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1.
PLoS One ; 18(4): e0283499, 2023.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37079542

RESUMO

Crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa need to increase to keep pace with food demands from the burgeoning population. Smallholder farmers play an important role in national food self-sufficiency, yet many live in poverty. Investing in inputs to increase yields is therefore often not viable for them. To investigate how to unlock this paradox, whole-farm experiments can reveal which incentives could increase farm production while also increasing household income. In this study we investigated the impact of providing farmers with a US$ 100 input voucher each season, for five seasons in a row, on maize yields and overall farm-level production in two contrasting locations in terms of population density, Vihiga and Busia, in western Kenya. We compared the value of farmers' produce with the poverty line and the living income threshold. Crop yields were mainly limited by cash constraints and not by technological constraints as maize yield immediately increased from 16% to 40-50% of the water-limited yield with the provision of the voucher. In Vihiga, at best, one-third of the participating households reached the poverty line. In Busia half of the households reached the poverty line and one-third obtained a living income. This difference between locations was caused by larger farm areas in Busia. Although one third of the households increased the area farmed, mostly by renting land, this was not enough for them to obtain a living income. Our results provide empirical evidence of how a current smallholder farming system could improve its productivity and value of produce upon the introduction of an input voucher. We conclude that increasing yields of the currently most common crops cannot provide a living income for all households and additional institutional changes, such as alternative employment, are required to provide smallholder farmers a way out of poverty.


Assuntos
Produção Agrícola , Produtos Agrícolas , Fazendas , Organização do Financiamento , Renda , Pobreza , Agricultura/economia , Agricultura/métodos , Produtos Agrícolas/economia , Produtos Agrícolas/provisão & distribuição , Fazendas/economia , Quênia , Produção Agrícola/economia , Produção Agrícola/métodos , Motivação , Pobreza/economia , Organização do Financiamento/economia , Apoio Financeiro
2.
Nature ; 616(7955): 96-103, 2023 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36813965

RESUMO

Rapid demographic ageing substantially affects socioeconomic development1-4 and presents considerable challenges for food security and agricultural sustainability5-8, which have so far not been well understood. Here, by using data from more than 15,000 rural households with crops but no livestock across China, we show that rural population ageing reduced farm size by 4% through transferring cropland ownership and land abandonment (approximately 4 million hectares) in 2019, taking the population age structure in 1990 as a benchmark. These changes led to a reduction of agricultural inputs, including chemical fertilizers, manure and machinery, which decreased agricultural output and labour productivity by 5% and 4%, respectively, further lowering farmers' income by 15%. Meanwhile, fertilizer loss increased by 3%, resulting in higher pollutant emissions to the environment. In new farming models, such as cooperative farming, farms tend to be larger and operated by younger farmers, who have a higher average education level, hence improving agricultural management. By encouraging the transition to new farming models, the negative consequences of ageing can be reversed. Agricultural input, farm size and farmer's income would grow by approximately 14%, 20% and 26%, respectively, and fertilizer loss would reduce by 4% in 2100 compared with that in 2020. This suggests that management of rural ageing will contribute to a comprehensive transformation of smallholder farming to sustainable agriculture in China.


Assuntos
Distribuição por Idade , Agricultura , Fazendeiros , Fazendas , Segurança Alimentar , População Rural , Desenvolvimento Sustentável , Humanos , Agricultura/economia , Agricultura/educação , Agricultura/métodos , Agricultura/organização & administração , China , Fazendeiros/educação , Fazendeiros/estatística & dados numéricos , Fazendas/economia , Fazendas/organização & administração , Fazendas/estatística & dados numéricos , Fazendas/tendências , Fertilizantes/análise , Fatores Etários , Segurança Alimentar/economia , Segurança Alimentar/métodos , Desenvolvimento Sustentável/economia , Desenvolvimento Sustentável/tendências , População Rural/estatística & dados numéricos , População Rural/tendências , Eficiência , Poluentes Ambientais
3.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int ; 29(34): 51456-51468, 2022 Jul.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35244844

