scholarly journals Impact of agriculture finance in modern technologies adoption for enhanced productivity and rural household economic wellbeing in Ghana: A case study of rice farmers in Shai-Osudoku District.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evans Sackey Teye ◽  
Philip Tetteh Quarshie

Rural and agricultural finance innovations have significant potential to improve the livelihoods and food security of the poor. Although microfinance has been widely studied, an extensive knowledge gap still exists on the nuts and bolts of expanding access to rural and agricultural finance. This study uses focus group discussion, key informant interview, and quantitative household survey to explore how smallholders access credits and loans influence adoption of modern production technologies and what are perceived limitations to access these financial instruments in the Shia-Osuduku District in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The specific objectives of the study are; (1) to assess the challenges rice farmers face in accessing finance, (2) to determine if access to finance impacts the adoption of modern rice production technologies and (3) to determine whether loan investments in improved technologies increase productivity and income levels of farmers. The study noted that issues of mistrust for smallholder farmers by financial institutions act as barriers to facilitating their access to loans and credits. Banks and financial institutions relay their mistrust through actions such as requesting outrageous collateral, guarantors, a high sum of savings capital, and a high interest rate for agriculture loans, delays, and bureaucratic processes in accessing loans. The study suggested that enabling policy environment and frameworks with a supportive rural infrastructure such as warehouse receipt systems can significantly increase farmers' access to credit instruments for investment in modern technologies to increase agricultural productivity, which is essential to address food insecurities and rural poverty issues in Ghana.

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-38
Author(s):  
Kidane Tesfay Gebreegziabher ◽  
Gidey Kidu Mezgebo

This study assessed farmers’ willingness to pay for privatization of agricultural extension services and examined factors that determine willingness to pay for those services. Multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 240 households. Data were collected using household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interview tools. Data were analyzed using percentage and logit model. Results showed that 58% of the respondents were willing to pay for the privatization of agricultural extension services. Farm size, age, family size, credit access, frequency of extension contact and income were significantly influenced farmers’ willingness to pay for privatization of agricultural extension services. Privatization of agricultural extension services encourages graduates of agricultural sciences to launch consultancy firms and this engenders professional entrepreneurship. Number of visits, socioeconomic, and institutional factors must be given emphasis for privatizing the agricultural extension service in Ethiopia. Moreover, government should launch privatization parallel to the public agricultural extension services Keywords: Agricultural extension service, willingness, privatization. Ethiopia


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 528
Author(s):  
Frank Mmbando ◽  
Emmanuel Mbeyagala ◽  
Papias Binagwa ◽  
Rael Karimi ◽  
Hellen Opie ◽  
...  

This study analyzes the factors that influence the probability and extent of the adoption of mungbean production technologies in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, using multivariate probit and Poisson regression models. The results show that the probability and extent of the adoption of mungbean production technologies are influenced by gender of the household, household size, farm size, livestock size, household assets, access to extension services and access to credit. The study suggests that policy interventions that aimed at targeting women farmers, increasing household asset and information dissemination, such as field demonstrations and training programs, are crucial in enhancing technology adoption among smallholder farmers.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 198
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bochicchio ◽  
Gaetano Lamberti ◽  
Anna Angela Barba

Some issues in pharmaceutical therapies such as instability, poor membrane permeability, and bioavailability of drugs can be solved by the design of suitable delivery systems based on the combination of two pillar classes of ingredients: polymers and lipids. At the same time, modern technologies are required to overcome production limitations (low productivity, high energy consumption, expensive setup, long process times) to pass at the industrial level. In this paper, a summary of applications of polymeric and lipid materials combined as nanostructures (hybrid nanocarriers) is reported. Then, recent techniques adopted in the production of hybrid nanoparticles are discussed, highlighting limitations still present that hold back the industrial implementation.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Karubanga ◽  
Paul Kibwika ◽  
Florent Okry ◽  
Haroon Sseguya

