Abstract
The expanding demand for livestock products in developing countries is expected to drive changes in livestock farming systems, such as intensification and technological development. However, while large commercial farms can take advantage of these new opportunities, semi-subsistence agriculture will be the main option for many poor livestock keepers. Development pathways may depend on local and farm-specific conditions. In this paper we: 1) typify mixed crop-dairy systems in Santa Cruz (Bolivia) from the point of view of their structural and socio-economical characteristics; 2) deepen the analysis of farm economics and level of intensification and 3) identify factors associated to the adoption of technologies. Three farming systems (specialized large commercial livestock farms, medium-size agricultural farms, and small semi-commercial mixed farms) were clearly differentiated in terms of structure, production orientation, economics and intensification level. The adoption of technologies (use of concentrates, pasture fertilization, cultivation of cut and carry pastures and use of dairy breeds) was related to distance from the farm to the nearest population, farmer education, farmer age and income. Policies directed towards improving market access and rural infrastructure would reduce transaction costs and increase non-farm employment opportunities. Similarly, investments in education and training would improve management capacity and technology adoption. However, current extension services do not seem to have an effect on technology adoption and, therefore, need to be improved/ better targeted.
Highlights
La mayor demanda de productos ganaderos en países en vías de desarrollo puede suponer cambios en los sistemas de producción, tales como intensificación y desarrollo tecnológico
The cluster analysis carried out on the main factors obtained from the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) clearly identified three groups of farms
Cluster 1 was made up of 98 farms defined as large commercial livestock farms
Summary
La mayor demanda de productos ganaderos en países en vías de desarrollo puede suponer cambios en los sistemas de producción, tales como intensificación y desarrollo tecnológico. The enlarged demand for animal-based foods is certainly having implications for livestock production systems and for livestock producers in poor rural areas that are trying to adapt to the changing social, economical, market and trade circumstances (Rao et al, 2005). The intensification of production and technological development has been explained as an endogenous process in response to increased population pressure according to the Boserup hypothesis (Boserup, 1965; Lele and Stone, 1989) According to this theory, expansion in the agricultural area leads the intensification/ technical change to increase agricultural production per unit on land, which are consequences of population growth that results in decreased availability of land and higher demand for food (Williams et al, 1999). Specific local conditions are very important in addition to other major driving factors that can determine or modulate the adoption of technologies towards more intensive farming systems (Feder et al, 1985)
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