RESUMO

Farmland not only provides human being with food and industrial materials, but also has non-market value. However, few studies have explored the impact of livelihood capital configuration and their willingness to pay (WTP) for the farmland non-market value, from farmers' perspective. Based on the field survey data of 434 households in Jianghan Plain, China, this paper divided the research process into two stages to explore the impact of farmers' livelihood capital on their WTP by using binary logistics model and qualitative comparative analysis method of fuzzy sets (fsQCA). The results show that (1) The total livelihood capital of farmers was 2.667, with psychological capital 0.649, natural capital 0.621, social capital 0.127. 79.49% of the households were willing to pay for the farmland non-market value, and the most concentrated range of it is 50-200 yuan/hm2. (2) Both social capital and psychological capital had positive impacts on farmers' WTP for the non-market value of farmland protection. (3) There were two livelihood capital configurations that could improve the WTP of farmers. When lacking of human capital, physical capital and psychological capital, the improvement in farmers' financial capital and social capital will improve farmers' WTP. When the natural, financial, and psychological capital are poor, the rich human capital, physical capital and social capital will also increase farmers' WTP. In view of the results, policy implications on livelihood capital structure optimization and ecological compensation system differentiation were proposed.


Assuntos
Agricultura , Fazendeiros , Fazendas , Agricultura/economia , China , Características da Família , Fazendas/economia , Humanos
4.
PLoS One ; 17(2): e0264410, 2022.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35213644

RESUMO

The economic, environmental and social sustainability of Dutch dairy farms have attracted increasing societal concern in the past decades. In this paper, we propose a recently developed dynamic Luenberger indicator based on the by-production model to measure dynamic productivity growth in the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability of Dutch dairy farms. Subsequently, we investigate the statistical associations between productivity growth and socio-economic factors using the OLS bootstrap regression model. We find that dairy farms have suffered a decline in dynamic sustainable productivity growth, especially in the environmental dimension where it is more pronounced than in the economic and social dimensions. Furthermore, we find that both technical and scale inefficiency change contribute to the decline of environmental productivity growth. Specialization and government support are associated with a higher economic and environmental sustainability productivity growth, and with, a decreased growth of social sustainable productivity. We found no significant association between the age of the oldest entrepreneur, financial structure, farm size or cost of advisory service and dynamic productivity growth in the three sustainability dimensions. The results provide insights into potential pathways towards improving the three pillars of sustainability.


Assuntos
Indústria de Laticínios/economia , Fazendas/economia , Leite , Crescimento Sustentável , Animais , Bovinos , Países Baixos
5.
PLoS One ; 16(11): e0257909, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34767559

RESUMO

In recent decades, microfinance institutions with financial products designed for low income groups have been established all over the world. However, credit access for farmers in developing countries remains low. Digital financial services are rapidly expanding globally at the moment. They also bear great potential to address the credit needs of farmers in remote rural areas. Beyond mobile money services, digital credit is successively offered and also discussed in literature. Compared to conventional credit which is granted based on a thorough assessment of the loan applicant's financial situation, digital credit is granted based on an automated analysis of the existing data of the loan applicant. Despite the potential of digital credit for serving the credit needs of rural farmers, empirical research on farmers' willingness to pay for digital credit is non-existent. We employ a discrete choice experiment to compare farmers' willingness to pay for digital and conventional credit. We apply loan attributes which reflect typical characteristics of both credit products. Our results indicate a higher willingness to pay for digital credit compared to conventional credit. Furthermore, we find that the proximity to withdraw borrowed money has a higher effect on farmers' willingness to pay for digital credit compared to conventional credit. Furthermore, our results show that instalment repayment condition reduces farmers' willingness to pay for digital credit whilst increasing their willingness to pay for conventional credit. Additionally, we find that longer loan duration has a higher effect on farmers' willingness to pay for digital credit compared to conventional credit whereas higher additional credit cost has a lower effect on farmers' willingness to pay for conventional credit compared to digital credit. Our results highlight the potential of digital credit for agricultural finance in rural areas of Madagascar if a certain level of innovation is applied in designing digital credit products.


Assuntos
Comportamento de Escolha , Fazendeiros/psicologia , Fazendas/economia , Apoio Financeiro , População Rural , Adulto , Países em Desenvolvimento , Feminino , Humanos , Madagáscar , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Pobreza , Inquéritos e Questionários
6.
PLoS One ; 16(9): e0256832, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34478456

