agriculture development Articles
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Editorial: The urgent need to transform small-scale subsistence farming in Africa towards sustainable agribusiness value-chains
A recent article on 'Why African farmers fail' (http://www.southerntimesafrica.com) bemoaned the lack of progress in transforming agriculture for economic development in Africa. This Editorial outlines some of the responses to that article and discusses the problems raised.Keywords: Africa, subsistence farming, sustainable agribusiness, small-scale farming, agribusiness value chains, economic ...
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Ethanol and agricultural groups send USDA a letter in favor of ethanol funding
On March 26, 2015, a group of ethanol and agricultural groups sent a letter (the industry letter) to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies to express their strong opposition to including certain language harmful to the ethanol industry in the Fiscal Year 2016 Agriculture, Rural ...
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Family as an autonomous institution for local agricultural resources governance: discourse on organic agriculture development in the mountains of Nepal
This paper focuses on the institutional dynamics of family–led organic farms in the mountains of Nepal. It is based on continuous observations and experiences of local farmers who have dedicated themselves to organic agriculture for a significant period of time. It is found that family–led organic farming can contribute significantly to the sustainable use of local agricultural resources. The ...
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How to close the ever widening gap of Africa's agriculture
While global food availability increased by 27% per person over the past four decades, it decreased by 12% in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper explores the role of technology use on agricultural development to understand the ever widening gap of SSA with other global regions. It looks into land (i.e., yield) and labour productivity, the relation between technology use and yield stability and, ...
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An analysis of some paradoxes in alternative agriculture and a vision of sustainability for future food systems
The paper offers an analysis of some of the prevailing practices in sustainable agriculture and points out some of the paradoxes that need to be addressed and resolved in order to enhance acceptability of sustainable agriculture by the general public. Education and research in sustainable agriculture are suggested as possible tools via which solutions to the paradoxes may be found. Preserving the ...
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Investing in people and evidence for sustainable farming
Evaluation of farming systems, new ideas and learning with practitioners should be part of a transformed agriculture. Food security is difficult to pin down. It can be explained simply as access to enough food. But behind that simplicity lies an interconnected web of factors — from food prices to agricultural practices, nutrition, natural resources, technology, trade and social ...
By SciDev.Net
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Bt-cotton boosts the gross margin of small-scale cotton producers in South Africa
This paper explores some of the issues involved in the Genetic Modification (GM) debate by focusing on one crop that has been modified for pest resistance, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and commercially released to small-scale farmers in the Makhathini Flats, KwaZulu Natal, the Republic of South Africa. This was the first commercial release of a GM variety (Bt-cotton) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and ...
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Project - FP199 - Public-Social-Private Partnerships for Ecologically-Sound Agriculture and Resilient Livelihood in Northern Tonle Sap Basin (PEARL)
The Northern Tonle Sap Basin (NTSB) in the center-west part of Cambodia is home to one of the region's most important agricultural systems, where farmers produce mainly cashew, mango, rice, and vegetables. The area is also severely threatened by climate change disruption as temperatures have steadily increased by a total of 0.8C° since 1950. At the same time, rainfall is becoming less ...
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Learning, combinative capabilities and innovation in developing countries: the case of video compact disc (VCD) and agricultural vehicles in China
The rate and trajectory of technological progress in China is confined by two important factors, i.e., being a developing country as well as in transition from a command economy to a market economy. Being a developing country means that learning and imitation will be of primary concern in technological progress. Being an economy in transition implies that the national innovation system is also ...
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How to create resilient agriculture
Durable food security and agricultural growth depend on development strategies with resilience built in from the start, says Gordon Conway. Economic growth with resilience to environmental threats will be central to the agenda of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June this year, which aims to map out a pathway of sustainable development for the planet. The 'zero draft', ...
By SciDev.Net
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Using land-time-budgets to analyse farming systems and poverty alleviation policies in the Lao PDR
This paper applies the method of 'Land-time-budget analysis' to a rural subsistence community and to the national economy of the Lao PDR. The analysis is conducted to meet two ends: to identify the community's/the nation's resource use profile in terms of land and time use - the analysis identifies biophysical constraints of socio-economic development and trade-offs in resource use patterns; to ...
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The farmers' perceptions of ANPS pollution and its influencing factors in Poyang Lake Region, China
Individual farmers represent the main management entities of agricultural production under the family-contract responsibility system in China, and thus play crucial roles in the prevention and control of agricultural nonpoint source (ANPS) pollution. The analysis of the farmers' perceptions of ANPS pollution as well as the factors affecting their perceptions can provide valuable information ...
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It is vital to reinvigorate organic farming research
Organic farming can deliver food sustainably, but only with compelling science to boost its use, argues Ged Buffee. With increased yields and ecological stability becoming critical concerns for agricultural development, there's hope that organic farming can anchor agro-ecological sustainability. The stakes for organic agriculture have never been higher, yet the convincing research that could ...
By SciDev.Net
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Importance of Sustainable Sourcing and How Technology Helps to Achieve This
Today, sustainable agriculture entails boosting agricultural crop production while maintaining the ecological resources in which they flourish. Gardeners and farmers have debated the clash between sustainable agriculture and energy crop cultivation technologies that allow bioenergy and biomass crops to be grown on agricultural land. The consequences of rising oil prices and the environmental ...
By Farmsio Ltd.
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Ministerial Interview: The only sector that assuredly alleviates poverty is agriculture. Our focus is to grow this industry that is the future of this country.
Exclusive interview with the Zambian Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, the Honourable Given Lubinda. The Honourable minister is expected to be at the upcoming Agritech Expo in Chisamba from 14-16 April again. www.agritech-expo.com/interviews 1) Honourable minister, thank you for this opportunity, you said in an interview recently that the government wants to transform agriculture in Zambia. ...
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Regional economic integration and local food: the case of Latvia during European Union accession
Latvia's agriculture sector remains economically important despite 50 years of central Soviet planning as well as rapid reorientation to a market economy after independence in 1991 and accession into the European Union in 2004. At independence, many Latvians embraced a local organic farming movement which has evolved during an era of sweeping economic and socio-political change. This article ...
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Research prizes: a new kind of incentive for innovation in African agriculture
This paper identifies market failures that limit agricultural R&D for Africa and other resource-poor environments, and proposes a way to complement existing institutions with cash prizes for the dissemination of successful new technologies adopted by low-income farmers. The proposed prize institution would use agronomic experiments and farm surveys to document the value of innovations after their ...
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Toward an economics of the rural third sector
Third sector organisations play a prominent role in rural development. Yet, such organisations have been largely neglected by existing economic research. This paper examines the potential role of standard theories of the third sector and collective action in explaining the motivations to form such organisations in rural settings. In doing so the paper outlines a research program on the economic ...
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Organic fertilizer production machinery can improve soil organic matter content
With the promotion of consumption, energy saving and consumption reduction, and the improvement of green food demand, organic fertilizer ushers in a greater development opportunity. Then the following fertilizer production line manufacturers, will also usher in a new development and innovation. Organic fertilizer equipment can help improve soil, but we are optimistic about organic fertilizer ...
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What is the difference between traditional and modern farming?
Agricultural systems in various parts of the world have evolved due to technological advances and increasing human knowledge. It develops from primitive agriculture, traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. At that time, hunting and gathering activities are familiar techniques for humans. Conventional agriculture started since humans began to settle and cultivate in one location. This ...
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