The Impact Of Irrigation On Nutrition Health And Gender A Review Paper With Insights For Africa South Of The Sahara

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The Impact of Irrigation on Nutrition, Health, and Gender

Author : Laia Domenech
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Impact of Irrigation on Nutrition, Health, and Gender by : Laia Domenech

Download or read book The Impact of Irrigation on Nutrition, Health, and Gender written by Laia Domenech and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-04-11 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agriculture in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) is still largely rainfed. SSA also exhibits the lowest crop yields for major staples in the world, largely due to low use of irrigation and fertilizer. Rainfed agriculture poses growing production risks with increased climate variability and change. At the same time, smallholder irrigation in the region developed rapidly over the past decade, albeit starting from very low levels. In addition to largely demand-driven irrigation development by smallholders, there is a significant push by donors for large-scale irrigation development, as well as some push for smallholder irrigation. There has also been a long-standing debate about whether irrigation in SSA should be large scale or small scale to achieve its potential. However, given the potentially high rewards, but also high possibility of failure, the assessment of irrigation potential must go beyond large scale versus small scale to integrate concerns regarding environmental sustainability, resource use efficiency, nutrition and health impacts, and womens empowerment. The hypothesis underlying this review paper is that how irrigation gets deployed in SSA will be decisive not only for environmental sustainability (such as deciding remaining forest cover in the region) and poverty reduction, but also for health, nutrition, and gender outcomes in the region. The focus of this paper is on the health, nutrition, and gender linkage. We find that to date, few studies have analyzed the impact of irrigation interventions on nutrition, health, and womens empowerment, despite the large potential of irrigation to affect these important variables. Irrigation interventions may have differential effects on different members in the household and in the community, such as irrigators, non-irrigators, children, and women. Measuring and understanding such differences, followed by improving design and implementation to maximize gender, health, and nutrition outcomes, could transform irrigation programs from focusing solely on increased food production toward becoming an integral component of poverty-reduction strategies.

The impact of irrigation on nutrition, health, and gender: A review paper with insights for Africa south of the Sahara

Author : Laia Domenech, and Claudia Ringler
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The impact of irrigation on nutrition, health, and gender: A review paper with insights for Africa south of the Sahara by : Laia Domenech, and Claudia Ringler

Download or read book The impact of irrigation on nutrition, health, and gender: A review paper with insights for Africa south of the Sahara written by Laia Domenech, and Claudia Ringler and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice

Author : Lyla Mehta
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1315189941
Total Pages : 214 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (151 download)

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Book Synopsis Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice by : Lyla Mehta

Download or read book Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice written by Lyla Mehta and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first comprehensive effort to bring together Water, Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) in a way that goes beyond the traditional focus on irrigated agriculture. Apart from looking at the role of water and sanitation for human well-being, it proposes alternative and more locally appropriate ways to address complex water management and governance challenges from the local to global levels against a backdrop of growing uncertainties. The authors challenge mainstream supply-oriented and neo-Malthusian visions that argue for the need to increase the land area under irrigation in order to feed the world’s growing population. Instead, they argue for a reframing of the debate concerning production processes, waste, food consumption and dietary patterns whilst proposing alternative strategies to improve water and land productivity, putting the interests of marginalized and disenfranchized groups upfront. The book highlights how accessing water for FSN can be challenging for small-holders, vulnerable and marginalized women and men, and how water allocation systems and reform processes can negatively affect local people’s informal rights. The book argues for the need to improve policy coherence across water, land and food and is original in making a case for strengthening the relationship between the human rights to water and food, especially for marginalized women and men. It will be of great interest to practitioners, students and researchers working on water and food issues.

