Estimating the Enduring Effects of Fertiliser Subsidies on Commercial Fertiliser Demand and Maize Production: Panel Data Evidence from Malawi

Most studies of input subsidy programmes confine their analyses to measuring programme effects over a one‐year period. This article estimates the potential longer‐run or enduring effects of fertiliser subsidy programmes on smallholder farm households' demand for commercial fertiliser and maize production over time. We use four waves of panel data on 462 farm households in Malawi for whom fertiliser use can be tracked for eight consecutive seasons between 2003/2004 and 2010/2011. Panel estimation methods are used to control for potential endogeneity of subsidised fertiliser acquisition. Results indicate that farmers acquiring subsidised fertiliser in three consecutive prior years are found to purchase slightly more commercial fertiliser in the next year. This suggests a small amount of crowding in of commercial fertiliser from the receipt of subsidised fertiliser in prior years. In addition, acquiring subsidised fertiliser in a given year has a modest positive impact on increasing maize output in that same year. However, acquiring subsidised fertiliser in multiple prior years generates no statistically significant effect on maize output in the current year. These findings indicate that potential enduring effects of the Malawi fertiliser subsidy programme on maize production are limited. Additional interventions that increase soil fertility can make using inorganic fertiliser more profitable and sustainable for smallholders in sub‐Saharan Africa and thereby increase the cost‐effectiveness of input subsidy programmes.     

Contract Farming in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Survey of Approaches,Debates and Issues

The paper provides a selective survey of the most significant literature on the rise of contract farming in developing countries, with a focus on sub‐Saharan Africa. The review of the literature illustrates ideological debates around the meaning and significance of contract farming and whether it is good or bad for small‐scale farmers. The paper then divides the review of the literature into three key themes. First, it addresses the quantitative significance of contract farming in Africa, which may not be as important as it is often portrayed. Second, the paper highlights the substantial diversity of contract farming in Africa and problems with excessive generalizations. Third, it discusses the various drivers fuelling the spread of contract farming, which reflect new production conditions and existing constraints, tendencies and counter‐tendencies, and both economic and political responses to changes in production and market conditions in the era of liberalization and globalization. The variety of drivers is substantial and defies generalizations about the emergence of contract farming. Finally, it briefly suggests research questions that tend to be absent in most of the literature on contract farming, and which are important in order to understand the current dynamics of agrarian change and transitions to capitalism in African countries.     

国家粮食安全中主产区粮食生产及其贡献的量化对比分析

研究目的:通过量化对比分析,系统认识主产区粮食生产对保障国家粮食安全重要贡献的具体表现及程度,客观分析其经济发展困境及粮食生产方面的成因,为国家加大粮食主产区利益补偿力度、完善补偿机制提供数据参考。研究方法:利用历年全国和地方统计年鉴数据进行多视角的量化对比分析。研究结果:在粮食产量及其增长速度、粮食生产地位、粮食增产贡献率、省均及人均粮食生产水平、粮食生产比较贡献度等方面,粮食主产区均明显高于粮食主销区和产销平衡区。但是,粮食主产区在经济发展、财政收入和居民收入等方面明显落后,存在着粮食生产越多越吃亏的矛盾。研究结论:在保障国家粮食安全过程中,粮食主产区发挥着关键作用,贡献巨大。为了保障国家粮食安全,必须保护粮食主产区政府重农抓粮积极性,加大对粮食主产区,重点是粮食净调出省的利益补偿力度,完善利益补偿机制。     

农垦国有农用地资本化中粮食安全风险的法律防控

研究目的：通过对农垦国有农用地资本化引发粮食安全风险的因素进行分析,为防范农垦国有农用地资本化过程中可能出现的粮食安全风险提供法律制度建议。研究方法：法解释学、法经济学。研究结果：（1）农垦国有农用地资本化最大的风险是对粮食安全的不利影响,主要表现之一是土地“非农化”“非粮化”,即土地用途管制被突破;二是土地被过度利用或者被污染后土地生产能力下降,修复治理责任难以追究。（2）风险的主要成因在于农垦国有农用地资本化后权利主体多元化,以及现行法律对各权利主体的权利、义务规范的不清晰。研究结论：在法律制度中,应创设新的权利模式,区分“国有农用地所有权行使人”、“国有农用地使用权人”和“国有农用地经营权人”,明确权利指代及各方在农垦国有农用地资本化风险防控中的权利和义务;此外,增设农垦国有农用地开发权,探索建立农垦国有农用地开发权交易制度,均衡国有农用地权利人的经济利益。     

Adoption of Food Safety Practices in Milk Production: Implications for Dairy Farmers in India

