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Using the new economics labor migration theory as a theoretical framework and the multinomial treatment effects negative binomial regression as an analytical model in southern Ethiopia, this study investigated the effects of rural out-migration on the intensity of agricultural technology adoption. In the year 2021, data were collected from 415 sample houses using stratified random sampling. Regression analysis showed that while the influence of migration from rural to urban areas is negligible, participation in international migration greatly increases the likelihood of technology adoption in rural families by 38.9%. The intensity of agricultural technology adoption by rural households is negatively and significantly correlated with male-headed households and household age, while the frequency of extension visits, non-farm participation, saving, membership in cooperatives, sales of livestock, and tropical livestock unit are positively and significantly related to the intensity of agricultural technology adoption. The outcome is consistent with the labor migration theory's risk and credit hypotheses. To encourage the adoption of agricultural technology and stop the recent surge of rural out-migration in southern Ethiopia, policymakers should provide access to capital, public services, and viable off-farm employment in rural areas.

The paper aims to assess agricultural land infringement using satellite images by applying three methods of classification: supervised (maximum likelihood), unsupervised and normalized difference vegetation index. To determine which sets of remote sensing satellite images were the best, they were compared. During the monitoring periods (2010–2011 and 2020–2021), Beban village is used as a study area. Landsat 8, Sentinel 2, Aster, and Modes satellite images are used to generate the remote sensing data. This period has been selected to classify images in order to assess land cover changes and the infringement of agricultural lands within Beban village and Kom Hamada center. The proposed methods employ the multi-spectral remote sensing data technique for land cover classification, with the selection of a satellite image dependent on the comparisons between the data quality of each satellite image downloaded for the study area. For land cover classification, some band combinations of the remotely sensed data are exploited, and the spatial distributions such as urban areas, agricultural land, and water resources are interpreted. The results give two important points: the Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS sensor is the best when compared with the other satellite, and the second point for the percentage of agricultural land in the study area in 2020, 2015, and 2010 was estimated to be 77.76%, 78.88%, and 84.04%, respectively. That is, agricultural land infringement accounted for 6.28% of Beban Village's total area.

In our note, we tried to realise a comprehensive document dedicated to Social Network Analysis, in which we focused on its origin, application and adoption in analysing the diffusion of innovation, with particular attention paid to the agriculture sector, because we believe that farmers can easily exchange knowledge with each other and boost the diffusion of innovation in terms of agricultural techniques. Most of the scientific researches reported in our note in which SNA was applied are carried out in developing countries, we reckon that in these countries information is not usually recorded in a database, and farmers can easily get innovation through their system of acquaintances. We noted that SNA is a flexible and useful tool because it can be applied jointly with several approaches and theories. Through SNA, we can get relevant information about the network to understand how innovation gets shared and to assess the role and importance of different actors involved in the network.

Quite different R&D lag structures predominate in studies of agricultural R&D compared with studies of R&D in other industries, and compared with studies of economic growth more broadly. Here we compare the main models and their implications using long-run data for U.S. agriculture. We reject the models predominantly used in studies of economic growth and industrial R&D both on prior grounds and using various statistical tests. The preferred model is a 50-year gamma lag distribution model. The estimated elasticity of MFP with respect to the knowledge stock is 0.28 and the implied marginal benefit-cost ratio is 23:1.

Digital agriculture (DA)—the ongoing transformation of farming that includes digitalization and automation of farming tasks, of which precision agriculture (PA) is a chief element—may be an impor-tant part of the solution to several challenges facing U.S. agriculture, including rising production costs, climate change, and labor shortages, among others. Adoption of digital technologies in row-crop production has generally increased since 1996, though use has varied widely by technology and crop. Using data from USDA’s Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), we document trends in the adoption of digital agriculture technologies between 1996 and 2019, emphasizing changes after 2016. The adoption of yield maps and soil maps (i.e., maps that associate physical characteristics with geographic coordinates) and variable rate technologies (VRT), in addition to other technologies, has been substantial on corn and soybean acreage for many years. Though their use has been increasing in recent years, technologies such as yield maps, soil maps, and VRT have been adopted on only between 5 and 25 percent of total U.S. planted acreage for winter wheat, cotton, sorghum, and rice. However, adoption of automated guidance has increased sharply in the past 20 years, with application on well over 50 percent of the acreage planted to corn, cotton, rice, sorghum, soybeans, and winter wheat. Beyond documentation of trends, this report explores certain drivers of farmers’ uptake—including pricing, soil variability, USDA programs, labor-saving benefits, expected productivity impacts, and availability of consultant services.