An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biofortified High-Provitamin A and High-Iron Banana in Uganda

Author : John L. Fiedler
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biofortified High-Provitamin A and High-Iron Banana in Uganda by : John L. Fiedler

Download or read book An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biofortified High-Provitamin A and High-Iron Banana in Uganda written by John L. Fiedler and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uganda has made notable progress in reducing micronutrient deficiencies in recent years, but the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and anemia among children under 5 remain unacceptably high. According to World Health Organization criteria, VAD remains a public health problem in Uganda, and anemia is a severe problem. In this paper we explore the potential contribution to reducing both of these deficiencies using a genetically modified, highprovitamin A and high-iron banana (HPVAHIB) that is currently being developed. We present an ex ante analysis of the costs and nutritional benefits of HPVAHIB. Using the Ugandan National Household Survey of 2005/06, we analyzed the production and consumption patterns of highland cooking banana (nakinyika) and sweet banana (sukalindizi). Informed by the empirical findings, we developed geographically differentiated adoption, production, consumption, and diffusion patterns for several types of HPVAHIB. Based on households reported quantities of each type of banana currently consumed, we estimated the number of people consuming each banana and the quantities they consume, and then simulated the additional intakes of vitamin A and iron and estimated the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved attributable to each. Combining the health impacts with the estimated costs of the project, three impact measures of the HPVAHIB are developed: the cost per DALY saved, the benefitcost ratio, and the internal rate of return. Eighteen scenarios are estimated. The base scenario, which includes only the biofortification of cooking banana with provitamin A at a level equal to 400 percent its intrinsic provitamin A content, estimates that the net present cost per DALY saved of HPVAHIB is US$62, its benefitcost ratio is 16, and its internal rate of return is 31 percent. According to criteria established by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, the HPVAHIB project is a very cost-effective health intervention.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2020

Author : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN 13 : 9251334412
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (513 download)

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Book Synopsis The State of Food and Agriculture 2020 by : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Download or read book The State of Food and Agriculture 2020 written by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2020-11-26 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intensifying water constraints threaten food security and nutrition. Thus, urgent action is needed to make water use in agriculture more sustainable and equitable. Irrigated agriculture remains by far the largest user of freshwater, but scarcity of freshwater is a growing problem owing to increasing demand and competition for freshwater resources. At the same time, rainfed agriculture is facing increasing precipitation variability driven by climate change. These trends will exacerbate disputes among water users and inequality in access to water, especially for small-scale farmers, the rural poor and other vulnerable populations. The State of Food and Agriculture 2020 presents new estimates on the pervasiveness of water scarcity in irrigated agriculture and of water shortages in rainfed agriculture, as well as on the number of people affected. It finds major differences across countries, and also substantial spatial variation within countries. This evidence informs a discussion of how countries may determine appropriate policies and interventions, depending on the nature and magnitude of the problem, but also on other factors such as the type of agricultural production system and countries’ level of development and their political structures. Based on this, the publication provides guidance on how countries can prioritize policies and interventions to overcome water constraints in agriculture, while ensuring efficient, sustainable and equitable access to water.

Climate Smart Agriculture

Author : Leslie Lipper
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319611941
Total Pages : 630 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (196 download)

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Book Synopsis Climate Smart Agriculture by : Leslie Lipper

Download or read book Climate Smart Agriculture written by Leslie Lipper and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-20 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license. The book uses an economic lens to identify the main features of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), its likely impact, and the challenges associated with its implementation. Drawing upon theory and concepts from agricultural development, institutional, and resource economics, this book expands and formalizes the conceptual foundations of CSA. Focusing on the adaptation/resilience dimension of CSA, the text embraces a mixture of conceptual analyses, including theory, empirical and policy analysis, and case studies, to look at adaptation and resilience through three possible avenues: ex-ante reduction of vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity, and ex-post risk coping. The book is divided into three sections. The first section provides conceptual framing, giving an overview of the CSA concept and grounding it in core economic principles. The second section is devoted to a set of case studies illustrating the economic basis of CSA in terms of reducing vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity and ex-post risk coping. The final section addresses policy issues related to climate change. Providing information on this new and important field in an approachable way, this book helps make sense of CSA and fills intellectual and policy gaps by defining the concept and placing it within an economic decision-making framework. This book will be of interest to agricultural, environmental, and natural resource economists, development economists, and scholars of development studies, climate change, and agriculture. It will also appeal to policy-makers, development practitioners, and members of governmental and non-governmental organizations interested in agriculture, food security and climate change.