This study investigates the status, estimates the cost, and identifies the determinants of compliance with food safety measures in milk production in India. The study is based on the cross section primary data collected at the farm level in 3 states of India, namely, Bihar, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, in the year 2007. These states capture the geographical and institutional diversity of milk production and marketing in the country. The study shows that the status of compliance with food safety measures at the dairy farm level is not encouraging and a lot of efforts are needed to bridge this gap. The adoption intensity of food safety practices shows wide inter- and intraregional variations. This intensity depicts a positive relationship with herd size. The additional cost of compliance with food milk safety measures reveals an inverse relationship with herd size. The adoption intensity of food safety practices has been found to be influenced by the dairy farmers' characteristics. Herd size, education level, expertise in dairying, and integration of dairy farmers with modern milk supply chain have positive influence on the adoption intensity of food safety practices at the farm level. The positive relationship between adoption intensity of food safety measures and farmers' realization of milk price would influence farmers for greater adoption of these measures.     

Impact of treadle pump irrigation technology on smallholder poverty and food security in Malawi: a case study of Blantyre and Mchinji districts

The Malawi Government has intensified the use of treadle pump irrigation technology in an attempt to increase agricultural production and also to enrich the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers. As a result, the treadle pump is gaining in popularity among smallholder farmers throughout the country. This study was conducted in the districts of Blantyre in the Southern Region and Mchinji in the Central Region of Malawi. A total of 50 treadle pump and 50 non-treadle pump farmers were interviewed in each district to assess the impact of treadle pump irrigation technology with regard to food security and poverty. Gross margin analysis showed that adopters of the technology had higher net farm incomes per hectare (NFIs/ha) than non-adopters per year. In Blantyre, NFI/ha value for adopters was MK122,855 (US$1007) compared with MK15,987 (US$131) for non-adopters under irrigation conditions. Similar results were found in Mchinji with MK51,858 (US$425) and MK16,090 (US$132) for adopters and non-adopters, respectively. Likewise, under rain-fed conditions, adopters had higher NFIs/ha than non-adopters: in Blantyre, the respective NFIs were MK19,497 (US$152) and MK3344 (US$27), whereas in Mchinji the respective values were MK16,896 (US$138) and MK10,084 (US$83). Furthermore, the well-being measurements and analyses of poverty revealed a higher poverty level among non-adopters compared with adopters. The former also had a greater relative risk of falling into deeper poverty than the latter. Transition matrices depicting movement in and out of poverty showed that from 2004 to 2005, some poor adopters moved out of poverty while some non-adopters dropped from being non-poor to poor. No adopter moved from non-poor to poor. From the results, it is concluded that the Government of Malawi should be urged to increase the availability of this kind of technology to the market at a reduced cost by offering tax incentives to local manufacturers and by using an input voucher system to subsidize qualified poor smallholder farmers.     

Estimating Bird Damage to Rice in Africa: Evidence from the Senegal River Valley

Granivorous birds, mainly the Red‐billed Quelea, have subsisted on cereal crops in Africa for centuries and have caused substantial damage. There is, however, limited recent evidence on their impact. We propose an indirect method to estimate bird‐inflicted crop losses by fitting a production function with a damage abatement component and pest intensity slope dummies on a panel database of rice farmers in the Senegal River Valley. This allows us to estimate both bird damage and marginal productivity of bird control at different levels of bird pressure. Annual bird damage is found to average around 13.2% of the potential rice production during the wet seasons of 2003–2007, which translates into an average annual economic loss of 4.7 billion FCFA (€7.1 million). Our results are consistent with farmers’ perceived bird‐inflicted crop losses, averaging 15.2%. More alarmingly, we observe declining marginal productivities of bird control under increasing bird pressure. Farmers indicate that at high bird pressure, the efficacy of traditional bird scaring methods is inadequate, which suggests that predictive (monitoring), preventive (population control) and protective (insurance) measures against massive invasions are more urgent than improving the average efficacy of curative measures (pest control). These findings are especially relevant to farmers and policy‐makers who are currently struggling to implement an ambitious food self‐sufficiency programme in Senegal.     

色谱技术在食品中分析检测及工业化生产中的应用

随着食品行业的发展,相关的分析检测工作量逐渐增多,需要借助色谱技术对食品进行分析和检测,并将先进技术运用在工业生产过程中,从根本上提升食品检测的有效性.     

On Crop Biodiversity, Risk Exposure, and Food Security in the Highlands of Ethiopia

This paper investigates the effects of crop genetic diversity on farm productivity and production risk in the highlands of Ethiopia. Using a moment-based approach, the analysis uses a stochastic production function capturing mean, variance, and skewness effects. Welfare implications of diversity are evaluated using a certainty equivalent, measured as expected income minus a risk premium (reflecting the cost of risk). We find that the effect of diversity on skewness dominates its effect on variance, meaning that diversity reduces the cost of risk. The analysis also shows that the beneficial effects of diversity become of greater value in degraded land.     

