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.     

Awareness and adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi: what difference can farmer-to-farmer extension make?

Despite the potential of conservation agriculture (CA) for increased crop yields, energy savings, soil erosion control, and water-use efficiency, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa have been slow to adopt. Farmer-to-farmer extension (F2FE) may have a role to play in overcoming the information access problems and lack of knowledge that may preclude widespread adoption. This study uses data for 180 lead farmers linked to their 455 followers to investigate how F2FE influences awareness and adoption of CA technologies in Malawi. Results from a bivariate probit model for follower farmer awareness and adoption of the three CA principles (minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention, and crop diversification) reveal four main findings: First, lead farmer motivation increases their effectiveness at diffusing CA practices to their followers. Second, lead farmer familiarity with and adoption of CA both matter to the spread of CA practices, but familiarity appears more important. Third, lead farmers play a more critical role in increasing awareness than adoption of the CA practices. Finally, F2FE is a complement rather than a substitute for other sources of agricultural extension in Malawi's pluralistic extension system and should support but not replace current systems. Research and policy implications are discussed.     

Specialization or diversification? The situation and transition of households’ livelihood in agricultural heritage systems

Zhagana Agriculture-Forest-Animal Husbandry Composite System (ZCS) is the first Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems site in the Tibetan Plateau. Similar to many traditional agricultural regions, with the development of tourism and leisure agriculture, the peasant households in ZCS have gradually changed their livelihood strategies and livelihood activities in the past 10 years, resulting in the disappearance of some traditional farming methods and agricultural landscapes with a long history. By taking livelihood assets as the entry point and livelihood strategies as the core, this paper analyzed the basic situation of households’ livelihood and the transition mechanism of different livelihood strategies in order to offer suggestions for the dynamic conservation and sustainable development of Agricultural Heritage Systems (AHS). (1) The livelihood strategies of peasant households in ZCS can be divided into two major categories: specialized strategies and diversified strategies. (2) According to the empirical calculation of the livelihood asset accounting framework of AHS, the average livelihood asset value of peasant households in ZCS is 2.040, showing that the situation of peasant households’ livelihood is inadequate. (3) The transition of peasant households’ livelihood strategies from traditional strategy to specialized or diversified livelihood strategies is mainly influenced by natural assets, human assets, cultural assets, social assets and informational assets. In order to meet the growing material and spiritual needs of peasant households and achieve the sustainable development of ZCS simultaneously, it is suggested that the agriculture-forestry-animal husbandry-tourism composite strategies shall be taken as the development direction of peasant households’ livelihood strategies.     

The attitude of grassland farmers towards nature conservation and agri-environment measures—A survey-based analysis

Grasslands have a multi-layer protection function for nature, biodiversity and climate. These functions can be fostered by an adapted management on grassland farms. Promoting nature protection alongside agricultural production is an aim of European agricultural policy. However, a number of studies indicate that existing Agri-environment measures (AEM) are not as effective as assumed, mainly because they are not sufficiently used by farmers. We investigated the view of grassland farmers on nature conservation and on existing AEM in four distinct regions on a west to east gradient in the North German Plain. We conducted a survey on 82 grassland farms inquiring basic farm data and asking questions on general agricultural issues and nature protection. The results indicate that the majority of all respondents is generally interested in nature conservation and believes it to be of concern for every farmer. In contrast, only a minority of grassland farmers is using the existing AEM to the full extend on their own farm. By applying the concept of farming styles, we classified farmers into four groups, namely Traditionalist, Idealist, Modernist, and Yield Optimizer. These farming styles groups differ in farm and management parameters, general attitudes towards agricultural issues, farming objectives and economic success. We found that in our survey the farming styles groups differ in their attitude towards nature conservation. However, they do not differ in the adoption of AEM and have different reasons for not taking part. We state that for a better implementation of AEM into agricultural practice a better communication, which is adapted to the different ways that farmers manage their farm and think and feel, is needed. Consequently, AEM need to be revised as well.     

