Sending Vietnamese Rice Farmers Back to School: Further Evidence on the Impacts of Farmer Field Schools

This study evaluates the impact of farmer field schools (FFS) on knowledge, insecticide use, and yield using a nonconsecutive, two‐year panel data that allows one to control for nonrandom selection. Regression analysis using a difference‐in‐difference approach indicates FFS training did not result in statistically significant impacts on insecticide use and yield over the period of time examined. However, there is some evidence that FFS had an “initial” knowledge impact, but it was not sustained over time. Retraining FFS graduates may be an attractive option to help maintain knowledge and improve performance over time, but we do not find empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this strategy based on a small sample of retrained farmers. La présente étude examine l’impact du programme Champ‐École‐Paysan (CEP) (Farmer Field Schools – FFS) sur l’acquisition des connaissances, l’utilisation d’insecticides et le rendement, à l’aide de données de panel non consécutives recueillies sur une période de deux ans et permettant de maîtriser la sélection non aléatoire. Une analyse de régression utilisant la méthode de différence de différences a révélé que la formation offerte dans le cadre du programme CEP n’a pas eu d’impact statistiquement significatif sur l’utilisation d’insecticides ni sur le rendement au cours de la période visée par l’étude. Toutefois, il semble que le programme CEP a eu un impact sur l’acquisition des connaissances au début, mais que cet impact n’a pas été soutenu au fil du temps. Le recyclage des participants au programme CEP peut constituer une option intéressante pour le maintien des connaissances et l’amélioration du rendement au fil du temps. Par contre, l’étude d’un petit échantillon de producteurs recyclés n’a pas fourni de preuve empirique permettant de croire à l’efficacité de cette stratégie.     

The Acquisition and Diffusion of Knowledge: The Case of Pest Management Training in Farmer Field Schools,Indonesia

Farmer Field Schools (FFS) are an intensive training approach introduced in the last decade in many developing countries to promote knowledge and uptake of ecologically sensible production approaches, and in particular, integrated pest management which minimises pesticide use. Because of the high training cost, the viability of the program depends crucially on the effectiveness of knowledge diffusion from trained farmers to other farmers. This paper uses panel data from Indonesia to assess the extent of diffusion of knowledge regarding integrated pest management from trained farmers to other farmers. The results confirm that better knowledge leads indeed to reduced pesticide use, and that trained farmers make a modest gain in knowledge. However, there is no significant diffusion of knowledge to other farmers who reside in the same villages as the trained farmers. These results imply that revision in the training procedures and curriculum need to be considered if the FFS approach is to become viable and effective.     

政策对农民增收的影响分析

本文对 1 995年以来农民收入增长情况做了回顾与分析 ,分析了 2 0 0 4年促进农民增收的主要政策效益及农民收支增长情况 ,提出了建立农民收入增长的长效机制的思路。     

负债差异对异质性农户贫困脆弱性影响研究

正确把握负债与农户家庭贫困脆弱性的关系,有助于为精准扶贫和防范重大金融风险提供政策量化依据。文章借助CHFS2017年农户微观调查数据,采用倾向评分匹配法分析了农户家庭负债对贫困脆弱性的影响机制。结果表明:家庭负债与家庭贫困脆弱性呈现出显著的"U"形曲线关系。即当家庭负债低于一定临界值时,随着家庭负债增加会显著降低其贫困脆弱性,但随着负债的进一步增加超过临界值时,则会显著提高家庭贫困脆弱性。同时还引入家庭负债二次项,求出该"U"形曲线拐点对应的家庭负债的1.62万元。另外,农户家庭的农业负债、工商业负债、房产负债与其贫困脆弱性同样呈现出显著的"U"形曲线关系,其拐点对应的负债依次为1.18万元、2.37万元、1.46万元。     

耕地细碎化对农户家庭兼业化的影响及机制

研究目的：探讨耕地细碎化对农户家庭兼业化的影响及机制,为推动土地适度规模化经营和保障农民收入提供决策参考。研究方法：基于全国农村固定观察点2009—2020年的12期面板数据,采用随机森林模型筛选变量,实证检验了耕地细碎化对农户家庭兼业化程度的影响及机制。研究结果：（1）耕地细碎化显著促进了农户家庭兼业化。经过一系列稳健性检验后,该结论依旧成立。（2）机制检验结果表明,耕地细碎化可以通过提高农业生产成本、降低种植业收入影响农户家庭兼业化程度。（3）异质性分析发现,耕地细碎化对农户家庭兼业化的促进作用在二兼农户、“离农”氛围浓郁以及位于丘陵山区的村庄中更为突出。研究结论：应从推动土地适度规模化经营、促进种植业生产节本增效以及因地制宜保障农户差异化生计需求等方面破解耕地细碎零散、农户分化延缓的问题,从而推动农业现代化发展,保障国家粮食安全。     

