Agricultural Landowners Research Articles

More landless, more problems: Investigating the relationship between land and income inequality in Africa

Background: In pursuit of greater equality, African nations have implemented land reforms to increase land ownership among indigenous citizens. Despite these efforts, Africa remains one of the world’s most unequal regions.Aim: In line with the sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) 10 of the Equal World campaign, the study investigates how land ownership influences income inequality in African countries. We create a unique time series measuring landholders per square kilometre of agricultural land and explore its relationship with income inequality.Setting: The analysis covered the period of 2000–2020, using data from the World Bank gender data portal and World Bank Development Indicators to compute the land inequality index.Method: Conventional cointegration and advanced wavelet coherence techniques are employed to examine the influence of land ownership on inequality.Results: Traditional estimators reveal a long-run positive relationship between land ownership and income inequality, with bi-directional causality, implying that African countries with higher (lower) land concentration are associated with higher (lower) levels of inequality. However, wavelet coherence analysis reveals that only 8 countries exhibit a positive relationship, while 16 show a negative relationship, and 2 show an insignificant relationship. Notably, most countries with a negative (positive) relationship (did not) implement additional land reforms after 2000.Conclusion: We conclude that countries that fail to undergo continuous adjustments in land reforms risk experiencing a higher concentration of land ownership and income inequality. This study’s findings underscore the importance of land policy updates for long-term equity.Contribution: Unlike previous studies using the Gini Land coefficient, this study measure agricultural landowners per square kilometre, capturing the entire population and its relationship with income inequality.

THE ECONOMIC AND LEGAL NATURE OF THE MINIMUM TAX LIABILITY

The relevance of the study of the economic and legal nature of the minimum tax liability is due to several factors. Firstly, being relatively new for Ukraine, this type of tax has not yet been sufficiently studied by scholars. Secondly, due to the specifics of the object of taxation, the introduction of the minimum tax liability significantly affects the taxation of farmers – owners of agricultural land and land users, producers of agricultural products, who are among the most vulnerable segments of the population. Thirdly, such a reform of the tax burden on business entities in agriculture, as one of the sectors most affected by Russia's armed aggression, requires a thorough analysis of its timeliness and appropriateness. This necessitates a study of theoretical and practical aspects, potential risks of introducing the minimum tax liability, as well as the formulation of proposals for solving problematic issues in this area, which is the purpose of the study. The research methodology includes a number of methods of scientific knowledge: the philosophical (dialectical) method, general scientific methods (the method of analysis and the formal logical method), as well as methods related to special scientific methods (formal legal and comparative legal). Results. The study of the economic and legal nature of the minimum tax liability concluded that there is a tendency to expand the range of taxpayers. In particular, at the expense of individuals – members of private farms. The article proves that such innovations lead to the loss of existing tax privileges for farms and increase the tax burden for these entities. The authors identify the risks of introducing a minimum tax liability, including incentives for farmers to alienate agricultural land or transfer it to other persons, alienation of farmers from the main means of production, and increased unemployment. It is established that the introduction of the minimum tax liability under the existing conditions is a violation of the fundamental principles of tax legislation of Ukraine. The generalisations obtained can be used to amend the tax legislation and will be useful in conducting scientific research on tax and agricultural legal relations.

Effective Engagement Techniques Across the Agricultural Conservation Practice Adoption Process

Encouraging agricultural landowners to adopt conservation practices is crucial to enhancing ecosystem services in privately-owned farm landscapes. To improve engagement with landowners and increase adoption rates, much research has been dedicated to investigating how different psychological, social, economic, and political factors correlate with adoption. However, these studies largely measure adoption as a discrete, binary event. Doing so obscures sequences of landowner decisions and engagement techniques that conservation practitioners use to encourage landowners’ progression through the adoption process. We report on two studies that contribute to the emerging literature on the agricultural conservation practice adoption process and the varying effectiveness of engagement techniques throughout. First, interviews with conservation practitioners in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA, yielded a preliminary model of the different stages in the adoption process and what techniques practitioners find effective at each stage. Second, an online experiment examined the effectiveness of a visualization intervention across two sequential outcomes in the adoption process, seeking further information and contacting a practitioner. Our results suggested that practitioners use a wide variety of engagement techniques, most of which are unique to a single stage in the adoption process, and that the effectiveness of the visualization technique varies substantially between different stages. Together these studies outline a suite of techniques that other practitioners may find effective at different stages of the adoption process, and suggest that research can better inform practice by accounting for variation in the effectiveness of different techniques across stages of adoption.

