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Climate change and soil degradation are the issues depleting the soil's ability to promote good yield. One of the ways to combat this is the practice of conservation agriculture (CA). This study was carried out to explore and investigate the impact of CA. Multinomial endogenous switching regression model and cross-sectional data were used to investigate the determinants and the impact of the adoption of CA on the income of smallholder maize farmers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Three categories of CA (minimum tillage, crop diversification and a combination of both minimum tillage and crop diversification) were considered. The empirical results revealed that regardless of the choices of CA practices adopted by the maize farmers, the income realized was higher for adopters than for non-adopters of CA practices. The average treatment effect for the adopters of both minimum tillage and crop diversification was the highest, showing an increase in income by 60.31% (R15575.99/$996.57USD) compared to the non-adopters. The policy implication for these results is that there is a need to promote the adoption of CA practices, particularly a combination of both minimum tillage and crop diversification, given their significant impact on farmer income, an important welfare outcome that has significant implications on food security and poverty alleviation.

The slow and discontinuous adoption of agricultural technologies is one of the major threats to low agricultural productivity in developing countries. These actions highlight the challenges encountered in the adoption and the continuous use of sustainable land management practices in addition to the choices regarding the type used. The study investigated factors influencing the adoption decisions of smallholder maize farmers and the intensity of adoption of sustainable land management practices. Empirical data were collected from 250 farmers through interviews using a structured questionnaire. The adopter group and non-adopter group were compared using t-test and chi-square statistics, while the double hurdle with the fractional outcome response model was applied to establish the factors responsible for the adoption and the extent of use of sustainable land management practices. The results indicated that socio-economic and institutional characteristics are determining factors responsible for the adoption of sustainable land management practices and the extent of its use. The study recommended that continuous adoption and extensive use can be fostered by encouraging farmers to join a social organisation where related and relevant information on sustainable land management practices is shared through trained agricultural extension officers. Furthermore, regular training and access to credit facilities should be offered.

This study was carried out to investigate the impact of the adoption of sustainable land management practices (SLMP) on food security among smallholder farmers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, where 250 maize farmers in the study area were interviewed. A household expenditure survey was used to measure the food security status and equally an efficient endogenous switching probit was employed to estimate the impact of SLMP on food security. The results show that 71% of the sampled respondents adopted SLMP, while 68% of the farmers were food secured. Furthermore, the results from the endogenous switching regression revealed that marital status, household size and membership in a social organization influence food security status. Similarly, the estimate of the average treatment effect on the treated indicated that maize farmers who adopted SLMP had a mean difference of 20 percentage or about 80% higher probability of being food secured compared to farmers who did not adopt. By implications, the study recommends that policies to improve SLMP should be introduced in the study area.

This research sought to explore the performance of agricultural export products on economic growth in Nigeria from 1960 to 2016. Secondary data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Annual Statistical Bulleting, the World Bank, and World Development Indicators were used. The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model was explored in this study. The findings of the study show that food and live animals, beverages, and tobacco were found to be negative but significant to agricultural exports, while agricultural exports (total) and crude materials, inedible except fats, were found to be negative and insignificant to economic growth. Animal and vegetable oils and fats were found to be positive but insignificant to economic growth. Based on the following findings, it is recommended that policies aimed at increasing the productivity and quality of agricultural products, especially those from crops, should be implemented. There is also a need to devote more resources to the production of non-export goods to increase exports. Above all, more credit should be extended to the agricultural sector with a low or zero interest rate, which may lead to a higher rate of economic growth in Nigeria.