The 7th meeting of the “Section Forest Genetics/Forest Tree Breeding” and the German Dendrology Society (DDG) took place in Ahrensburg/Schleswig-Holstein from September 12–14, 2022. The focus of the three-day lecture event was on "Contributions of Forest Plant Breeding and Forest Genetics to the Forest of Tomorrow". There was more than enough reason for the conference. Climate change is becoming more and more obvious. The effects of the excessively dry and warm years in large parts of Germany pose challenges for forest owners and managers. With the meeting we tried to answer some of the questions. At the conference, 51 presentations were given, which were assigned to 10 blocks: Methods, Resistance, Woody Plant Physiology I and II, uropean Beech, Breeding, Differentiation, Alternative Tree Species, Red Oak and Forest Reproductive Material. The conference ended with a half-day excursion to a 60-year-old stand of Monarch birch (Betula maximowicziana), a former provenance trial. At the object a lesser-known tree species of East Asia, knowledge and practical experience were exchanged. Another excursion point was a progeny test for use in short rotation set up by the Thünen Institute of Forest Genetics in strips. For the existing silvoarable agroforestry system (trees with arable crops), a concept for a silvopastoral system (trees with livestock) with chickens or calves was developed together with the Thünen Institute of Organic Farming. In preparation for grazing, half of the elevenyear- old woody strips were harvested during winter and used for energy production. The remaining growth as well as that from root shoots and sockers provide shade and shelter for the brother cocks. The meeting is held as part of the Charta für Holz 2.0, which aims among other things to increase the usable forest wood potential. The conference builds on the following priorities in the field of action Resource Forest and Wood of the Charta: • Sustainable wood supply: productivity and management, Cultivation of productive tree species, guarantee the supply of softwood, Forest tree breeding / forest genetics • Conservation through sustainable use: risk minimization (forest conservation, rotation length, forest conversion), adaptation of forests to climate change, crisis management In order to make the results of the event, which was well attended by 85 participants from Germany and Austria, accessible to a broad public, the content of selected presentations is published. The authors are responsible for the content of the ontributions., DOI:10.3220/REP1681451577000

Due to the deployment of distributed renewable energy sources (e.g., solar), the introduction of communication technologies, and the digitalization of the power system (e.g., smart meters, control devices), energy consumers are switching from passive to active in the management of their energy consumption, production, and storage patterns. In a consumer-centric energy market, Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading allows consumers and prosumers to directly trade energy without any intermediation by traditional energy suppliers. In this paper, we investigate households’ decisions to invest in domestic PV plants coupled with battery storage, namely PVbattery systems (PVBs), and to participate in a local energy community (EC), in which energy quotas can be exchanged among EC members via P2P trading. Thanks to storage and P2P, households can strategically decide their optimal course of action and their optimal energy production/consumption patterns and can actively offer services that other EC participants bid for. In detail, we examine whether P2P trading can increase the value of investments in PVBs and affect the decision on both the optimal investment timing and size. Following the real options approach, we develop a stochastic optimization model. Our results show that ceteris paribus, thanks to P2P trading opportunities, households accelerate investments and invest in larger plants compared to scenarios in which P2P trading in not permitted. According to our findings, at current market prices, it is never optimal to invest immediately and, as P2P traded energy increases, households invest earlier and in smaller plants.

International agricultural research institutions are now expected to deliver on a range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in addition to their traditional goal of developing technologies that increase the incomes of farm families and alleviate poverty. There has been concern that pursuit of these other objectives may have a high opportunity cost in terms of a slower rate of poverty alleviation. Here we argue that many of the SDGs can be thought of as capital stocks which are jointly related in production and consumption. There are opportunities for research institutions to exploit this jointness. Well-designed projects to deliver new technology lead to the alleviation of poverty (if the technology is widely adopted) but also have the potential to enhance a range of capacities in scientists and farm families and in environmental health. The risk of projects that do not have a technology focus is that the incentives for farm families to change behaviour may be weak and hence gains in SDGs may be small. One implication is that assessing the economic impact of new technologies remains important. While changes in SDGs should be at least qualitatively described, a finding of robust economic impact based on evidence of adoption, gives confidence of gains in other jointly supplied SDGs.

Climate change is having a major impact on various sectors such as agriculture and water management due to changes in the distribution of rainfall. Mitigation of climate change impacts can be achieved through early detection of these changes by monitoring systems and the adoption of appropriate adaptation measures. One of the main goals is to design and develop a next generation monitoring and alerting system to support the optimization of water and soil nutrient management in agricultural domain. Sensors and sensor data management play an important in this kind of monitoring systems. A complete sensor data chain was developed based on modern wireless sensor networks and IoT technologies that covers the data gathering up to the data publication by interoperable interfaces. The monitoring system was tested on vineyards in pilot localities in Czech Republic and in Argentina.

The UN Food Systems Summit 2021 was different from all six previous food summits held in the past eight decades. New features of this Summit included the fact that it was anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals, focused on food systems, was based on multi-stakeholder engagement, had a focus on country level strategies (so called National Pathways), and the Summit was held in New York rather than Rome, where the UN food agencies are based. Moreover, for the first time the UN called upon science to provide guidance for a food summit. In this article outcomes and political economy processes of the Summit are briefly reviewed, and then a focus is on the role of science for shaping outcomes is quantitatively assessed by reviewing the 118 country reports of National Pathways. In 62% of the countries’ strategies science, research, technology and innovation are more or less significantly mentioned. Quality of governance effectiveness is identified as a strong driver of more attention to science in countries’ strategies. The relative weight of agriculture in the national economy shows some positive correlation with attention to science too, whereas level of undernutrition does not correlate with attention to science in the strategies. Implications of these findings are drawn for the science – policy interface in food systems, and for the follow-up process to the Summit that has been put in place by the UN until 2030.

