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Since COVID-19's emergence in 2020, all segments of life, including farming communities, have been impacted. The pandemic revealed both vulnerabilities and opportunities for resilience, particularly for those dwelling in the harsh mountainous terrains, which have already strained food ecosystems. Taking influence from an exhaustive literature review, this study proposes and tests a model for the transformations observed in the agriculture markets, particularly input, labor, and product markets, and elucidates the influence of these changes on cropping and consumption patterns. With data from two major mountainous terrains in north Pakistan spanning three years before and during the pandemic, a quantitative inquiry was carried out on the agriculture markets and farming patterns. A total of 5273 members of the farming communities were targeted for data collection. A two-step process was used for data analysis, including an evaluation of the outer or measurement model followed by the inner or structural model through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). With a hitherto ignored focus on the already vulnerable mountainous communities, the findings confirm the direct influence of agriculture markets on changes in the farmers' cropping patterns as well as the moderating influence of the pandemic on these relationships. Consistent with previous literature, the results also affirm the influence of changes in cropping patterns and changes in consumption patterns. However, it was found that the agriculture input markets strongly predict the changes in cropping patterns, whereas the labor and product markets have comparatively lower prediction value. By investigating the various facets of food supply chains, this study offers valuable insights on market dynamics in times of a crisis, such as a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reviews the policies in three major input sectors; seeds, pesticides and fertilisers. There are many new policies (regulations and acts) which are recently implemented, few recommended and few others yet to be implemented. The new policies and regulations are tailored for the changing dynamics in the input sector and are intended to have greater implications on restructuring the sector. The input sectors are governed by different actors and roles. The current challenges in the agri-input markets are lack of quality seeds and emerging technology policy conundrums in seed sector, lower innovation and research and development in pesticide sector, and subsidy governance in fertilizer sector. We have discussed how these challenges are being addressed by the new policies and what is the plausible way forward.

Smallholder farmers face multiple constraints in accessing input markets. This study seeks to understand the dynamics that influence input markets in northern Ghana and the opportunities that exist for smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and welfare. Using a random sample of 448 households, the study applied the probit and non-parametric methods in identifying the factors that influence farmers' access to input markets and the key constraints faced by them. The results show that access to extension services, access to finance, distance to the nearest input market, and input source are significant factors that would be likely to influence farmers' access to input markets. Lack of finance, poor road network, and low prices of output are the main critically ranked constraints limiting farmers' access to input markets. Policy initiatives should be geared toward strengthening extension service delivery, farmer education on inputs, improving feeder roads, and encouraging private sector participation in input markets. Available opportunities to leverage on and improve farmers' access to input markets include the governments' input subsidy programmes, existing large-scale agricultural projects, private agricultural companies with contract farming models, and extensive network of input dealers and aggregators in the communities. These findings are relevant for farmers, input dealers and policy makers working to improve farmers' access to input markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub‐Saharan Africa faces low agricultural productivity amid a confluence of trends that include rapid population growth, climate change, and the rise of the middle class. To raise productivity, governments—in partnership with donors and development organizations—have launched numerous initiatives to encourage the development of sustainable and competitive agricultural input markets. Despite these efforts, markets remain underdeveloped in most countries and access to affordable seeds and fertilizers remains a major challenge for smallholder farmers. This paper explores evidence from recent multicountry analyses of input delivery systems to assess the possibility of a Green Revolution in Africa. It describes use and adoption levels, challenges, policy and regulatory issues, and investments needed to expand smallholder access to these productivity‐enhancing agricultural technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that, in Ethiopia, the aim to transform the performance of smallholder agricultural production is driven by the twin imperatives of economic growth and political control. The agricultural extension programme - the largest and fastest growing in the continent - has been central to this strategy, and the unparalleled investment in the extension system has been driven by these twin imperatives. However, there are tensions between the objectives of stimulating agricultural growth, on the one hand, and extensively penetrating society and winning elections, on the other, and these may reduce the returns to this investment. Implications are drawn for wider debates on the reform of agricultural extension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Unbundling bottlenecks in the value chain of network industries has made it possible to introduce retail and some upstream competition into the sectors, but access to the unbundled assets, and to certain natural inputs, is generally achieved by a command and control administrative process which defines access products and sets administrative prices for them. Yet this mode of price setting and allocation is contentious, difficult and fallible. The paper explores the alternative approach of using input markets. Six examples are reviewed: three relating to natural resources (spectrum, water abstraction rights and natural gas), and three to manufactured inputs (airport landing