Gender and agricultural productivity: implications of the Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi

Alleviating gender differences in agricultural productivity is vital for poverty reduction. While numerous studies suggest that gender differences in agricultural productivity are a result of female farmers having limited access to resources, few studies investigate the role of agricultural interventions in alleviating the constraints to input use and subsequently the gender gap in productivity. This study investigates whether there are gendered gains in agricultural productivity from participating in an input subsidy program and if these gains help reduce the gender gap. Using nationally representative data that is disaggregated at the plot level, this study analyzes the large‐scale voucher‐based Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi. Focusing on the total value of output per hectare, relationships are identified using weighted estimators, where the weights are constructed from propensity scores, and spatial fixed effects, to address the unobservable factors that may confound the relationship between program participation and productivity. The findings suggest that participation in the program improves agricultural productivity for both male and female farmers but it does not provide disproportionate help to female famers to overcome gender disparities in agricultural productivity. This suggests that female farmers face additional constraints to productivity apart from nonlabor input use.     

Agricultural diversification and integrated pest management in Bangladesh

We study factors associated with a shift toward diversified, high‐valued vegetable crops and the incentives associated with the use of IPM methods for vegetable producers in Bangladesh. The primary objective is to measure how IPM technologies affect the crop and technology choices of low‐income rice farmers. A three‐season household optimisation model is used to study crop and technology choice under price and yield uncertainty. The model is parameterised using data from vegetable farms and experimental IPM trials conducted in Bangladesh. Simulation results show that access to IPM technology and IPM availability combined with access to credit increase household welfare and lead to higher rates of vegetable adoption. Off‐farm employment opportunities work against vegetable cultivation and IPM use by risk‐averse farmers. Implications for policy and extension efforts are highlighted.     

Gender differences in agricultural productivity: the case of Tanzania

The article examines gender differences in agricultural productivity using panel data for Tanzania. At the national level, there is weak evidence of mean differences in productivity between male and female plots, but conditional on manager characteristics, plot characteristics, inputs, and crop choice, plots managed solely by a woman are consistently found less productive than all other plots. An Oaxaca‐Blinder‐type decomposition reveals that important factors explaining the gender differential are plot area and family labor. Women are able to obtain higher yields on smaller plots farmed with less male labor and more female labor and thus cover the gender gap in productivity at the aggregate level, but there are still significant unobservable factors which contribute to widening the gap.     

The impact of strengthening agricultural extension services on women farmers: Evidence from Ethiopia

This paper evaluates the effect of the Rural Capacity Building Project (RCBP), which aimed at promoting growth by strengthening the agricultural service systems in Ethiopia, and by making them more responsive to smallholders’ needs, in particular women farmers. We examine the gender‐differentiated impact of the RCBP using panel data on 1,485 geographically dispersed households in project and control kebeles. We find that women farmers’ access and satisfaction with extension services increased significantly immediately after the start of the project, but that effect did not last into the medium term. The project led to an increase in the adoption of high‐value crop farming, area of land cultivated, and economic participation of household members, benefiting male‐ and female‐headed households equally. Results point to the positive impact of incorporating women's needs and constraints in the design of the agricultural extension system. However, the project was not able to reduce the preexisting gender gap in agricultural outcomes.     

Effects on poverty and equity of the decline in collective tank irrigation management in Tamil Nadu, India

This paper investigates the factors influencing the decline in collective management of local commons and the impact of this decline on agricultural production and household consumption. The analysis is based on a village and household data set collected in 1999 in Tamil Nadu, India, where tank irrigation systems are managed collectively for rice cultivation by informal water users' organizations. Our statistical analyses find that one major reason for the decline in collective tank irrigation management is the dissemination of private well irrigation systems. Once the decline has occurred, our analyses predict that the gap in rice yields between farmers who have access to private wells and those who must rely solely on tanks will widen, with only the latter group suffering lower yields. Our analyses also find that the same pattern holds for levels of income and consumption because the affected farmers cannot sufficiently compensate for the loss of their rice income by diversifying their income sources to agricultural labor or nonagricultural work. In this way, the decline in collective management results in greater inequality and poverty.     

