Culture,Markets, and Agricultural Production: A Comparative Study of the Investment Patterns of Migrant and Citizen Cocoa Farmers in the Western Region of Ghana

Current agrarian reforms in Ghana, sponsored by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, are based on the notion that pricing incentives from markets are the key to agricultural investments. The turnaround in the production of the principal agricultural export, cocoa, seems to vindicate this view. However, this perspective is silent on the question of why many farmers continued to produce cocoa in the period preceding the reforms when prices were at their lowest in the country's history. Based on research on the comparative investment patterns of migrant and citizen cocoa farmers in two districts in the Western region of Ghana, this article suggests a holistic approach to comprehending investments. It indicates that the economic behaviour of cocoa farmers is complexly linked to the politics of land tenure, and cultural expectations and obligations.     

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMMES: MISSING LINKS TO SUSTAINING DEVELOPMENT

The implementation of structural adjustment programmes has not paid sufficient attention to the environmental effects of prescribed reforms. Agriculture is often the largest sector contributing significantly to the generation of export revenue and the gross domestic product in many adjusting countries, including Ghana. Structural adjustments in this sector aim at removing constraints to productivity. In Ghana, these reforms include producer price increases, market liberalisation and exchange rate reforms. This paper examines the environmental effects of raised farmgate prices for cocoa and cotton cultivation. It argues that these policies have encouraged agricultural extensification, particularly given the main type of farming (slash and burn agriculture) practised in Ghana. Environmental degradation is occurring in many areas. Furthermore, cuts in public expenditure and the institution of cost-recovery schemes for previously subsidised services such as rural water supply may reduce farmers’ disposable incomes and their ability to pay for these services. Consumption of unsafe water exposes farmers to preventable water and hygiene related diseases which, given the high cost of medical services, may worsen poverty and further encourage agricultural extensification.     

Resource management and agriculture in the periurban interface of Kumasi,Ghana: Problems and prospects

This paper outlines pressures on agricultural land in periurban Kumasi, Ghana. A survey of agricultural practices underlines the recent and rapid transition from agricultural to urban land use in the periurban interface, and shows how farmers are reacting by reducing fallow periods. Farmers are also intensifying agriculture near streams and rivers through increased use of irrigation, in response to growing urban markets for a wider range of vegetables. We identify specific problems of water resource pollution and waste management, with particular reference to farmland irrigation. We report results of composting interventions as a community‐based waste management strategy. We consider integrated organic waste recycling as a generic strategy to help protect periurban natural resources, to enhance food production through nutrient recycling, and to improve community sanitation.     

Making a living in the cocoa frontier,Western Ghana: Diversifying incomes in a cocoa economy

Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 107(2):29–44, 2007

The literature on livelihoods in rural Africa has for the past decade documented and discussed the growing importance of non-farm income for rural livelihoods and often linked this to an increasing divorce of rural livelihoods from farming and land. This paper challenges the view that the increasing importance of income earned on non-farm activities is a direct expression of processes of deagrari-anisation. Drawing on empirical evidence from recent research in the Ghanaian cocoa frontier, the paper shows that a growing importance of income from non-farm activities is evident, but that incomefrom cocoa is still the determining factor for most households' income and thereby for the demand for non-farm goods and investment in the non-farm sector. By identifying two overall factors explaining the level of income diversification, the paper questions how generally applicable processes of deagrarianisation are in the Ghanaian case. Firstly, the actual crop cultivated and its price and marketing possibilities are of great importance for a farmer's choice to engage and stay in the agricultural sector or to diversify into non-farm activities. Secondly, different dynamics are evident between settlements dominated by either migrant or indigenous households, mainly due to unequal access to land. The paper argues that what on a general scale may look like processes of deagrarianisation during the last decade to a large extent can be explained by migrants without access to land who engage full-time in the nonfarm sector and by cocoa farmers diversifying their incomes, but not leaving a deteriorated agriculture.     