RESUMO

Shallot is a national strategic commodity in Indonesia, but it is development has a fundamental technical, socioeconomic, and policy support problems. Therefore, it is essential to know the competitiveness of shallot in Indonesia and the incentive policy to implement the comparative advantage to become a sustainable competitive advantage. The purposes of this study are to (1) analyze the profitability of shallot farming privately and socially, (2) analyze the competitiveness of shallot farming from a competitive and comparative advantage perspective, (3) review the impact of government policy on shallot farming, and (4) formulate incentive policies in the development of shallot commodities. The empirical results of the Policy Analysis Matrix revealed that shallot farming in production centers in Indonesia has both competitive and comparative advantages. The highest competitive and comparative advantages were found in the dry season in the upland of Malang district with the coefficient values of PCR (Private Cost Ratio) of 0.268-0.508 and DRCR (Domestic Resource Cost Ratio) of 0.208-0.323. The lowest competitive advantage was found in the lowland of East Lombok district in the dry season with a coefficient value of PCR 0.728-0.844. The lowest comparative advantage in the dry season was found in East Lombok district with a DRCR of 0.448, while in the rainy season, it was found in Wonosobo district with a DRCR of 0.522. These results mean that it is more profitable for Indonesia to increase domestic shallot production than to import. Improving shallot competitiveness can be carried out by implementing advanced technology, agricultural infrastructure, capacity building of farmers' resources, and government incentive policies to increase productivity and competitiveness sustainability.


Assuntos
Agricultura , Fazendas/economia , Formulação de Políticas , Cebolinha Branca , Agricultura/economia , Agricultura/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Indonésia , Tecnologia
7.
PLoS One ; 16(9): e0256694, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34506515

RESUMO

Large changes have taken place in smallholder farming systems in South Asia's coastal areas in recent decades, particularly related to cropping intensity, input availability, climate risks, and off-farm activities. However, few studies have investigated the extent to which these changes have impacted farm-level crop productivity, which is a key driver of food security and poverty in rainfed, low-input, rice-based systems. The objective of this study was to conduct an integrated assessment of variables related to socioeconomic status, farm characteristics, and crop management practices to understand the major factors influencing crop productivity and identify promising leverage points for sustainable development in coastal Bangladesh. Using a panel survey dataset of 32 variables from 502 farm households located within polder (coastal embankment) and outside polder systems during 2005-2015, we employed statistical factor analysis to characterize five independent latent factors named here as Farming Challenges, Economic Status, Crop Management Practices, Asset Endowment, and Farm Characteristics. The factor Farming Challenges explained the most variation among households (31%), with decreases observed over time, specifically households located outside polders. Individual variables contributing to this factor included perceived cyclone severity, household distance to main roads and input-output markets, cropping intensity, and access to extension services. The most important factors for increasing crop productivity on a household and per unit area basis were Asset Endowment and Crop Management Practices, respectively. The former highlights the need for increasing gross cropped area, which can be achieved through greater cropping intensity, while the latter was associated with increased fertilizer, labor, and pesticide input use. Despite the importance of these factors, household poverty trajectory maps showed that changes in off-farm income had played the strongest role in improving livelihoods in this coastal area. This study can help inform development efforts and policies for boosting farm-level crop productivity, specifically through agricultural intensification (higher cropping intensity combined with appropriate and efficient use of inputs) and expanding opportunities for off-farm income as key pathways to bring smallholder households out of poverty.


Assuntos
Agricultura/economia , Fazendas/economia , Renda/estatística & dados numéricos , Pobreza/economia , Bangladesh , Fazendeiros , Humanos , Oryza/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Desenvolvimento Sustentável
8.
PLoS One ; 16(9): e0256498, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34469477

RESUMO

In this study we investigate whether the increasing investment in smallholder oil palm plantations that contributes to deforestation is motivated by financial gains or other factors. We evaluate the financial viability of smallholder farmers selling fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) to intermediaries or agro-industrial companies with mills, or processing the FFBs in artisanal mills to produce palm oil. We use data collected in four oil palm production basins in Cameroon and carried out a life cycle assessment of oil palm cultivation and CPO production to understand financial gains. We use payback period (PBP), internal rate of return (IRR), benefit cost ratio (BCR) and net present value (NPV) for 1 ha of oil palm plantation over 28 years at a base discount rate of 8% to asses viability. Our results show that smallholders make more money processing their FFBs in artisanal mills to produce CPO than selling FFBs to intermediaries or agro-industrial companies with mills. The sensitivity analysis show that land ownership is the single most important parameter in the profitability of investment in palm oil cultivation and trade. In addition to land cost, smallholders suffer from borrowing at high interest rates, high field management costs, while recording low on-farm FFB/processing yields. To improve the financial viability of smallholders investing in oil palm cultivation, measures are needed to encourage them to access land, get loans at reduced interest rates, reduce the cost of field management, adopt good agricultural practices to improve on-farm FFB/processing yields, as well as to generate additional revenue from the sale of other products.