生计资本对林农大病风险的影响分析

基于浙江省4个林区县194个农户的调研数据,运用极差标准化和熵值法得出林农的生计资本值,并采用两阶段选择模型实证分析生计资本对大病风险的影响。结果表明:林农的人力资本和物质资本相对丰裕;物质资本对林农是否遭遇大病风险有显著的负向影响;人力资本和物质资本对大病风险的严重程度有显著的负影响。因此,林农家庭要培养良好的生活习惯,保证家庭健康劳动力的数量;要在加强义务教育的基础上,不断普及医疗卫生知识;要完善林区农村的医疗卫生设施,基础交通建设,提升林农得到优质医疗服务的便捷性。     

Farmers,institutions and technology in agricultural change processes: outcomes from Adaptive Research on rice production in Sulawesi,Indonesia

International agricultural research centres use approaches which aim to create effective linkages between the practices of farmers, introduced technologies and the wider environment that affects farming. This paper argues that such new approaches require a different type of monitoring as a complement to conventional approaches that tend to favour a quantitative assessment of adoption and impact at the farm level. In this context, we examined monitoring data from an Adaptive Research (AR) project highlighting complementary qualitative analysis. Our emphasis is to capture the improvisational capacities of farmers and to reveal social and institutional constraints and opportunities in a broader innovation system. Our approach provided clear insights into how rice farmers adjusted their practices and how actors involved linked (or not) with others in the innovation system. We also demonstrated how institutions such as policies, religious rituals or service provider arrangements pose conditions that establish or constrain practices aligned with introduced technologies. A broader perspective in monitoring AR therefore provides important additional insights into the factors which shape outcomes in farming communities. To expand outcomes, AR projects should also pay attention to designing and testing new institutional arrangements that create enabling conditions for agricultural innovation.     

农户安全农产品生产意识研究——以海南省为例

近几年来,各种农用药剂的超标、违规使用,成为农产品质量安全问题的根源。本文基于对海南省649户冬季瓜菜种植农户的一手调研数据,建立结构方程模型（SEM）,对农户的农产品安全生产意识及其若干影响因素进行了实证分析。研究结果表明农户禀赋和政府服务与规制是影响衣户安全农产品生产意识的主要原因,两者不仅直接影响衣户的安全衣产品生产意识,更可以通过间接影响农户已有的用药习惯和农户认知产生进一步的作用。同时,农户认知和衣户已有的用药习惯作为影响农户安全生产意识的第三和第四大因素,不仅不仅受到农户禀赋的影响,也受到政府服务与规制的制约。进一步完善政府的服务与规制是提高农户安全生产意识的重要途径。     

农民分化对农户农地流转意愿的影响分析——基于结构方程模型的估计

研究目的：分析农民分化对农地流转意愿的影响效应。研究方法：结构方程模型（SEM）。研究结果：（1）农民分化特征对农地流转意愿的影响在5%水平上显著,而且农民分化特征每提高一个单位,农户农地流转意愿就会增加0.634个单位;（2）在反映农民分化的三个可观测变量中,职业分化和经济分化程度每提高一个单位,农户进行农地流转的概率就会分别增加0.394和0.358个单位;（3）反映其他潜变量的可观测变量中,年龄、文化程度、是否具有非农就业技能、家庭农业劳动力人数、对农地产权稳定性的认知、流转地在养老保障中的作用和是否参加社会养老保障等变量对农地流转意愿具有显著影响效应。研究结论：农地流转政策要注意区分不同阶层农民特点,积极促进农民各阶层职业结构的合理化,逐步实现城乡一体化的社会保障制度,弱化土地的社会保障职能。     