Context and background Infusion of technologies such as Geographical Information Systems into organizations has in most cases been associated with the concept of championing. Geographical Information Systems when developed across countries and/or regions, are integrable to create Spatial Data Infrastructure. In the Southern African Customs Union region, the concept of Spatial Data Infrastructures at national level have been acknowledged and/or kick-started. The efforts by these countries in development of National Spatial Data Infrastructures are evaluated with the aim of advancing a Southern African Customs Union Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure. This region has been incepted as collaborative trade block of the member countries. In the context of geospatial information, it is advanced that the region has discoverable opportunities and organizational platform for Spatial Data Infrastructure. A consideration is made that spatial data is capable of strengthening operational, tactical and strategic endeavors of Southern African Customs Union by providing evidence-based support to decisions and policy making. Goal and Objectives: The objective being interrogated in this paper, is the discoverability of geospatial data and information systems in Southern African Customs Union that can be integrated with its trade data and championed into Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure. Methodology: Mixed method of both quantitative and qualitative was used. In qualitative form, documents, questionnaires, interviews and workshop attendance have been utilized to decipher the attitudes of various stakeholders within Southern African Customs Union towards a Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure Concept. In a quantitative form, discoverable data has been found then further processed in line with the goal and objectives stated above. Results: Results obtained have enabled an elementary geodatabase proposition and maps of the region with a number of macroeconomic indicators. Furthermore, a discussion has been done to advance a preliminary determination of sponsor and champion of Southern African Customs Union Regional Spatial Data Infrastructure., African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol 6, No 2: March 2023

National, but also regional and local media intensively covered the numerous arrivals of asylum-seeking migrants in Germany in 2015 and 2016. The focus of media reporting changed over time, reflecting the general social negotiation process around the reception of refugees and the challenges for the larger society. While those media discourses, their temporal dimensions and changing foci have already been intensively analysed on the national level, research on the local representation of the topic are missing so far. This working paper uses a regional comparative setting in order to identify similarities and differences in the representation of refugees by local media. The main aim of this endeavor is to understand differences in local and regional discourses on refugee reception. The study is embedded in the research project "Future for Refugees in Rural Regions in Germany", where the author is responsible for the work package “Role of Civil Society and Attitudes of the Host Society”., DOI:10.3220/WP1671100450000

In both Thailand and Indonesia, the public sector’s agricultural research investments have substantially contributed to agricultural productivity growth, as have international investments in agricultural research, through the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR) system. But both countries’ own expenditures on agricultural extension failed to produce significant productivity benefits. These findings imply that the magnitude of domestic investment in agricultural research is suboptimal in both countries. This is reflected in estimated marginal rates of return to this form of expenditure of between 25 percent and 30 percent per annum in real terms, well above the rates of return normally expected from public investments.

A Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) approach is fundamental to agribusiness transformation in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. Work package 5 aims to bring about inclusive and scalable agribusiness innovations through targeted GESI support to UU ESA work packages 1-6. To achieve this, we produced this GESI framework on social, economic, political, and institutional barriers and opportunities to more inclusive agribusiness in the ESA region. This framework will ensure that planned interventions under UU are designed and implemented to empower more women and youth as farmers, agribusiness owners, and actors with voice and visibility across agribusiness value chains. The GESI framework was produced by reviewing relevant literature and talking to agribusiness stakeholders, especially women and youth, in four initial countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia, and Zimbabwe., International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and SouthernAfrica

Several climate-related challenges facing water managers require innovations in the water resource economics curriculum. Some of those challenges include the need to address population stress, food security, water security, energy security, environmental protection, peace, economic development, health, climate, and poverty. Despite the need for innovations in the water economics curriculum, little has been published to date describing useful curriculum innovations up to the task. This article addresses several curriculum innovations needing attention. It does so by addressing two questions: (1) What economic principles are needed as a foundation for curriculum reform in water economics to better understand today’s water problems? (2) What innovations or adjustments are needed to assure a solid education and training of the next generation of water economists? It addresses these two questions by describing the range of water-related issues facing water managers internationally as well as relevant economic foundations needed for student engagement. It follows by describing several innovations that can prepare water economics students to better understand and address emerging water science and policy challenges. Results of a simple linear programming model are presented.

Many African countries have become increasingly important destinations for global trade and foreign investment. The continent has more than 1.4 billion people, and the population is expected to continue growing at some of the fastest rates in the world. The United Nations projected Africa could become the most populous geographic region in the world by the end of this century, reaching up to 3.4 billion people. Compounding the effects of population growth on the future demand for agricultural imports is the even faster rate of urbanization on the continent. By 2050, the share of the total population living in urban areas is projected to be a majority as the number of urban dwellers more than triples from what it is today. With rising urbanization comes shifts in consumer preferences. Urban consumers typically buy foods more convenient for their lifestyles such as prepared foods or meals at restaurants. As incomes also rise in urban settings, consumers seek a greater diversity of food in their diet, especially animal-based protein, prepared cereals, fats and sugars, and fruits and vegetables. Current production trends indicate Africa’s agricultural output alone will not be enough to feed the region’s growing population.