Heavy burdens: Gendered livelihood strategies of porters in Accra,Ghana

Urban poverty is invariably linked to sociospatial dimensions of livelihood strategies. Gendered social relations, for example, have been seen to impact the ability of females to access resources, to gain assets, and to engage in viable income‐generating activities. Focussing on the livelihood strategies of the urban poor as they intersect with neoliberal economic reforms in contemporary Ghana, this paper draws on a field‐based survey of porters in Accra, mostly migrants from rural agricultural northern Ghana, whose primary livelihoods derive from transporting goods for clients in congested market areas of the urban industrial south. The paper highlights the gendered aspects of porters' livelihood experiences such as differences in migration patterns, reliance on physical labour and living conditions, which relatively few analyses have examined, especially as these relate to wider socioeconomic processes. The study illustrates how this perspective is important to understand the intersection of livelihood strategies, gender and national economic reforms in promoting both rural and urban development.     

CHALLENGES TO FAMILY FARMING IN CHINA*

ABSTRACT. China's agricultural sector requires reforms to assure farmers and consumers of fair prices while protecting the environment and permitting sustainable growth in the coming years. The affluent eastern province of Jiangsu is an appropriate site in which to explore the effects of agricultural reforms on rural households and, in turn, the effects of these households on the environment. We compare two surveys (1987 and 1996), of 100 households each, of farmers in Huaiyin and Huai'an Counties, Jiangsu Province. Indicated are chronically low economic returns on grain, moderate returns for livestock, and the highest returns for vegetables. Unfortunately, the production of livestock and vegetables requires more farm chemicals, inorganic fertilizers, and placement of field plastic‐all of which are associated with greater environmental problems.     

The Cap and Water Trading in Australian Murray-Darling Basin for Wetlands Protection:The Possible Lessons for China

As the consequence of climate change, water that is received in Australian Murray-Darling Basin wetlands is declining and agricultural water demands are increasing. In order to keep the water use balance between environment protection including wetland protection and irrigation water use, the Australian government adopted a series of reforms in Murray-Darling Basin to address the environmental water shortage problem and encourage irrigators to use water more efficiently and plant high economic value crop. The water trading and cap are two major reforms in this process.In order to match up the environmental water demand such as wetland water use, based on the seasonal rainfall, dam level and environmental water demand, the cap system seasonally allocate how much water the irrigators can access as per water licenses. As the cap dramatically reduced the water access for irrigators, the water trading is aiming to use limited agricultural water more efficiently. The water trading scheme separate the water use right from the land property right and allow Australian farmers to trade their water licenses in the market. Water trading encouraged farmers who plant low value crops such as wheat and canola transfer their water entitles to farmers who plant high value crops such as grape. In the drought seasons, The Australian government can purchase the water licenses from irrigators to increase the environmental flows.This Australian water management system represents the most complicated and effective environmental and agricultural water use management in this world. There are possible many lessons that will help China to better manage the water use for wetland protection and farming practices.     

Decision–making and innovation among small–scale yam farmers in central Jamaica: a dynamic, pragmatic and adaptive process

Many researchers in the Caribbean have protested the generally negative stereotyping of small–scale farmers and the small–scale domestic agricultural sector. The essence of this pejorative attitude is that small–scale farmers display apathy and resistance to change and are reluctant to accept innovations. A major reason for this perspective is a lack of knowledge and understanding of and sensitivity towards the factors that influence and inform farmers' decisions. Studying the decision–making of small–scale farmers can, therefore, shed light on their activities and help inform policymaking. This paper uses the example of small–scale yam farmers in central Jamaica to explore and investigate important issues related to decision–making innovations around four questions. Can the decisions of farmers about innovations be considered to be rational? What are the major factors that influence decision outcomes? Why do so many agricultural innovations and modernization initiatives that target small–scale farmers fail? Do farmers really shun innovations that have clear and obvious benefits and, if so, why?     

A Comparison of Awareness,Attitudes, and Usage of Water Quality Conservation Practices Between Amish and Non-Amish Farmers

This study provides a unique examination of Amish farmers’ awareness of water quality issues and their attitudes toward and use of agricultural conservation practices compared with small non-Amish farmers in Northeastern Indiana. There is minimal research about the conservation beliefs and behaviors of this growing and highly diverse ethnoreligious minority, who have faith-based technological restrictions and are often hesitant to work with community outsiders, especially the government. We find that, compared with non-Amish farmers, Amish farmers have limited awareness of the linkages between common agricultural practices and broader water quality problems and lower levels of adoption of conservation practices, with the exception of cover crops. This information is essential for conservation practitioners who need to work with a diverse range of agricultural producers to increase the uptake of conservation practices that address critical water quality concerns.     