Assuntos
Conservação dos Recursos Naturais/economia , Fazendas/economia , Frutas/economia , Investimentos em Saúde , Óleo de Palmeira/economia , Camarões , Análise Custo-Benefício , Fazendeiros , Humanos , Modelos Econômicos , Pobreza
9.
PLoS One ; 16(9): e0256590, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34591851

RESUMO

Promoting farmland transfer through the farmland rental market is an essential instrument to achieve the scale economy of agricultural production in China. However, past literature on the land reform in China pays more attention to the renting-in household or the renting-out household, respectively, less to both types of households together. Using a large-scale survey of farm households in China, we examine the determinants of participation in the farmland rental market and quantify the impact of the rental market on farmers' income. Findings show household off-farm income, family members' part-time employment, agricultural subsidies, and participation in agricultural cooperatives significantly affect farmers' participation in the farmland rental market. Participation in the farmland rental market significantly increases the income of renting-in households, while it decreases the income of renting-out households, which might result from the temporary lag effect of the land system reform.


Assuntos
Agricultura , Fazendeiros , Fazendas/economia , Renda/estatística & dados numéricos , Adulto , China , Cidades , Emprego/economia , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Adulto Jovem
10.
Prev Vet Med ; 196: 105478, 2021 Nov.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34487918

RESUMO

Dystocia contributes to lamb and ewe mortality in the periparturient period but impacts for extensive sheep production systems remain poorly understood. Here we show that lamb and ewe mortality associated with dystocia has important impacts on sheep production in Australia and New Zealand, and quantify financial impacts for the Australian sheep industry. A systematic review of the literature identified 11 publications published since 1990 that reported sheep mortality due to dystocia in Australia or New Zealand. Assumptions for ewe breeding flock structure and reproductive performance were based on Australian sheep industry data. The proportion of lamb mortality attributable to dystocia (including stillbirths and perinatal deaths with evidence of hypoxic injury) pooled across all studies (pooled proportional mortality ratio) was 47 % (95 % Confidence Interval (CI): 38, 55). Pooled proportional mortality ratio for Australian studies was 53 % (95 %CI: 47, 60), and for New Zealand studies was 35 % (95 %CI: 19, 51). Pooled proportional mortality ratio was similar for lambs born to Merino and non-Merino ewes, although more data are needed to determine effects of ewe breed independent of other factors. Pooled proportional mortality ratio was higher for single lambs (59 %; 95 % CI: 55, 63) than twin (47 %; 41, 54) or triplet (49 %; 46, 52) lambs. However, the number of dystocia-associated mortalities is higher for twin-born lambs than for singles because total mortality is higher for twin-born lambs. It is estimated that approximately 7.7 million lamb deaths and 297,500 ewe deaths per year are attributable to dystocia in Australia for the national flock of 38 million breeding ewes. The whole-farm bio-economic Model of an Integrated Dryland Agricultural System (MIDAS) was used to determine the impacts of dystocia-associated ewe and lamb mortality on Australian farm profit. Dystocia is estimated to reduce Australian national farm profit by AU$780 million or $23.00 per ewe mated based on an assumed lamb sale price of AU$6.50 per kg carcass weight. These estimates do not include the costs of reduced productivity for surviving ewes and lambs, intervention, post-farmgate impacts, delayed genetic progress, or impacts on animal welfare and access into sheep meat and wool markets. Reducing dystocia through improved genetics and sheep management will improve animal welfare and farm profit.


Assuntos
Distocia , Doenças dos Ovinos , Animais , Austrália/epidemiologia , Distocia/mortalidade , Distocia/veterinária , Fazendas/economia , Feminino , Modelos Econômicos , Nova Zelândia/epidemiologia , Gravidez , Ovinos , Doenças dos Ovinos/epidemiologia , Doenças dos Ovinos/mortalidade , Carneiro Doméstico
11.
PLoS One ; 16(8): e0256089, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34398923

