Assessing the Effects of Access to Safe Drinking Water on Children’s Nutritional Status in Indonesia

This study analyzed the effects of access to safe drinking water on the nutritional status of children under the age of 59 months in urban and rural areas in Indonesia using the Indonesian Family Life Survey 5. Both piped water and packaged water were considered safe to drink. The descriptive statistics show that children in rural areas typically had insufficient access to safe drinking water and children who consumed safe drinking water had higher short- and long-term nutrition levels. To mitigate selection bias due to the non-random distribution of access to safe drinking water, a matching estimation was used to quantitatively determine the effects of access to safe drinking water on child nutrition. The provision of safe drinking water improved the short- and long-term nutritional status of children in rural areas but had no significant effect to that of children in urban areas. A simulation of this effect on child nutrition shows that in rural areas, improved access to safe drinking water decreases the stunting ratio by 13 percentage points and the wasting ratio by 6.1 percentage points. Additionally, both household income levels and community drinking water prices are important determinants of access to safe drinking water. Therefore, access to safe drinking water is necessary to improve the nutritional status of children in rural Indonesia, and community characteristics contribute to access.

Agricultural Biodiversity and Coastal Food Systems: A Socio-ecological and Trans-ecosystem Case Study in Aurora Province, Philippines

This paper presents a ridge-to-reef case study on Philippine biodiversity conservation that focused on reducing agricultural chemicals as a contribution to development goals of optimized food security, improving water quality, and mitigating maternal malnutrition. Building upon an earlier study that engaged participants and jurisdictions, farmers were oriented on biodiversity considerations and engaged in ecologically-based rodent management that was extended across the province of Aurora through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist. Subsequently, a Participatory Action Research and Learning (PARL) cycle was conducted among 14 farmer participants to support biodiversity-friendly agriculture. Developed with local farmers, a biodiversity assessment demonstrated that organic approaches in rice farms increased arthropod biodiversity and reduced the number of key insect pests. The organizational results from this biodiversity study further indicated that local government participation can promote positive change by helping overcome the disconnect between communities and sustainability research. The approach to biodiversity-friendly agriculture reached a milestone through the collaborative development of an agricultural protected area supported by drafting a municipal ordinance to encourage the continued expansion of biodiversity-friendly agriculture and reductions in the chemical load of a key Aurora watershed. This paper discusses the biodiversity analysis and organizational results within the context of trans-ecosystem knowledge management and the goal of improving chronic maternal malnutrition that has been identified in coastal settlements of Aurora.

Outcomes and Social Effects of a Community-Based Development Project on Selected Rice-Based Farmers in the Philippines

This research investigated the outcomes and social effects of a community-based development project in the form of a rice-based community intervention. Conducted in Regions 1, 6, and 10 in the Philippines, it employed mixed methods to gather quantitative and qualitative data concurrently from 86 randomly sampled farmer-cooperators and 20 purposively sampled key informants who were project implementers and facilitators. The project improved the farmer-cooperators’ human capital and social capital. They had high to very high knowledge of the component technologies of the PalayCheck System, as well as corn, mushroom, and vegetable production, after the project was implemented. PalayCheck is a rice integrated crop management system that presents the key technologies and management practices as Key Checks, which farmers need to learn, check, and share. The t-test showed a highly significant increase in almost all of the production technologies except for duck raising and bitter gourd production, which were only mildly significant. There were also significant increases in their groups and networks, trust and solidarity, collective action and cooperation, and social cohesion and inclusion after the project. Moreover, there was a highly significant increase in the farmer-cooperators’ social capital. However, the number of conflicts or disputes among the farmer-cooperators and the members of the farmer association was only mildly significant. The project also provided economic benefits to the farmer-cooperators, such as an increase in yields and incomes, through their continued adoption of the production technologies taught during training. The results further show that the increase in yields was sustained except in certain years when some of the farmer-cooperators experienced low yields due to pest problems, drought, typhoons, and other calamities. Overall, the paired sample t-test revealed a highly significant increase in mean yields in Year 1 to Year 5 after the project than before the project in the three regions. Participation and empowerment outcomes were also observed, such as greater access to information, resources, support services, and training and employment opportunities as well as improved participation in project-related decision-making and community activities.

Rural Adaptation to Climate Change: New Findings and Existing Knowledge

This paper discusses the results of new research at the farm level regarding farmers’ responses to climate change. These results are placed in the context of existing literature. The topics include the benefits of adaptation, the forms of adaptation, and the drivers of adaptation such as land tenure, water allocation systems, the operation of labor markets, and the extent of social capital. Moreover, this paper examines farmers’ responses to market signals as they consider adaptation options and the connections of these options with infrastructure quality. It also reviews policy options that support adaptation.