Measuring pesticide overuse and its determinants: Evidence from Vietnamese rice and fruit farms

Pesticides have long been important for the development of agricultural production. However, improper use of pesticides may result in inefficiency with respect to farm profitability, in addition to external effects of pesticide use on environmental and human health. This paper employs a production function that explicitly accounts for the role of damage abatement inputs (i.e. pesticides) in the production process, to examine the optimal use of pesticides. It then investigates determinants of pesticide overuse versus underuse and the intensity of overuse. The empirical application uses data on Vietnamese rice and fruit farms drawn from the 2016 Vietnamese Household Living Standards Survey. Results show about 95% of farmers overused pesticides for both rice and fruit farming systems. The Mekong Delta, also known as the ‘Rice Bowl’ of Vietnam, has higher levels of overuse on rice farms than two other regions. Overuse intensity is lower for female and poorer rice farmers while intensity is higher for those with more income and more family members. For fruit farms, younger farmers or those with more family members were more likely to overuse versus underuse pesticides.     

Heterogeneity in male and female farmers’ preference for a profit-enhancing and labor-saving technology: The case of Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) in India

Labor-saving and income-increasing technologies may affect women farmers differently from men. However, very few studies explicitly account for women's preferences for new technologies. We carried out a discrete choice experiment with 337 female and 329 male farmers in Maharashtra, India, to measure their willingness to pay (WTP) for direct-seeded rice (DSR) with drum seeder and to understand the gender differences in marginal valuations of key attributes. We used the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) to collect self-reported data on the role and say of women in different domains of decision making. The respective gender roles of women and men in the family and on the farm are aligned with their preferences. Men have a greater say over how the family spends the cash. Accordingly, men tend to have a higher WTP for attributes that increase income (increase in yield) or reduce cash costs (reduction in seed rate). Women contribute a large share of the labor for transplanting rice, much of which is unpaid work on family farms. Women, therefore, seem to value labor saving more. Women in our sample were more interested in the new technology and had a higher WTP for it.     

东北地区粮食型农户家庭农场经营风险认知的影响因素分析

［目的］东北地区作为维护国家粮食安全的“压舱石”，准确而系统地掌握东北地区粮食型农户家庭农场经营风险认知水平，为政府部门精准实施粮食型农户家庭农场配套扶持政策提供参考。［方法］文章利用黑龙江、吉林、辽宁3省301个粮食型农户家庭农场调研数据，运用交叉列表和多元有序logit模型分析家庭农场经营风险认知水平及其影响因素。［结果］（1）6312%的粮食型家庭农场有一定风险认知能力，土地经营面积在333~1333hm2（50~200亩）与1333~3333hm2（200~500亩）的家庭农场风险认知处于中等水平， 3333hm2（500亩）以上家庭农场经营风险认知低； （2）玉米种植型家庭农场风险认知水平高于水稻种植型家庭农场； （3）年龄、是否村干部、劳动力数量、土地经营规模、是否有自然灾害、农产品市场价格波动、是否“三品一标”认证、金融支持、农推人员技术指导和新型经营主体间合作稳定对东北地区粮食型农户家庭农场经营风险认知有影响。［结论］应培养家庭农场主个人特质，鼓励支农惠农政策向规模适度的家庭农场倾斜，从流程入手提高家庭农场风险防范能力。     

FARM HOUSEHOLD STRATEGIES AND PLURIACTIVITY IN UPLAND SCOTLAND

This paper considers how farm households in Grampians, an upland area of Scotland, are adapting to changing economic and political pressures. Most farms in the area are family farms, and such farm households are being exhorted to diversify their sources of income and to reduce their reliance on agriculture. Based on surveys in 1988 and 1989, this study finds, to the contrary, that only a small proportion of farmers has been reducing reliance on agricultural sources of income, and few anticipate a declining share of their household income to come from farming. Most farmers are loathe to undertake ancillary non-agricultural occupations because of the lower status implied; and farmers in the study area are found to have a very poor understanding of the broad policy context within which they produce. The paper also confirms the finding of other studies that off-farm employment of household members makes a significant contribution to farm household income; and the nature of such pluriactivity and of pluriactive farm households in the area is reviewed.     

基于ELES模型的广东省农户农业科技需求能力分析

运用扩展线性支出系统（ELES）模型测算2007—2011年？期间广东省农户农业科技需求能力的基本判断标准,并对照农民人均纯收入的统计数据进行分析。研究表明,目前广东省农户已经普遍具备良好的农业科技需求能力,今后更应该重视的是如何激发出农户强烈的需求意愿,同时还要通过政策扶持进一步提高低收入户的需求能力和技术采用速率,从而促进农业科技发挥出缩小农民内部收入差距的作用。     

Spatial dependency and technical efficiency: an application of a Bayesian stochastic frontier model to irrigated and rainfed rice farmers in Bohol,Philippines