RESUMO

Access to water is a critical aspect of livestock production, although the relationship between livestock weight gain and water quality remains poorly understood. Previous work has shown that water quality of poorly managed farm dams can be improved by fencing and constructing hardened watering points to limit stock access to the dam, and revegetation to filter contaminant inflow. Here we use cattle weight gain data from three North American studies to develop a cost-benefit analysis for the renovation of farm dams to improve water quality and, in turn, promote cattle weight gain on farms in south-eastern Australia. Our analysis indicated a strong likelihood of positive results and suggested there may be substantial net economic benefit from renovating dams in poor condition to improve water quality. The average per-farm Benefit-Cost Ratios based on deterministic assumptions was 1.5 for New South Wales (NSW) and 3.0 for Victoria in areas where rainfall exceeds 600mm annually. Our analyses suggested that cattle on farms in NSW and Victoria would need to experience additional weight gain from switching to clean water of at least 6.5% and 1.8% per annum respectively, to break even in present value terms. Monte Carlo simulation based on conservative assumptions indicated that the probability of per-farm benefits exceeding costs was greater than 70%. We recommend localised experiments to assess the impact of improved water quality on livestock weight gain in Australian conditions to confirm these expectations empirically.


Assuntos
Indústria de Laticínios/métodos , Fazendas/normas , Gado/crescimento & desenvolvimento , Qualidade da Água/normas , Animais , Austrália , Bovinos , Análise Custo-Benefício , Fazendas/economia , Método de Monte Carlo , Aumento de Peso
12.
PLoS One ; 16(7): e0255072, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34329315

RESUMO

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of village debt on land transfer. Based on the county-level panel data of village finance and land transfer in 90 counties and 4 economic development zones of Zhejiang Province from 2013 to 2017, this paper carried out multivariate statistical analysis and set a fixed effect model to control the endogenous influence of region and time. It found that village debt as a pressure may encourage village committees to promote rural land transfer, and then especially promote land flows into agricultural firms; as a mechanism, the burden of village organization's transactional debt (historical debt and administrative debt) is the key to promoting the rural land flow to agricultural enterprises; through further analysis, it is found that the village committee seeks "win-win" opportunities by intervening in land circulation to ensure the rights and interests of farmers and to obtain village benefits from them. This paper finds that this kind of push effect has the threshold, the debt will play a significant role in promoting when the debt rate is between 4.65% and 7.9%. In addition, there is regional heterogeneity in the contribution of debt, which exists only in plain, non-coastal and high-dependence areas. The results of this paper verify the view that "community mechanism and market mechanism are embedded and supported each other in acquaintance society" in the theory of community governance. In practice, it provides a realistic basis for policy makers to implement the policy of encouraging farmland circulation and properly deal with the problem of village debt.


Assuntos
Agricultura/economia , Fazendeiros , Fazendas/economia , Humanos
13.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 118(27)2021 07 06.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34183411

RESUMO

In this perspective, we draw on recent scientific research on the coffee leaf rust (CLR) epidemic that severely impacted several countries across Latin America and the Caribbean over the last decade, to explore how the socioeconomic impacts from COVID-19 could lead to the reemergence of another rust epidemic. We describe how past CLR outbreaks have been linked to reduced crop care and investment in coffee farms, as evidenced in the years following the 2008 global financial crisis. We discuss relationships between CLR incidence, farmer-scale agricultural practices, and economic signals transferred through global and local effects. We contextualize how current COVID-19 impacts on labor, unemployment, stay-at-home orders, and international border policies could affect farmer investments in coffee plants and in turn create conditions favorable for future shocks. We conclude by arguing that COVID-19's socioeconomic disruptions are likely to drive the coffee industry into another severe production crisis. While this argument illustrates the vulnerabilities that come from a globalized coffee system, it also highlights the necessity of ensuring the well-being of all. By increasing investments in coffee institutions and paying smallholders more, we can create a fairer and healthier system that is more resilient to future social-ecological shocks.


Assuntos
COVID-19/epidemiologia , Café , Epidemias , Basidiomycota/fisiologia , COVID-19/economia , Café/economia , Café/microbiologia , Meio Ambiente , Epidemias/economia , Fazendas/economia , Fazendas/tendências , Indústrias/economia , Indústrias/tendências , Doenças das Plantas/economia , Doenças das Plantas/microbiologia , SARS-CoV-2 , Fatores Socioeconômicos
14.
PLoS One ; 16(6): e0253657, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34166430