What kind of intensification? Agricultural practice, soil fertility and socioeconomic differentiation in rural Burkina Faso

In rural Burkina Faso, intensification has been an uneven process that has resulted in social costs, particularly in the form of uneven distribution of assets and disparate environmental trade-offs. This study examines the effects of wealth status on agricultural practice and soil fertility, arguing that differences in the practices of wealthier and poorer farmers lead to differential social and environmental outcomes. Two concerns are highlighted. First is the role of poverty in environmental degradation. Much of the debate about the role of wealth and poverty in environmental outcomes in developing countries has pinpointed poverty as the main causal explanation. Using studies of agricultural practices and soil fertility from several villages in southwestern Burkina Faso, this paper will counter this dominant view by showing that wealthier farmers farm much larger areas, have fewer trees in their fields, and use higher levels of animal traction which, in turn, has led to lower levels of soil fertility. A second concern is that while poorer farmers may have agricultural practices that minimize environmental degradation, their exclusion from key institutions that provide access to resources has serious livelihood consequences and potentials for increasing socioeconomic differentiation. The agricultural practices of wealthier farmers, while not optimal environmentally, result in higher levels of household wealth. A paradox emerges that while poorer farmers are conserving environmental resources, they are doing so at the expense of economic development and well-being.     

小农户融入农业产业链的选择偏好及异质性研究——以河南省为例

为更好地揭示小农户融入农业产业链的行为逻辑,基于河南省463户小农户的调查数据,运用选择实验法和混合Logit模型分析小农户融入农业产业链的选择偏好。结果表明:相对于龙头企业,小农户更倾向于以加入农民专业合作社的方式融入农业产业链,紧密的利益联结机制和政策扶持会显著提升小农户对农业产业链的融入意愿。小农户对龙头企业、农资供应服务、农业信贷服务、农业补贴的行为存在异质性。兼业情况、家庭年纯收入以及收入在村中所处水平是小农户行为异质性的重要来源,对小农户融入农业产业链具有显著的负向影响。     

全球化背景下国家乡村政策演变与乡村地方重组及其不确定性的理论分析

全球化是推动乡村地方重组的重要因素,但国家政策深刻影响乡村地方参与全球化的过程与景观。立足已有研究,围绕“全球化-国家乡村政策-乡村地方重组”之间的关联,通过梳理全球化与中国乡村政策演化的互动关系,分析乡村政策的地方实施过程,总结乡村地方工业化、休闲旅游化和农业现代化等典型重组类型及其面临的不确定性。认为早期农村改革耦合全球化引致的城镇化进程,解决了农村温饱和人口“过密化”问题,推动部分乡村工业化,参与国际分工;持续的深化改革与地方动员,加快了先进技术和生产要素的应用,促进了农业规模化与专业化,并嵌入国际市场;乡村旅游的兴起,促进部分乡村复兴和国际元素的进入。农业收益的增长与稳定、老年农民有序退出以及新业态的就业容量将是乡村振兴的潜在制约因素。     

Context and contingency: the coffee crisis for conventional small-scale coffee farmers in Brazil

Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and the world's leading producer and exporter of coffee. Smallholders are the predominant producers of Brazilian coffee and have been significantly impacted by post-ISI (import substitution industrialisation) neoliberal reforms that swept the nation's agricultural sector beginning in the 1980s. These reforms stimulated increased coffee production while simultaneously diminishing state interventions, including agricultural subsidies, farmer credits, research and development programmes, extension services, and rural development initiatives. These changes were closely followed by major restructuring of the global coffee market and the elimination of international coffee export quotas. Our research joins a growing body of recent literature exploring how changes related to market liberalisation and globalisation affect localities and regions where producers supply coffee for conventional markets. Through a case study, we describe the impacts of neoliberal globalisation on the lives, livelihoods, and environment of small-scale coffee producers in Minas Gerais, Brazil. We explore how neoliberal reform, reflected in the specific historical, geographical, and environmental context of Brazilian coffee production, has resulted in the increased marginalisation of small-scale farmers, the degradation of soils, and overall rural decline.     

