A farm typology approach for targeted policy responses: The case of pastoral and agro-pastoral households in West Pokot County, Kenya

Consumption of part of own-produced food is regarded as a sustainable approach to attaining dietary diversity and a pathway to improved food and nutrition security. However, empirical evidence on the relationship between production diversity and dietary diversity is inconclusive, with some studies demonstrating a positive relationship while others reveal conflicting results. Furthermore, this relationship has not been examined in pastoral contexts. We used data from 502 pastoral and agro-pastoral households in West Pokot County, Kenya, to assess the relationship between production indicators and household dietary diversity. Our results show that households with more diverse production had more diverse diets. Additionally, we find that nutritional awareness, engagement in off-farm enterprises, income, market participation, and location based on agro-ecological characteristics influence dietary diversity. Our findings suggest that more diverse crop-livestock systems appropriate to the agro-ecological conditions of West Pokot may be a strategy toward addressing the nutritional inadequacies experienced in the region. Further investigation of the wider implications of such a transition is suggested.

Controversy exists over whether to target public- and private-sector programs to female-headed households in developing countries in the attempt to combat poverty and social disadvantage. The issues related to the definition and measurement of female headship and the importance of the concept for development policy are discussed. A systematic review is then presented of the empirical evidence on the relation between female headship and poverty. If female-headed households tend to be poorer on average than other households headship should seriously be considered as a potentially useful criterion for targeting antipoverty interventions especially in developing countries where means testing is not feasible. The authors examine the potential costs and benefits of targeting female headship and review the experience of Chile one of the few countries which has targeted female headship through government intervention and the only one which has evaluation data available. The analysis of the project experience is used along with a review of the empirical evidence to answer the question of the desirability and efficiency of targeting female headship in order to reduce poverty in developing countries.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to asses, from a gender perspective, the effects of Alternative Livelihood Strategies (ALSs) on households in the pastoral community of West Pokot County.
 Methodology: This study applied both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, and adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The target population was adult household members in West Pokot County. While multi-stage cluster sampling technique was employed to sample 371 household survey respondents, 15 participants for Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and nine Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), were purposively selected. Data was collected using questionnaires, KII schedule and FGD guide. Validity and reliability of the data collection instruments were achieved through triangulation method and pilot-testing in Baringo County. Quantitative data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The analyzed data was presented in tables and charts. Thematic analysis was employed for qualitative data that was presented in narrative and verbatim forms.
 Findings: The study results were that, adoption of ALSs had three effects on the pastoral households. First, it blurred the boundaries that separated men and women in terms of household roles and socioeconomic status. Second, ALSs affected the way household members related to each other. The effects were both negative and positive, depending on type and level of ALSs adopted. Third, adoption of ALSs caused improvement in the socioeconomic status of most households. Overall, ALSs had more positive effects on households and had caused general improvement in living standards.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Structural Functionalism theory and the Harvard Analytical Framework may be used to emphasize the critical contribution of both men and women in the wellbeing of pastoral households, through equitable and inclusive adoption of ALSs. The findings of this study could enable development agencies to formulate concrete interventions and policies to curb the negative effects of adoption of ALSs on households while leveraging on the positive ones, from a gender perspective. This will enhance adoption of ALSs and the community’s well-being.

Women are central custodians of their families. Women constitute at least half of the population in most countries worldwide, yet their role in peacebuilding is often undermined, especially among the pastoral communities where patriarchal structures dominate. Women are increasingly being acknowledged as dual agents of conflicts and peace but the dearth of knowledge on their contribution in peacebuilding would jeopardize policy interventions around women, security, and peace. This article leveraged qualitative research design. Data was collected through semi‐structured and key informant interviews, focus groups, and case narrations, with women in West Pokot County, Kenya, who had been actively involved in peacebuilding activities to unveil their roles in peacebuilding in this conflict‐stricken region. Participant observation and archival data were also employed in the study. Thematic content analysis denoted an inhospitable region with elusive socio‐economic progress occasioned by protracted intra‐ and intercommunity conflicts driving women's fight for peace. From developing early warning systems and leveraging their matriarchal influence, social networks, religious spaces, and integration of cultural perspectives in peacemaking, Pokot women deterred warriors from cattle rustling promoting peace in the region. The transformative peacebuilding efforts of Pokot women advocate for a paradigm shift in global conflict resolution strategies emphasizing inclusion, adaptability and sustainability.

