Abstract/Overview Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) presents the opportunity to meet the world increasing food demands in the face of climate variability. In Kenya, CSA has been promoted as a means of adapting to climate change among Kenyan farmers under Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) and farmers’ participation is key. This study, therefore, sought to identify the extent of participation in climate-smart agricultural projects (CSAPs) in terms of longevity of farmers’ pa...
Abstract/Overview Technology and Innovation Support Centers (TISCs) were established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2009 to support innovations in least developed countries. They facilitate innovators to access high quality innovations and technological information. They have been very successful in the United Kingdom and Germany. TISC implementation in Kenya has been evaluated in this work and challenges experienced determined with suggested mitigations. An eva...
Abstract/Overview Developing countries are facing major challenges today with regard to food security because of changes in land use, coupled with population pressure and adverse weather conditions. Kenya government has responded to this by ensuring that farmers are given relevant information on farming through various sources such as availing information from research institutions, formal training, agricultural extension service agents, and media services through television and radio and...
Abstract/Overview This paper highlights the narrative of Africa rising. It indicates that indeed Africa as well as Agriculture are rising. Since 2000, Sub-Saharan Gross Domestic Product has been growing at an average rate of 5% per annum. Agriculture has been growing at an average rate of 3.5% p.a, well above the 2.7% population growth. Evidence shows that this Economic and Agricultural growth have lead to improvements in the lives of the African people. Real income per person has increas...
Abstract/Overview The objective of the study was to establish socio-economic status of selected farm forestry groups and networks currently undertaking farm forestry (FF)and the prospects of farm-level forestry enterprises in improving and sustaining the rural livelihoods in Mbeere and Tharaka, Sub-counties and Kitui County in Kenya. Methodology: Using interviews with 466 randomly selected farmers, farm forestry groups. (FFG) and farm forestry networks (FFN), assessment of the current far...
Abstract/Overview Supply of agricultural produce is directly influenced by production and productivity. Therefore, factors that affect agricultural production also affect supply. This study analyses the determinants of pineapple market supply in Bureti Sub County, Kericho County, Kenya. Multi stage sampling was used to select 133 farmers for the study using structured interview schedules. This was supplemented by secondary data collected using content analysis from different published and...
Abstract/Overview Maize (Zea mays L.) is a crop of livelihood, nutritional, economic, and political importance in Kenya. Its productivity growth is estimated at 2% annually, with average yields of 2 tons/ha against a potential 6 tons/ha. Annual production lags behind demand. This study was conducted in a typically rural location of Nandi County in Kenya to investigate smallholder farmers’ social capital, sources of finances, information, and their implications on maize yields. Data from...
Abstract: In Ethiopia, teff is one of most important crops in terms of number of producers and area coverage. It is the main source of cash income and food security crop for most of rural areas. Dejen district is well known in the production of teff in Amhara Region. This study was aimed to evaluate the efficiency of teff market chain and to identify factors determining farmers’ teff market participation and level of participation. A multi stage sampling procedure was used to draw sample p...
Abstract: This study considers a business scenario involving three participants. The first participant, in this case the farmer sells the cattle to the second participant, in this case the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) which, in turn sells the processed beef to the European Union (EU). The BMC offers a price, S1(t), to the farmer for the cattle. The EU offers a price, S2(t), to the BMC. To estimate the parameters spot prices of beef-cattle from the BMC and the EU markets for years 1992 to 2...
This research study examines the transformative role of mobile applications in empowering smallholder farmers through increased access to information, market linkages, financial inclusion, and improved resource management. The study explores how mobile apps have facilitated real-time access to relevant agricultural information, including weather updates, crop prices, best farming practices, and pest management techniques. The availability of reliable information enables farmers to make inform...
This study analyzed the direction of causality between world oil prices and agricultural productivity in selected staple crops in Nigeria. This study explored analysis based on the output and input quantities of the crop sub-sector, which is the dominant sub-sector of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. Secondary data was utilized which were sourced from secondary sources such as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Central Bank of ...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Following the lessons learnt under the National Fadama Development Project -J, the National Fadama Development Project-II (NFDP-Il) has as one of its major objective to foster the inclusion of all social groups and to ensure that they benefit from the project. These groups are to be included in the participatory planning process that will result in the Local Development plans to be funded and in their implcrncnuuion. Experiences show that there is yet low level of awaren...
ABSTRACT Rice productivity is low in Nigeria, and NERICA was introduced by West Africa Rice Development Agency (WARDA) to solve this problem. This study focused on NERICA productivity and efficiency in Kaduna State. A three-stage sampling technique was used with Kaduna State being purposively selected. Igabi and Soba Local Government Areas (LGAs) were randomly selected. Five villages were randomly selected from each LGA, with a total of 129 NERICA farmers selected and used for the analysis. ...
Abstract Marketing of crops in Tanzania has been undergoing change. Direct sales from farmers to traders and delivery to the Primary Cooperative Societies (PCS) were in practice at different points of time. Since 2007, the warehouse receipt system was introduced in Tanzania. The warehouse operators accept the deposit of crops in the warehouses and provide a receipt to the farmers through PCS and the farmers receive a part of the payments through bank financing based on these receipts. This s...
ABSTRACT Before changing from one production method to another, farmers need to consider costs and incomes resulting from the change. This study estimated the effects on net benefit of switching from conventional Tanzanian growing practices (spraying of chemical pesticides and non-pest control) to the use of African weaver ants (Oecophylla longinoda) to control pests in cashew and mango. Yield data from one cashew and one mango plantation covering two cropping seasons was used in an economi...