Fighting Over Forest: Toward a Shared Analysis of Livelihood Conflicts and Conflict Management in Ghana

Conflicts undermine forest-based livelihoods for the rural poor. Conflict management is key to preventing such conflicts. This article analyzes actor perceptions of forest- and tree-related conflicts and conflict management in Ghana's high forest zone. It also assesses a phased methodology that promotes shared problem definition and ownership of recommendations on conflict resolution strategies through the presentation and discussion of findings from document analysis, surveys, interviews, and focus-group discussions at a workshop with forest professionals held in Kumasi, Ghana. The study found that conflicts are inherent in forest-based livelihoods due to policy and legislative failures and institutional deficiencies, perceived goal incompatibility, opportunities for interfering with the attainment of one another's goals, and environmental scarcity. Ongoing forest governance reforms in Ghana should consider the stepwise conflict management model developed by the workshop participants involved in this study, but expand it to include the views of other stakeholder groups.     

中国农业产业集群演化过程及创新发展机制——以“寿光模式”蔬菜产业集群为例

在对农业产业集群理论探讨的基础上,以山东寿光蔬菜产业集群为例,分析中国农业产业集群形成演化的“四阶段”模型及可持续创新发展的内在机制,并挖掘了“寿光模式”的“集群”本质。结论表明: ① 中国农业产业集群的形成与创新发展:首先是从农业产业集聚开始,并经由专业村到产业集群,再到乡村创新极演化; ② 促进农户的企业化演变是农业集群及其创新体系形成的第一步。创建产业网络是农业产业集聚和专业村向农业产业集群升级的必备步骤,农业创新体系的形成标志着农业集群走向成熟; ③ 山东寿光蔬菜产业集群的形成演化也经历了这4个阶段。各类各层主体通过知识增长、知识流动和知识采纳提高自己的内生能力和外部契约关系,并通过知识和创新网络实现五大维度上的协同创新,一起促进企业（农户）、产业（网络）、技术、制度和空间“五位一体”的协同演化,是农业集群可持续创新发展的内在机制。     

A parsimonious crop-water productivity index: an application to Brazil

Reducing poverty in rural areas of developing countries requires sustained and sustainable increases in agricultural water productivity. However, aside from traditional measures of precipitation, little is known about water available to farmers or how productively they use it. We present a crop-water productivity index (a ratio of the value of annual crop production to a dimensionless potential water availability index) for large water basins using readily available low-resolution data. The index is transferable, permits direct inter-basin comparisons, and is simple to calculate. We calculate the index for each municipality in the São Francisco river basin in Brazil. No clear patterns linking water availability and value of agricultural output are evident, even though clusters of municípios with high- and low-crop-water productivity emerge, and the former may be useful in guiding policies aimed at increasing water productivity. Finally, analyses of the effects of information uncertainty on the crop-water productivity index suggest that the returns to agricultural investments in certain places in the São Francisco river basin are more risky than others. Improvements in data quality and quantity can help refine estimates of the index and reduce their uncertainty.     

Impact of Agricultural Labor Transfer on Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution: A Case Study of Jiangxi,China

A large proportion of the rural labor force in China will continue to transfer to non-agricultural sectors in the near future, which will inevitably lead to the transformation of the agricultural production mode and the structure of the farmers’ livelihood. The Chinese government is making great efforts to govern agricultural nonpoint source pollution (ANSP), and farmers' environmental behavior is a key factor that must be considered in the formulation of agricultural environmental policies. Based on a set of micro survey data on farmers in the study area and econometric methods, this study investigates the impact of agricultural labor transfer on ANSP by considering the substitution effect of agricultural factors and the effect of agricultural economies of scale. The results show that the increase of the agricultural labor force will not be conducive to reducing ANSP, while the income increase brought by agricultural labor transfer will improve the input structure of agricultural factors and have a positive impact on ANSP reduction. Government departments should provide subsidies or incentive measures to help agricultural social service organizations to expand their coverage and increase the frequency of socialized agricultural services, in order to guide farmers in the use of environment-friendly agricultural technology to reduce the ANSP caused by agricultural factors at the source. Furthermore, it is necessary to facilitate the development of small-sized agricultural machinery suitable for small-area land cultivation.     