COVID-19 is a contagious disease that originated from Wuhan City, China. Today, it has spread to over two hundred countries in the world leading to a total or partial lockdown in most countries, including South Africa. Consequently, the lockdown has negatively impacted every functional aspect of humanity, including education. While studies abound on its medical, social, and psychological implications, there is a dearth of research on its implications on education, the challenges and uncertainties experienced by the students, particularly in South Africa’s tertiary institutions. These uncertainties triggered institutions to find alternative means and approaches to continue learning; thus, online teaching is considered a sui generis method. Therefore, this study is aimed at exploring the challenges faced by students at Tompi Seleka Colleges of Agriculture during the lockdown and further explores their willingness to adopt E-learning as their new method of teaching and learning. The study adopted a quantitative design whereby principal component analysis and binary logistics regression model were used to estimate the challenges and the influencing factors to adopting E-learning. Students were found to be facing various challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown, ranging from the uncertainty about the future of their studies, adjusting from their traditional way of teaching and learning to self-study and E-learning. The finding showed that 37% of the students are willing to adopt E-learning. The study recommends that the significant challenges and determinants should be put into consideration for effective adoption of E-learning in tertiary institutions in the college, and South Africa at large.

The global relevance of food security has attracted a plethora of research, because it is a determinant of either the prosperity or poverty of any nation. Accordingly, food security is directly associated with the poverty in many developing countries of the world today. Rural people around the world continue to struggle with food insecurity, persistent poverty and inequality, and environmental degradation. This necessitated a research study on food security in the North West province of South Africa, with a view to evaluate the food security status and its determinants in the area, as well as to compare the impact of gender on the food security status of households. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, where 346 maize farmers in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality of the North West, South Africa, were interviewed. A logically structured questionnaire was used to collect data where household expenditure survey was used to evaluate the food security status of these farmers, after which a logistics regression model was used to determine the factors responsible for food security. The findings reveal that, with more farming experience, the probability of household food security decreased. Also, an increase in the household size, by one member, decreases the probability of a household achieving food security. Similarly, a unit increase in the age of the head of household decreases the probability or likelihood of being food secured in the study area. The result also revealed that more than half of the farming households were food secure, while the female-headed households were more food secure, proportionately, compared to male-headed households.

In addition to altering drastically people's daily lives, COVID-19 has slowed down economic activities, imposed restrictions, and enforced lockdown, altogether causing significant effects on the environment. Studying the direction, magnitude, and durability of these effects carries a serious lesson for the whole world. Preliminarily evidence suggests that COVID-19 has temporarily improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and noise pollution, yet, due to lock-down, the flourishing of delivery services has pulled up the single-use plastics, increased the usages of vehicles by a lower ratio of passengers/vehicle, and raised demand for energy. Using the approach of the Ambiental Kuznets curve, we investigate the impact of COVID-19 total cases on the monthly average of carbon monoxide emissions measured in micrograms per cubic across a sample of developed, heavy polluters, economies from 2014 to 2020. Driscoll-Kraay regressions confirm the COVID-19 long-run polluting impact by increasing monoxide emissions in countries of analysis.JEL Codes: I15, Q53

Agricultural information plays a vital role in adopting agricultural technology. The study explored if information acquisition is related to the adoption of sustainable land management practices (SLMP) and jointly decided in Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. Primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews, using a proportionate random sampling technique to get 250 smallholder farmers to participate in the survey. A seemingly unrelated bivariate probit (SUBP) model and a recursive bivariate probit (RBP) model were adopted to examine the objective. The statistical estimation of the SUBP showed that there is a relationship, an empirical association between information acquisition and SLMP; while RBP estimation showed that information acquisition was exogenous in the adoption model; thus, the decision to acquire information and adopt SLMP was not jointly decided. Therefore, the study presents the determinants of information acquisition alongside with the adoption of SLPM. The result from the SUBP model, indicated that the years spent in school; agricultural extension service; the number of extension visits and the years of farming, influenced both information acquisition and the adoption of SLMP. The cost attached positively influenced the adoption of SLMP; while gender, marital status and age only influenced the information acquisition.