Global Position System (GPS) receivers are capable of surveying measurement with geodetic positioning accuracy. They are designed to be mounted on a tripod usually with a tribrach and set up for observations with assigned mask angle and height of antenna above the survey marks. Assignation of inaccurate mask angle and height of antenna, during observations, is undoubtedly the most prevalent and frequent biases in GPS set up during control surveying which usually leads to less accurate geodetic positioning. Other errors in GPS observations which have been adequately addressed by many researchers are due to ionospheric, stratospheric, tropospheric, and multipath delays among others. Therefore, in this research, an attempt has been made to reduce the arbitrary assignation of GPS mask angle and antenna angle to the barest minimum in order to optimise the accuracy of GPS geodetic positioning. That is, optimal antenna height and mask angle of GPS antenna were determined for geodetic point positioning to be adopted for all GPS observations. The objectives were the determination of the positional coordinates of survey mark at different GPS antenna heights by varying the height upward at 1cm interval with constant mask angle until the optimum height was achieved and determination of the coordinates of survey mark at different mask angle by varying the mask angle upward at 10 interval with the constant optimum height until the optimum mask angle was achieved. The survey mark used was a known point (control point with existing coordinates) within the Federal University of Technology, Akure using Tersus GPS equipment receiver in static mode of observation. Seventy-six (76) coordinate observations were carried out for the determination of optimum antennal height while twenty-three (23) coordinates were observed for the determination of optimum mask angle. The observed field data was post processed using Tersus Geo office processor software and the results obtained were analysed statistically. The values of antenna heights and mask angles were plotted against their respective level of errors. It was observed that 1.76m is the antenna height with the least error level while 200 is the mask angle with the least level of error. Statistical analysis using hypothesis test carried out on the results showed that there is a significant difference in the level of accuracy between the use of 15˚ mask angle as recommended by the manufacturer of the GPS and the of 20˚ mask angle obtained from this research at 95% confidence level. Therefore, it can be concluded that, in a fairly level terrain, 20˚ and 1.76m have proved to be the optimal mask angle and antenna height respectively for all GPS observations during point positioning. Hence, it is recommended that the results obtained in this research should be adopted for GPS observations for better geodetic point positioning., African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol 5, No 4: September 2022

Consumers are increasingly becoming very concerned about food safety, with many giving preference to organic food products over conventional food products, which make use of agrochemicals with potential implications for health. Furthermore, to make the food choice decisions even more complex, genetically modified (GM) foods have been introduced in an attempt to meet global food demand. Consumers therefore must make decisions regarding organic and GM foods. This paper investigates consumer heterogeneity for organic and GM tomatoes in Ghana using advanced discrete choice modelling techniques. The data for empirical application come from a choice experimental study conducted among 200 consumers in Ghana. Our econometric modelling revealed that the sampled consumers preferred organic tomatoes that are produced locally and certified by the Food and Drugs Authority. However, we find a likelihood that women and older consumers may have preferences for GM tomatoes with environmental and health benefits. Policy implications are drawn from the findings of the study.

The study examined the role of open data and digital technology in property management in urban and rural land in Rwanda in order to increase land tenure security and minimize land related problems. Methodology: Open and closed questions were developed and addressed to the community and local administrative authorities to provide views on how open data and digital technology can facilitate property management for sustainable land administration. Interviews on socio-demographics were carried out to get an understanding on the role of open data and digital transformation and their trickle-down effects on property management. Respondents comprised 54% with university education while the rest hold non-university education. In terms of gender, 60% of the respondents were women while 40% were men. Results have shown that land administration systems and change in land policy to record, manage and store land information has addressed the question of land conflict in the country as opposed to the customary land tenure security which existed before 1994 when land administration system was instituted in the country. The system has solved about 87% of the land associated problems and it has contributed on land tenure security. In addition, the technology has created 10,000 jobs to graduates; lowering down poverty level which is currently stands at USD 1.90 per day. Through the application of land administration system, the government has collected beyond 70% of property taxes compared to customary land tenure management system which was adopted before 1990’s. Lack of open data systems in property management particularly land related conflicts, financial capacity, experts and community empowerment remain obstacles. Results: The paper concludes that open data and digital technology in property management have substantially yielded positive results in the country despite the challenges which still exist. In order to make more improvements, the study recommends on the: (1) creation of open land data and information management system to facilitate navigation of land data and related information for easy accessibility by all land users; (2) use of emerging digital technologies to collect and store land data for future development projects; (3) community empowerments in terms of technical skills to manage the use of new technologies and open land data systems to minimize land problems. Keywords: Open Data, Digital Technology, Urban Land and Property Management, Rwanda., African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol 5, No 2: March 2022

The context of the contribution of drone technology and GIS in the production of deliverables recommended by the Directorate of Rural Affairs in Morocco, by supporting the community land melkisation project, which aims to mobilize 1 million hectares of land for investment. The aim of this column, in collaboration with a surveying company, is to highlight the workflow of collecting data by drones as well as developing a process for providing deliverables in the framework of the melkisation process in Morocco. The methodology followed consists of technical field work to recognize the agricultural potential of these lands with legal, technical and financial guidance as well as an automation strategy for all deliverables. The results of the study can be summarized in producing the geographical coverage, digitizing the plot survey as well as processing the collected data and the automation of the required deliverable., African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol 5, No 2: March 2022