Migration and erosion in tidal and river channels in Bangladesh

Environmental stressors and natural disasters are changing the physical landscapes in many countries worldwide. In this paper, we ask whether and how erosion affects internal and international migration in Bangladesh. Building on prior studies, we use data from 3,600 households in 18 research sites to investigate how erosion in tidal and river channels is related to the risk of making a first internal or international trip, net of extreme weather conditions and other relevant attributes. Findings reveal that the relationship between erosion and the likelihood of making a first domestic or international trip is moderated by livelihood type and landownership. As erosion worsens, the odds ofmaking a first domestic trip rise for non-agricultural non-landowning household heads and decline for landowners working in agriculture. Estimated lifetime probabilities of making a first domestic trip are higher than those of making a first international trip, with non-agricultural non-landowners having the highest probabilities and agricultural landowners having the lowest. Together, the evidence suggests that shifts in physical landscapes, especially erosion, are tightly linked to out-migration through ties to land.

Spatial Variation in Agricultural BMPs and Relationships with Nutrient Yields Across New York State Watersheds

Agricultural nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus can subsequently be transported to waterways and are often managed through the adoption of best management practices (BMPs). However, we have a poor understanding of how the use of BMPs varies spatially and how BMP adoption might be related to nutrient yields in surface waters. To address this, we performed a survey of agricultural landowners across New York State and compared this with estimates of annual incremental nitrogen and phosphorus yields of agricultural origin from the Spatially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW) model. Using these socio-behavioral data and SPARROW predictions, we perform colocation analysis to identify areas where watersheds with high nutrient yield from agriculture are collocated with non-use of agricultural BMPs. This colocation analysis offers a novel methodology for identifying areas where monitoring of waterways and promotion of best management practices could be targeted to achieve the greatest benefits.

Os protegidos de Ceres: produtores, moageiros e política cerealífera nos Açores (1923-1932)

This article departs from the economic and political context of the transition from the 1920s to the 1930s to study the evolution of the cereal policy in Azores. In this dynamic change process, agriculture, in general, and cereal farming, in particular, have been heavily targeted by public policies and governmental decisions. Our main purposes are the analysis of the organization, relations and implications of the activities of the agents involved in the commodity chain of wheat. It was concluded that the forms of public mobilization and pressure of the economic elites, in this case, the millers and agricultural landowners, on the political instances were not far from what occurred in the continental context, although the state has become the ultimate regulatory element.

THE PROHIBITION OF ABSENTEE OWNERSHIP OF AGRICULTURAL LAND AND THE LEGAL LIABILITY OF THE NATIONAL LAND AGENCY

Absentee ownership of agricultural land is a situation where agricultural landowners are not directly involved in the agricultural activities carried out on their land. This often occurs when the landowner lives outside the farming area. The provision of absentee ownership of agricultural land can affect farmland management, and agricultural productivity. This abstract aims to evaluate the legal aspects of absentee ownership of agricultural land by considering several factors. First, we analyze the application of Government Regulation Number 41 of 1964 in Plaosan Village regarding absentee land. Several studies have shown that the absence of a landowner can hinder growth and innovation in the agricultural sector. However, the factor depends on the skill level of the farmer. Furthermore, we analyze the legal liability of the National Land Agency (BPN) in resolving absentee land ownership issues. The existence of landowners who are not involved in agricultural activities can lead to legal uncertainty, low agricultural productivity, and difficulties for interested parties in obtaining benefits from the land. In this context, the role of the National Land Agency (BPN) as a government agency responsible for land management and registration becomes very important. This research uses a normative legal research method by conducting a literature study of laws and regulations related to absentee ownership of agricultural land. The results of this research are expected to provide a basis for better policies in managing agricultural land ownership involving absentee owners, so as to increase productivity, efficiency, and welfare for all parties involved in the agricultural sector.