农户后顾生计来源及其居民点整合研究 ——基于重庆市西部郊区白林村471户农户调查

农户生计资产决定着农户生计方式选择与生计策略行为,作为当前农户主要消费性投资行为的农村居民点建设消费受制于农户所拥有的生计资产量,基于此引导农户的居民点建设消费行为、开展农村居民点整合已成为当前提高农村土地利用效率、改善农户生产生活条件的关键。研究选取重庆市沙坪坝区白林村为样点,采用“PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) +3S”相结合的方法,以地理坐标为标识码,建立农户属性数据与地块的空间数据相链接的“农户-土地”数据库。运用该数据库,构建农户生计资产量化指标体系,量化农户生计资产进行农户分化,剖析不同农户的后顾生计来源及其住居意愿,开展农村居民点整合。结果表明,农户生计资产的配置结构差异明显,8%的农户各项资产产值高于平均水平,23%的农户各项资产产值处于中等水平;以农户拥有的自然资产产值为主辅以其他各项资产产值,将农户划分为农业多样化发展型(16%)、农业专业化发展型(8%)、兼业化发展型(23%)、非农多样化发展型(31%) 和非农专业化发展型(22%) 5 类;根据不同生计来源农户的住居意愿并结合国家与地方发展战略,构建了社区型(非农多样化发展型与非农专业化发展型)、组团型(农业专业化发展型)、块状型(农业多样化发展型) 和带状型(兼业化发展型) 4 种农村居民点整合方式。     

Agricultural liberalization,cotton markets and buyers’ relations in Zimbabwe, 2001–2008

The paper examines the relations between seed cotton buyers in Zimbabwe's deregulated cotton sector. It draws upon interviews with officials from cotton companies to expose the disagreements and lack of cooperation among them over side marketing of contracted seed cotton and in maintaining common industry standards. In this context, the paper discusses cotton sector reforms spearheaded by some industry stakeholders aimed to address problems in the cotton sector. Despite the companies’ official agreement to the draft reforms of 2004, there were simmering tensions and disputes that strained relations among them. The government's unwillingness to intervene and provide coordination exacerbated problems in the cotton sector. Further, the paper highlights the contradictions in neo‐liberal reforms that seek to promote competitive agricultural markets, and argue against state intervention and strong regulation of markets. It argues that there is a need to reconceptualize the role of the state in some predatory and developing countries that liberalized agricultural markets because of the multiple and uneven effects of the lack of regulation and absence of institutions in the private sector.     

Global warming,population growth,and natural resources for food production

Destruction of forests and the considerable burning of fossil fuels is directly causing the level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases including methane, carbon monoxide, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere to rise. Population growth in the US and the world indirectly contributes to this global warming. This has led the majority of scientists interested in weather and climate to predict that the planet's temperature will increase from 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. These forecasted climactic changes will most likely strongly affect crop production. Specifically these scientists expect the potential changes in temperature, moisture, carbon dioxide, and pests to decrease food production in North America. The degree of changes hinges on each crop and its environmental needs. If farmers begin using improved agricultural technology, the fall in crop yields can be somewhat counterbalanced. Even without global warming, however, agriculture in North America must embrace sensible ecological resource management practices such as conserving soil, water, energy, and biological resources. These sustainable agricultural practices would serve agriculture, farmers, the environment, and society. Agriculturalists, farmers, and society are already interested in sustainable agriculture. Still scientists must conduct more research on the multiple effects of potential global climate change on many different crops under various environmental conditions and on new technologies that farmers might use in agricultural production. We must cut down our consumption of fossil fuel, reduce deforestation, erase poverty, and protect our soil, water, and biological resources. The most important action we need to take, however, is to check population growth.