This study was carried out to assess farm households? food security and consumption indices. The study was conducted in Kaduna state, Nigeria. Data used for this study was collected from a total of 244 farm households with the use of structured questionnaire using a multistage random and purposive sampling technique. The main tools of analysis for this study include descriptive statistics and food security index. The study shows that about one third of the rural farm households sampled was food insecure and that the average farm size of the farm households was 2.05ha as food secure and insecure households cultivate 2.09ha and 1.96ha respectively. Average farm and non-farm income were $1,130.7 and $810.3 per annum respectively as household daily calorie consumed was found to exceed household daily calorie requirement. The food security indices for the food secure and insecure households were found to be 1.462 and 0.852 respectively. Large family size was found to lower available calorie intake of households. The study recommends the need for family planning education and policy frames to increase household farm size.

Rehabilitating degraded rangelands using enclosures offers various benefits to agro‐pastoral households. However, enclosure benefits cannot be generalized as there are variations across dryland ecosystems and societies. This study assessed the qualitative and quantitative benefits derived from rehabilitating degraded rangelands using private enclosures in Chepareria, West Pokot County, Kenya. Dry‐season grazing reserves, healthier livestock, improved livestock productivity, easier livestock management, food security, reduced animal losses, ecosystem services, land ownership, independence and improved standard of living were the main qualitative benefits from private enclosures identified. Quantitative benefits were manifested through various enclosure enterprise combinations, sale of enclosure marketable products and adoption of alternative income generating activities. They included the sale of livestock and livestock products, maize, wood cutting, grass cuttings, contractual grazing, grass seeds, poultry products, fruits and honey, amongst others. Livestock production directly accounts for 42·4% of the total enclosure income and is the main source of livelihood in Chepareria. There was a significant trend of increasing total enclosure income with enclosure acreage (p ≤ 0·05) while enclosure age was insignificant. Enclosures cushion households against climatic shocks such as drought by providing additional flexibility in land, fodder, livestock management and the uptake of various income generating activities. We conclude that enclosures have the potential of contributing to resilience as attested from the benefits reported in this study. However, private enclosure tradeoffs such income differentiation, reduced communal land and conflict have implications on how the ecological and socio‐economic aspects may be impacted as the establishment of private enclosures in Chepareria continues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cash Transfers and Gender Differentials in Child Schooling and Labor: Evidence from the Lesotho Child Grants Programme

Climate variability causes pulsed livestock and crop production, and in severe cases, production failure. It is, thus, an important predictor of household livelihood choice in pastoral and agro-pastoral communities that rely on rain-fed pastures and crops. The objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence household livelihood choices and determine the repercussions that will help northern Kenya’s pastoral and agro-pastoral production and adaptation policies. The historical self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) was calculated every month using the 40-year monthly mean precipitation, monthly average temperature, and climatological soil available water storage capacity. The hydrological drought severity index analysis showed that Sololo and Maikona experienced the most severe floods in the years 2000, and 2020, with huge indexes of around +370, and +220, respectively. A multinomial logistic model was used to analyze primary data collected from 396 randomly selected pastoral and agro-pastoral households in four wards of Marsabit County and relate the outcome to climate variability to deduce the determinants of livelihood choices in response to climate variability among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Northern Kenya in a location-specific manner. Results show the likelihood of a household selecting crop farming (p< 0.05) and other non-farming occupations (p< 0.01), but positively associated with the likelihood of a household choosing livestock keeping. Education strongly (p< 0.05) predicted a household’s preference for paid jobs and crop farming over animal rearing. This shows that the educated household heads are more likely to prefer formal jobs and crop farming to animal rearing. Adopting alternative livelihood sources, such as raising adopted livestock species (camel, goats) and drought-tolerant crop species, is often influenced by respondents’ socioeconomic characteristics. To attain a sustainable livelihood option in Marsabit County, policies that strengthen these features must be drawn and executed.