Context and background Accurately integrating different geospatial data sets remain a challenging task because diverse geospatial data may have different accuracy levels and formats. Surveyors may typically create several arbitrary coordinate systems at local scales, which could lead to a variety of coordinate datasets causing such data to remain unconsolidated and in-homogeneous. Methodology: In this study, a piecewise rubber-sheeting conflation or geometric correction approach is used to accomplish transformations between such a pair of data for accurate data integration. Rubber-sheeting or piecewise linear homeomorphism is necessary because the different plans’ data would rarely match up correctly due to various reasons, such as the method of setting out from the design to the ground situation, and/or the non-accommodation of existing developments in the design. Results: The conflation in ArcGIS using rubber sheet transformation achieved integration to a mean displacement error of 1.58 feet (0.48 meters.) from an initial mean displacement error of 71.46 feet (21.78 meters) an improvement of almost 98%. It is recommended that the rubber sheet technique gave a near exact point matching transformation and could be used to integrate zone plans with As-built surveys to address the challenges in correcting zonal plans in land records. It is further recommended to investigate the incorporation of the use of textual information recognition and address geocoding to enable the use of on-site road names and plot numbers to detect points for matching., African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol 5, No 2: March 2022

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are considered a possible game changer in boosting agricultural productivity, profitability, sustainability, and resilience worldwide. Yet, more evidence is needed to understand the impact of current and potential digitally enabled solutions. Using a food systems approach, this paper reviews existing evidence and discusses the conditions, rural population segments, and timelines needed to achieve desired outcomes. It finds that serving the whole farmer ecosystem is an emergent yet unexplored pathway. The paper concludes by providing recommendations on the role of public institutions and policymakers in shaping ICTs for inclusive and sustainable food systems transformation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most striking recent technology developments. Potentially, it can significantly affect all areas of economic activities including agriculture. The paper addresses two issues such as the actual essence of AI and its most important current and expected future applications in agriculture and their potential impact on labor use and productivity of this sector. The research methods applied in the paper are critical analysis of selected literature sources and deductive reasoning regarding the likely influence of AI applications on labor use in agriculture and its total factor productivity. It was found out that applications of AI in agriculture are numerous and very diverse both in terms of technological solutions and managed processes. Moreover, the market for AI applications in agriculture is expected to grow quite rapidly due to an increasing tendency to automatize agricultural production and marketing processes. This inevitably leads to substitution of physical labor with sophisticated machinery and robots. Also, it generates demand for new labor competencies needed to manage increasingly capital intensive agricultural production and related processes driven by the use of AI. Based on mainly theoretical considerations, it can be surmised that widespread use of AI in agriculture should positively contribute to the growth in the total factor productivity (TFP) of the sector. Consequently, countries where agricultural producers adopt AI solutions faster can gain competitive advantage in food production.

Research Background: Access and consumption of adequate food are essential components of development goals. Agriculture is expected to play an important role in ensuring food security by increasing the availability of food at the household level. Ethiopia is attempting to enhance agricultural production and productivity to combat food insecurity. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of adopting improved wheat varieties on food security in Girar Jarso Woreda, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Methods: First multistage sampling techniques were used to select a target sample of 192 households, 90 adopters, and 102 non-adopters. Three kebeles were selected at random from Girar Jarso Woreda based on wheat crop cultivation. Primary and secondary sources were used to acquire both qualitative and quantitative data. The data was gathered through a household survey, key informant interviews with sample farmers, focus group discussions, and a review of reports. The researchers utilized a logit model to identify factors influencing wheat variety adoption, and the Household Food Balance Model (HFBM) was utilized to calculate net available food at the household level. A Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique is also employed to quantify the impact of improved wheat varieties on households' food security. Findings, Value-added & Novelty: The findings demonstrated that education level, involvement in training, demonstration, and field day events, distance to market, access to market information, and farmer cooperative membership all had a substantial impact on the adoption of improved wheat varieties. Hidase, Digelu, Dandeha, and Kubsa were improved wheat varieties planted by adopters in the study region during the 2017/2018 crop year. Adopting improved wheat varieties has the potential to increase food availability at the household level, which is a good indicator of food security., doi: 10.15414/raae.2022.25.01.73-86 ; https://roaae.org/issue/review-of-agricultural-and-applied-economics-raae-vol-25-no-1-2022/?article=impacts-of-adopting-improved-wheat-varieties-on-household-food-security-in-girar-jarso-district-ethiopia

Applying clustering techniques, this paper identifies homogeneous groups of enterprises within the heterogeneous landscape of the italian manufacturing tissue. The algorithm will be fed with data from a survey on a cross-section of SMEs in 2019. The set of questions span from economic and financial performances to innovation adoption (product, process, organization), to circular economy implementation and environmental protection. Clustering has been chosen to identify groups of firms with respect to multiple and diverse characteristics without any preexisting hypothesis on a possible relationship among the variables. Results will group profiles of enterprises considering the information on multi-dimensional aspects of a firm. Indeed, the overarching aim of this work is to single out common characteristics among the diverse landscape of enterprises within the manufacturing sector. This will in turn support (local and national) policy makers in better designing and targeting an appropriate set of policy instruments with respect to the relevant areas (i.e., circular economy, environmental protection, eco-innovation) of the ecological/sustainability transition. If the one-size-fits-all has not been proved a viable approach in policy making, a more targeted intervention at policy level tackling the consistent heterogeneity of the manufacturing tissue might improve the effectiveness of (sectorial) policies.

