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Agroecologically efficient agricultural systems for smallholder farmers: contributions to food sovereignty
The realization of the contribution of peasant agriculture to food security within the interior of eventualities of global climate change, economic and energy crisis, LED to the ideas of food sovereignty and agroecologically based mostly production systems to realize a lot of attention within the developing world in the last 20 years. New approaches and technologies involving application of integrated fashionable agricultural science and autochthonic information systems and spearheaded by thousands of farmers, NGOs, and a few government and educational establishments are proving to reinforce food security whereas preserving agrobiodiversity soil and water resources conservation throughout many rural communities within the developing world. Case studies from Cuba, Brazil, Philippines, and Africa are bestowed to demonstrate however the agroecological development paradigm supported the revival of tiny farms that emphasizes diversity, synergy, use and integration, and social processes that worth community participation and authorisation, proves to be maybe one amongst the sole viable choices to fulfill gift and future food wants. Given this and expected close to future climate, energy and economic eventualities, agroecology has emerged jointly of the foremost strong pathways towards coming up with biodiverse, productive, and resilient agroecosystems obtainable these days. [1]
Household-level determinants of adoption of improved natural resources management practices among smallholder farmers in western Kenya
Integrated natural resources management (INRM), of that integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) may be a element, offers right smart promise for increasing food production in African country. It however remains unclear whether or not ISFM/INRM techniques lend themselves simply to adoption by sodbuster farmers. mistreatment panel information collected in western African country in 1989 and 2002, this study finds that resource constraints limit several farmers’ adoption of ISFM/INRM techniques. the dimensions of the farm in hand by a family, the worth of its placental, off-farm financial gain, family labor offer, and also the academic attainment and gender of the family head all had a big positive impact on the chance of adoption. Similar factors were found to be statistically vital in discouraging abandonment of the practices below study. There so appear to exist reinforcing feedback between investments in soil fertility management and family wealth, as measured by quality endowments. Our findings raise vital queries on whether or not ISFM and connected techniques area unit very cheap to poorer sodbuster farmers. [2]
Factors affecting the technical efficiency among smallholder farmers in the slash and burn agriculture zone of Cameroon
This paper estimates technical potency among little holder farmers within the slash and burn agriculture zone of Cameroon and identifies sources of unskillfulness mistreatment elaborated survey knowledge obtained from 450 farmers over fifteen villages throughout 2001/2002 season. we discover that the mean levels of technical potency square measure seventy seven, seventy three and seventy fifth, severally, for groundnut monocrop, maize monocrop and maize–groundnut farming systems suggesting existence of considerable gains in output and/or decreases in value with obtainable technology and resources. The potency variations square measure explained considerably by credit, soil fertility, social capital, distance of the plot from the road and extension services. Policy recommendations square measure drawn from these findings. [3]
Joining smallholder farmers’ traditional knowledge with metric traits to select better varieties of Ethiopian wheat
Smallholder farming communities face extremely variable climate that threaten regionally custom-made, low-input agriculture. the advantages of recent crop breeding might fail to succeed in their fields once loosely custom-made genetic materials don’t address native necessities. To date, democratic strategies solely scraped the surface of the exploitability of farmers’ lore in breeding. during this study, thirty granger farmers in every of 2 locations in African country provided quantitative evaluations of timing, spike morphology, tillering capability and overall quality on four hundred wheat genotypes, largely ancient varieties, yielding altogether 192,000 information points. Metric measurements of 10 scientific discipline traits were at the same time collected, permitting to consistently break down farmers’ preferences on quantitative phenotypes. Results showed that the relative importance of wheat traits differed by gender and site. Farmer traits were multifariously contributed by metric traits, and will solely part be explained by them. Eventually, farmer attribute values were accustomed turn out a ranking of the four hundred wheat varieties characteristic the trait mixtures most desired by farmers. The study scale and strategies result in an improved understanding of the quantitative basis of Ethiopian granger farmer preference in wheat, broadening the discussion for the longer term of native, property breeding efforts accommodating farmers’ information. [4]
Assessing Smallholder Farmers’ Understanding of Environmental Effects of Modern Agronomic Practices in Ghana
Aims: This paper seeks to assess farmer farmers’ level of understanding of the atmosphere effects of contemporary agriculture.
Study Design: each second family or homestead was elect from the west to east direction mistreatment GPS. Thus, a scientific sampling technique was utilized to solicit the required info.
Place and length of Study: The study was conducted in August 2017 at Dzodze, the District Capital of Ketu North, and its encompassing villages in Gold Coast.
Methodology: a complete of ANd fifty} farmers were consistently elect and interviewed mistreatment an interview schedule guide. Farmers were asked to rank ten indicator variables on a Likert scale of one to five, with one being the smallest amount vital and five being very vital. to check for the extent of agreement and responsibleness among raters, Cronbach’s alpha (α = zero.85) was used. additionally, the Relative Importance Index (RII) was computed for the farmers’ ranks of environmental problems related to trendy agriculture. the best score for all the variables per farmer was sixty. This was reborn into AN index that ranges between zero and one. The index was utilized within the book regression model to econometrically estimate the consequences of the socioeconomic and biophysical attributes on farmers’ understanding of environmental problems that area unit related to trendy agriculture. The biochemist constant of Concordance was accustomed measure the extent of agreement for the farmers’ rankings of the indicator variables.
Results: The results indicated that individual concordance (W) values were vital at P < zero.001. The indicator variables were hierarchal from the first to the tenth positions by the farmers as follows: scale back Soil Fertility, Effects Human Health, Reduces Fish Catch, will increase Soil Toxicity, Contaminates Water, will increase Crop Diseases, Causes Soil Compaction, Increase Soil Salinity, Increase wearing away and will increase Insect Infestation; but, the results of the book model indicated that variables like Education, Electronic Media, Farm Size and knowledge were positive, whereas Age of Farm family Head and Labour Endowment were negative and considerably associated with smallholders’ understanding of the environmental effects of contemporary scientific discipline practices.
Conclusion: lastly, the study indicates the necessity for the proactive education of farmer farmers relating to environmental considerations upon the adoption of contemporary agriculture technology. [5]
Reference
[1] Altieri, M.A., Funes-Monzote, F.R. and Petersen, P., 2012. Agroecologically efficient agricultural systems for smallholder farmers: contributions to food sovereignty. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 32(1), pp.1-13. (Web Link)
[2] Marenya, P.P. and Barrett, C.B., 2007. Household-level determinants of adoption of improved natural resources management practices among smallholder farmers in western Kenya. Food policy, 32(4), pp.515-536. (Web Link)
[3] Binam, J.N., Tonye, J., Nyambi, G. and Akoa, M., 2004. Factors affecting the technical efficiency among smallholder farmers in the slash and burn agriculture zone of Cameroon. Food policy, 29(5), pp.531-545. (Web Link)
[4] Joining smallholder farmers’ traditional knowledge with metric traits to select better varieties of Ethiopian wheat
Chiara Mancini, Yosef G. Kidane, Dejene K. Mengistu, Melfa and Workaye Farmer Community, Mario Enrico Pè, Carlo Fadda & Matteo Dell’Acqua
Scientific Reportsvolume 7, Article number: 9120 (2017) (Web Link)
[5] Danquah, J., Ahiadzo, R., Appiah, M., Roberts, C., & Pappinen, A. (2019). Assessing Smallholder Farmers’ Understanding of Environmental Effects of Modern Agronomic Practices in Ghana. Journal of Experimental Agriculture International, 29(6), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.9734/JEAI/2019/45199 (Web Link)