The Impact of Alternative Input Subsidy Exit Strategies on Malawis Maize Commodity Market

Author : Mariam A. T. J. Mapila
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 32 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Impact of Alternative Input Subsidy Exit Strategies on Malawis Maize Commodity Market by : Mariam A. T. J. Mapila

Download or read book The Impact of Alternative Input Subsidy Exit Strategies on Malawis Maize Commodity Market written by Mariam A. T. J. Mapila and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-16 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study has been conducted in order to generate evidence of the visibility of exit from farm input subsidies in an African context. The study simulates the impact of alternative exit strategies from Malawis farm input subsidy program on maize markets. The simulation is conducted using a multiequation partial equilibrium model of the national maize market, which is sequentially linked via a price-linkage equation to local rural maize markets. The model accounts for market imperfections prevailing in the country that arise from government price interventions. Findings show that some alternative exit strategies have negative and sustained impacts on maize yields, production, and acreage allocated to maize over the simulation period. Market prices rise steadily as a result of the implementation of different exit strategies. Despite higher maize prices, domestic maize consumption remains fairly stable, with a slow but increasing trend over the simulation period. Results further suggest that exit strategies that are coupled with improvements in agricultural extension services have the potential to offset the negative impacts of the removal or scaling down of agricultural input subsidies. The study findings demonstrate the difficulty of feasibly removing farm input subsidies. Study recommendations are therefore relevant for policymakers and development partners debating removal or implementation of farm input subsidies.

Meeting the nutrition and water targets of the Sustainable Development Goals

Author : Ringler, C.
Publisher : Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE)
ISBN 13 : 9290908726
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis Meeting the nutrition and water targets of the Sustainable Development Goals by : Ringler, C.

Download or read book Meeting the nutrition and water targets of the Sustainable Development Goals written by Ringler, C. and published by Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Enabling institutional environments conducive to livelihood improvement and adapted investments in sustainable land and water uses

Download Enabling institutional environments conducive to livelihood improvement and adapted investments in sustainable land and water uses PDF Online Free

Author : Mayaux, L.P., Lejars, C., Farolfi, S., Adamczewski-Hertzog, A., Hassenforde, E., Faysse, N., Jamin, J.Y.
Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN 13 : 9251366330
Total Pages : 71 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (513 download)

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Book Synopsis Enabling institutional environments conducive to livelihood improvement and adapted investments in sustainable land and water uses by : Mayaux, L.P., Lejars, C., Farolfi, S., Adamczewski-Hertzog, A., Hassenforde, E., Faysse, N., Jamin, J.Y.

Download or read book Enabling institutional environments conducive to livelihood improvement and adapted investments in sustainable land and water uses written by Mayaux, L.P., Lejars, C., Farolfi, S., Adamczewski-Hertzog, A., Hassenforde, E., Faysse, N., Jamin, J.Y. and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2022-07-30 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report reviews the main global trends in land and water uses, policies and investments that have taken place over the last decade and identifies the institutional arrangements that have been the most conducive to sustainable and equitable use of these resources. The report focuses particularly on family farmers, who have limited access to key resources (land, water, credit and infrastructure). It pays special attention to their common challenges and needs, but also to their diverse conditions. It provides evidence-based information on the institutional conditions needed to ensure inclusive land and water programmes, and to upscale such programmes at local levels. It is based on a systematic review of official documents and academic papers and on detailed case studies, often grounded in the authors’ own significant knowledge. The report is organized in three main parts. The first section begins with a review of the main global trends affecting land and water uses over the last decade, and links them to the public policies and types of private investment that encouraged such trends. The main structural drivers of growing pressures on water resources and land availability are discussed, including population growth, diet changes, climate change, urbanization and biofuel development. The report discusses the direct effects of these drivers, including water scarcity, increased global competition for land use and the degradation of existing resources, on land and water availability. It then examines the main types of private investments and public policies that drive these trends: large-scale land acquisition, reassertion of large-scale infrastructure programmes for surface water irrigation, public subsidies and private initiatives that stimulate access to groundwater. The second section of the report focuses on the impacts of global changes, policies and investments on farmers’ livelihoods and water use. It reviews the numerous beneficial impacts of irrigation on poverty reduction emphasizing that they are highly contextual and unequally shared across social groups. It documents the widening gap between irrigated and rainfed areas, and the risks of a medium-term crisis for agricultural economies that are based on groundwater irrigation. It emphasizes that existing policies are poorly tailored to farmers’ needs. Lastly, the section documents the complex relationship between migration and increased pressures on land and water. The third section of the report charts the way forward for more sustainable and equitable management of land and water. It takes stock of policies inspired by the principles of integrated water resources management (IWRM).