Inland valleys (IVs) in West African countries have increasingly been used for crop production, including rice cultivation. Though it is widely assumed that IVs have a high potential to contribute to food security of West African countries, a comprehensive assessment of farming systems addressing agricultural, institutional, food security, poverty, and ecosystem indicators is still lacking. This study characterizes IVs' smallholder farm households at the regional and farm type level using Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) data collected from 733 randomly selected farm households in four agro-ecological regions, i.e., Bouaké and Gagnoa in Cote d'Ivoire, and Ahafo Ano North and Ahafo Ano South in Ghana. A farm typology is developed, and farm households are characterized with regard to demographic, agricultural, economic, and institutional indicators. Furthermore, farm households' food security and poverty status, and the importance of rice in the portfolio of crops, is assessed. Finally, farmers' awareness of different ecosystem services (ES) for their food security is examined. Four farm types are identified, i.e., farmers who rent all the land cultivated, farmers who own some land and rent extra land, farmers who own and cultivate all their land, and farmers cultivating only a part of the land they own. We find that the variation in farm households' demographic, economic, and institutional characteristics is greater between regions than within regions. Crop production, either for direct consumption or marketing, especially rice production, is the main contributor to daily energy intake, followed by wild food consumed. Still, a substantial percentage of the farm households (16–38%) in all regions cannot meet minimum daily energy requirements. Farmers of all farm types, and in all regions, attach high relevance to IVs' provisioning ES, particularly the ability to provide food. A majority of farmers in all regions highlighted the relevance of regulating ES, including climate regulation, water storage, and groundwater values for their wellbeing. In contrast, farmers attached relatively lower relevance to cultural ES. Interventions to improve national rice production need to acknowledge and preserve the diversity ES that IVs provide to smallholder farm households.

The study evaluated the socio-economic characteristics, income inequality and poverty status of female headed cassava farming households in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Primary data were used for the study. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total sample size of three hundred and three (303) households from the two area councils. The data were analyze using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) poverty index, Gini coefficients, Probit model analysis, and principal components analysis (Factor Analysis). From the results about 59.73% of the female headed cassava farming households were less than 50 years old. 31.35% of the female headed cassava farming household were married. The mean household size was about12.00 persons. The mean annual income was 374, 868 Naira. About 56.77% of the female headed cassava farming household were poor given a poverty line N9, 009.37. In addition, 76% of female headed cassava farming households fell into annual income of below N500, 000 and they control 40% of the market share. The Gini coefficient was calculated to be 0.62. Maximum Likelihood Estimates (MLE) of the Probit Model shows that the coefficients of marital status (P<0.01), educational level (P<0.05), household size (P<0.01), income (P<0.1), and sources of livelihood (P<0.1) were the statistically and significant factors influencing poverty status among the female headed farming households in the study area. The results of the multinomial Logit model analysis show that the factors that statistically and significantly influencing the income inequality of female headed farming households in the study area, were coefficient of marital status (P<0.05), educational level (P<0.10), access to credit(P<0.05), and sources of livelihood (P<0.05) for low income earners. Educational level (P<0.01), access to credit (P<0.10) and farm size (P<0.01), were statistically and significant factors influencing income inequality or income distribution among high income earners among female headed farming households. Trading enterprise, cassava flour/garri processing, and palm/ groundnut oil pressing were major coping strategies employed by the female headed households to against poverty and income inequality. Based on the findings it was concluded that there was high income gap or income inequality among female headed farming households and they were poor. It was recommended that policies that will help create more credit access/programs in terms of loan at low interest rates for women should be implemented at all tiers of government to help mitigate and reduce the poverty among female headed household. Women should also be encouraged to diversify their sources of livelihood this will help them to have a relative equality or balance in their income levels all year round. Facilities should be made accessible to farmers, provision of rice processing equipment should be made available, more effort to empower women should be designed, contract farming and marketing should be encouraged, and information dissemination via communication devices for increased market participation and increased value sold among rice farmers should be a priority to eradicate poverty and improve livelihood.

