Search

AbstractGLOBAL Good Agricultural Practices (GLOBAL G.A.P.) standards have appeared to increasingly control the exchange of horticultural products in the international market. To make horticulture exports viable and lucrative, smallholder farmers need to invest in GLOBAL G.A.P. While research has focused on the impact of adoption on the welfare of farmers, the factors stimulating the adoption of these standards have been ignored. This study examines the determinants of the adoption of GGAPs (GLOBAL G.A.P.) among smallholder French bean producers in Murang’a South Sub-County. The study used cross-sectional data from a random sample of 215 farmers. The adoption index was used to determine adoption levels per household while a “gologit model” was applied to assess factors influencing the adoption of GGAPs among farmers. The adoption index results indicate that farmers on the contract had higher adoption levels (66%) relative to non-contracted farmers (34%). Based on the gologit findings, the determinants of farmer’s compliance levels were age (P

Research background: With market liberalization and the introduction of the new Global GAP measures, several vertical coordination options have emerged, presenting smallholder farmers with multiple market outlets. The choice of any vertical coordination option (VCO) is likely to be entwined by farm, farmer and vertical coordination attributes, yet the selection of an appropriate market outlet for delivering farm produce is not clear-cut. Purpose of the article: This study determines factors influencing the choice of vertical coordination options among smallholder French beans producers in Murang’a South Sub-County Methods: Using data from a sample of 215 smallholder producers, the study employed a multivariate probit model (MVP) to explain the determinants of vertical coordination option choices among French beans farmers in four wards located in Murang’a South Sub-County. Findings & Value added: The results indicate that the choice of vertical coordination option was significantly influenced by gender, household size, education stock, group membership, extension service, training access, farming experience, off-farm income, credit access, distance and market reliability. This implies that the promotion of collective action as an institutional tool for linking farmers to high-value markets, matters. These networks will aid in sharing knowledge, increasing borrowing power and thus, producers can improve French bean quality as required by the market. Additionally, financial institutions stakeholders should develop policies that favour the acquisition of credit at affordable rates. Further, the government with other relevant stakeholders should conduct more training on global gap standards.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly becoming important as a sustainable way of increasing agricultural productivity and increasing the resilience of farming systems to climate variability. Moreover, crop diversification strategy plays a vital role in creating resilience against climate-related risks in farm production and enhancing resilience in food systems. While crop diversification intensity acts as a proxy indication of climate risk mitigation strategy, its successful implementation as a climate-smart agricultural practice depends on the ability of the smallholder farmers to allocate the available farm resources efficiently. The study evaluated the effect of crop diversification on variable cost structure (land, labor, capital, fertilizer, and seeds) among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya. We use primary data from 267 randomly selected respondents and apply a translog cost function model to explore the effect of implementing crop diversification strategy on variable cost structure among smallholder farmers. The results showed that indeed practicing crop diversification affects the overall production cost structure. The result showed that the Allen elasticity of substitution (AES) of all combinations of inputs (land and capital, land and fertilizer, land and labor, fertilizer and capital, fertilizer and labor, fertilizer and capital) are positive. These relationships imply that land, labor, fertilizer, and capital substitute each other in crop production. The Morishima elasticities of factor substitution (MES) reveal that the highest degree of substitutability in response to price changes is between capital and fertilizer, land and fertilizer, and labor and fertilizer, implying the intensive nature of crop diversity in terms of land, labor and capital requirements. These findings demonstrate that despite the potential benefits of crop diversification, the trade-off in the total cost of production does matter. Non-accounting for such trade-offs is likely to over-estimate crop diversification benefits and limit its successful practice by smallholder farmers.

The dairy sector in Rwanda plays a key role in improving nutrition and generating income mostly for rural households. Despite the Rwandan 1994 genocide that left around 80% of dairy cows decimated, the dairy sector has experienced significant growth in the past two decades through government, development organisations, and donor programs, and through the nascent vibrant public–private partnership. In this paper, we reviewed and documented the evolution of the dairy policies, programs, and regulations in Rwanda and how they have contributed to the development of the dairy sector. The policy change has impacted the provision and use of inputs and services that have shaped the sector's milk production and productivity, milk quality, and demand. The results suggest that various policy- and program-level interventions have positively contributed to the growth of the dairy sector and improved the livelihoods of low-income households. This has been achieved through increased access to inputs and services, enhanced capacities of the public and private sector to deliver services, strengthened dairy cooperatives' governance, and increased value proposition to members of various farmer groups and promotion of milk consumption. We find that some of the implemented policies and programs, such as the “Girinka” (one cow per poor family) program, Rwanda Dairy Competitiveness Program II, and Rwanda Dairy Development Project, have resulted in improved farmer access to improved cow breeds and improved milk quality and cow productivity through enhanced health inputs and other services. While the dairy policies, programs, and regulations in Rwanda have paved the way for the development of the dairy sector and contributed to the provision and use of inputs and services, there are still challenges that need to be addressed. Accessibility and use of veterinary and artificial insemination services are limited by the quality of veterinary products, while the inadequate quality of feeds leads to low productivity of improved cow breeds. Consequently, farmers' uptake and use of inputs and services can be enhanced through a strengthened capacity of milk collection centres and health and animal feed policies that guide and control the quality of veterinary products and feeds sold in the markets.

Whereas maize is a primary staple food in Kenya, production volumes have not kept pace with local demand and consumption over time. This has constrained the achievement of the Kenyan government’s stated objective of food access, diversity, and nutritional status. Using secondary data from FAOSTAT from 1963 to 2016 and applying the error correction version of the autoregressive distributed lag model, we estimate Kenya’s maize subsector’s price supply and demand responsiveness. We find that maize supply responds significantly to producer price, the area under maize cultivation, and fertilizer use both in the short and long run. However, the supply elasticity of maize with respect to producer price is inelastic, suggesting that maize supply does not respond well to price incentives. On the demand side, we find that maize demand significantly responds to the production and price of substitutes both in the short and long run. The findings suggest that support price is a necessary but not sufficient condition for improving maize productivity, food security, and income for maize consumers and producers. Therefore, there is a need for enhanced efficient and effective use of the land resource through productivity-enhancing inputs, considering that land expansion is a limited option.