Organizational and Institutional Issues in Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management

Author : Catherine Ragasa
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 64 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Organizational and Institutional Issues in Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management by : Catherine Ragasa

Download or read book Organizational and Institutional Issues in Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management written by Catherine Ragasa and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-17 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change places demand on existing governance structures to reform and work more effectively than in the past. In response, greater attention to and funding for climate change adaptationincluding the efforts of National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs), the Least Developed Country Fund, the Special Climate Change Fund, the Adaptation Fund, and the E.U. Global Climate Change Allianceprovide an opportunity for institutional, organizational, and human-capacity strengthening. This study was conducted to explore the challenges and opportunities for building human, organizational, and institutional capacity for more effective climate change adaptation in developing countries. It is part of a larger research project titled Enhancing Womens Assets to Manage Risk under Climate Change: Potential for Group-Based Approaches, which is being conducted to help organizations better understand ways in which development projects can assist rural households in adapting to and managing the effects of climate change. This report provides some reflections and insights on the level of awareness, practices, and organizational and institutional issues being faced by countries as they adapt to climate change, based on interviews with 87 practitioners working in government agencies, local organizations, international organizations, and think thanks reporting involvement in climate change adaptation. Data were collected in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali using both an e-survey platform and face-to-face interviews. Responses reveal active work within these organizations on climate change adaptation and emphasize their important role in the countries efforts to address and adapt to climate change. Responses also reveal strong awareness among these organizations of different aspects of climate change adaptation along the different stages in a climate change adaptation project cycle, which may be a reflection of the active discussions and awareness campaigns during NAPA development in these countries. However, despite the awareness and presence of national strategies and action plans, there seem to be no explicit and clearly defined policy and strategy within these organizations outlining their role in and contribution to the national and collective efforts and, more importantly, no explicit and measurable targets and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system to track progress and outcomes over time. Reported capacity gaps can be grouped into two categories: training needs and institutional challenges. In many organizations, there is limited awareness of and emphasis on the need for participation of target groups and beneficiaries during design and planning of climate change adaptation projects. In addition, many respondents reported a need for greater attention to issues related to profitability, financial sustainability, and market access from climate change project design to M&E. Finally, respondents emphasized that climate change projects should pay greater attention to gender, social, political, and cultural issues in their design and implementation. Reflections of respondents also highlighted the need for organizational capacity strengthening for those local organizations working in and providing services to rural communities, and for promoting a culture of impact and M&E within these organizations, in addition to the reported training needs in climate change management and in gender and social analysis. While this report provides some insights, further empirical analyses are needed to discover more details on strategies that could help trigger mind-set and organizational culture change and to capture the complexity of organizational and institutional issues hindering climate change adaptation efforts that aim at reducing vulnerability and contributing to development outcomes.

Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis

Author : Oluyemisi Kuku-Shittu
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis by : Oluyemisi Kuku-Shittu

