faced by small farmers in developing countries. We conducted an in-depth investigation in order to identify the reasons behind the underdevelopment of agricultural cooperatives in Romania, as well as the solutions that the representatives of cooperatives see, starting from the premise that they are the main connoisseurs of this activity, knowing the strengths, but especially the weaknesses of this activity, by administering a questionnaire-based survey as the main research tool. Clearly, cooperative representatives are aware of the socio-economic implications and role of cooperatives, with average values closer to “total agreement”, especially in terms of contribution to food security.
{"title":"The key to the development of agricultural cooperatives in Romania from the perspective of those who run them","authors":"E. Dumitru, M. Micu, C. Sterie","doi":"10.1177/00307270221138118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221138118","url":null,"abstract":"Cooperatives are known worldwide as important institutional commitments to overcome the constraints faced by small farmers in developing countries. We conducted an in-depth investigation in order to identify the reasons behind the underdevelopment of agricultural cooperatives in Romania, as well as the solutions that the representatives of cooperatives see, starting from the premise that they are the main connoisseurs of this activity, knowing the strengths, but especially the weaknesses of this activity, by administering a questionnaire-based survey as the main research tool. Clearly, cooperative representatives are aware of the socio-economic implications and role of cooperatives, with average values closer to “total agreement”, especially in terms of contribution to food security.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"52 1","pages":"89 - 100"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47183505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-01DOI: 10.1177/00307270221133854
K. Freeman, V. Valencia, J. Marzaroli, H. V. van Zanten
How can digital tools increase national circularity measures in agriculture towards GHG reduction and other national goals? During the 26th Conference of Parties (COP) held in November 2021, it was clear that circularity will play a role in meeting important international targets but that the global community and national governments lack the tools to measure the contribution of circular actions in the agriculture sector towards meeting these commitments. In the absence of monitoring and decision-support tools, governments will not know the full impact of their actions towards meeting commitments. This perspective looks at the way that digital agricultural traceability systems can form the building blocks for government action to incentivize enhanced circularity in the agriculture sector and track progress towards international targets. Among the many countries working on digital traceability systems, Uruguay stands out an example of a country pushing towards systemic traceability in multiple aspects of the food system. We examine Uruguay's use of digital traceability systems for sustainable production and redefinition of green markets as an example of a rapidly modernizing digital food system and a beacon for other countries to follow. The case of Uruguay shows that digital tools can create transparency in productive systems and allow the government to target sustainability policies. By using digital traceability systems for livestock, dairy effluents, soil rotations, agricultural chemicals, and forests Uruguay is creating a replicable framework for circularity and long-term sustainable production in the agriculture sector, one policy at a time. This framework serves as a benchmark for other countries in Latin America to reach their traceability, circularity, and emissions reductions targets.
{"title":"Digital traceability to enhance circular food systems and reach agriculture emissions targets","authors":"K. Freeman, V. Valencia, J. Marzaroli, H. V. van Zanten","doi":"10.1177/00307270221133854","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221133854","url":null,"abstract":"How can digital tools increase national circularity measures in agriculture towards GHG reduction and other national goals? During the 26th Conference of Parties (COP) held in November 2021, it was clear that circularity will play a role in meeting important international targets but that the global community and national governments lack the tools to measure the contribution of circular actions in the agriculture sector towards meeting these commitments. In the absence of monitoring and decision-support tools, governments will not know the full impact of their actions towards meeting commitments. This perspective looks at the way that digital agricultural traceability systems can form the building blocks for government action to incentivize enhanced circularity in the agriculture sector and track progress towards international targets. Among the many countries working on digital traceability systems, Uruguay stands out an example of a country pushing towards systemic traceability in multiple aspects of the food system. We examine Uruguay's use of digital traceability systems for sustainable production and redefinition of green markets as an example of a rapidly modernizing digital food system and a beacon for other countries to follow. The case of Uruguay shows that digital tools can create transparency in productive systems and allow the government to target sustainability policies. By using digital traceability systems for livestock, dairy effluents, soil rotations, agricultural chemicals, and forests Uruguay is creating a replicable framework for circularity and long-term sustainable production in the agriculture sector, one policy at a time. This framework serves as a benchmark for other countries in Latin America to reach their traceability, circularity, and emissions reductions targets.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"414 - 422"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49235147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-30DOI: 10.1177/00307270221133127
A. Orr, E. Weltzien, F. Rattunde
The past two decades of R & D for sorghum and millets in SSA have generated a wealth of new evidence. A synthesis of this evidence identified six strategic lessons. These were that demand is not being driven by ‘new uses’, that plant breeding programmes need to respond to African farmer's contexts and objectives to increase impact, that availability is a bigger constraint on the supply of certified seed than physical or economic access, that higher adoption of improved varieties does not generally result in higher yields, that technology and varietal diversity can compensate for climate change, and that commercialisation can be gender – and socially inclusive. R & D in Africa differs from the Indian model because of the low level of commercialisation and the continued dominance of own consumption. Consequently R & D gives a dominant role to the public sector in plant breeding, to farmer organisations and groups in seed supply, and to prioritising household food security over commercial uses.
{"title":"Research and development for sorghum and millets in Sub-Saharan Africa: What have we learned?","authors":"A. Orr, E. Weltzien, F. Rattunde","doi":"10.1177/00307270221133127","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00307270221133127","url":null,"abstract":"The past two decades of R & D for sorghum and millets in SSA have generated a wealth of new evidence. A synthesis of this evidence identified six strategic lessons. These were that demand is not being driven by ‘new uses’, that plant breeding programmes need to respond to African farmer's contexts and objectives to increase impact, that availability is a bigger constraint on the supply of certified seed than physical or economic access, that higher adoption of improved varieties does not generally result in higher yields, that technology and varietal diversity can compensate for climate change, and that commercialisation can be gender – and socially inclusive. R & D in Africa differs from the Indian model because of the low level of commercialisation and the continued dominance of own consumption. Consequently R & D gives a dominant role to the public sector in plant breeding, to farmer organisations and groups in seed supply, and to prioritising household food security over commercial uses.","PeriodicalId":54661,"journal":{"name":"Outlook on Agriculture","volume":"51 1","pages":"435 - 447"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41480042","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-27DOI: 10.1177/00307270221135250
H. J. Cavite, Chanhathai Kerdsriserm, C. Llones, Nuttanan Direksri, S. Suwanmaneepong
Organic production has gained increased attention worldwide because of its sustainable way of producing food crops apart from its significant contribution to agricultural development. While some policies and programs encourage rice farmers to adopt organic farming, its uptake is far less than expected, particularly in the rural areas of Thailand. Hence, this study attempts to explain rice farmers’ adoption intention towards organic rice farming, drawing insights from the diffusion of innovations theory, and incorporating consumer information as an important alternative information source. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 201 community enterprise farmers using a purposive sampling technique. Results found that farmers have a generally high-level perception towards consumer information items. These items were further explored using binary logistic regression with the commonly used adoption factors. Results revealed that education level, seed input source, buying price, training attendance, and credit access significantly impacted farmers’ adoption intention. Although farmers have a generally high level of agreement towards consumer information, this factor does not affect their adoption. The findings provide critical insights to the community enterprise and policymakers to fully understand community enterprise farmers’ adoption motives and devise targeted strategies to promote widespread adoption of organic rice farming.
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