Food policy and food security in Northern Bangladesh: An empirical study of the impact of food policy on household food security

Fodder production has been regarded as one of the suitable strategies for increasing feed availability for enhanced livestock production among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the drylands of Kenya. Previous studies indicate that factors determining participation in these practices vary from time to time and from one location to another. This study was conducted to assess the socio-economic and demographic factors influencing households’ participation in fodder production in Makueni and Kajiado Counties. Data was collected from 216 households through interviews using semi-structured questionnaire. Results indicate that gender of household head, education, social/development group membership and access to extension services were the most important factors influencing households’ participation in fodder production. There is need for technical support to the pastoral and agro-pastoral households towards starting and/or joining existing social groups, through which extension and training services can be offered. This would go a long way in enhancing fodder production in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) of India plays a crucial role in reducing food insecurity by acting as a safety net by distributing essentials at a subsidised rate. While the PDS forms a cornerstone of government food and nutrition policy, India continues to be home to a large population of hungry and malnourished people. This review seeks to explore the functioning and efficiency of the PDS in achieving food and nutritional security in India. A comprehensive and systematic search using the key terms “food insecurity” OR “food security” AND “Public Distribution System” OR “PDS” OR “TPDS” AND “India” identified 23 articles which met the inclusion criteria. This review draws attention to the lack of published literature in areas of PDS and food security in India. The findings of the review emphasise the role of PDS in tackling hunger and malnutrition while highlighting its limited role in improving food security and childhood mortality due to operational inefficiencies. The PDS has the potential to act as a solution to food insecurity in India if the operational inefficiencies and environmental footprints are addressed by adequate policy reforms.

Livestock keepers in sub-Saharan Africa face a range of pressures, including climate change, land loss, restrictive policies, and population increase. Widespread adaptation in response can lead to the emergence of new, non-traditional typologies of livestock production. We sought to characterise livestock production systems in two administrative regions in northern Tanzania, an area undergoing rapid social, economic, and environmental change. Questionnaire and spatial data were collected from 404 livestock-keeping households in 21 villages in Arusha and Manyara Regions in 2016. Multiple factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to classify households into livestock production systems based on household-level characteristics. Adversity-based indicators of vulnerability, including reports of hunger, illness, and livestock, land and crop losses were compared between production systems. Three distinct clusters emerged through this process. The ethnic, environmental and livestock management characteristics of households in each cluster broadly mapped onto traditional definitions of ‘pastoral’, ‘agro-pastoral’ and ‘smallholder’ livestock production in the study area, suggesting that this quantitative classification system is complementary to more qualitative classification methods. Our approach allowed us to demonstrate a diversity in typologies of livestock production at small spatial scales, with almost half of study villages comprising more than one production system. We also found indicators of change within livestock production systems, most notably the adoption of crop agriculture in the majority of pastoral households. System-level heterogeneities in vulnerability were evident, with agro-pastoral households most likely to report hunger and pastoral households most likely to report illness in people and livestock, and livestock losses. We demonstrate that livestock production systems can provide context for assessing household vulnerability in northern Tanzania. Policy initiatives to improve household and community well-being should recognise the continuing diversity of traditional livestock production systems in northern Tanzania, including the diversity that can exist at small spatial scales.

In seeking to explain why poor countries tend to choose policies that tax agriculture relative to manufacturing while rich countries do the opposite, archetypical parameters for a poor agrarian economy and a rich industrial one are inserted in a computable general equilibrium model to simulate the medium-term effects on income distribution of policies that distort the relative prices of tradables. The model includes a non-tradables sector and intermediate inputs, realistic features that ensure even greater skewness in the distributional effects of protection than simpler models suggest. The magnitude of the results helps explain the tendency for countries to change gradually from taxing to subsidizing agriculture relative to manufacturing as their economies develop. The paper draws out the implications of the analysis for agricultural and trade policy reform in the 1990s.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)