scholarly journals The Impact of Internet Use on Income: The Case of Rural Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Siaw ◽  
Yuansheng Jiang ◽  
Martinson Ankrah Twumasi ◽  
Wonder Agbenyo

This study analyzed the effects of internet use on farm income and household income using survey data from 478 rural farmers from two regions in Ghana. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model and probit models were employed to achieve the aims of the study. The results revealed that internet use was influenced by off-farm employment, education, access to credit, non-fixed asset (NFA), age, and perception variables. We found that internet use increased farm income and household income by 20.1% and 15.47%, respectively. Regarding heterogeneous impacts, the estimates showed that internet use reduced farm income by 18.12% for farm households that participated in off-farm activities but increased farm income by 14.66% for households that had access to NFA. The estimates also indicated that internet use increased household income by 31.77% for farm households that engaged in off-farm employment and by 15.33% for those that had access to NFA. Furthermore, internet use increased the household income for households that did not engage in off-farm activities by 24.85%. The findings of this study will contribute significantly to the existing literature on information communication technology (ICT) in developing countries by providing a new reference for improving rural development and solving the problem of poverty.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1059
Author(s):  
Martinson Ankrah Twumasi ◽  
Yuansheng Jiang ◽  
Bismark Addai ◽  
Zhao Ding ◽  
Abbas Ali Chandio ◽  
...  

The emergence of agricultural cooperatives is extensively viewed as a necessary institutional arrangement that can help farmers in developing countries overcome the constraints that impede them from improving sustainable agricultural production and acquiring new marketing opportunities. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of cooperative membership and its impact on fish farm household income, using data collected from two regions in Ghana. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model is utilized to address the potential sample selection bias issue. The results show that household heads’ decisions to join cooperatives are affected by their access to credit, off-farm work, education level, and peer influence. Cooperative membership can increase both household and farm income by 28.54% and 34.75%, respectively. Moreover, we show that different groups of households’ cooperative impacts on farm and household income are heterogeneous. Our findings highlight the importance of cooperative patronization and provide implications that can improve households’ welfare.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditya R. Khanal ◽  
Ashok K. Mishra

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of internet usage on financial performance of small farm business households in the USA. In particular, the authors want to assess the impact of internet usage on small farm businesses, where the owner’s main occupation is farming. Using a nationwide farm-level data in the USA and a non-parametric matching estimator, the study finds a significant positive impact of internet usage on gross cash income, total household income, off-farm income. The study further suggests that small farm businesses receive benefits from internet usage as it facilitates reduction in income risk through off-farm income sources, as well as a reduction in marketing and storage costs; households’ non-farm transportation and vehicle leasing expenses. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors use the “nearest neighbors” matching method in treatment evaluation, developed by Abadie and Imbens (2002). In this method, a weighting index is applied to all observations and “nearest neighbors” are identified (Abadie et al., 2004). Although matching estimation through the nearest neighbor method does not require probit or logit model estimation per se, the authors have estimated a probit model because it allows the authors to check the balancing property and to analyze the association of included variables with the likelihood of internet use. Findings The study suggests that small farm business households using the internet are better off in terms of total household income and off-farm income. As compared to the control group (which is counterfactual, representation of small farm businesses not using the internet), small farm businesses using the internet earn about $24,000-$26,000 more in total household income and about $27,000-$28,000 more in off-farm income. Also, small farm businesses using the internet earn about $4,100-$4,900 more in gross cash farm income compared to their counterpart. The estimate of ATT for NFI is not different from zero. However, gross cash farm revenue increased significantly. Practical implications To this end internet can provide an important role in information gathering. Internet is one of the convenient means to access and exchange information. Information and communication facilitation through internet have opened up new areas of commerce, social networking, information gathering, and recreational activities beyond a geographical bound. Producers and consumers can take advantages of internet in both collaborative and competitive aspects in economic activities as it can reduce the information asymmetries among economic agents. Social implications Farmers will seek assistance in interpreting data and applying information to their farming operations, via the internet. Therefore, it is essential that land grant universities continue to improve the delivery of electronic extension and provide information in a clear and concise manner. Originality/value Studies in farm households have mainly investigated factors influencing internet adoption, purchasing patterns through internet, internet use, and applications. In most cases, impact analyses of communication and information technologies such as internet in agricultural businesses are discussed with references to large scale farm businesses. Thus, the authors know very little about access to the internet when it comes to small farm businesses and small farm households and about how it impacts well-being of small farm households.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
AWUDU ABDULAI ◽  
CLAUDIA R. BINDER

