Participation in “Planting for Food and Jobs” Programme and Commercialization among Maize Farm Households in Savelugu Municipality, Ghana

Ghana’s “Planting for Food and Job” programme aims to improve farmers’ access to farm inputs. The idea is that through improved access to quality seed varieties, fertilisers and good agronomic practices, output would increase leading to an increased market surplus. This study sought to investigate whether engagement in ‘Planting for Food and Job’ (PFJ ) programme influences farm households’ maize commercialization level in Savelugu Municipality, in the Northern Region of Ghana. To correct for selectivity bias, unobserved endogeneity and avoid the problems associated with weak instrumentation, the conditional mixed process (CMP) method was used. The results revealed that participation in the PFJ programme and maize yield positively influenced maize commercialization. However, commercialisation was negatively influenced by gender of the farm household's head, household size and membership of community based organisations (CBOs). Participation in the PFJ programme itself was enhanced by education, marital status, increased farm size, farm ownership, membership of farmer-based organization (FBOs) and non-farm engagement. Government and all relevant stakeholders should step up efforts at promoting the PFJ programme and maize commercialisation through access to formal education, farmland and other productivity enhancing inputs and services.

Families at war.

This chapter discusses each of the farmers approaches to certain types of conflict. Tom was interested in exploring farm ownership systems and comparing them for their benefits and drawbacks. Gareth is interested, as should every farmer be, in organizing a succession system for his farm and family. One problem is the difficulty of getting agreement among all members of a family. Phil also suggests that any succession plan should have built in flexibility as no one, including the most experienced commentator, can foretell the future and people's changing wants and requirements.

Socio-Demography, Pesticides Use, and Health Status of Rice Farmers in Region XII, Mindanao, Philippines

The socio-demographic characteristics, pesticides use and health status of 300 rice farmers from Region 12 in the Philippines in 2015 were assessed. Likewise, the influence of the socio-demographic characteristics on the farmers’ pesticides use and health status was determined. This was done to describe the current well-being of farmers as basis for recommending strategies to improve their farming practices and health condition. Farmers were middle adults (60.6%), married (83.7%), had secondary education (50.7%), with household size of 1-4 members (62.7%), mostly non-owners (63.3%) of less than 3 hectares of land (91.7%), with total annual income of less than P101,000.00 (69.3%), nearly one third had more than 11 years farming and pesticides application experience and had availed at least one training on rice production for the last five years. Nearly 75% had health insurance. The socio-demographic characteristics did not influence significantly the pesticides use as to frequency and quantity of application and health status of the farmers. Age, however, is found a significant predictor of pesticides use as to frequency of application while civil status and farm ownership are the significant predictors of gaining normal health status as to Body Mass Index (BMI). Based on the findings, farmers still need more trainings on proper pesticides use and other farm technology options to keep their health protected and earn better profits from farming.

Diet Quality and Urbanization in Mozambique

Robust income growth combined with the highest urban population growth in the world is driving rapid changes in the food system of sub-Saharan Africa. Demand is increasing for higher quality as well as more processed foods. Countries are increasingly experiencing a double burden of over and under nutrition as the overweight and obesity epidemic spreads. In this context, we seek to understand the key drivers and likely evolution of diet quality in Mozambique, in both its positive and negative dimensions, while specifically examining the role of farm ownership among increasingly urban populations. We use national household expenditure survey data and a set of ordinary least square and analysis of variance regressions to observe patterns of current diet quality across city size categories, household income, household education, and other demographic variables. We then anticipate the likely directions of change in diet quality over these same dimensions based on expected income growth and expenditure elasticities developed for several alternative nutrients. We find that growing incomes and the consumption of processed foods are associated with a worsening of negative factors in the diet. Furthermore, urbanization, controlling for income, is associated more strongly with a worsening of negative factors than with an improvement in positive factors in the diet. The effect on diet quality of farm ownership, however, is positive and significant, primarily driven by these households purchasing fewer unhealthy foods. African cities need to consider what mix of policies will counteract the negative effects of continued urbanization and rising incomes on diets.

Agricultural and Fisheries Policy

This chapter analyses select national policy fields, demonstrating increased market liberalism in the Danish agricultural sector and in the fisheries sector. Policies aimed at reducing nitrogen leaching from farmland are shifting from reliance on universal measures to more emphasis on site-specific regulation. An important aim of this more differentiated approach is to reduce compliance costs for farmers. The family farm has traditionally been the bedrock of the Danish farm sector. To maintain its viability, restrictions on farm ownership were in place for decades. Most of these have now been dismantled and opened for new ownership models and injection of capital. Danish organic farming and food policy is distinct as it is actively pursuing a market-driven development by facilitating farm conversion, and importantly, supporting various types of initiatives aimed at increasing the demand for organic food. Danish fisheries policy has evolved into a property rights-based and market-based management system for fisheries. The drivers for introducing more market liberalism have been to maintain the international competitiveness of the two industries, and in the farm sector, a realization that incomes must increasingly be derived from the market in the future.