This report offers new information about the accuracy of employee headcounts and sales data in the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) Database—which provides time-series data on establishments across all sectors, including grocery stores and food service outlets. NETS is frequently and increasingly being used by researchers to answer questions of policy relevance about the dynamics of the food environment at a more localized level. Therefore, it is important to better understand how NETS food retail and service sectors compare relative to similar Federal datasets. This report compares NETS employment headcount with the County Business Patterns (CBP) at the national and State levels from 1998 to 2016 and compares NETS sales with the Food Expenditure Series (FES) at the national level from 1998 to 2019. Findings show that NETS captures similar employment patterns and trends as the CBP at both the national and State levels for most of the food retail and food service sectors. In addition, this report develops a method and presents newly estimated NETS sales numbers that have similar patterns and trends as the FES, enabling researchers to more accurately study food sales at a more localized level.

62nd Annual Conference, Stuttgart, Germany, September 7-9, 2022

In this small posthumous review-tribute, Rafael Cartay (professor and researcher at the Universidad de Los Andes–ULA, Venezuela, and at the Technical University of Manabí-UTM, Ecuador) writes in memory of Armando Scannone and Ruben Santiago, two pillars of gastronomy and the culinary arts in Venezuela., Universidad de Los Andes-ULA, Venezuela Universidad Técnica de Manabí-UTM, Ecuador

As a result of the explosive growth of scientific knowledge and the rapid development of ICT, the world economy is undergoing crucial global changes, which are the most significant since the industrial revolution. Digitization represents the most important element of the fourth industrial revolution, enabling the connection of technology and people. The digital economy is related to the rapid onset and penetration of information and communication technologies into all areas of human activity, which also requires new perspectives on the factors affecting the development and success of the economy. We digitize information and data, digitize the processes and systems that make up the functioning of the company, and digitally transform the company and its strategy. The main task of article is to determine the digital economy in the context of digital transformation and their impact on the electronification of accounting processes in the Slovak Republic. The article defines the progress and level of development of Europe's digital competitiveness in individual EU member states using the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). The position of Slovakia and the EU is compared for the period from 2018 to 2022. Slovakia needs to create conditions for the gradual digital transformation of all sectors of the economy. Digitization is also coming to the accounting. The article also describes how the approved amendment to the Act on Accounting as of January 1, 2022 creates space for streamlining the processing and archiving of accounting records. The current change in the amendment to the Act on Accounting thus offers completely new opportunities for working with corporate accounting in relation to internal processes in the company, but also in relation to financial administration or tax authorities. All entities, this also applies to agricultural entities keeping the double entry accounting, are obliged to follow the Act No. 431/2002 Coll. on Accounting as amended.

This study examines the competitive nature of the Hungarian poultry sector between 2006 and 2016. The poultry population has stagnated over the period investigated, however the farm structure has changed significantly and the population of poultry held by individual farms has decreased. In this research, market competition was measured with the persistence of abnormal profits, while profit persistence was estimated using the Arellano-Bond GMM and Blundell-Bond dynamic panel regression. Based on the results, it can be said that the level of profit in the poultry sector is close to the equilibrium profit level. The farm size, technological development as well as the tax advantages of individual farms distort competition leading to higher profits. Taking long-term risk has a negative impact on abnormal profits. The results of the research suggests that the breakthrough points for the poultry sector are technological progress and population growth, as well as a reduction in labor intensity.

Hub4Everybody is a one-of-a-kind solution for publishing, sharing and cooperative management of geographical datasets, such as professional data and measuring, results of research projects or student papers, educational materials, emotional maps, visualization of in-field research and other maps, tables, or databases. You can easily upload or update your data as well as adjust the parameters of sharing among different audiences. Hub4Everybody is an alternative tool combining online office software with an editorial system for spatial data. It is also an Open-Source alternative to already existing commercial solutions, while offering additional extending options. Hub4Everybody offers all usual functions of geoportals (working with a map, linking of external data and services) but on top of that it offers a possibility to link desktop and mobile solutions for geographical data processing, data visualisation in form of storyboard and communication components via social networks. The solution is scalable and fully adaptable to the end-user needs. You can store your data directly on Hub4Everybody cloud or in your own infrastructure. All technologies used for Hub4Everybody are open source, which enables you to communicate with all kinds of users all over the world while no costs are necessary. The paper describes not only the current system, but also the history of development and potential utilization. An intensive testing and development using a series of INSPIRE Hackathons are an important part of development.