This study uses an endogenous switching-regression model to examine the impact of slash-and-burn cultivation practice on the application of commercial fertilizer and pesticides, as well as yields and net returns. The empirical evidence of the study indicates that cross-section analysis of the impact of technology adoption on input demand and output supply should take into consideration sample selection, and also examine the impact separately for adopters and non-adopters. The results show that education, access to credit, land rights, and visits by extension agents reduce the probability of farmers adopting slash-and-burn farm practices. Environmental variables, such as soil quality and plot slope, do not impact on the adoption decision, but affect output supply of both adopters and non-adopters of slash-and-burn technology.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Umi Barokah ◽  
Suprapti Supardi ◽  
Sugiharti Mulya Handayani

<p>This study aims to (1) analyzing the amount of land conversion and the factors that affect, (2) identify and analyze changes in household income structure of farm households, (3) analyze the impact of conversion on agricultural land to the income distribution, employment and welfare of farm households. The basic method on this study is a descriptive analytic. Determination of the districts location is based on (1) the number of people who worked as farmers themselves, (2) the amount and type of existing industries and (3) ease of reaching the central interconnected economy. Sub-district is elected Jumantono and Jaten. Type of data used include (1) primary data is the results of interviews with farm households, (2) secondary data from relevant instances. The results showed (1) during the 12 years there is a change 0,120 ha of wet rice field function per household farmer and owned land is the only factor affecting the conversion of agricultural land; (2) The proportion of farm income reduced by 8.30% from 42% to 33.7% and the proportion of outside farm income increased 10.30% from 54% to 64.30%), (3) the results of t test analysis with α = 5 % shows the employment and household income of farmers before the conversion is not the same as after the conversion of agricultural land (revenue increased to Rp 1.482 million per year). </p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 782-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh Chau Tran ◽  
Christopher E.C. Gan ◽  
Baiding Hu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify factors affecting formal credit constraint status of rural farm households in Vietnam’s North Central Coast (NCC) region. Design/methodology/approach – Using the direct elicitation method (DEM), the authors consider both internal and external credit rationing. Findings – Empirical evidences confirm the importance of household head’s age, gender and education to household’s likelihood of being credit constrained. In addition, households who have advantages in farm land size, labour resources and non-farm income are less likely to be credit constrained. Poor households are observed to remain restricted by formal credit institutions. Results from the endogenous switching regression model suggest that credit constraints negatively impact household’s consumption per capita and informal credit can act as a substitute to mitigate the negative influence of formal credit constraints. Research limitations/implications – One limitation arises from the usage of the DEM to identify credit constrained households. The method cannot detect effective and ineffective constraints. Another limitation is the inability of cross-section data to capture long-term impacts of credit constraints on household welfare. Finally, causes of credit constraints from the lender’s view cannot be observed. Practical implications – The results suggest that it is necessary to enhance the credit allocation regime to reduce the transaction cost and provide target households with sufficient credit. It should be emphasized that high transaction cost and the mismatch between credit demand and supply stemming from information asymmetry. The government can help formal financial institutions to reduce information cost by encouraging the active role of social organizations such as Women Unions, Youth Unions and Veteran Unions in bridging rural farm households with formal lenders. Originality/value – There are limited studies focusing on determinants of credit constraints and their impacts on rural farm households. To the best of the knowledge, there is no study evaluating the impact of credit constraints on rural farm household welfare particularly in Vietnam. In addition, the studies related to credit constraints only considered full quantity rationing (households applied for the loan but were rejected), omitting the case of partly quantity rationing (loan obtained by the borrowers is less than their demand) and self-rationing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Olga Melinda Matufany ◽  
Istiqomah Istiqomah ◽  
Nunik Kadarwati ◽  
Sodik Dwi Purnomo