Videos have the potential of enhancing learning among smallholder farmers. The study intended to establish whether timing and location of video shows influence learning among rice farmers in Kamwenge district, Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewing 48 focus group participants; 100 individual video participants and 16 key informants. Geographical Positioning System (GPS) mapping was used to establish the video catchment areas and distribution of video participants. Farmers approved the video for providing timely, useful and reliable information and bringing extension service providers closer to the farming communities. Majority (94%) of the farmers said that video provided useful information that fostered change in rice production practices and technologies. A one sample T-test indicated that the timing and location of video events are significant in influencing learning among farmers particularly by women, elderly and distant farmers. The implication is that locating video shows far away and running them late at night seriously compromised involvement by females, elderly and distant people. Thus, modalities suggested by farmers need to focus on adjusting the timing of video shows and ensuring rotational operational of videos in the respective villages or parishes purposely to reach out to the elderly, distant and women farmers.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 6 (2): 77-81, December, 2016


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Mehretie Belay

Soil damage by moving water is a somber predicament on farmlands in highland Ethiopia. Sizeable number of trial in farmland preservation has been executed to handle the crisis during the last tens of years. However, the attempts have not been vibrant to trim-down the danger to an attractive extent. This paper evaluates factors contributing to application of soil-steps (bunds) as sustainable farmland management technology (SFLMT) by smallholder farmers in one of the high-potential districts of northwest Ethiopia named Dangila Woreda (District). Mixed method triangulation designs involving concurrent acquisition and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data were used in the study. Data were acquired from randomly chosen 201 farming households during the harvest seasons of 2011 and 2012. Ordered questionnaire, participatory field observation, key informant interview and focus group discussion were mechanisms employed during the data acquisition. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations and percentiles), Chi-square test, t-test and the binary logistic regression model were used to analyze the quantitative data. The qualitative information was textually narrated to augment the quantitative results. Findings of the investigation confirm that age of the household head, the number of household members, slope of the farmland, the size of the farmland held, households’ participation in indigenous labour-sharing activities and the number of farm tools owned were significantly increasing the building of soil-steps as SFLMT in the study district. Involvement in off-farm activities and pest invasions were considerably hindering farmers from building soil-steps on their farmlands. The results in general indicated that households’ access to livelihood assets are key promoters for farmers’ implementation of soil-steps on their farmlands. Local resource preservation and improvement trials should thus ponder on convalescing farmers’ material endowments to improve their capability to use soil-steps as SFLMT in their farming activities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Nampanya ◽  
S. Khounsy ◽  
J. R. Young ◽  
V. Napasirth ◽  
R. D. Bush ◽  
...  

Indigenous yellow cattle (Bos indicus) and Asiatic swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) are important livestock species in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos). Data from 2011 estimated there was a national herd of 1 586 200 cattle and 774 200 buffalo, with average numbers of 5.3 cattle and 3.4 buffalo per farm household, indicating that the majority of farm households with large ruminants were smallholders, retaining large ruminants as a storage of wealth, for sale as meat, and as a source of manure fertiliser. Increasing demand for red meat in both domestic and neighbouring markets, driven by rapidly growing economies and urbanisation, offers opportunities for Lao smallholders to gain more income from their livestock. However, improving cattle and buffalo production and a more sustainable supply of safe beef and buffalo meat, requires that numerous production, health and welfare constraints be addressed, including: prevalence of important infectious and parasitic diseases, nutritional deficits particularly in the dry season, undeveloped trading, meat processing and marketing systems, limited veterinary and extension service capacity, adverse impacts from climate change and cultural practices specific to buffalo husbandry, plus policy developments that recognise and adapt to changes in land use. Improvements in large ruminant health, processing and marketing are of particular importance as these will enable poor smallholder farmers to participate in emerging beef markets and expand other agricultural enterprises, improving rural livelihoods, with potential reductions in rural poverty and increased food security. This paper identifies the strategic interventions that may increase the supply of cattle and buffalo and improve rural livelihoods in Laos and the Greater Mekong Subregion.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 537-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justice A. Tambo ◽  
Tobias Wünscher