Download or read book Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis written by Oluyemisi Kuku-Shittu and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nigerian Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) provides an in-depth assessment of the food security situation within Nigeria. This is very important as it equips policymakers with timely and relevant information that will aid the targeting of interventions. Some of the most pertinent findings of the study are listed below: Food insecurity and poverty are intricately linked. Some 29 percent of households in the poorest wealth quintiles have unacceptable diets (9 percent poor and 20 percent borderline) compared with 15 percent in the wealthiest (2 percent poor and 13 percent borderline). The poorest livelihoods are found in agriculture. Seventy-seven percent of subsistence farmers are found in the two poorest wealth quintiles, as are 70 percent of mixed or cash crop farmers. The general state of water and sanitation facilities available to households in all wealth categories is very poor, with consequent health implications. Forty-five percent of respondents do not have access to decent toilets, and 85 percent have no proper means of refuse disposal. The vulnerable and food insecure are mostly found in rural areas and the North West and North East regions of Nigeria. Most households in all regions and at all wealth levels purchase food, but rural households and poorer households (by wealth and livelihood) also rely heavily on own food production. Households in the poorest quintiles in both rural and urban areas rely on own production (32 percent rural and 24 percent urban). Wealthier urban households rely mostly on purchases, whereas own production is common at varying levels across all wealth levels for rural households. Nigerians generally consume a starchy diet, but wealthier households can afford more nutrient-rich foods (including animal-based proteins) than poorer households. For instance, the wealthiest households consume meat, fish, and eggs an average of four days a week compared with only two days for the poorest households. Most households protect vulnerable household members in terms of food allocations (women and children), but that may not hold in the poorest households where some difficult allocation decisions may have to be made. Poorer households are more likely to engage in extreme coping strategies (like going a whole day without food) to deal with food shortages.

Targeting Technology to Reduce Poverty and Conserve Resources

Author : Travis J. Lybbert
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 44 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Targeting Technology to Reduce Poverty and Conserve Resources by : Travis J. Lybbert

Download or read book Targeting Technology to Reduce Poverty and Conserve Resources written by Travis J. Lybbert and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-07-02 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demand heterogeneity often makes it profitable for firms to price and promote goods and services differently in different market segments. When private consumption brings public benefits, this same heterogeneity can be used to target public subsidies. We explore the design of publicprivate targeting and segmentation strategies in the case of a resource-conserving agricultural technology in India. To understand farmers heterogeneous demand for laser land leveling (LLL), we conducted an experimental auction for LLL services with an integrated randomized controlled trial to estimate the private benefits of the technology. We use graphical and econometric approaches to characterize farmer demand for LLL. We then add detailed cost data from LLL providers to simulate and evaluate several potential targeted delivery strategies based on measures of (1) the cost-effectiveness of expanding LLL dissemination, (2) water savings, and (3) market surplus in a welfare framework. These simulations demonstrate inherent tradeoffs between increasing the amount of land that is leveled and expanding the number of farmers who adopt the technology, and between adoption and water savings. While segmenting and targeting are popular elements of many publicprivate partnerships to develop and disseminate agricultural technologies, formulating and implementing effective delivery strategies requires a rich understanding of costs, benefits, and demand. Our experimental approach generates such an understanding and may be relevant in other contexts.

Dynamics of Transformation

Author : Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Dynamics of Transformation by : Hiroyuki Takeshima

Download or read book Dynamics of Transformation written by Hiroyuki Takeshima and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-06-21 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agriculture in African South of the Sahara (SSA) can be transformed if the right public support is provided at the initial stage, and it can sustain itself once the enabling environment is put in place. Successes are also specific to the location of projects. In Ghana, interesting insights are obtained from the successful Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP), contrasted with other major irrigation projects in the country. Through an exploratory review, we describe how a productive system evolved in KIP and how public support for critical aspects (accumulation of crop husbandry knowledge, selection and supply of profitable varieties, and mechanization of land preparation) might have created a productive environment that the private sector could enter and fill in the market for credit, processing, mechanization of harvesting, and other institutional voids that typically have constrained agricultural transformation in the rest of SSA. Slower progress in other projects also raises a number of questions. We conclude by summarizing those questions and some testable hypotheses for future research.

The Logic of Adaptive Sequential Experimentation in Policy Design

Author : Haipeng Xing
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis The Logic of Adaptive Sequential Experimentation in Policy Design by : Haipeng Xing

Download or read book The Logic of Adaptive Sequential Experimentation in Policy Design written by Haipeng Xing and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-06-26 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspired by the wide adoption of rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in medical research, economists and other social scientists have increasingly used RCTs in their research. As researchers pick up projects amenable to the RCT methodology, they likely leave out important questions to which RCTs cannot be directly applied. As a result, RCTs have been criticized for the proclivity of addressing trivial questions. As a matter of fact, in medical research RCTs are an integral part of adaptive sequential experiment designa few steps must be taken to screen out drugs that have toxins and strong side effects before running any RCTs on humans. In this paper, we argue that economists can learn a great deal from the design principles implemented in medical research. We develop a theoretical model to show the logic of adaptive sequential experiment design in the presence of uncertainty over negative effects and discuss how to choose samples in a population to minimize the experiment cost. We also point out the applications of our proposed framework in the economic domain, such as economic reforms and new product design.