Integrated Management of Land Use Systems under Systemic Risks and Security Targets: A Stochastic Global Biosphere Management Model

Interdependencies among land use systems resemble a complex network connected through demand–supply relationships. Disruption of this network may catalyse systemic risks affecting food, energy, water and environmental security (FEWES) worldwide. We describe the conceptual development, expansion and practical application of a stochastic version of the Global Biosphere Management Model (GLOBIOM), used to assess competition for land use between agriculture, bioenergy and forestry at regional and global scales. In the stochastic version of the model, systemic risks of various kinds are explicitly covered and can be analysed and mitigated in all their interactions. While traditional deterministic scenario analysis produces sets of scenario‐dependent outcomes, stochastic GLOBIOM explicitly derives robust outcomes that leave the systems better‐off, independently of which scenario applies. Stochastic GLOBIOM is formulated as a stochastic optimisation model that is critical for evaluating portfolios of robust interdependent decisions: ex‐ante strategic decisions (production allocation, storage capacities) and ex‐post adaptive (demand, trading, storage control) decisions. As an example, the model is applied to the question of optimal storage facilities, as buffers for production shortfalls, to meet regional and global FEWES requirements when extreme events occur. Expected shortfalls and storage capacities have a close relationship with Value‐at‐Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value‐at‐Risk (CVaR) risk measures. A Value of Stochastic Solutions is calculated to illustrate the benefits of the stochastic over the deterministic model approach.     

“粮食—生态”双安全约束下建设用地供需多情景模拟 ——以江苏省南京市为例

研究目的：以江苏省南京市为例,基于“反规划”理论,从“粮食—生态”双安全约束视角开展2030年和2035年建设用地供需多情景模拟,据此制定不同情景下建设用地差别化管控策略。研究方法：运用粮食需求预测法和景观生态安全格局构建法,反向测算研究区建设用地供给极限;并采用多元回归模型,结合建设用地扩张驱动因素,预测建设用地需求。研究结果：（1）“经济优先”、“生态涵养”和“均衡发展”三种情景下,2030年研究区耕地需求量分别为153 854.58 hm2、179 497.01 hm2、205 139.44 hm2,2035年达到157 157.71 hm2、183 350.67 hm2、209 543.62 hm2;景观生态安全格局构建结果显示,南京市低、中、高安全水平生态用地规模分别为153 741.28 hm2、257 684.61 hm2和292 859.35 hm2;三种情景下,2030年研究区建设用地需求量分别为200 121.21 hm2、194 060.53 hm2、195 683.63 hm2,2035年达到206 523.92 hm2、196 523.96 hm2、197 983.55 hm2;（2）相较于其他两种情景,均衡发展情景下目标年建设用地供需差整体较小,分别为785.40 hm2和-5 918.70 hm2,2030年建设用地供需基本平衡,到2035年存在一定程度缺口,该情景在满足经济发展对建设用地合理需求的同时,也能兼顾“粮食—生态”双安全的基本要求。研究结论：不同情景下建设用地供需状况差异明显表明需要制定差别化的管控策略,以均衡发展情景为目标,有利于协调区域经济发展、粮食安全和生态保护的多目标土地利用供需矛盾。     

Smallholder Supply Response to Marketing Board Activities in a Dual Channel Marketing System: The Case of Zambia

In recent years, parastatal grain marketing boards have re‐emerged as important elements of grain markets in eastern and southern Africa, yet little is known about how farmers are responding to their scaled up activities. This article develops a conceptual model of farmers’ production decisions in the context of dual output marketing channels (government and private sector) when output prices at harvest time and the availability of one of the marketing channels are unknown at planting time. It then applies the model to the case of Zambia and uses nationally representative household‐level panel survey data to estimate the effects of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA), the government parastatal maize marketing board, on smallholder crop production and fallow land. The FRA buys maize from smallholders at a pan‐territorial price that typically exceeds market prices in major maize producing areas. Results suggest that increases in the farmgate FRA maize price raise farmer maize price expectations, which induces a supply response. Smallholders respond to an increase in the FRA price by extensifying their maize production. On average, a 1% increase in the FRA price is associated with 0.06% increases in smallholders’ maize area planted and quantity harvested. There is also some evidence that farmers reduce the area of land under fallow in response to FRA incentives but there is no evidence of reductions in the area planted to other crops.     

