Effects of on-farm diversification strategies on smallholder coffee farmer food security and income sufficiency in Chiapas, Mexico

Purpose – This paper aims to consider the challenges facing small rural businesses in Mexico in their efforts to be enterprising and sustainable when confronted with severe exogenous pressures. Extant literature on farm diversification has a developed economy focus (Pyysiäinen et al., 2006; McElwee, 2008; McElwee and Smith, 2013), but relatively little has been published in developing economies. Design/methodology/approach – This paper considers diversification activities of Mexican farmers. It uses case studies, workshops and interviews to determine the barriers facing farmers and farm advisors. Findings – Farm businesses, particularly those located in drought-prone regions, have benefited from government-sponsored support, but this support needs to now be targeted to develop the entrepreneurial potential of individuals and collectives. Research limitations/implications – Carried out in one region of Mexico only, and thus, the findings may not be transferable to other regions. Practical implications – Recruitment of well-qualified, honest farm advisors with entrepreneurial skills is necessary. Farmers need to be given additional training and support to develop both technological and entrepreneurial skills. Social implications – Encouraging and supporting rural enterprises in Mexico helps to provide opportunities for regions to be economically and socially sustainable. Originality/value – A first attempt to look at farmers ' diversification strategies using an entrepreneurial framework.

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Diversification pathways and farming systems: Insights from the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy

Outlook on Agriculture ◽

10.1177/0030727017741701 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (4) ◽

pp. 239-247 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sergio Rivaroli ◽

Rino Ghelfi ◽

Aldo Bertazzoli ◽

Annette Piorr

Keyword(s):

Census Data ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Farming System ◽

Farm Diversification ◽

Multinomial Logit Models ◽

Diversification Strategies ◽

Agricultural Census ◽

Emilia Romagna Region ◽

Strategic Support ◽

On Farm

The study analyzes and explains on-farm diversification in Emilia-Romagna, a productive and agriculturally intensified region in Italy. The purpose was to contribute to knowledge gaps on the adoption of different diversification strategies in relation to farming system. Based on farm-level census data gathered by the Italian National Institute of Statistics during the sixth general agricultural census, two on-farm diversification pathways were investigated: deepening and broadening. The farmer’s decision to diversify activities and the identification of diversification pathways were analyzed using logit and multinomial logit models. The results show that arable farms adopt broadening strategies, intensive farms opt for deepening ones, and specialized adopters of quality schemes combine both strategies. Furthermore, in contrast to the existing research, the study highlights that intensive farms are more likely than arable farms to diversify. Finally, the findings provide insights to improve analyses in the context of policy and regional strategic support.

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On-farm trees are a safety net for the poorest households rather than a major contributor to food security in Rwanda

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-020-01138-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Alain Ndoli ◽

Athanase Mukuralinda ◽

Antonius G. T. Schut ◽

Miyuki Iiyama ◽

Jean Damascene Ndayambaje ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Household Income ◽

Crop Production ◽

Scale Up ◽

Safety Net ◽

Farm Size ◽

Income Sources ◽

Agroforestry Practice ◽

On Farm ◽

Agroforestry Practices

AbstractThe world is challenged to meet the food demand of a growing population, especially in developing countries. Given the ambitious plans to scale up agroforestry in Africa, an improved understanding of the effect of agroforestry practices on the already challenged food security of rural households is crucial. The present study was undertaken to assess how on-farm trees impacted food security in addition to other household income sources in Rwanda. In each of the six agroecologies of Rwanda, a stratified sampling procedure was used where two administrative cells (4th formal administrative level) were selected in which households were randomly selected for interviews. A survey including 399 farmers was conducted and farmers were grouped in three types of agroforestry practice (i) low practitioners (LAP) represented by the first tertile, (ii) medium practitioners (MAP) represented by the second tertile and (iii) high practitioners (HAP) represented by the third tertile of households in terms of tree number. Asset values, household income sources, crop production, farm size, crop yield, and food security (food energy needs) were quantified among the types of agroforestry practice. A larger proportion of HAP households had access to adequate quantity and diversity of food when compared with MAP and LAP households. Food security probability was higher for households with more resources, including land, trees and livestock, coinciding with an increased crop and livestock income. We found no difference in asset endowment among types of agroforestry practices, while farmers in agroecologies with smaller farms (0.42 ha to 0.66 ha) had more on-farm trees (212 to 358 trees per household) than farms in agroecologies with larger farms (0.96 ha to 1.23 ha) which had 49 to 129 trees per household, probably due to differences in biophysical conditions. A positive association between tree density and food security was found in two out of six agroecologies. The proportion of income that came from tree products was high (> 20%) for a small fraction of farmers (12%), with the more food insecure households relying more on income from tree products than households with better food security status. Thus, tree income can be percieved as a “safety net” for the poorest households.