Information Acquisition and Conservation Farming Practices for Sustainable Agriculture in Rural Vietnam

Soil fertility conservation has become an increasing concern in Vietnamese agriculture owing to excessive use of agrochemicals. The use of organic fertilizers is considered an environment-friendly practice for sustainable agriculture. Although environmental awareness has emerged and production technologies of organic fertilizers have been introduced in recent years, their adoption remains limited among farming households. This study focuses on the causal effects of information acquisition on the use of organic fertilizers from agricultural extension services and from peers of farming households. The estimation results show that land size, land tenure, educational level, family labor endowment, and household wealth are significantly associated with the likelihood of using organic fertilizers. Information acquisition through both information sources positively affects the use of organic fertilizers. However, information acquisition from agricultural extension services has a greater marginal impact than that from peers. Despite its lower influence, information acquisition from peers plays a supplemental role in incentivizing farming households to use organic fertilizers as an environmentfriendly agricultural practice among rural communities in Vietnam.

Productivity and Competitiveness of Garlic Production in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

A total of 124 garlic farmers were selected and interviewed to evaluate the productivity and competitiveness of garlic farming in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. The Technical efficiency (TE) was estimated using a stochastic frontier analysis or SFA based on the Cobb-Douglas production functional form, while the competitiveness of local garlic production was determined based on the ratio between import parity price and domestic resource cost ratio. The mean TE was 81 percent while the estimated gamma value was 0.92. These values indicate that 92 percent of the variation in garlic output is due to inefficiency factors and that total garlic output can further be increased with efficient use of resources. The analysis further revealed that seed rate and insecticides were statistically significant production factors. The results also show that group membership, farm size, and distance to the farm-to-market road (FMR) were statistically significant. Inefficiency factors and distance to the FMR have positive relationships while group membership and farm size have negative relationships with the garlic output. Price and cost ratios show that garlic from Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte could not yet compete with imported garlic from China in 2018. However, simulations show that if the Philippines can increase its national average by at least 20 percent (4.08 mt/ ha), it can have a competitive advantage in garlic production. The results of the analyses highlight the need to revisit the output and input policies and programs of the government to increase the productivity and competitiveness of garlic farming in Ilocos Norte. These programs include investing in quality seed, joining farmers’ organizations, and providing better farming infrastructure.

Assessing the Performance of Climate Smart Rice Production Systems in the Upper Part of the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) has gained considerable attention in Vietnam due to its potential to increase food security and farming system resilience while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. In recent years, several CSA practices have been introduced in rice production, the most important sub-sector of Vietnam’s agriculture. However, few studies have been done in Vietnam to produce comprehensive assessments of CSA performance in the rice sector. This research proposes a comprehensive approach to assess CSA practices through a new set of evaluation indicators. A case study in An Giang province of the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta was implemented to evaluate the performance of five CSA models versus that of the triple rice crop system (i.e., benchmarking model). Results show that rice-shrimp and rice-lotus rotations are most profitable, low-risk, and applicable at a larger scale. Given that the current study analyzed and calculated only a small number of indicators and types of CSA practices, further research is necessary to test all indicators and diversified types of CSA models.

Exploring the ICT Preferences of Personnel from Agricultural Extension Organizations in the Northeastern Region of India

Although the public extension system in India is known to be one of the largest in the world, it still lacks coordinated effort in managing the links between research, extension, and farmers, resulting in non-uniform distribution of agricultural knowledge and technology. A vast majority of the population earning their livelihood through agriculture remain small and marginal farmers. Lack of computerized networks in agricultural extension departments, inadequate skilled manpower for disseminating agricultural information, and increasingly diverse needs of farmers across the Indian sub-continent pose hurdles in effective information transfer to the farming community. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) tools exerts a positive impact on agriculture worldwide by aiding speedy and effective dissemination of agricultural information. An increased awareness of modern ICT tools and their usage will contribute substantially to strengthening the extension network and expand its scope. This study explored the ICT preferences of personnel from agricultural extension organizations employed in public extension organizations in the north-eastern region of India. It found that electronic media is ranked below the conventional extension contact modes of print media and personalized contact regarding its use for disseminating agricultural information by the extension personnel. Demographic characteristics of the personnel from agricultural extension organizations such as sex, age, education, specialization, designation, and work experience were significantly associated with the pattern of ICT use specifically experience with ICT, frequency of use, training, and voluntary use.