New Legislation on the Lease of Agricultural Land by the Municipality

Abstract On May 1, 2021, Act No. 151/2021 Coll., amending Act No. 504/2003 Coll. on the lease of agricultural land, agricultural business and forest land and on the amendment of certain laws as amended by later regulations, which amend Act of the Slovak National Council No. 330/1991 Coll. on land adjustments, arrangement of land ownership, land offices, land fund and on land communities as amended (hereinafter referred to as “Amendment No. 151/2021 Coll.”) entered into force. Amendment No. 151/2021 Coll. fundamentally changes the rules and obligations of the municipality as the owner of agricultural land when leasing agricultural land to other persons. The paper clearly explains the most important institutes related to the lease of agricultural land by the municipality and points out the new legal regime of the lease of municipal agricultural land effective from 1 May 2021.

Coyote Killing: Where Species and Identities Collide

Abstract Although predator killing is a global phenomenon, few studies interrogate the individual and societal drivers of choosing lethal versus non-lethal actions towards coyotes. Results here derive from 48 in situ, semi-structured interviews conducted during 2015–2017 with rural residential and agricultural landowners in the Foothills Parkland Region of Alberta, Canada. Interviews recorded landowner experiences with coyotes, and their perceptions, values, beliefs, animal husbandry practices, and actions towards coyotes. Invoking a critical geography perspective and grounded theory methods, we found the practice of coyote killing and anti-coyote sentiments to be deeply entangled with and mutually reconstituted by constructs of “masculinity,” “rurality,” and colonial settler identity. Coyote killing also appeared as a form of discursive power, arising from urban-rural tensions. Finally, geographies of local history, family, and community intersected with identity, gendered-labor, and power – placing coyotes in a vicious and ongoing cycle of oppression and violence.

Externality and taboo: Resolving the Judaic pig puzzle

Judaic law famously bans pigs. For millennia, scholars have wondered why. This paper uses the economics of property rights to resolve the puzzle. We argue that the Judaic pig ban was an instrument for internalizing swine externalities. Free ranging pigs in search of sustenance trespass on agricultural landowners’ property, wreaking destruction. Activities that foster such pigs thus create negative externalities that can cripple agricultural economies. When the expected cost of swine externalities becomes large, internalization becomes worthwhile: lawmakers with a vested interest in the agricultural economy ban activities that foster free ranging pigs. That is what transpired in ancient Judah, where lawmakers were priests whose livelihoods depended on agriculture, where all swine ranged freely, and where the expected cost of swine externalities surged during the late Iron Age. Lawmakers invoked God to enjoin involvement with pigs because a supernatural injunction was cheaper to enforce than a natural one: in a land of faithful Hebrews, Yahweh’s swine prohibition enforced itself. The Judaic pig ban’s features are consistent with pig bans recently adopted by US states such as Montana, which everyone agrees are instruments for internalizing swine externalities.

Unraveling the link between political polarization and wind energy perspectives: Insights from a survey of agricultural landowners in Alberta, Canada

Wind energy development can be polarizing with opposition coming from rural regions that are most affected by new wind farms. Local opposition can become further entrenched through political ideologies, where one's perspective on wind turbines becomes a litmus test for one's political position. With these concerns in mind, we utilize results from a survey of large-scale agricultural landowners in Alberta, Canada, to answer the following question. To what extent are self-declared political positions consistent with views on wind energy development? Results indicate that wind energy acceptance is not politically polarized nor even polarized among Alberta's rural landowners. Instead, the sample reveals fragmented, moderate, and likely malleable opinions about wind energy. Within a jurisdiction that is politically conservative and fossil fuel dependent, these results have largely positive implications for future wind energy development in the province.

