Small-Scale Farming Systems in Ghana

Africa ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Benneh
Keyword(s):  
Farming Systems ◽  
Agricultural Economics ◽  
Population Pressure ◽  
Regional Differentiation ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Agricultural Innovations ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The Impact

Opening ParagraphAlthough classification of farming systems has been an important theme in the fields of agricultural geography and agricultural economics, there appear to have been no agreed criteria upon which a typology should be made (Grigg, 1969). The problem seems quite intractable as far as most of the developing countries of the tropics are concerned, because lack of statistical data on agriculture has made it impossible for the quantifiable criteria used by agricultural geographers in the advanced countries to be applied. It is therefore not surprising that ‘the notion that shifting cultivation is simple and varies little from area to area and continent to continent’ runs through much of the literature on tropical agriculture. This oversimplified picture of traditional agriculture in the tropics was drawn by earlier writers (Gourou, 1965) who established the framework for a regional differentiation of agriculture. It disregards the changes which have been taking place as a result of increased population pressure on available land, the introduction of cash crops, and the impact of agricultural innovations.

scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF THE 2000 LAND REFORM PROGRAMME ON THE CAPITAL BLOCK, POPULARLY KNOWN AS THE ‘NEW MALAWI’

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Calvin Phiri ◽  
Njabulo Bruce Khumalo ◽  
Mehluli Masuku
Keyword(s):  
Land Reform ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Mining Area ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mining Areas ◽  
Reform Programme ◽  
Foreign Origin ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

The 2000 land reform programme implemented by the government of Zimbabwe came with an initiative of acquiring enormous hectares of white-owned farmland and distributing it on a massive scale to small-scale farmers. Indeed the greater part of the land was taken from the white commercial farmers and distributed to the majority black Zimbabweans, leaving only a small share of the farmland in the hands of the whites. The land reform programme, undoubtedly, benefited Zimbabweans. In Zimbabwe, especially in mining areas, there are classes of Zimbabweans, those who originate from Zimbabwe, as well as those who are of foreign origin, but are Zimbabweans by birth. Zimbabweans by birth who are of foreign origin occupied an allocated A2 farm, Capital Block, located near a cement mining area, Colleen Bawn. Most of them were of Malawian origin, and the area is now popularly known as ‘New Malawi’. This study sought to investigate how Zimbabweans of foreign origin benefited from the 2000 land reform programme. The article further sought to reveal the diverse farming systems as well as Indigenous Knowledge (IK), which were passed on from the forefathers who were born in Malawi, but migrated to Zimbabwe’s mining areas in search for employment in the then Rhodesia around 1960. A qualitative methodology was used in this research, in which oral history interviews were conducted with the people living in the area of the ‘New Malawi’. The study revealed that most of the land was being used for farming purposes. Beneficiaries of the programme had become self-dependent. The study further revealed that there was knowledge sharing among the beneficiaries of different foreign origins including Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and those of Zimbabwean origin. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that the programme benefited a number of people of foreign origins who were now Zimbabweans by birth and Zimbabweans by both birth and origin were happy with these people benefiting, a situation which shows the extent to which Zimbabweans are tolerant of foreigners.

Multivariate classification of farming systems for use in integrated pest management studies

1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Y. Leeson ◽  
J. W. Sheard ◽  
A. G. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Minimum Variance ◽  
Farm Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Multivariate Techniques ◽  
Organic Systems ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Impact