slots, trail paths and access to pipes and wires). The analysis shows that market design is crucial; that achieving effective competition without structural measures is problematic; and that some markets have to be built on regulatory underpinnings. However, the potential benefits are large and lessons learnt can be applied elsewhere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Input subsidy programs have once again become a major plank of agricultural development strategies in Africa. Ten African governments spend roughly US$1 billion annually on input subsidy programs (ISPs), amounting to 28.6% of their public expenditures on agriculture. This article reviews the microlevel evidence on ISPs undertaken since the mid 2000s. We examine the characteristics of subsidy beneficiaries, crop response rates to fertilizer application and their influence on the performance of subsidy programs, the impacts of subsidy programs on national fertilizer use and the development of commercial input distribution systems, and finally the impact of ISPs on food price levels and poverty rates. The weight of the evidence indicates that the costs of the programs generally outweigh their benefits. Findings from other developing areas with a higher proportion of crop area under irrigation and with lower fertilizer prices-factors that should provide higher returns to fertilizer subsidies than in Africa-indicate that at least a partial reallocation of expenditures from fertilizer subsidies to R&D and infrastructure would provide higher returns to agricultural growth and poverty reduction. However, because ISPs enable governments to demonstrate tangible support to constituents, they are likely to remain on the African landscape for the foreseeable future. Hence, the study identifies ways in which benefits can be enhanced through changes in implementation modalities and complementary investments within a holistic agricultural intensification strategy. Among the most important of these are efforts to reduce the crowding out of commercial fertilizer distribution systems and programs to improve soil fertility to enable farmers to use fertilizer more efficiently. The challenges associated with achieving these gains are likely to be formidable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines economic efficiency (EE) of crop production of Russian corporate farms for 1993–1998. EE declined over the period, due to declines in both technical and allocative efficiency. Technical efficiency (TE) results indicate that output levels could have been maintained while reducing overall input use by an average of 29–31% in 1998, depending on the method used, while the allocative efficiency (AE) results show that costs could have been reduced about 30%. The EE scores show that Russian corporate farms could have increased efficiency by reducing the use of all inputs, particularly fertilizer and fuel. Russian agriculture inherited machinery-intensive technology from the Soviet era, which may be inappropriate given the relative abundance of labor in the post-reform environment. Investment constraints have prevented the replacement of old machinery-intensive technology with smaller scale machines that allow for a more labor-using technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the neoclassical approach, input prices as a measure of resources scarcity induce firms to cost-minimizing and efficient allocation of recourses. But when the prices are distorted, the effective competitive inputs are used inefficiently and have resulted in under- or over-utilization of production factors relative to their endowments or allocative inefficiency. In this paper, the shadow cost approach and system of equations are used to estimate allocative inefficiency using the Iran's manufacturing data over the period 1976-2006. The results show that there is strong allocative inefficiency and increasing cost of production of firms in Iran's Manufacturing Sector.

• This paper presents a micro-level analysis of effects of asymmetric information in input markets on the adoption of improved agricultural technologies and suitability of agricultural land use in rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. • Asymmetric information significantly affects the adoption of improved technology and hence the agricultural land use in the study area. • The study recommends immediate formulation and implementation of appropriate policies and laws by the public regulatory authorities in order to ensure the farmer integration in input-output market, provision of timely and quality inputs and price checks. • Underscores the policy importance of precise availability of information on innovations and regulated markets to motivate farmers to adopt innovations that lead to the sustainable use of farm land, enhance production level and ensure the food and livelihood security of masses. This paper presents empirical evidence on the effects of information asymmetry in input markets on the adoption of innovations and agricultural land use in rainfed districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Farmers' input market integration may contribute to innovation and adoption among farmers, which may in turn positively influence the sustainable use of agricultural land. To examine this hypothesis, we conducted a study of farmers and input providers to assess the potential constraints on quality inputs, prices, and extension information. We used a multistage random sampling technique to collect data from 395 respondents. We then compared differences among adopters and non-adopters using the Mann-Whitney U test and Mood's median test. Our results indicate that there is a significant difference between the adopters and non-adopters when considering their perceptions of asymmetric market information. Non-adopters are suspicious of exaggerated prices, the non-availability of price lists, adulteration of agricultural inputs, unbalanced input weight and the supply of low-quality alternate commodities (e.g., fertilizers and pesticides) in place of the recommended commodities in the markets. Our results call for the reformulation and implementation of appropriate policies to ensure transparent and equal information sharing among farmers engaged in input markets and for the provision of timely and quality inputs assured by regulatory checks and price checks. Free availability of information on innovations and appropriate oversight over markets appear not only to motivate farmers to adopt agricultural technologies but also to influence more sustainable land use practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]