The role of agribusinesses can be crucial in improving a country’s economic growth, diversification of revenue sources and contributing to its overall development goals. Previous research has focused on innovation in the first step of the agricultural value chain. Despite that, the off-farm segments may have equal weight in the performance of the entire chain; the food and beverage branch alone represents around 40-70% of the value-added cost. The aim of this paper is to analyze whether firm-level innovation improves agribusinesses’ economic performance. Our analysis contributes to the current academic debate providing evidence of the agribusiness sector within a hostile business environment, a recurrent issue in several developing countries. We use the World Bank Enterprise Survey (2010, 2016) of El Salvador and follow a sequential Crépon-Duguet-Mairesse (CDM) approach. Our results suggest that investment in innovation activities and the potential innovation outcomes are determined by both specific firm characteristics and the surrounding hostile environment. The agribusiness sector has not expanded its overall production frontier, and the expenditures on insecurity mitigation outweigh the economic gains from innovation outputs.

Reducing nitrogen losses and the associated negative impact on the environment is a major challenge in agricultural production. Precision agricultural technologies are supposed to help solving this challenge. Since the adoption rate of such technologies in small-scale farming systems is still rather low, additional policy measures are needed to support their adoption. In this study, we investigate the efficiency of such measures using an agent-based modelling framework that combines cognitive and dispositional farmers’ characteristics with a bio-economic optimization model. We simulate the effect of different policies on the adoption decisions of farmers in a Swiss case study. We use census, choice experiment and survey data from Swiss crop farmers to calibrate the agent-based model. Our results help to better assess the impact of different policy measures on the adoption decisions regarding site-specific fertilization and to inform policy makers on the most efficient measures.

European policies, especially the ‘farm-to-fork strategy’, address the challenge posed by the ecological transition in agriculture setting up a new technological paradigm. In this context, collective smart innovations may play a crucial role, enabling to meet current citizen-consumers’ needs as well as producing positive environmental and social externalities. Lately, wineries, in the attempt to improve the sustainability of production process and the creation of competitive advantages, reoriented their investments in research and development embracing smart innovations. The latter, when supported by appropriate models of corporate governance, can facilitate business decisions and create shared value. Despite its relevance, literature on the topic is still scarce. This study aims to investigate the role played by collective smart innovations and corporate governance in the sustainable and ecological transition of wineries and, specifically, wine cooperatives. The case study methodology was adopted investigating the collective innovation ‘I mille per l’Aglianico’ implemented by the Italian wine cooperative ‘La Guardiense’. Results show that the collective smart innovation experienced by ‘La Guardiense’ had impacts in terms of internal economies, such as increase in sales and costs reduction; and in terms of external social economies, such as local development and environmental protection.

This working paper investigates the appropriateness of a wide range of digital solutions for agriculture, including in low- and middle-income countries, and, based on available evidence, summarizes the expected (social, economic and environmental) impacts of such technologies. It further discusses the main drivers and barriers to adoption, and the role of policies and regulations in creating an enabling environment. This working paper was developed as a background document for the FAO report "The State of Food and Agriculture 2022 – Leveraging automation in agriculture for transforming agrifood systems" (https://doi.org/10.4060/cb9479en)., FAO Document Repository: https://doi.org/10.4060/cc2624en

In terms of water resources, Iran has less fresh water than its population demands. Also, due to climate change, inefficient management and excessive consumption of this vital resource, the water shortage situation is becoming more critical day by day. Searching for a solution for sustainable use of water sources, this study proposes utilizing the Internet of things technology in order to implement smart irrigation in agricultural lands in Iran. Investigating the economic impact of the Internet of Things in Iran’s agriculture sector is the purpose of this article. The most important advantages of using smart irrigation are decreasing water consumption and increasing the productivity of agricultural yields (e.g., fruits, vegetables, etc.). This research attempts to predict Iran's economic growth in the event of smart irrigation implementation in agricultural fields and farms. The effect of investment in smart irrigation on water consumption and agricultural production is estimated by regression with cross-sectional data. In the end, by using the information obtained through the mathematical method, Iran's economic growth through GDP growth is estimated in the case if the Internet of things technology is fully implemented and the full benefits of using this technology are gained.

The profitability and risk of onion cultivation in Costa Rica in a conventional production system and an alternative system with drip irrigation and mulch were compared. Production costs for both systems and real agricultural prices were estimated, which were important factors in the simulation of profitability scenarios. The results suggest that profitability improves in the alternative production system and risk decreases significantly, which allows mitigating the adverse conditions that the farmer usually faces. Despite the alternative production, onion growers are still exposed to high market risk due to price volatility.

Social embeddedness always plays important role in facilitating agricultural technology diffusion. However, in China, dramatic changes have occurred in the social embeddedness of rural households in the transition from ‘acquaintance society’ to ‘semi-acquaintance society’. Could this be the reason for the debate over the role of social embeddedness? What are the differences in the role of social embeddedness between farmers with different land scales? Based on survey data from 583 rural households from Zhejiang Province, China, we used an endogenous switching regression model to answer these questions. The results indicated there are significant differences in social embeddedness between large- and small-scale households. Although the influence of social embeddedness on technology adoption remains significant, its function is significantly different between small- and large-scale farmers. To avoid technological lock-in for small-scale farmers, the government should strengthen the information push and expand the coverage of environmental-friendly agricultural subsidies for them.