Rural Farmer Productivity in the Tropics: The Nigerian Experience

The dilemma posed by the poverty and low agricultural productivity of rural farmers in tropical countries in spite of generous natural resource endowments has continuously baffled their agricultural policy makers. This paper contends that this perplexing situation has been due primarily to the omission of a crucial determinant —producer's health capital — in the usual agricultural development models applied to these countries. This contention is analyzed through a deterministic model designed to relate rural farmers' health and the quality and level of nutrition to physical work output, farm work efficiency and rural farming profitability. To account for the full effects of all nutritional variables without encountering problems of multicollinearity and model mis-specification, principal component analysis is used to transform these variables into a single proxy which is linearly independent of the original variables but which adequately represents them and retains their effects in the analysis. The results are presented in four tables and show, among other things, that there is an asymmetric response inform profits with respect to being ill vis-à-vis being healthy because of the quality of nutrition, so that rural farmers lose farm profits much faster during sickness than they can make these profits during healthy days. La pauvreté el la faible productivité agricole des paysans dans les pays tropicaux, bien que ces derniers soient riches en ressources naturelles, sont des dilemmes qui n'ont cessé de déconcerter les responsables en politique agricole. Cette communication affirme que cette situation déconcertante est causée avant tout par le fait qu'on néglige un determinant crucial (le capital que represénte la santé des producteurs) dans les schemas de d'eveloppement agricole que l'on applique à ces mèmes pays. Cette thèse est analysée au moyen d'un modè le dèterministe qui met en relation la santè des paysans, la qualité et le niveau de leur alimentation avec leur rendement physique, la productivité et la rentabililé agricoles. Pour expliquer pleinemenl tous les effets des variables nutritionnelles sans se heurter aux probfemes de multicolinearité et d'erreurs de spécification dans le modele, on utilise l'analyse des composantes principalespour transformer ces variables en un seul substitut; ce dernier est lineairement indepéndant des variables originelles, mais les représente adéquatement et maintient leurs effets dans l'analyse. Les résultats apparaissent dans quatre tableaux et montrent, entre autres, une réponse asymétrique dans les profits agricoles suivant l'ét at de santé des paysans et la qualité de leur alimentation; un paysan malade perd ses profits agricoles plus vite qu'il les acquiert quand il est bien portant.     

不同代际视角下农户耕地撂荒行为研究——基于江西省兴国县293份农户问卷调查

研究目的：基于江西省兴国县农户调研数据,分析农户代际差异对山区农村耕地撂荒的影响。研究方法：Logit和Tobit模型。研究结果：（1）调查地区有46.1%的农户撂荒耕地,且代际差异每提升一级,耕地撂荒意愿会增加9%;（2）耕地经营规模、耕地块数和土地流转是决定新生代农户耕地是否撂荒及撂荒规模的关键因素,而受教育程度、非农收入占比、土地流转、村内撂荒程度和耕地分散程度对中生代农户耕地撂荒意愿作用最大;（3）老一代农户耕地撂荒规模所受影响因素最多,且性别和土地流转对老一代农户耕地撂荒规模的减缓作用最大。研究结论：在推动耕地要素自由流动和农田基础设施建设的同时,应当考虑不同代际农户所处的生命周期阶段及其自身禀赋差距对耕地撂荒的影响。     

乡村私学重新兴起的社会根源及影响研究

近年来，教育的投资回报日益增加，对社会分层的影响越来越大；乡村社会的分化导致不同社会阶层的教育需求差异也越来越大；公立学校固有的局限，给乡村私学提供了生存空间，这就导致乡村私学再度出现。乡村私立学校有两种类型，职业学校和普通学校；乡村普通私立学校也可分为两种：一种是优裕型私立学校，一种是适宜型私立学校。乡村私学的兴起，增加了教育供给，满足了不同阶层的教育需求；同时抽加剧了农村社会阶层的分化，使各阶层的差距越来越大。     

农地整理项目实施阶段农户参与程度的影响因素研究

研究目的：以湖北省和湖南省实地调研数据为例,研究农地整理项目实施阶段农户参与程度及其影响因素。研究方法：文献研究法、专家分析法、实地调查法及实证研究法。研究结果：户主受教育程度、是否为村干部、农户耕地块数、灌溉劳力机械等投入成本、对农地整理的认同程度、项目信息公开程度、政府是否合理引导农户参与、地区差异等变量影响显著,其他因素不显著。其中“政府是否合理引导农户参与”影响程度最大,其次是“农户耕地块数”和“农地整理的认同程度”,“地区差异”的影响程度最小。研究结论：针对显著和影响程度大的因素提出了提高农地整理项目实施阶段农户参与程度的政策建议。     

Farmer cooperatives in China: diverse pathways to sustainable rural development

In the midst of China's agricultural reform, new forms of farmer organization have emerged, some initiated by farmers themselves, but most through government intervention. Based on national survey data complemented by two in-depth case studies of rural cooperatives, an analysis is made of the roles and significance of these new farmer organizations. Chinese rural cooperatives predominantly facilitate economic cooperation and market integration. This is supported by agricultural policies and the Cooperative Law of 2007 oriented towards the commoditization of smallholder farming. There are some cooperatives not primarily motivated by commodity imperatives, but by the fulfilment of agro-ecological and socio-cultural functions. To date, the roles and significance of this non-mainstream type of rural cooperative has not received much attention. If China is to become a ‘green society’ as proclaimed by the government, more attention and support to this type of cooperatives seems warranted.     