We investigated the role of spatial dependency in the technical efficiency estimates of rice farmers using panel data from the Central Visayan island of Bohol in the Philippines. Household‐level data were collected from irrigated and rainfed agro‐ecosystems. In each ecosystem, the geographical information on residential and farm‐plot neighborhood structures was recorded to compare household‐level spatial dependency among four types of neighborhoods. A Bayesian stochastic frontier approach that integrates spatial dependency was used to address the effects of neighborhood structures on farmers’ performance. Incorporating the spatial dimension into the neighborhood structures allowed for identification of the relationships between spatial dependency and technical efficiency through comparison with nonspatial models. The neighborhood structure at the residence and plot levels were defined with a spatial weight matrix where cut‐off distances ranged from 100 to 1,000 m. We found that spatial dependency exists at the residential and plot levels and is stronger for irrigated farms than rainfed farms. We also found that technical inefficiency levels decrease as spatial effects are more taken into account. Because the spatial effects increase with a shorter network distance, the decreasing technical inefficiency implies that the unobserved inefficiencies can be explained better by considering small networks of relatively close farmers over large networks of distant farmers.     

New evidence regarding the effects of contract farming on agricultural labor use

Contractual agreements between smallholder farmers and agribusiness companies have gained in importance in many developing countries. While productivity and income effects of contracting in the small farm sector were analyzed in many previous studies, labor market and employment effects are not yet well understood. This is an important research gap, especially against the background of continued population growth and structural transformation. Here, we investigate the effects of two types of contractual agreements between large international processing companies and smallholder farmers on agricultural labor use, household labor allocation, and hired labor demand in Ghana's palm oil sector. We use cross‐sectional survey data and a willingness‐to‐pay approach to control for unobserved heterogeneity between farmers with and without contracts. We find that agricultural labor intensity is substantially reduced through the contracts, because contracting in Ghana is associated with the adoption of labor‐saving procedures and technologies. Simple marketing contracts lead to reallocation of the saved household labor to off‐farm employment, whereas resource‐providing contracts lead to a stronger reallocation of labor within the farming enterprise. Household labor is more affected by labor savings than hired labor.     

家庭农场与农户小规模农地对农业技术服务需求行为差异及影响因素

［目的］在农业的发展过程中，以集约化土地种植为主的新型经营主体将极大地促进农业的现代化发展，这是新型的农业经营主体追求效益的最大化的选择性行为，也是政府主导和扶持的新型农民的政策缩影。文章探讨现代农业发展的背景下不同种植规模经营主体对于农业技术服务的需求行为差异和影响因素。［方法］以新疆棉区的1 043户小规模种植农户和683户家庭农场主的调查数据为例，对以家庭农场（种植面积267hm2及以上）为例的新型农业经营主体与传统农户小规模农地对农业技术服务需求行为运用二元Logistic模型进行实证分析。［结果］(1)家庭耕地面积是影响家庭农场对农业技术服务需求行为的主要因素； 而文化程度、是否参加农业合作社、村里是否有农业合作社是家庭农场对农业技术服务需求行为的影响程度最大的。(2)而参加农业技术培训次数是影响农户小规模农地对农业技术服务需求行为的主要因素； 是否参加农业技术培训是农户小规模农地对农业技术服务需求行为的影响程度最大的。［结论］（1）农业技术服供给机构应根据农户经营种植的耕地面积，对用户进行分类管理。（2）农业技术服务机构应协同基层部门加大对农业技术服务的宣传力度，全面提升种植农户的认知程度。（3）培育新型农业经营主体，为农业技术服务培育不同规模需求的优良农户。     

A Quantile Regression Analysis of the Effect of Farmers’ Attitudes and Perceptions on Market Participation

The objective of this study is to investigate the subjective determinants of farmers’ participation in output markets in five EU New Member States (NMS) characterised by large semi‐subsistence sectors. It employs quantile regression to model market participation reflecting the heterogeneity amongst farmers. The study also uses the Bayesian adaptive lasso to simultaneously select important covariates and estimate the corresponding quantile regression models. The empirical results show that only two variables affect all quantiles, while their effect varies across quantiles. Some of the remaining variables affect the share of output sold at the lower quantiles (i.e. for subsistence‐ and semi‐subsistence‐oriented farmers) only, whereas other variables are only significant at the upper quantiles (i.e. for more commercially oriented farms). Advisory services, and particularly agricultural business advice, and information and advice on markets and prices can facilitate the market participation of subsistence‐oriented farms.     

