Many sorghum varieties have been developed by research institutes in an effort to address food security problems in the semi-arid areas of Tanzania. Although sorghum is better adapted to drier areas than maize, farmer adoption rates for sorghum varieties are always lower than that of maize. In...

Livestock farming is an important facet of agriculture and livelihood in South Africa. It forms the essence of rural agriculture contributing food, socio-economic stability, employment and income. After the liberalization of the agricultural sector and phasing out of past protection mechanisms...

This paper assessed the effects of transactions costs—relative to price and non-price factors—on smallholder marketed surplus and input use in Kenya. A selectivity model was used that accounts not only for the effects of fixed and variable transactions costs but also for the role of assets,...

The rise of supermarkets, together with large-scale food manufacturers, has deeply transformed agri-food markets in many countries. This expansion has been evident in South Africa as well. Increasing attention has been and is being paid to the growth of supermarkets in countries outside of North...

The objective of this study is to evaluate pesticide use as an important factor affecting potential adoption and farm level impact of genetically modified (GM) vegetable varieties in Ghana. Tomato is the most consumed vegetable and a food security crop. Cabbage is a vegetable of growing...

This study identifies the reasons for low producer prices of rice that have not covered its production costs for many years in Madagascar. The following points will be discussed: the farmers’ marketing conditions and the rural rice market structure, including the functions of each intervening...

Poverty reduction among smallholders has remained a major priority for the Kenyan government. Efforts have been geared to have a streamlined agri-business system like emulated by the tea sub-sector. In the smallholder tea sub-sector, farmers are organized to private companies, owns factories,...

A fundamental challenge the world faces today is ensuring that millions of households living in poverty have access to enough food to maintain a healthy life. Africa over the years has been looking for ways to solving the problem of food security and it is an important topic in discussions of...

There are well-founded fears that it is unrealistic to expect Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG1) to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and to halve the proportion of people who suffer hunger by 2015. Recent efforts of African governments to meet the MDG1 have resulted...

The study employed multinomial logit and fractional regression models to investigate determinants of food-poverty FP states and the demand for dietary diversity, respectively using 2003/2004 Nigerian Living Standard Survey (NLSS) data. The FP states is derive by combining two food security...