Contextual Framing and Monetary Incentives in Field Experiments on Risk Preferences: Evidence from German Farmers

Recent studies cast doubt on the ability of abstract experiments to predict decision‐making in the field. Thus, scholars have argued for more ‘realism’ by introducing context to field experiments. Yet, such realism may work against the induced values of monetary incentives in economic experiments. It is an open question whether contextual framing works best with or without inducing values, through methods such as the use of monetary incentives. Using a sample of 146 German farmers, we compare experimentally the predictive power of a framed lottery in an agricultural context vs. using an abstract version. For one half of the sample, lotteries are incentivised; for the other half, they are hypothetical. Although risk preferences differ between treatments, all four lottery tasks correlate poorly with farmers’ real‐world use of risk management instruments such as harvest or hail insurance. Subjects who start with an agricultural framing are willing to take significantly greater risks in the lotteries. More generally, our findings cast doubt on the ability of lottery tasks to predict risk‐taking in the field.     

河南省武陟县农民贷款担保协会的调查与分析

河南省武陟县农民贷款担保协会是农村金融组织的一种创新，是农村信用社“放贷难”与农民“贷款难”博弈的结果，农民担保协会减少了农村信用社的贷款风险，也为农民发展生产解决了资金问题，为当地农村经济发展和农民增收做出了贡献。由于政府的强力推进，协会组织发展很快，但是平均每个协会为农民贷款的数量逐年下降，作用明显减弱。     

不同后顾生计来源农户的耕地生产投资行为研究--重庆市白林村471户农户调查实证

研究目的：剖析不同后顾生计来源农户在耕地租赁、生产资料、生产技术、生产劳动力4方面的投资行为及投资方向。研究方法：农户参与式评估,农户模型,比较分析法。研究结果：（1）非农经营后顾生计来源型农户因耕地转包、转赠、撂荒等原因,基本不参与或由其他类型农户代为参与耕地生产投资;（2）农户耕地生产投资行为在耕地租赁、生产资料、生产技术和生产劳动力4方面均表现为：农业规模化经营后顾生计来源型农户＞农业多样化经营后顾生计来源型农户＞兼业化经营后顾生计来源型农户,其中以生产技术投资差异最为明显;（3）农业规模化经营后顾生计来源型农户的耕地投资行为中以水浇地为主要投资方向,农业多样化经营和兼业化经营后顾生计来源型农户则更倾向于对水田进行投资。研究结论：研究为引导农户耕地流转、规模化、集约化经营提供了理论依据,促进了耕地产业化水平的提高。     

新型农村合作医疗对农民影响的实证研究——以江苏的调查为例

本文利用抽样调查的实证方法，研究江苏省新型农村合作医疗对农民产生的实际影响。调查发现，江苏省新型农村合作医疗对农民的医疗支出、家庭消费及储蓄、农民家庭经济状况、健康状况等所产生的影响并不明显；农民对新型农村合作医疗的认知、态度与政府的预期及发布的信息也存在一定差距，应引起决策层的关注与思考，并找出原因加以改进，以保证制度的健康发展。     

江西省农户参与林业合作组织的意愿及其影响因素分析

采用问卷调查和probit模型分析方法,从家庭基本特征、林业生产状况、就业替代条件和林业部门的政策导向等方面分析影响江西省农户参与林业合作组织的因素。研究结果表明:户主年龄、家庭劳动力中从事林业的人数、是否了解林业组织、是否富裕户是影响江西省农户参与林业合作组织的重要因素。     

农户土地入股决策行为及其区域差异——基于江苏省的农户调查

研究目的揭示农户土地入股意愿决策行为的主要影响因素及其地区差异.研究方法问卷调查与Logistic模型分析.研究结果江苏省内不同经济发展水平的苏南、苏中和苏北地区农户土地入股决策行为不同,且影响决策行为的主要因素及其影响程度也存在差异.研究结论农户参与土地股份合作的意愿决策行为存在区域差异,政府应因地制宜地采取相应的政策措施来稳步推行农村土地股份合作制.