Typology of Farm Households and Irrigation Systems

Author : Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 36 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Typology of Farm Households and Irrigation Systems by : Hiroyuki Takeshima

Download or read book Typology of Farm Households and Irrigation Systems written by Hiroyuki Takeshima and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-04-25 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Irrigation is considered an important factor for agriculture and food security. Knowledge gaps, however, still exist with regard to how farmers in Africa south of Sahara, including Nigeria, are using irrigation. Given the diverse agroecological and socioeconomic environment in countries like Nigeria, understanding the diverse patterns of irrigation use and their associations with household characteristics is important in designing how irrigation can contribute to the agricultural transformation. This report summarizes the typology of farm households and irrigators in Nigeria. We apply a cluster analysis method to the Living Standard Measurement Survey (LSMS)Integrated Survey on Agriculture data and various secondary data. We also compare the costs and inputs used across different irrigation crops, as reported in Nigeria. Findings indicate that the three major irrigation systems in Nigeria are (1) labor-intensive diverted stream irrigation of rice, (2) supplementary irrigation of coarse grains and legumes using groundwater, and (3) dry season irrigation of vegetables. Each crop is irrigated during a specific season and using a specific water source and irrigation system. Farmers choice of irrigation system tends to depend on many factors. For example, in the South, tractorization is often a necessary precondition for rice irrigation. In the North, intensive irrigation of rice and vegetables may make sense only if labor is cheap, whereas irrigation of sorghum and legumes is supplementary and may not affect farm households behaviors. Although more rigorous studies are needed in the future, observed patterns of irrigation use in Nigeria indicate that the policies aiming to raise agricultural productivity and to develop the value chains of key crops may need to be based on an understanding of why irrigation is used in specific ways in different systems and of what the key constraints in scaling up such systems in other locations are.

Data Needs for Gender Analysis in Agriculture

Author : Cheryl Doss
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 22 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Data Needs for Gender Analysis in Agriculture by : Cheryl Doss

Download or read book Data Needs for Gender Analysis in Agriculture written by Cheryl Doss and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-04-05 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To support gender analysis in agriculture, household surveys should be better designed to capture gender-specific control and ownership of agricultural resources such as male-owned, female-owned, and jointly owned assets. This paper offers guidelines on how to improve data collection efforts to ensure that women farmers are interviewed and that their voices are heard. Researchers need to clarify who should be interviewed, how to structure the interview, and how to identify which people are involved in various activities, as owners, managers, workers, and decisionmakers. It is important not simply to assume that one particular person does these activities based on social norms, but instead to ask the questions to allow for a range of answers that can demonstrate how the gender patterns in agriculture are changing. To assist in these efforts, the paper provides an overview of relevant questions to include, emphasizing that whenever questions are asked about ownership and access to resources, answers should be associated with individuals. Finally, collecting data on the institutions that are related to agricultural production and marketing allows analysis of the gender-based constraints and opportunities that they present.

Population Density, Migration, and the Returns to Human Capital and Land

Author : Yanyan Liu
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 28 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Population Density, Migration, and the Returns to Human Capital and Land by : Yanyan Liu

Download or read book Population Density, Migration, and the Returns to Human Capital and Land written by Yanyan Liu and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2013-06-07 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rapid population growth in many developing countries has raised concerns regarding food security and household welfare. To understand the consequences of population growth on in the general equilibrium setting, we examine the dynamics of population density and its impacts on household outcomes using panel data from Indonesia. More specifically we explicitly highlight the importance of migration to urban sectors in the analysis. Empirical results show that human capital in the household determines the effect of increased population density on per capita household consumption expenditure. The effect of population density is positive if the average educational attainment is high (above junior high school), while it is negative otherwise. On the other hand, farmers with larger holdings maintain their advantage in farming regardless of population density. The paper concludes with some potential lessons for African countries from Indonesias more successful rural development experiences.