AbstractFarmers are innovators and experimenters and not just adopters of introduced technologies. The innovations developed by farmers could complement the highly promoted externally driven technologies in addressing the numerous challenges facing agriculture. The aim of this paper was to identify outstanding innovations developed by smallholder farmers in northern Ghana, and prioritize the high potential ones for further scientific validation or dissemination. Using an innovation contest that rewards farmers' creativity, we identified 29 promising innovations. Additionally, 19 innovations were scouted through a household survey. The innovations are largely extensive modifications of existing practices or combinations of different known practices in unique ways to save costs or to address crop and livestock production constraints. While some of the identified innovations can be recommended or disseminated to other farmers, most of them may require further validation or research. However, validating all of these innovations will be very expensive and time-consuming. We propose the multi-criteria decision-making analysis (MCDM) as a simple method to prioritize farmers' innovations. Using this method, we find that among the most promising innovations are those involving the control of weeds, pests and diseases using plant residues and extracts, and the treatment of livestock diseases using ethnoveterinary medicines. We briefly explain the six most highly ranked innovations. This case study from northern Ghana provides further proof that smallholder farmers develop diverse and spectacular innovations to address the myriad challenges they face, and these need to be recognized and promoted. We also conclude that contest and MCDM are useful methods that can be applied in unearthing and prioritizing farmer innovations, respectively.


2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
DB Pandit ◽  
ME Baksh ◽  
MA Sufian ◽  
M Harun-ur-Rashid ◽  
MM Islam

Impacts of participatory variety selection in wheat on agro-economic changes like adoption of new wheat varieties and production technologies, income and attitude change of the wheat farmers, etc. are presented in the paper. Participatory variety selection was conducted at 12 villages of four districts in Bangladesh. Base line information from the villages was collected through participatory rural appraisal and household survey in 2002. Data on agro-economic changes were collected through household survey in 2005. Impacts were assessed from the difference of the data of two surveys. The area of the check variety Kanchan came down from 97.8% (covered in 2002) to 57% in the working villages in 2005. Varietal diversity was increased remarkably and seven varieties were found to cultivate in 2004-05. The new varieties occupied 43% of the wheat areas. Seed preservation by farmers was increased remarkably and 208 tons seeds of new varieties were preserved by them in 2004-05. When 60% seeds of their total requirements were collected from Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation in 2002, then, 100% seeds were used from farmers’ own source in 2004-05. There were remarkable changes in production technology adoption, sources of agricultural knowledge, attitude and income changes. Farmers’ income was increased to Tk. 11148/ha due to cultivation of new varieties and use of recommended production technologies. Participatory variety selection approach in wheat was found very useful to increase wheat production in the working villages. Widespread use of this approach may be useful throughout the county in other crops also.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v32i3.462Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 32(3) : 335-347, September 2007


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Shree Kumar Maharjan ◽  
Keshav Lall Maharjan

A rapid increase in climate researches by applying diverse methodologies and approaches in recent decades. These researches have directly or indirectly contributed in better understanding of climate issues, risks and vulnerabilities. It has improved awareness and capacities of the public and communities to adapt to the vulnerabilities and impacts. It, further, contributes in formulation of climate policies and plans to address climate risks and vulnerabilities at the local and national levels. Appropriate methodologies lead to better results in the researches. This paper has applied systematic review of the published papers (2010 -2017) to understand the general and specific research methodologies in climate discourse especially in Web of Science (WS), Springer Link (SL) and Science Direct (SD). Altogether, 37 journal papers (10 WS, 13 SL and 14 SD) were selected for the detail analysis based on the assessment of abstracts, which was mainly concentrated on research methodologies specializing in agriculture. In the process, the authors have analyzed the contents, research methodologies, data analysis, and geographical coverages. The analysis, further, concentrated on the scope and limitations of the research methodologies used.  Wide-ranging research methodologies are found that are applied by the researchers in the climate change discourse. Some researchers have applied general research methodologies whereas others have used specific research methodologies and model analysis. Furthermore, it is comprehended that the combination of research methodologies and approaches through focus group discussion together with household survey and model analysis is the effective way for the research by using quantitative and qualitative data. 


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