When natural resources degrade to the degree that their intended use is impaired, then a given land parcel is said to have a “resource concern.” Soil resource concerns, such as soil erosion or low organic matter, can result from geographic factors as well as past and ongoing management decisions. In the long run, soil concerns can reduce agricultural productivity and profitability. Soil concerns also can exacerbate off-farm impacts of farming and ranching, such as downstream water pollution. Using a nationally representative sample of land from the 2017 National Resources Inventory (NRI), the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) found that 18 percent of cropland acreage has water erosion, and 14 percent has a wind-erosion concern.

Today the strategic vector of agricultural development is connected with the introduction of digital technologies. Digitalization leads not only to transformation of production processes in the industry but as well has much wider environmental, social and institutional context. This paper is aimed at finding out what digital transformations have the most strategic significance for social and economic development of agro-industrial regions of the south of Russia, as well as at revealing the factors fostering or constraining these processes. Digital transformation in the south Russian regions has just affected the first level – application of new information technologies for raising economic performance and simultaneous alleviating environmental problems. The perspectives of digitalization of the agriculture are connected with developing open collaborative systems with different types of business collaborations. The authors highlight the main problems of realizing digital transformations in the agriculture of the south regions solving of which can be provided by means of authorities’ institutional decisions within regional strategies of digitalization. This research gives an idea of the potential of agricultural digitalization and its results can be used for forming theoretical and methodological grounds for strategic development of agriculture in agro-industrial regions in modern circumstances.

This study investigates factors influencing agri-food exporters’ participation in online exports and investment intention in digital technology. We surveyed 295 agri-food exporters to examine their use of digital technology. The results show that the characteristics of exporters, such as the proportion of sales to importers, whether to sell fresh agri-food or not, their heads’ age and educational levels, were related to the exporters’ decision making. Also, positive relationships are found between attitudes toward digital technology (technological understanding, prospects, and self-capability evaluation), exporters' online participation, and investment intention. The key findings indicate that support customized for agri-food exporters’ conditions and enhanced understanding and utilization of digital technology are essential for their online exports and investment in digital technology.

Corn is a major source of livestock feed, fuel, exports, and derivative products such as starch and sweeteners, as well as paper and bioproducts like plastics and cosmetics. To supply this broad and growing market over the past several decades, U.S. corn production has expanded. Since 1996, the area of corn planted in the United States has risen more than 10 percent, with increases reaching as high as 40 percent in the Northern Great Plains region (see map below). At the same time, average corn yields have increased more than 40 percent. A USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) report published in July 2021 identified and examined technological and structural changes in U.S. corn production since 1996, focusing on how these changes have affected production costs, net returns, productivity, and yields. To track these trends in corn production, researchers used data covering 1996 to 2016 from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), produced by ERS and USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and the NASS Census of Agriculture.

Food, land, and water systems are facing unprecedented change. The world’s population is projected to grow to approximately 10 billion people by 2050, while aging and declining in some regions. Global average incomes are expected to keep increasing at a slow but steady pace. With increasing incomes and the ability of consumers to purchase more and better food in combination with population growth, food demand is projected to grow substantially over the next three decades. Meanwhile, demographic changes and economic development also drive urbanization, migration, and structural transformation of rural communities. At the same time changes to precipitation and temperature as well as the occurrence of extreme events driven by climate change are becoming more prevalent and impacting society and the environment. Currently, humanity is approaching or exceeding planetary boundaries in some areas, with over-use of limited productive natural resources such as water and phosphate, net emissions of greenhouse gases, and decreases in biodiversity. Much is published about food and agriculture and the supporting/underpinning land and water systems, but no single source focuses regularly and systematically on the future of agriculture and food systems, particularly on the challenges and opportunities faced by developing countries. This working paper is part of an effort by the CGIAR foresight team to help fill that gap. The effort recognizes that there is much to learn from past experience, and there are clearly many urgent and immediate challenges, but given the pace and complexity of change we are currently experiencing, there is also an increasing need to look carefully into the future of food, land, and water systems to inform decision making today.

With adverse impacts of climate change growing in number and intensity, there is an urgent need to reduce emissions from food systems to net zero. This can only be achieved if rural areas in low- and middle-income countries gain access to clean energy. A review of the research and capacity building contributions of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) over the last 10 years suggests important contributions in the areas of energy policy and energy investment planning, cost and feasibility frameworks, and business models for clean energy technology uptake. WLE has also conducted successful pilot projects on solar irrigation to provide an evidence base for scaling up innovative energy initiatives. Finally, the program also considered non-agricultural uses of energy where relevant to food systems, and implemented capacity building activities. Going forward, CGIAR has a key role to play in providing information, supporting access and piloting innovative, scalable clean energy interventions to support the achievement of multiple impacts for the poorest and most food-insecure women and men farmers and entrepreneurs.

The America's Farms and Ranches at a Glance report, previously known as America's Diverse Family Farms, provides the latest statistics on U.S. farms, including production, financial performance, pandemic assistance, and farm household financial characteristics by farm size. ERS farm classification, or typology, is used to categorize farms into groupings to better understand conditions across the United States’ broad farm sector. This year’s edition explores farm household health insurance coverage, input acquisition practices, farm liquidity, and agritourism adoption.