Trojan Horse on the Great Plains: Landowner Thresholds, Coping Capacity, and Management of Kentucky Bluegrass

Kentucky bluegrass, an invasive cool-season grass in the US northern Great Plains, embodies the Greek story of the Trojan horse in which an apparent gift initially seems to bestow benefits but ultimately becomes harmful and subversive.Its competitive nature and early spring growth give it an advantage over native cool season grasses. This early and prolific growth provides forage for livestock but eventually leads to a decrease in other plant species and to negative impacts to multiple ecosystem services. Developing effective landscape-scale management techniques for invasives like Kentucky bluegrass depends on understanding the perceptions, coping capacity, and management abilities of private landowners. Through a mail survey conducted in North Dakota, this research provides insight into the cognitive processes that motivate agricultural landowners to manage Kentucky bluegrass and investigates psychological factors that constrain or enable the implementation of management behaviors. The results showed that less than half of the landowners surveyed had a management goal for Kentucky bluegrass, and among those with such goals, the perceived capacity to cope with the species was moderate to low. The majority of landowners who wanted to decrease the abundance of Kentucky bluegrass on their rangelands did not believe they could effectively do so. This highlights the need for the rangeland science and extension community to develop effective and feasible management techniques and conservation programs that integrate research findings to provide viable solutions. Participatory processes that include diverse interested and affected parties and rights holders can provide social learning environments conducive to the joint exploration of problems and refinement of actionable solutions. Through the focus on Kentucky bluegrass in the northern Great Plains, our research approach and recommendations also provide transferable insights for invasive species management and conservation in other social-ecological systems.

Agricultural landowner perspectives on wind energy development in Alberta, Canada: insights from the lens of energy justice and democracy

ABSTRACTThe political and economic landscape of Alberta, Canada, is deeply affected by fossil fuel extraction, thus limiting progress toward energy transition. Although transition is slowed by resistance to renewable energy technologies, public perspectives on these projects are diverse, with localized sensitives that are often not well understood. To improve our understanding of support and opposition to wind energy development, we draw on concepts of energy democracy, distributive and procedural justice. Utilizing a factorial survey experiment, and latent class analysis to measure these concepts with a sample of 401 large-scale agricultural landowners, we identify three distinct groups of individuals with unique preferences that are grounded in how individuals view and support wind energy. Contrasting most respondents with moderate views on wind projects, we identify a distinct group of supportive landowners when community benefits are well defined. A third group is defined largely by opposition to wind energy whereby justice concerns are associated with distancing their land from the impacts of wind turbines. Our conclusions identify the value of careful and transparent project design in consultation with local communities and affected landowners to avoid opposition noted here and in previous studies.

An assessment of private woodlot at Kaligonj upazilla of Jhenaidah district, Bangladesh

The study presents an assessment of the species selection, management technique, and socio-economic benefits of raising private woodlot plantations in Kaligonja upazila, Jhenaidah district of Bangladesh during 2016-2017. A total of 80 woodlot owners were surveyed randomly to assess the status of woodlot plantations. Major growers (55%) were middle-aged (41-55 years) and dominated by males (95%). About 90% of woodlots were rectangular in size and monoculture in species composition (70%) of which about 75% was Swietenia macrophylla. A total of 77.5% of owners has single ownership, whereas about 97.5% of the respondents practice woodlot on their landowner. The majority of the land (85%) was previously used as agricultural landowner. The socioeconomic benefit was timber production, utilization of fallow land, income generation, fuel wood production, etc. The owners manage their woodlots by following traditional and silvicultural techniques. Most of the respondents are conscious and have general knowledge of thinning (80%) and pruning (97.5%). Selection felling systems (60%) and clear felling (40%) were the two types of harvesting systems found in this area. About 90% of respondents fixed the rotation period ranging from 10 to 20 years depending on the species and market value. They still need proper guidance and training to increase their knowledge and efficiency for the maximum productivity of woodlots in the study area. Bangladesh J. Agri. 2023, 48(1): 67-80