库车县棉农农业技术需求的影响因素研究

随着新疆棉花产业现代化进程的不断推进,农业技术在棉花生产和经营过程中起着十分重要的推动作用,建立符合农户需求的新型农业技术服务体系是实现新疆棉区农业现代化的必由之路。文章通过对库车县的实地调查,运用二元Logistic回归模型,分析不同特征的棉农对最为迫切需要的三大农业技术需求的影响因素。结果表明,户主性别、户主年龄、当前是否务农、家庭年收入、样本村是否有农业合作社等5个变量分别通过显著性检验。其中,只有户主年龄在3个模型中都通过显著性检验,说明户主年龄是库车县棉农对农业技术需求的决定性因素。并基于研究结果提出改善库车县农业技术服务的对策建议。     

Policy reform and farmers' wheat allocation in rural China: a case study*

Market‐oriented policy reforms often have important effects on farm‐level grain production and utilisation decisions in developing countries. China's grain farmers are of particular interest because of China's importance in world grain markets and because of China's recent major agricultural policy advances and retrenchments. An empirical evaluation of market liberalisation among farmers located in two provinces in China on farm‐level wheat consumption, market sales and on‐farm storage during 1994 is presented. The results indicate that policymakers should account for such changes in farm household behaviour in designing and assessing the consequence of market liberalisation programs for agricultural sectors in developing countries.     

Policy drivers of farm succession and inheritance

Farm succession and inheritance is increasingly considered a complex phenomenon which not only affects core dimensions of farm family life but also the agricultural sector more widely. Intergenerational farm transfer in particular is increasingly viewed as fundamental to the sustainability and development of global agriculture. In the majority of EU countries, the average age of farmers is increasing, while the number of farmers under 40 years of age is decreasing. There is growing concern that this demographic trend may have negative impacts on the agricultural industry because it is younger and not older farmers who are associated with more efficient and effective production practices. The question of what motivates decisions to transfer farms is a complex one, and research to date has not apparently enlightened agricultural policy to the extent that current trends towards an ageing farm population are being managed. This research aims to investigate economic and financial aspects of the policy drivers of farm succession and inheritance in Ireland to understand what it is about the policy environment that is failing to stimulate higher levels of farm transfer. It draws on the Teagasc National Farm Survey data which provides Irish data to the Farm Accountancy Data Network in the European Commission. A hypothetical microsimulation model is used to investigate economic factors of farm transfers, with scenarios created to test these factors and their impacts on the transfer process. The Net Present Value (NPV) of income streams for farmers and their successors are calculated to assess which scenarios have the highest/lowest financial effects. The findings illustrate a range of possible scenarios for farm succession/inheritance, with some results indicating that under current policy retaining a farm until death may be more economically beneficial to a farmer than transferring land before death.     

Input and output technical efficiencies of wheat production in Kerman, Iran

The Iranian government encourages farmers to produce wheat (a common agricultural enterprise) by increasing farm productivity and efficiency. In this paper, using a Cobb–Douglas frontier production function, a simple relationship between a farm‐level output‐based technical efficiency measure (the Timmer index) and an input‐based measure (the Kopp index) is first developed. Then, using 1995 data from 164 farms in Kerman province, Iran, the average Timmer and Kopp indexes were estimated at 0.93 and 0.91, respectively, and were found to be similarly affected by farm size (positively up to about 9 ha) and by input ratios, though with rather small explanatory power. Thus, there seems some but limited scope to increase the profitability of Iranian wheat production either by increasing the product, given input levels, or by decreasing inputs for the current level of wheat production. However, since wheat producers may be able to adapt their production process more easily and quickly by implementing new techniques, i.e. by more efficient combination of inputs, than by adopting new technology, correction of input over‐use can be regarded as a policy with speedy if limited effect in this case.     

Catching Up or Falling Behind in European Agriculture: The Case of Milk Production

The paper explores and analyses the catching up and falling behind processes in the European dairy sector over the period 2004–2011, using a stochastic metafrontier multiple output distance function for 24 EU Member States. The metafrontier estimates reveal considerable productivity differences in milk production across the EU at the regional (NUTS‐2) level. Milk yield per cow is the highest in the old Member States, especially in those regions located in the northwest of the EU, while the lowest productivity is observed in Eastern Europe. The same structure was found for both the TFP (Total Factor Productivity) levels and TFP growth. Moreover, the results for technical change suggest that farm sizes are not optimal in many regions in Central and Eastern Europe from a dynamic perspective. The comparative analysis suggests that in the new compared to the old Member States, fewer farms could benefit from the movement of the frontier. Moreover, there are no signs that poorly performing farms are catching up with the best performing farms in the EU regions/countries.