RESUMO

Factors such as increases in population, urbanization, growth in per capita income and changes in consumer taste and preferences are causing gradual increases in livestock product consumption and demand. South Africa is addressing this predicted increase in livestock products demand by commercializing smallholder livestock producers. The Limpopo Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Nguni Cattle Development Project is an example of such effort. The economic performance of these efforts needs to be evaluated. We use gross margin analysis to evaluate the performance of the Limpopo IDC Nguni Cattle Development Project. Additionally, we use regression analysis to identify factors influencing gross margins. Our results indicate that although smallholders show potential to commercialize, they lack commercial farming experience and require that a strong extension support system be used as one of the strategies to improve profitability. We also noted that individual farmers were more profitable than group farmers. Multiple regression analysis shows that three variables could be used to stimulate gross margin among the Limpopo IDC Nguni Cattle Development Project farmers. These are herd size, distance to market and farm size. Since farm size is a given, policy should focus on assisting farmers to build their herds and to have better access to markets.


Assuntos
Criação de Animais Domésticos/economia , Fazendeiros , Fazendas/economia , Animais , Bovinos , Humanos , África do Sul
15.
PLoS One ; 16(5): e0251394, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33961668

RESUMO

Farms need to invest in order to earn incomes and maintain their competitive edge. However, the scale and extent of investments must be aligned with resources of other productive inputs, primarily including land, because otherwise there is risk of overinvestment. Since 2004, Central and Eastern European countries have been provided with access to investment support programs; these are non-repayable aid funds which can potentially lead to overinvestment issues. Therefore, this paper attempts to answer the question on the scale of overinvestment in the countries covered. This is all the more important since that problem has rarely been addressed in economic and agricultural research. The study presented in this paper is unique in that the research tasks are based on unpublished Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) microdata for 5839 selected Central and Eastern European farms provided by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI). Based on variables relating to the amount of productive inputs and production volumes, the authors developed their own typology of farms which includes the following categories: optimum investment levels (the growth rate of labor productivity is greater than growth in the assets-to-land ratio); relative overinvestment (while labor productivity grows, it does so at a slower rate than the assets-to-land ratio); absolute overinvestment (labor productivity declines while the assets-to-land ratio grows); underinvestment (decline in both labor productivity and the assets-to-land ratio). The authors demonstrated that members of the 'absolute overinvestment' group made flagrant mistakes in investment planning and implementation, whereas members of the 'relative overinvestment' group did record an improvement in labor productivity which ultimately can be considered a positive outcome. Underinvested farms were a very small minority in each country. In addition to filling a gap in the methodology for determining agricultural overinvestment, this paper also indicates the scale of that issue in Central and Eastern European countries. This study may be of importance both to farms (as guidelines for investment planning) and to agricultural policymakers who develop investment support programs.


Assuntos
Agricultura/economia , Fazendas/economia , Investimentos em Saúde , Planejamento Social , Humanos , Política Pública
16.
PLoS One ; 16(5): e0250556, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33951074

RESUMO

Animal welfare scientists have accumulated knowledge and developed interventions to improve livestock welfare, but these are poorly adopted in commercial practice. Animal welfare interventions are rarely tested for economic viability and this limits their uptake. This study employs Stochastic Partial Budgeting (SPB) to determine the viability of animal welfare improvements. Aggression between pigs is used as an example because there is a large literature base from which to draw interventions, and the problem has persisted for decades without resolution. Costs and benefits of three interventions to control aggression (pre-weaning socialisation, synthetic maternal pheromones and large social groups) were estimated by reviewing the academic and industry literature and by conducting a survey of sixteen pig farmers. The net effects were compared to farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for interventions to reduce aggression as identified by recent research. Results are consistent with prior research which indicates that improving animal welfare generally comes at a cost to producers. Nevertheless, pre-weaning socialisation resulted in a neutral or positive net effect 38% of the time and should be central to campaigns promoting the control of aggression in the industry. Exposing pigs to synthetic maternal pheromones did not improve profitability but the net costs were small and within the realms of WTP for a sub-group of farmers with animal welfare goals. The net costs of converting existing buildings in order to house pigs in large social groups were beyond the realms of farmers' WTP. The approach adopted in this study, of combining SPB with WTP from the sector, should be extended to other animal welfare issues.