Push—pull technology: a conservation agriculture approach for integrated management of insect pests,weeds and soil health in Africa

Push—pull technology (www.push-pull.net) is based on a novel cropping system developed by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Rothamsted Research (UK) and national partners for integrated pest, weed and soil management in cereal—livestock farming systems. Stemborers are attracted to Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), a trap plant (pull), and are repelled from the main cereal crop using a repellent legume intercrop (push), desmodium (Desmodium spp.). Desmodium root exudates effectively control the parasitic striga weed by causing abortive germination. Desmodium also improves soil fertility through nitrogen fixation, natural mulching, improved biomass and control of erosion. Both companion plants provide high value animal fodder, facilitating milk production and diversifying farmers' income sources. The technology is appropriate to smallholder mixed cropping systems in Africa. It effectively addresses major production constraints, increases maize yields from below 1 to 3.5t/ha, and is economical as it is based on locally available plants, not expensive external inputs. Adopted by over 30,000 farmers to date in East Africa, key factors in its further up-scaling include effective technology dissemination, adaptability of companion plants for climate resilience, capacity building and multi-stakeholder collaboration, integration with livestock husbandry, improvement in input accessibility and creation of a supportive policy framework.     

Investigating rice farmers’ preferences for an agri-environmental scheme: Is an eco-label a substitute for payments?

In some Asian countries, the pursuit of high yields often leads to excessive application of chemical fertilizer, negatively impacting the environment. We use the Choice Experiment approach to investigate the preferences of rice farmers in Taiwan for a potential Agri-environmental Scheme (AES), which would aim at an optimization of fertilizer use. We are especially interested in how such an AES would optimally be designed and whether it is possible to reduce its costs by offering the farmers lower payments in exchange for an eco-label. We find that farmers have a significant preference for an eco-label and would accept lower payments in exchange. They also prefer to retain some flexibility and keep some land out of the AES. Moreover, we also find that a share of the farmers would never join an AES.     

Patterns of development and conservation in agricultural lands—The case of the Tel Aviv metropolitan region 1990–2000

Until the 1990s Israel was implementing a strict agricultural land preservation policy program, rooted in Zionist ideology. This was changed when shifts in Israeli planning and land policy towards the end of the 20th century brought about accelerated growth and sprawling development in agricultural lands at the urban–rural fringe, particularly in the Tel Aviv metropolitan region (TMR). In this article we describe the background for policy shifts and the resulting impact on metropolitan growth, and then proceed to identify patterns of development in former agricultural lands and their impact on conservation, based on a study of statutory land use plans converting agricultural land to built-up uses within the TMR. It was found that most of the plans were converting large tracts of agricultural land to residential uses, characterized by low-density suburban-type family housing, thus reducing considerably the spatial conservation potential. In addition, only relative small portions of land were conserved as public open space within plans’ boundaries, and even then only about half of that was actually effective for active open space uses.     

Fruit and Vegetable Consumers’ Behavior: Implications for Organized Retailers in Emerging Markets

The authors attempt to understand selected behaviors of fruit and vegetable consumers of mid-sized cities of a developing economy, which are important for any retailer to appreciate. The study was carried out in two mid-sized cities of the Orissa state of India with 100 respondents by using the specially developed questionnaire. Statistical tools were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that vegetables are consumed in greater quantity and purchased more frequently than fruits. Consumers attached more importance to credence attributes than to search and experience attributes while making their purchase decisions. Family income and consumers’ education were found to have significant influence on the consumers’ willingness to pay for graded and packaged products. Organized retailers can take cues from the findings of the study to decide about location, nature and quality of assortment, and their marketing strategies.     

Chinese land policies and farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizer for saline soils

Soil salinization has become a global concern and poses a great threat to food production and sustainable land use. Land use policies are the main driver of saline soil farmland use in ecosystems. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing how saline soil farmland use is affected by land use practices of individual farm households. An empirical study, using an ordered probit model, was conducted based on questionnaire responses from farm households in 8 towns and 14 villages in eco-fragile areas in Shandong, Jilin and Xinjiang provinces. The results suggest that land tenure, state systems agricultural support, characteristics of a field parcel and characteristics of the farm households have different influences on farmer's land use in three regions. The adoption of organic fertilizer by individual households is constrained by the lack of stability and integrity in land tenure. Furthermore, the parcel of a field is generally small, sparsely distributed and often fragmented, which increases costs. Even subsidizing organic fertilizer does not necessarily help in its adoption. Given these challenges, this study makes recommendations for different regions that may promote the adoption of improved saline soil farmland cultivation methods by farmers.     

Identifying livelihood strategies and transitions in rural China: Is land holding an obstacle?

Using nationally representative rural survey data from 2010 and 2014 in China, this paper quantitatively investigates the factors determining Chinese rural households’ livelihood strategies and dynamics in transitions. Using a multinomial probit regression and ordered logit regression (OLR), we find that human assets and transport facilities are the most important factors in improving the livelihood strategies of rural Chinese households. These factors also encourage upward livelihood mobility. However, factors such as land endowment, land renting-in, and land expropriation have a negative effect on rural Chinese households’ upward mobility in livelihood strategies.     