Purpose It is globally accepted that climate change is presently the greatest threat to the sustainability of human livelihood and biodiversity. Most farmers in the study area are highly aware of climate change and its consequences on the farming system; however, mitigation strategies are clearly lacking. Among the mitigation, mechanism to reduce the threat is achieved by increasing the amount of carbon sinks and reducing greenhouse gas emission through the adoption of agroforestry practices. The purpose of this study is to determine if awareness on climate change leads to the adoption of agroforestry practices, and to examine the determinants. Design/methodology/approach A total number of 117 questionnaires were administered to the farmers in the district using stratified random sampling technique. Data were captured and analysed using STATA and XLSTAT software. Descriptive statistics and Heckprobit sample selection model were used to determine the objectives of the study. Findings The result established that climate change awareness does not lead to the adoption of agroforestry in the study area in which information source and member’s association were statistically significant at (p p p p p p Practical implications Regular number of extensions visit, information and training on agroforestry should be provided to the farmers in the study area. Social implications Farmers’ association should be strengthened among the rural farmers. Originality/value The causal effect or relationship of climate change awareness on mitigation through the practice of agroforestry in South Africa, especially in the study area, has not been measured. This research set a pace in the area of climate change awareness leading to mitigation strategies through the use of agroforestry practices as an option to be used in the rural farming area of South Africa.

Background: There has been an increase in the use of clinical simulations as instructional tools in healthcare education. This is because of their role in ensuring patients’ safety and quality-care provision.\ud \ud Aim: This study investigated the paramedic students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in the clinical simulation of an emergency medical care programme.\ud \ud Setting: The study was conducted at the Durban University of Technology in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. The paramedic students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in the clinical simulation of an emergency medical care programme were the focus of the study.\ud \ud Methods: The study used a cross-sectional research design. A convenience sampling method was used to select the 83-paramedic students who participated in the study. Data were collected between July and September 2017 using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages and Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient) and an inferential test, ordinal logistic regression analysis, were used for data analysis.\ud \ud Results: High levels of paramedic students’ satisfaction and self-confidence in simulation activities were reported. Generally, the paramedic students’ demographics were associated with the satisfaction and self-confidence variables with p-values ≤ 0.04. Emergency medical care training undertaken by the paramedic students was significantly associated with self-confidence (p = 0.00).\ud \ud Conclusion: Clinical simulation can bridge the theory-practice gap for paramedic students. It is a hands-on approach that promotes students learning of clinical skills through reflection.

In addition to altering drastically people's daily lives, COVID-19 has slowed down economic activities, imposed restrictions, and enforced lockdown, altogether causing significant effects on the environment. Studying the direction, magnitude, and durability of these effects carries a serious lesson for the whole world. Preliminarily evidence suggests that COVID-19 has temporarily improved air quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and noise pollution, yet, due to lock-down, the flourishing of delivery services has pulled up the single-use plastics, increased the usages of vehicles by a lower ratio of passengers/vehicle, and raised demand for energy. Using the approach of the Ambiental Kuznets curve, we investigate the impact of COVID-19 total cases on the monthly average of carbon monoxide emissions measured in micrograms per cubic across a sample of developed, heavy polluters, economies from 2014 to 2020. Driscoll-Kraay regressions confirm the COVID-19 long-run polluting impact by increasing monoxide emissions in countries of analysis.

Food supply and demand chains are highly sensitive to global shocks. Unstable and sudden food price hikes cause serious malnutrition problems and increase the number of food-insecure people, especially in developing countries. Using FAO Food Price Index (FFPI), this study makes one of the first attempts to utilize monthly observations of FFPI in a dynamic time series ARDL and ARX settings for identifying food price effects of the COVDI 19 infection rates V.s. 2008 global financial crises. Our empirical findings confirm that the pandemic has a mild impact on food prices relative to the 2008 crisis, wherein 1 million new COVID 19 infection cases are associated with an increase of only 0.0509 points in FFPI.

Rural livelihoods in most developing countries are threatened by climate-related risks such as drought, flood, heat waves, storms, and so on. Although farmers have adopted several adaptation strategies, they have proven less effective than hoped. Hence, index-based livestock insurance, an innovation that significantly assists farmers to acclimatise to climate-related risks, has been proposed, and its adaptability has attracted a notable increase in other African countries. However, the success of its adoption is dependent on the inclination of the farmers to pay for the service. Accordingly, this study investigates their willingness to pay for index-based livestock insurance and its determinants, and the factors influencing the total livestock units to be insured in the North West province of South Africa. Cross-sectional data were obtained from 277 cattle farmers, drawn randomly from the study area. The contingent valuation method was applied to determine the farmers' willingness to pay, and only 10.8% were willing to pay. Simultaneously, the Heckit sample selection model was used to analyse the data to identify the factors responsible for farmers&rsquo, willingness to pay and total livestock units to insure. The findings revealed that farmer&rsquo, s experience, age, education, marital status, awareness of insurance and household dependents were statistically significant, and influenced the maximum price R600 ($42, max willingness to pay, WTP) of those who accepted index-based livestock insurance. However, by implication, the study concluded that to adopt index-based livestock insurance in the study area among the livestock farmers, there should be policies to cater for the aforementioned factors.