Assuntos
Agressão/fisiologia , Criação de Animais Domésticos/economia , Bem-Estar do Animal/economia , Comportamento Animal/fisiologia , Fazendeiros/estatística & dados numéricos , Fazendas/economia , Criação de Animais Domésticos/métodos , Bem-Estar do Animal/normas , Animais , Fazendas/estatística & dados numéricos , Inquéritos e Questionários , Suínos
17.
PLoS One ; 16(4): e0248576, 2021.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33793590

RESUMO

Market participation among beef cattle farmers is key to ensuring better income, food security, and sustainable beef supply. Farmers in the traditional beef cattle sector, nevertheless, are well known for their low market participation. This study, thus, sought to examine factors that influenced market participation among beef cattle farmers in the Meatu district of Simiyu region, Tanzania. The study randomly selected a sample size of 393 farmers. The cross-sectional data collected through interviews and questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. The descriptive analyses showed that the average age of the interviewees was 53.73 years with a family size of 13.11. On average, the respondents had about 24.14 years of farming experience. Most of the respondents (67.9%) had primary education. Among the respondents, about 61.3%, 4.6%, and 32.6% had access to market information, farm credits, and veterinary services, respectively. The average cattle herd size was 53.46 heads. About 90.1% of farmers had participated in the markets by selling an average of 5 heads each, per year. This study has revealed low volume of sales, low education levels, and poor access to credits and veterinary services as the major factors that limit market participation. Furthermore, econometric results show that the key factors that significantly influenced farmers to increase the volume of beef cattle sales in the market at P < 0.05 included price, herd size, off-farm income, distance to market, age of the farmer, and cattle fattening. Moreover, membership in cooperatives, access to market information, and farming experience also had significant influence at P < 0.05. This study recommends establishment of strategic cooperatives to function not only as a communication channel for farm credits, price, market information, and training on commercial farming, but also to assist farmers in selection of profitable markets.


Assuntos
Criação de Animais Domésticos/economia , Comércio/economia , Indústria de Laticínios/economia , Fazendeiros/estatística & dados numéricos , Fazendas/estatística & dados numéricos , Criação de Animais Domésticos/métodos , Animais , Bovinos , Comércio/estatística & dados numéricos , Estudos Transversais , Indústria de Laticínios/métodos , Indústria de Laticínios/estatística & dados numéricos , Fazendeiros/educação , Fazendas/economia , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Inquéritos e Questionários , Tanzânia
18.
Vet Rec ; 188(8): e13, 2021 04.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33891723

RESUMO

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the financial impact of different prevalence levels of severe tail lesions (STL) during the finisher stage associated with changes in average daily gain (ADG) in farrow-to-finish pig farms. METHODS: Prevalence of STL was estimated for 31 farrow-to-finish pig farms. Regression tree analysis was used to identify a threshold for STL associated with differences in ADG. Then, a financial analysis was carried using the Teagasc Pig Production model. RESULTS: A threshold of ≥0.86% prevalence of STL was associated with a 4.8% decrease in ADG which translated into pigs requiring 7 days more to reach target slaughter weight than in farms below the threshold. Reduced ADG meant that farms with higher prevalence of STL used 3.6% more weaner and 1.4% more finisher feed per year increasing feed costs by 1.5%. This reduced mean annual farm profit by 15.1% in farms with higher prevalence of STL. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide an indication of the financial effects of STL in intensive pig production systems. The identified threshold for the prevalence of STL could provide a tangible target for farmers to focus on in developing strategies to reduce tail lesions and allow farmers to complete a cost benefit analysis of controlling STL.


Assuntos
Fazendas/economia , Doenças dos Suínos/epidemiologia , Cauda/lesões , Animais , Suínos , Índices de Gravidade do Trauma
19.
Prev Vet Med ; 190: 105318, 2021 May.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33740596