The Lived Experience of Food Sovereignty: Gender,Indigenous Crops and Small‐Scale Farming in Mtubatuba,South Africa

Food sovereignty has become a powerful concept to critique the dominant global food regime. Although it has not taken root in South Africa as fiercely as elsewhere, we use this concept to explore how one small‐scale farmer seeks to wean herself from the dominant food system in the small town of Mtubatuba, KwaZulu‐Natal. Using ethnographic methods and in‐depth interviews about this single intense and extreme case, we explore this farmer's commitment and argue that it constitutes what we call the ‘lived experience of food sovereignty’. If food sovereignty is concerned with small‐farmer control over decisions about food cultivation, distribution and consumption, we examine this farmer's praxis and explore the obstacles she faces. These include gendered and racialized agrarian questions, land struggles, social reproduction and perceptions of her indigenous crops. We also examine the networks, knowledge, systems and methods that have allowed her to cultivate her self‐reliance.     

Impact of training on the intensification of rice farming: evidence from rainfed areas in Tanzania

Agricultural development is indispensable for poverty reduction and food security in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). This study investigates the impact of rice production training in a modified version of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) on the performance of small‐scale rice farmers in a rainfed area of Tanzania. Utilizing the plot level variation, we employ propensity score matching (PSM) to assess the impact of training on technology adoption, productivity, and profitability. We also estimate a difference‐in‐differences model with plot fixed effects using recall panel data covering the periods before and after training. We found that trainees achieved an average paddy yield of 4.7 tons per hectare and rice profit of 191.5 USD per hectare on the plots where new technologies were adopted, which is higher by about 1.3–1.8 tons and 119–137 USD per hectare than on the other plots. Our study suggests the high potential of transforming favorable rainfed rice growing areas in SSA so as to achieve a rice Green Revolution through training in modern input use and improved agronomic practices.     

基于产教融合的食品科学与工程一流专业人才培养实践——以徐州工程学院为例

智能经济时代的到来,对于高等院校专业人才培养也提出了新的要求.基于食品产业需求导向的专业人才,不仅能满足区域经济发展和食品产业转型升级的时代需求,也符合高校产教融合人才培养转型的客观要求.徐州工程学院通过一系列人才培养实践,建立了食品产业需求导向的专业人才培养机制.通过分析徐州工程学院的案例可知,高等院校要基于时代和行...     

Food Regime Analysis in a Post‐Neoliberal Era: Argentina and the Expansion of Transgenic Soybeans

This paper uses the food regime literature to analyse the political and economic relations promoting the expansion of soybeans in Argentina following the post‐neoliberal turn in the early 2000s. Continuities of the agrarian expansion from the neoliberal to post‐neoliberal model highlight the state's role in supporting a neoliberal food regime. Neoregulation in the post‐neoliberal agenda continues to favour increased production of transgenic food over ecological and human‐health considerations. Moreover, the emergence of new corporate and transnational actors has contributed to a new form of corporate‐agrarian governance premised on biotechnology. First, a food regime lens is used to describe the expansion of transgenic soybeans in Argentina, followed by an analysis of planning documents to show the state's position in reproducing neoliberal discourses and policies favouring the expansion of agriculture. The conclusion discusses the utility of food regime analysis for explaining the new forms of agricultural governance in Argentina.     

多重压力胁迫下东北黑土区耕地韧性研究及其启示 ——以黑龙江省拜泉县为例

研究目的：将韧性理论引入耕地保护研究,评价黑土区耕地韧性进而揭示其短板要素,提出黑土区耕地韧性的提升路径与政策建议。研究方法：基于覆盖黑龙江省拜泉县16个乡镇、154个行政村的问卷调查及土地遥感数据,从韧性发生学视角构建“压力—状态—响应”模型,以村域为单元,利用熵值法综合评价拜泉县耕地韧性。研究结果：（1）拜泉县耕地韧性为0.421,处于中等偏下水平,耕地韧性不足;（2）立地条件对耕地韧性具有显著负向作用,耕地韧性较高的村庄集中于远离县城且地面坡度较低的地区,靠近县城且地面坡度较大的村庄耕地韧性相对较低;（3）农田排涝设施短缺、耕地劳动力投入不足是制约拜泉县耕地韧性的关键短板因素,耕地集中连片程度、耕地的机械、化肥投入以及粮食产出与收入有效支撑了拜泉县耕地韧性。研究结论：针对外界环境的复杂性、动态性以及未来发展的不确定性,有效实施耕地保护应强调基于韧性的治理理念。一方面要注重不同地域耕地内核系统与外界环境系统的交互作用方式与过程,诊断识别影响耕地质量与生产力的关键短板因素并制定应对措施;另一方面要培育增强对发展环境变化和外界不确定性的研判能力,及时调整耕地保护策略,从而有效规避风险挑战或将损失降到最低。