The future of Russia’s agriculture and food industry between global opportunities and technological restrictions

This paper reports on the result of a major foresight exercise commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation on the prospective developments of the agriculture and food industry up to the year 2030. The exercise identified economic, technological, social and ecological trends that will greatly influence both supply and demand in the industry. The findings provide a decision base for policy-makers to improve the technology base and to ease the reliance on technology imports. The country’s agricultural producers have been struggling with the introduction of new technologies, and customers are showing conservative demand patterns. Previous research showed that technology transfer into Russian agricultural enterprises suffers from a low knowledge level especially in receiving organizations. The country’s own S&T system requires support both for technology development and technology transfer, especially for breeding of best-suited plants and animals for local circumstances. Furthermore, consumer behaviour could be influenced towards higher demand, for example, organic food or ethical husbandry.     

Open access post-harvest grazing and farmers’ preferences for forage production incentives in Ethiopia

Open access post-harvest in situ grazing is widespread in areas where a mixed crop-livestock system is common. Where this is not discouraged, because livestock is important, conservation agriculture, which depends on keeping the soil surface covered with crop residues is unlikely to be implemented. One way to reduce open access grazing is through restricting communal grazing access to allow rights of exclusion, while simultaneously improving the production of livestock feeds. This paper analyzes farmers’ perceptions about post-harvest free grazing on agricultural lands and identifies incentives that motivate forage production, to help inform forage development and policy. We collected data from randomly selected farm households in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia and used a choice experiment method. We found that a majority of farmers would prefer post-harvest grazing restrictions to the existing reciprocal post-harvest grazing. Farmers also had strong preferences for forage production policy incentives, but the results reveal considerable preference heterogeneity. The study provides policy makers with needed information in formulating policy incentives for smallholder forage production systems.     

Spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements in Su–Xi–Chang region: Implications for building a new countryside in coastal China

This paper analyzes the spatio-temporal dynamic patterns of farmland and rural settlements from 1990 to 2006 in Su–Xi–Chang region of coastal China experienced dramatic economic and spatial restructuring, using high-resolution Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) data in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006, and socio-economic data from both research institutes and government departments. To examine the spatial patterns of farmland and rural settlements and their change over time, a set of pattern metrics that capture different dimensions of land fragmentation was identified. The outcomes indicated that, to a large extent, land-use change from 1990 to 2006 in Su–Xi–Chang region was characterized by a serious replacement of farmland with urban and rural settlements, construction land, and artificial ponds. Population growth, rapid industrialization and urbanization are the major driving forces of farmland change, and China's economic reforms played an important role in the transformation of rural settlements. China's “building a new countryside” is an epoch-making countryside planning policy. The focuses of building a new countryside in coastal China need to be concentrated on protecting the farmland, developing modern agriculture, and building “clean and tidy villages.” Rural construction land consolidation and cultivated land consolidation are two important ways to achieve the building objectives. The authors argue that it is fundamental to lay out a scientific urban–rural integrated development planning for building a new countryside, which needs to pay more attention to making the rural have certain functions serving for the urban. In addition, the cultural elements of idyll and the rural landscape need to be reserved and respected in the process of building a new countryside in coastal China, instead of building a new countryside, which looks more like a city.     

Enhancing urban agriculture through participants’ satisfaction: The case of Seoul,Korea

South Korea has been lending a variety of official support to promote the urban agriculture (UA), especially after enacting Act on Development and Support of Urban Agriculture (Act of UA) in 2011. Under this policy, which aims at spreading the UA effectively in dense cities, in particular, the government categorizes spaces used for the UA into five types in accordance with their characteristics and has extended customized support. But it has never been explored if the Korean version of the UA has satisfied the participants and there exist any differences in the satisfaction level among participants of each spatial type.With a goal to explore the policy effectiveness, therefore, this research carried out interviews and surveys involving 808 citizens who have taken part in UA activities in 68 farmlands in South Korea's capital city of Seoul and then analyzed them with the ANOVA and the hierarchical regression analysis methods The results revealed statistically significant differences among the different UA types in terms of the respondents’ overall satisfaction, the current status of the UA operation, and policy measures that affect the satisfaction level as well as their effects. Overall, however, the participation of female citizens, the supply of physical facilities by public entities, and the increase in the time respondents were involved in UA and their cultivating areas turned out to positively affect their satisfaction level.     