RESUMO

The study investigated the important epidemiological parameters and farm-level economic costs of FMD incidence in cattle and buffaloes during 2013-14 to 2015-16 in various states of India. Multistage random sampling procedure was adopted for the primary survey and data was collected through face-to-face personal interview from 18,609 cattle and buffalo rearing farm households from 123 districts across twelve states and one Union Territory. Besides epidemiological parameters, different farm-level direct and indirect loss associated with FMD was assessed at disaggregated level (states) by employing deterministic mathematical models. Highest number of affected villages and disease incidence was observed in non- FMD control programme (FMD-CP) implemented Madhya Pradesh and Assam states, respectively whereas negligible incidence was in FMD-CP implemented Punjab state. The disease incidence was high during 2013-14 and declined during 2014-15 and 2015-16, respectively implied severe incidence scenario (2013-14) succeeded by moderate (2014-15) and mild (2015-16) scenarios. The crossbred and high productive animals were severely affected than local breeds whereas on sexwise and agewise comparison revealed higher incidence in females and adult animals. During severe incidence scenario, milk loss/animal ranged from USD 6.87-47.44, 18.42-125.88, 16.33-91.43, and 27.17-123.62; mortality loss/animal ranged from USD 32.61-804.27, 30.76-577.7, 65.36-502.2, and 188.04-413.7; distress sale loss/animal ranged from USD 3.22-188.63, 64.34-519.3, 214.47-341.8, and 209.11-450.3; and opportunity cost of labour/animal from USD 5.49-54.29, 5.49-67.78; 7.95-31.37 and 9.83-72.38 in indigenous cattle, crossbred cattle, local and improved buffalo, respectively. The estimated draught power loss/animal varied from USD 39.46-142.94 with least being in Madhya Pradesh and highest in Assam states whereas the median treatment cost/animal was USD 9.18 and USD 27.07 in indigenous cattle and upgraded buffaloes, respectively. The total farm-level economic loss projected due to FMD in cattle and buffaloes in India was USD 3159 million (INR 221,110 million), USD 270 million (INR 18,910 million) and USD 152 million (INR 10,610 million), respectively during the severe, moderate and mild incidence scenarios at 2015-16 constant prices. The loss varied across the states, and in severe incidence scenario, the country might lose USD 3.2 billion/year and hence, the bi-annual vaccination schedule need to be strictly implemented in all the states. Besides timely vaccination coverage, managing unabated animal movement, educating and motivating the farmers to vaccinate their animals might reduce the incidence and consequential losses to various stakeholders in endemic states like India.


Assuntos
Doenças dos Bovinos , Febre Aftosa , Animais , Búfalos/virologia , Bovinos/virologia , Doenças dos Bovinos/economia , Doenças dos Bovinos/epidemiologia , Doenças dos Bovinos/virologia , Surtos de Doenças , Fazendas/economia , Feminino , Febre Aftosa/economia , Febre Aftosa/epidemiologia , Incidência , Índia/epidemiologia
20.
Trop Anim Health Prod ; 53(1): 54, 2021 Jan 03.
Artigo em Inglês | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33389207

RESUMO

Poultry production contributes significantly to the livelihoods of Ethiopian farmers and to the national economy although it is hampered by different factors, including poultry diseases. There is scarcity of published evidences on the occurrence and impacts of poultry diseases although such evidences are important for policy makers in designing appropriate interventions. A total of 595 households were interviewed and 11 FGDs were conducted to collect data on the occurrence of diseases and the number of dead chickens in the last 12 months. Hence, respiratory diseases, sudden death, and eye-face-head diseases were mentioned in all of the FGDs as the most frequently occurring disease in the districts. Of households interviewed, 86.1% reported poultry disease occurrence in the last 12 months, and gastrointestinal, eye-face-head, and neurological diseases were identified to be the top three ranked diseases of chickens in the districts. Flocks with access to diagnostic services (Adj. OR = 4.16; P = 0.004) and/or access to animal health providers (Adj. OR = 10.50; P = 0.001) were more likely to report disease occurrence. In the studied population, the diseases resulted in deaths of 2219 chickens valued at 352,219.5 Birr (11,740.65 USD) and a mean crude mortality of 31.87%. Female-lead households (mean difference = 5.95%; P = 0.018) and multiple age units present on the farm (mean difference = 20.92%; P = < 0.000) had higher chicken mortality. Similarly, higher mortality was reported in flocks without access to diagnosis (mean difference = 9.97%; P = < 0.000) and vaccination (mean difference = 12.34%; P = < 0.000) services. The high occurrence of disease and mortalities might be explained by a lack of an organized poultry health service delivery system in the country. Therefore, a carefully designed health service delivery system addressing needs of poultry producers, supported by relevant policy and corresponding strategies, is recommended to address the indicated challenges. Moreover, private health providers with well-defined roles need to be engaged to successfully and sustainably solve the poultry disease problems.


Assuntos
Galinhas , Fazendas/estatística & dados numéricos , Doenças das Aves Domésticas/mortalidade , Criação de Animais Domésticos , Animais , Estudos Transversais , Etiópia/epidemiologia , Características da Família , Fazendeiros , Fazendas/economia , Feminino , Humanos , Aves Domésticas , Doenças das Aves Domésticas/economia , Produtos Avícolas , Vacinação/veterinária
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