The practice of pasture-based livestock farming systems in South Africa is susceptible to climate-related events, low production output, income fluctuation, and by extension poor adaptive capacity. Understanding the importance and gravity of sustainable livestock farming through adaptive capacity has been identified as a tool to cope in the face of the climate-related event which extends to production output. It is to this end, that the study explored the adaptive capacity and the socioeconomic determinants that influence this capacity used by the pasture-based livestock farmers in the study area. Random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 277 pasture-based livestock farmers in the study area from and their responses concerning on demography, farm-based characteristics, production constraints and adaptive capacity were used. Data were analyzed, in which the descriptive statistics, composite scores, and the extended ordered probit model were used to establish the results. The findings revealed the adaptive capacity score of low, moderate, and high to be 40.1%, 43.7%, and 16.2% respectively. Correspondingly, the model estimate revealed the significant factors that affect the adaptive capacity to include: the use of labor (p &lt, 0.05), other sources of income (p &lt, 0.05). Conversely, the age of the farmers (p &lt, 0.05) and landowners (p &lt, 0.01) was found significant but had a negative relationship to adaptive capacity. By implication, the study concluded that there is a need for fruitions of policies that support farmers&rsquo, socioeconomic behavior to engage more in adaptive capacity and to improve the Sustainable Development Goals of the united nation as well as vision 2030 of the National Development Plan.

Determinants of market channel choice are the contributing issues that influence production and sales. Despite their significance, yet adequate research has not been carried out on it, particularly in the North West Province, South Africa. Consequently, this paper assessed the socio-economic profile and the determinants of the choices of market channel utilized by Maize and Sunflower farmers in the North West Province, South Africa. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview 163 respondents categorized according to those who were financially assisted (n = 101) and those who were not (n = 62). The choice of Market channels utilized by respondents was then analyzed using a Multinomial Logit Regression Model with Non-market participation as a reference category. Overall, the finding demonstrated that most respondents (65%) were utilizing informal markets, followed by non-market participation and formal markets with 20% and 15% respectively. The findings emanated from the Multinomial Logit Regression analyses revealed that factors such as age, marital status, gender, credit access, education, and farming experience significantly influenced the choice of the market channel among maize and sunflowers farmers in the study area. Policies aimed at improving the farmers’ access to formal markets should be informed by these factors.

Zimbabwe has recently experienced a considerable shift towards the production of more cash crops, such as tobacco, at the expense of food crops. Although cash cropping has been associated with increased income, the question is whether the income gained from cash crops would be enough to provide the food needs of farming households. This research was conducted to analyse the impact of cash crops on household food security. A cross-sectional survey consisting of 281 randomly selected smallholder farmers in Shamva District was used for primary data collection. Data were analysed using the Tobit regression model and Propensity score matching (PSM). The household dietary diversity score (HDDS) was used to measure food security. The PSM results showed a positive impact of cash crop production on the HDDS. This could be attributed to the income effect of cash cropping. Furthermore, Tobit regression results showed that cash crop production (p &lt, 0.1), non-farm income (p &lt, 0.01), total arable land (p &lt, 0.05) and access to draft power (p &lt, 0.05) positively influenced household food security. Household size negatively impacted food security (p &lt, 0.05). While the results from this study suggest the need to promote cash crop production, it should not be regarded as the panacea for addressing food insecurity. There is a need for further research to derive optimum combinations of cash and food crops in the crop mixture for smallholder farmers to achieve food security. Furthermore, opportunities for off-farm livelihood options should be developed, since non-farm income had a positive effect on food security.