Infrastructure development is needed to encourage economic growth. However, infrastructure development requires land acquisition, which may adversely impact the community. This study aims to analyze the impact of Kertajati International Airport construction on the farm households’ income and welfare level. This research data used primary data with a simple random sampling method to select 76 farm households in the most affected village. The analysis techniques were income analysis and paired sample t-test. The results showed that farm income was significantly higher before the airport construction. Nevertheless, off-farm income increased after the airport construction, leading to an insignificant household income difference before and after the land acquisition. As for the prosperity level, on average, the farm households lived below the decent living standard. The results imply the importance of increasing farmers’ capacity so that that compensation funds can be utilized to increase household income.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muluken G. Wordofa ◽  
Jemal Y. Hassen ◽  
Getachew S. Endris ◽  
Chanyalew S. Aweke ◽  
Dereje K. Moges ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Adoption of improved agricultural technologies remains to be a promising strategy to achieve food security and poverty reduction in many developing countries. However, there are limited rigorous impact evaluations on the contributions of such technologies on household welfare. This paper investigates the impact of improved agricultural technology use on farm household income in eastern Ethiopia. Methods Primary data for the study was obtained from a random sample of 248 rural households, 119 of which are improved technology users and the rest are non-users. The research employed the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) procedure to establish the causal relationship between adoption of improved crop and livestock technologies and changes in farm income. Results Results from the econometric analysis show that households using improved agricultural technologies had, on average, 23,031.28 Birr (Birr is the official currency of Ethiopia. The exchange rate according to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) was 1 USD = 27.6017 Birr on 04 October 2018.) higher annual farm income compared to those households not using such technologies. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting multiple and complementary agricultural technologies among rural smallholders. Conclusions We suggest that rural technology generation, dissemination and adoption interventions be strengthened. Moreover, the linkage among research, extension, universities and farmers needs to be enhanced through facilitating a multistakeholders innovation platforms.


2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 642-663
Author(s):  
Nigel Key

AbstractMany farmers face borrowing limits that depend on their household income and net worth. Given such credit constraints, an increase in off-farm income should allow farmers to borrow more, thus influencing production decisions and productivity. To test this hypothesis, the education level of the farm operator’s spouse is used to identify exogenous variation in off-farm income. Findings indicate that higher off-farm income leads to more borrowing, capital expenditures, capital input intensity, farm labor use, output, farm income, and productivity. Results suggest that Federal programs that promote access to credit for limited-resource farmers may increase farm investment and productivity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-229
Author(s):  
Bernardin Senadza ◽  
Edward Nketiah-Amponsah ◽  
Samuel Ampaw

Abstract This paper examines the impact of participation in both farm and nonfarm activities on both household consumption expenditure per adult equivalent and household per capita income, in rural Ghana. The objective is to ascertain whether the results are sensitive to the choice of well-being measure. We use a nationally representative dataset on 8,059 rural farm households collected in 2012/13. In order to account for potential selectivity and endogeneity biases, which previous studies failed to correct for, we adopt the endogenous switching regression (ESR) estimation technique. We find diversified households to be systematically different from their undiversified counterparts in terms of socioeconomic and demographic centeracteristics, thus justifying the empirical method used. Our results indicate a higher observed mean consumption for the diversified sub-sample compared to its counterfactual, implying that households participating in nonfarm enterprise activities in addition to farming have greater mean consumption compared to households engaged solely in farming. Similar conclusions are reached when income instead is used as the well-being indicator. Our findings, thus, indicate that the well-being implication of farm-nonfarm diversification is insensitive to the choice of well-being measure.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Fawaz A. Adéchinan Aminou

This study examines how small maize farmers allocate their production inputs and identifies the elements that characterize efficient farms. A Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier approach is used to estimate farm level technical efficiency of maize farmers. Average technical efficiency of sampled farms was estimated to be 65.40% with a minimum of 20.47% and a maximum of 93.46%. The study further showed that the farmers’ sex, the use of improved seeds, the maize selling price, the non-farm income, the contact with an NGO, the access to credit and the production area played a positive and significant role in improving technical efficiency. The results imply that government can save resources used in extension services and focus on its improved seed distribution policy. Also, imperfections in the labor/capital market contribute to the low efficiency of farm households.


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