On-farm studies provide a realistic setting to examine the impact of interactions of management practices on weed communities within various farming systems. Clustering farm units into groups that use similar management practices enables the replication of farm management systems within on-farm studies. The goal of this study is to objectively classify farm units into management systems on the basis of quantitative variables describing aspects of cropping history and chemical input levels using multivariate techniques. Twenty-eight Saskatchewan farmers provided details of their management practices from 1990 to 1997 through a series of questionnaires. Twelve variables derived from the questionnaires were used to describe cropping history, pesticide, tillage and fertilizer use on each farm unit. These variables were used to cluster farm units using minimum variance classification and NMS ordination. Both techniques identified seven farm management systems. The greatest differences were observed between organic and non-organic systems. Farm management systems that used annual fallow and continuous annual cropping histories were most similar. The consistent results obtained by use of the two unrelated methodologies indicate the utility of this approach for the classification of farm management systems. Key words: Farm management system, classification, cropping history, chemical input level, on-farm

scholarly journals Climate change impact on crop production in Central Asian Countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 75-82
Author(s):  
Anna Viter ◽  
Sándor J. Zsarnóczai ◽  
László Vasa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Arid Zones ◽  
Agricultural Producers ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Farm Model ◽  
The Impact

Increased risk due to global warming has already become embedded in agricultural decision making in Central Asia and uncertainties are projected to increase even further. Agro-ecology and economies of Central Asia are heterogeneous and very little is known about the impact of climate change at the subnational levels. The bio-economic farm model is used for ex-ante assessment of climate change impacts at sub-national levels in Central Asia. The bio-economic farm model is calibrated to ten farming systems in Central Asia based on the household survey and crop growth experiment data. The production uncertainties and the adaptation options of agricultural producers to changing environments are considered paramount in the simulations. Very large differences in climate change impacts across the studied farming systems are found. The positive income gains in large-scale commercial farms in the northern regions of Kazakhstan and negative impact in small-scale farms in arid zones of Tajikistan are likely to happen. Producers in Kyrgyzstan may expect higher revenues but also higher income volatilities in the future. Agricultural producers in Uzbekistan may benefit in the near future but may lose their income in the distant future. The negative impacts could be further aggravated in arid zones of Central Asia if irrigation water availability decline due to climate change and water demand increase in upstream regions. The scenario simulations show that market liberalization and improved commodity exchange between the countries have very good potential to cope with the negative consequences of climate change. JEL classification: Q11, Q18

scholarly journals Poultry farmer response to disease outbreaks in smallholder farming systems in southern Vietnam

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Delabouglise ◽  
Nguyen Thi Le Thanh ◽  
Huynh Thi Ai Xuyen ◽  
Benjamin Nguyen-Van-Yen ◽  
Phung Ngoc Tuyet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Southern Vietnam ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
The Impact

Avian influenza outbreaks have been occurring on smallholder poultry farms in Asia for two decades. Farmer responses to these outbreaks can slow down or accelerate virus transmission. We used a longitudinal survey of 53 small-scale chicken farms in southern Vietnam to investigate the impact of outbreaks with disease-induced mortality on harvest rate, vaccination, and disinfection behaviors. We found that in small broiler flocks (≤16 birds/flock) the estimated probability of harvest was 56% higher when an outbreak occurred, and 214% higher if an outbreak with sudden deaths occurred in the same month. Vaccination and disinfection were strongly and positively correlated with the number of birds. Small-scale farmers – the overwhelming majority of poultry producers in low-income countries – tend to rely on rapid sale of birds to mitigate losses from diseases. As depopulated birds are sent to markets or trading networks, this reactive behavior has the potential to enhance onward transmission.

scholarly journals Uncertainties in future climate predictions due to convection parameterisations