Power,capital, and the poverty of farmers’ land rights in China

This article is intended to conduct a three-dimensional examination of China’s rural land rights and the complex dynamic among political power, economic capital, and farmers’ rights during the past seventy years. First, the study takes a close look at the historical changes in the nature, scope, and ownership of land property in rural China during four significant time periods from 1949 to 2019. Second, it uses Ronald Coase’s theory on property rights in dissecting the four paradoxes and dilemmas in China’s rural land ownership, including the extent of clarity and stability of land property rights, the “three rights system” (the rights to ownership, contracting and operation of land) and three stagnations in defining and exercising such three rights, the simultaneous shortage and waste of land resources, as well as the restrictions on land transactions and the requirement to protect collective property. With examples derived from selected evidence, the article documents how both political power and economic capital have worked together to deprive farmers’ land rights. It concludes with a critical analysis of the current status of China’s rural economy, the problem of applying Western economic theories to China’s reality, as well as the theoretical definition, legal protection and policy parameters of land property rights in China.     

The rise of the ‘food charter’: A mechanism to increase urban agriculture

Urban agriculture (UA) is rapidly growing in popularity and significance across the Western hemisphere. For over two decades North Americans have embraced the concept, although in Europe the idea of UA has only recently gained attention from academics, practitioners and policy makers. Networks are beginning to form in the UK, sometimes bound by a ‘food charter’: a statement of aims which bring together businesses, practitioners and other bodies involved or interested in sustainable food systems. More recently, food charters have become popular tools for pursuing the UA agenda. In this paper we provide a view on this method of moving forward the local food agenda; primarily using a case study of Birmingham, we comment on its success and potential for the future.     

Are farmers ‘efficient but poor’? The impact of crop choices on technical efficiency and poverty in Nigeria

We test the ‘efficient-but-poor’ hypothesis by estimating the determinants of smallholders' choice over cash or food crops and whether their crop choice affects technical efficiency and poverty using the national household panel data in Nigeria. We employ the stochastic frontier analyses correcting for sample selection about farmers' crop choice. Our results indicate that smallholders are generally efficient in their resource allocations. A treatment effects model is employed to estimate farmers' crop choice in the first stage and the impact of their choices on technical efficiency and poverty outcomes in the second stage. The results show that farmers' access to free inputs, non-farm income and the use of seeds from the previous growing season are important determinants of crop choice. The adoption of cash crops by food-crop producing households will not generally reduce poverty, although it will improve technical efficiency marginally. However, if cash crops are commercialised, poverty tends to decline.     

Institutional factors and farmers’ adoption of conventional,organic and genetically modified cotton in Burkina Faso

Organic farming and genetically modified (GM) crops technologies are currently being promoted as alternatives to conventional farming that is seen as unsustainable. However, institutional constraints can impede the adoption of even the most sustainable technology. This paper analysed the effect of institutional factors on farmers’ adoption of conventional, organic and GM cotton in Burkina Faso. Building on the expected utility model and institutional theory, a multinomial logistic regression was performed using farmers’ survey data from the 2014–2015 production season. The results showed that subsidies on fertiliser and credit for cereals production, the power of farmers’ association and that of the cotton company favoured the adoption of conventional and GM cotton at the expense of organic cotton. In order to succeed, organic cotton projects need to include components that help farmers to access organic fertilisers for cereals production. They also need to involve the cotton companies that are the most powerful stakeholders of the cotton sector. Extension services are necessary for both organic and GM cotton adoption. Other important factors to consider include farmers’ education, the potentials of the technologies, the good agro-ecological conditions, the continued involvement of women, the availability of virgin lands and the closeness of farmers to their farms.     

REDD+ and the agriculture frontier: Understanding colonists’ utilization of the land

Given the importance of the agricultural frontier as an engine of deforestation, this paper focuses on how colonists (from the Spanish word for “colonists” that is used to describe migrants to the agricultural frontier), who are important and largely overlooked stakeholders, perceive the new climate mitigation mechanism known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries (REDD+). We aimed (1) to document colonists’ land use, perceptions, needs, and aspirations and (2) to understand if and how they could be taken into account under REDD+ policies. The study, including multiple data collection techniques (e.g., focus group, interviews, and participatory activities), was conducted in eastern Panama. Three areas that were adjacent to the Province of Darien border were chosen because of their similar forested landscapes and varying accessibility to a main road. Our results suggest that land use preferences, culture, forest scarcity and dependency, inequalities (e.g., land use, amount of forest, and land area), and lack of technical capacities are key elements to be considered when developing a REDD+ strategy with colonist communities. We propose that halting deforestation without both considering local communities’ perceptions and giving effective alternatives could seriously undermine livelihoods.