Factors Affecting Respondents’ Participation in Farmers Field Schools in Khartoum State, Sudan

This study was conducted to determine the socioeconomic factors influencing farmer participation in the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) program in Bahari Locality of Kharoum State, Sudan. Eighty farmers were selected randomly and interviewed for this study where Frequency distribution and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. The study findings indicate that more than 95.0% of respondents were economically active, 88.7% had formal education, 83.0% managed their own farm and 86.3% were currently married. Multiple regressions revealed that the level of participation in FFS was significantly associated with education, farm ownership, farm size, and the period of residency. In addition, the data showed that the level of application of received agricultural innovations was significantly associated with education level, farm ownership, farm size, and total income. The study recommended some interventions to improve and develop the practices and approach of the FFS approach.

Impact of Agricultural Education on Students’ Career Choice: A Survey

Agriculture has become the bedrock of some growing economy in the world but the discovery of crude oil and other resources in a developing country like Nigeria has led to the extreme decline in the practice. Many youths now have either low or no interested in agriculture and the majority of the people that are actively practicing are the older generation. This study revisits the impact of education on students interest in agriculture as a professional career. The study was carried out in an agriculture-based uni-versity with a state of the art equipment. Our findings show that 64% of agricul-ture students who participated in this survey are willing to pursue agriculture-related careers. Likewise, there is a significant relationship between the student’s gender and farm ownership, with 84% of male students likelier to own farms. Also, our results have shown that students in higher levels have more interests in agriculture compared to students at lower levels and this invariably increases the possibilities of their pursuing agriculture-related careers or businesses.

The Engagement of Beneficiaries in Farm Governance of Restituted Land through the Communal Property Association Model: The Ideal Versus the Reality of Beneficiary Farms in South Africa

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the engagement of farm beneficiaries in South Africa in the governance of restituted farms through communal property associations. The South African government has already spent millions of rands on land restitution to correct the imbalance of the past with regard to farm ownership by the African communities. Various methods of farm management to benefit the African society have been proposed, however, with little recorded success. This article argues that the South African post-apartheid government was so overwhelmed by political victory in 1994 that they introduced ambitious land reform policies that were based on ideal thinking rather than on a pragmatic approach to the South African situation. We used qualitative research methods to argue that the engagement of farm beneficiaries in farm management and governance through communal property associations is failing dismally. We conclude that a revisit of the communal property associations model is required in order to strengthen the position of beneficiaries and promote access to land by African communities for future benefit.

Changes in Farmland Ownership in Oregon, USA

The ownership of agricultural land has important implications for food systems, the environment, farmer livelihoods, and rural economies, communities, and landscapes. This article examines the changing ownership of agricultural lands in the United States, specifically focusing on Oregon, a state with a history of family farm ownership. I first review historical and recent trends in farmland ownership, including private enclosure, consolidation, investor purchase, development, and rising farmland prices. Next, I examine the county records for all Oregon farm properties that sold between 2010 and 2015. I provide summary statistics about the volume and pace of transactions, price per acre, and the type of owner. I also offer brief cases on top purchasers, attempting to understand their intentions with the farm properties. The findings demonstrate a rapid turnover in Oregon farmland and high prices, though that varies across the state. Agricultural corporations, investment companies, and real estate and development interests are buying large amounts of farmland. I conclude by offering reflections on the implications of the changing ownership and direction for further research.

WOMEN IN FRONTIER ARKANSAS

Arkansas was a demographic frontier after the U.S. Civil War. Despite marked agricultural land deforestation and development after the 1870s, it remained agrarian well into the twentieth century. We fuse life course and racial state frameworks to examine Black and White women’s settlement in Arkansas over the post-Civil War period (1880-1910). A racial state empowers residents and enacts policies based on race rather than equal citizenship rights. We highlight three institutional domains shaped by racial state policies: productive economies (subsistence, mixed commercialism, and plantation production); stratification on an agricultural ladder (from sharecropping to forms of tenancy to farm ownership); and rules of raced (and gendered) social control. We examine women’s settlement patterns and related outcomes in an institutional context at different life course stages using mixed methods: women’s oral histories and Census data analysis. We find that by 1880 White women and families, less attracted by forces of marketization, had largely migrated to subsistence and mixed commercial subregions. Black women and families, generally desiring to rise on the agricultural ladder to farm ownership, largely migrated to the rich lands found in plantation production counties. Black women in Arkansas could rise but, by 1910, new racial state (Jim Crow) policies more severely limited travel, material resources, and education for tenant farm families, predominantly Black, in the plantation subregion. Commensurate with this, Black women in the plantation subregion had experienced less status mobility on the agricultural ladder, with reduced living standards, by later life.