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 5561-5576 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Rybka ◽  
H. Tost
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Trace Gases ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Convective Clouds ◽  
Convection Schemes ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the last decades several convection parameterisations have been developed to consider the impact of small-scale unresolved processes in Earth System Models associated with convective clouds. Global model simulations, which have been performed under current climate conditions with different convection schemes, significantly differ among each other in the simulated transport of trace gases and precipitation patterns due to the parameterisation assumptions and formulations, e.g. the computation of convective rainfall rates, calculation of entrainment and detrainment rates etc. Here we address sensitivity studies comparing four different convection schemes under alternative climate conditions (with doubling of the CO2 concentrations) to identify uncertainties related to convective processes. The increase in surface temperature reveals regional differences up to 4 K dependent on the chosen convection parameterisation. These differences are statistically significant almost everywhere in the troposphere of the intertropical convergence zone. The increase in upper tropospheric temperature affects the amount of water vapour transported to the lower stratosphere, leading to enhanced water vapour contents between 40% and 60% at the cold point temperature in the Tropics. Furthermore, the change in transporting short-lived pollutants within the atmosphere is highly ambiguous for the lower and upper troposphere. These results reflect that different approaches to compute mass fluxes, detrainment levels or trigger functions determine the transport of short-lived trace gases from the planetary boundary layer to lower, middle or upper tropospheric levels. Finally, cloud radiative effects have been analysed, uncovering a shift in different cloud types in the Tropics, especially for cirrus and deep convective clouds. These cloud types induce a change in net cloud radiative forcing varying from 0.5 W m−2 to 2.0 W m−2.

scholarly journals Uncertainties in future climate predictions due to convection parameterisations

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 26893-26931
Author(s):  
H. Rybka ◽  
H. Tost
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Microphysics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Tropospheric Temperature ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Convective Clouds ◽  
Sensitivity Studies ◽  
Cloud Radiative Effects ◽  
Convection Schemes ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the last decades several convection parameterisations have been developed to consider the impact of small-scale unresolved processes in Earth System Models associated with convective clouds. Global model simulations, which have been performed under current climate conditions with different convection schemes, significantly differ among each other in the simulated transport of trace gases and precipitation patterns due to the parameterisation assumptions and formulations, e.g. the simplified treatment of the cloud microphysics. Here we address sensitivity studies comparing four different convection schemes under alternative climate conditions (doubling of the CO2 concentrations) to identify uncertainties related to convective processes. The increase in surface temperature reveals regional differences up to 4 K dependent on the chosen convection parameterisation. The increase in upper tropospheric temperature affects the amount of water vapour transported to the lower stratosphere. Furthermore, the change in transporting short-lived pollutants within the atmosphere is highly ambiguous for the lower and upper troposphere. Finally, cloud radiative effects have been analysed uncovering a shift in different cloud types in the tropics.

Can Values of Honesty, Hard Work, Loyalty and Discipline Predict Entrepreneurial Orientation of Muslim Owner Managers?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohani Mohd ◽  
Badrul Hisham Kamaruddin ◽  
Khulida Kirana Yahya ◽  
Elias Sanidas
Keyword(s):  
Entrepreneurial Orientation ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Hard Work ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Sampling Frame ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Learning Institutions ◽  
Innovative Orientation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
True Values

The purpose of the present study is twofold: first, to investigate the true values of Muslim owner managers; second, to examine the impact of these values on entrepreneurial orientations of Muslim small-scale entrepreneurs. 850 Muslim owner managers were selected randomly using the sampling frame provided by MajlisAmanah Rakyat Malaysia (MARA). 162 completed questionnaires were collected and analyzed. For this paper only two dimensions of entrepreneurial orientations were analyzed: proactive orientation and innovative orientation. Interestingly, the findings revealed that Muslim businessmen/women are honest, loyal, disciplined and hard working. Loyalty and honesty are positively related to proactive orientation, while discipline and hard-work are positively related to innovative orientation. The findings provide implications for existing relevant theories, policy makers, practitioners and learning institutions. 

The impact of exchange rate on price and export of agricultural production

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
Rasulov Tulkin Sattarovich ◽  
Khushvaktov Kuvonchbek Ravshanovich
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Agricultural Economics ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Price Formation ◽  
International Trade Laws ◽  
The Impact

In today’s world of swiftly increasing global economy and continuously changing international trade laws and technology exchange rate plays a pivotal role in the production, price formation, export and import of agricultural products. For many years exchange rate as an integral part of agricultural economics has been ignored. The present study was intended to investigate exchange rate as an impacting factor on the agricultural production. It also considers the researches that have been carried about the impact of the exchange rate on prices and export of agricultural products, theirs analyses and how much impact it has in the situation of Uzbekistan.

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