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Investigating farmer’s identity and efficiency of tourism-oriented farm diversification

Tourism Economics ◽

10.1177/1354816620980185 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 135481662098018

Author(s):

Yasuo Ohe

Keyword(s):

Data Envelopment ◽

Dairy Farmers ◽

Tokyo Metropolitan Area ◽

Business Opportunity ◽

Farm Diversification ◽

Sbm Model ◽

Educational Tourism ◽

New Business ◽

Tourism Activity ◽

On Farm

Whether farm management in conducting tourism activity becomes more efficient or not is an important theoretical and empirical question for the promotion of tourism in agriculture. Thus, this study theoretically and empirically evaluated the efficiency of educational dairy farms that provide educational tourism by data envelopment analysis. The financial data were collected by the author’s survey of these farms located around the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Based on the theoretical framework that stipulates that the efficiency of farm activity is determined by a farmer’s identity, a bilateral slacks-based measure (SBM) model and Super SBM model were applied to empirically evaluate efficiency. The results revealed that those farmers who engage in processing milk products and direct selling have higher efficiency than those who do not. This is because having an enlarged identity that provides a wider perspective on farm activity enables these farmers to create demand and reduce marginal cost. This wider perspective was nurtured through the network of educational tourism activity. Thus, educational tourism activity by dairy farmers can nurture a new business opportunity and lead to efficient farm resource allocation. Identity can be a crucial factor in building rural entrepreneurship in tourism.

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Farm Household Income and On- and Off-Farm Diversification

Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics ◽

10.1017/s1074070800007082 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 37-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Kevin T. McNamara ◽

Christoph Weiss

Keyword(s):

Household Income ◽

Census Data ◽

Farm Income ◽

Federal State ◽

Farm Labor ◽

Farm Household ◽

Labor Allocation ◽

Farm Diversification ◽

Upper Austria ◽

On Farm

The paper analyzes the relationship between off-farm labor allocation and on-farm enterprise diversification as farm household income stabilization strategies with census data from the federal state of Upper Austria, Austria. The results suggest that both on-farm diversification and off-farm labor allocation are related to farm and household characteristics. Larger farms tend to be more diversified. Younger farmers are more likely to work off-farm. Larger farm households tend to allocate more labor to off-farm income activities.

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Determinants of on-farm diversification in Bangladesh

International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology ◽

10.1504/ijarge.2017.10008049 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 294

Author(s):

Stefan Bäckman ◽

John Sumelius ◽

Sheikh Feroze Rehan

Keyword(s):

Farm Diversification ◽

On Farm

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Spatial and Gendered Linkages Between Non-Farm Diversification and Farm Productivity in Ghana

10.1093/oso/9780198799283.003.0009 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Fred Mawunyo Dzanku ◽

Daniel B. Sarpong

Keyword(s):

Labour Productivity ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Full Sample ◽

Farm Diversification ◽

Farm Productivity ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Dynamic Regions ◽

Context Specific ◽

On Farm ◽

The Relationship

This chapter uses both household panel and cross-sectional data to examine the relationship between non-farm diversification and farm labour productivity; is asks whether the gender of the diversifier matters for the relationship. The full sample results provide no evidence that non-farm earning has any effect on farm labour productivity. Region-specific nuances exist, however. The chapter finds that increasing non-farm earnings reduces average farm productivity in poor regions but not in rich regions. The data also provide support for the hypothesis that the gender of the non-farm diversifier matters. Even so, there are spatial nuances: in agro-ecologically more dynamic regions, farm labour productivity is significantly decreasing with women’s non-farm earnings but increasing with men’s, whereas in less dynamic regions only men’s non-farm earnings exert a significant negative effect on farm labour productivity. The chapter concludes that the relationship between non-farm diversification and farm labour productivity is context-specific.

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A strategy for rural development: The Didactic Farms in Italy

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal ◽

10.14738/assrj.84.10016 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 218-229

Author(s):

Fabio Maria Santucci ◽

Michela Ascani

Keyword(s):

Rural Development ◽

Informal Education ◽

Family Members ◽

The Past ◽

Diversification Strategies ◽

Programming Period ◽

Year 2000 ◽

On Farm ◽

Regional Governments

This paper analyses the recent development and the main features of the Didactic farms in Italy, where this type of on-farm activities is recognized by Law since 1985, as one of the diversification strategies for rural development. It is a sort of informal education, where the farmers, their family members and other collaborators act as teachers, mainly for organized groups of kids and teenagers. In Italy, this type of farms and their didactic programs, which last from a few hours to several days, can be formally recognized by the Regional Governments and this recognition opens the door to a) formal collaborations with the kindergardens and schools, and b) possibility to apply for grants to improve structures and purchase equipments. In the last two decades, the number of didactic farms has increased from 276 in year 2000 to 3,120 in 2020, scattered all over the country, whereas in the same period the total number of farms has fallen by 32 percent. Didactic schools should be considered and supported during the next EU programming period 2021-2026, as they were in the past.

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