Reconstruction of Agricultural Absentee Ownership Regulation based on Justice Value

The purpose of this research is first to examine and find weaknesses in Absentee agricultural land ownership regulations in the Indonesian legal system. Second, to reconstruct Absentee agricultural land ownership regulations based on the value of justice. This study uses a constructivist paradigm with a sociological juridical approach to solving research problems by examining secondary data and primary data by discovering the legal reality experienced in the field. The results of the research show that the weak factors consist of legal structure factors, legal substance factors, and legal culture factors. (1): Owners of agricultural land who live outside the sub-district where the land is located, within 6 months must transfer their land rights to another person in the sub-district where the land is located, if the remaining period is 6 months then the land will be transferred into assets village in the district. While the reconstruction of Government Regulation Number 41 of 1964 concerning Amendments and Supplements to Government Regulation Number 224 of 1961 concerning Implementation of Land Distribution and Granting of Losses Article 3d: Land in the sub-district where the land is located cannot be owned by someone outside the sub-district, so it is prohibited to transfer it for any reason.

Supporting Women Landowners in Wetland Conservation

Wetlands are important to soil health and water quality improvements needed to meet conservation goals in the Upper Mississippi River Basin and landowners are essential partners in their conservation. We surveyed Iowa agricultural landowners to (1) identify their experiences and beliefs regarding wetlands as a conservation practice and (2) identify barriers and opportunities to landowners in engaging in wetland conservation. We analyze if respondents are likely to conserve or restore wetlands and identify motivating factors for action or inaction. A lack of experience with and misinformation about wetlands, coupled with a lack of access to needed conservation knowledge networks, limits conservation action for women landowners, no matter their age cohort. We identify strategies for improving outreach and knowledge access among these landowners. Our analysis contributes important information about the influence of gender and social networks upon wetland conservation to the growing literature regarding landowners’, and specifically women landowners’, conservation decision-making.

Вихідні засади державного регулювання повоєнного розвитку регіональних агропродовольчих підкомплексів

The article begins consideration of the problem of elaborating regional programs of state regulation of the development of the agro-food sector in the regions of the country in the conditions of the post-war socio-economic recovery of Ukraine. A retrospective assessment of the National Recovery Plan of Ukraine, presented by the government to the international community at a conference in Lugano, Switzerland in July 2022, is being conducted with the identification of the main gaps in this National Plan. The content of legislative and normative acts on the regulation of the country's agro-food sector in terms of ensuring food safety, ensuring the quality of food products and establishing the order of relations between the state and the owners of agricultural land in the conditions of the Russian-Ukrainian war is analyzed. The essence of methodological aspects of the proposed approach to the elaboration of regional programs of state regulation of the development of the agro-food sector at the post-war stage is given on the example of the Poltava region. In principle, a general integral of the evaluation of the economic losses of the agro-food sector of the regions as a result of the war has been developed, which acts as the first stage of the development of the marked regional programs, with the following types of losses highlighted: destroyed objects of the residential and communal sphere of rural areas; destroyed objects of production infrastructure and irrigation systems; areas of agricultural land that need to be restored; areas of gardens, vineyards and berry orchards damaged as a result of the war; areas of forests damaged as a result of the war; areas of reservoirs, coasts, etc., damaged as a result of the war. An end-to-end approach to the direct development of regional programs of state regulation of the development of the agro-food sector in the regions at the stage of post-war recovery of Ukraine is put forward, which covers: conceptual principles, principles and regulatory regimes. In principle, proposals have been put forward for methodical support for the implementation of the proposed approach.

Contaminated the Lands in Karabakh and Ways to Bail Out

The thesis contains information on the condition of organic agriculture in the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as proposals for the establishment of an integrated plant protection system. The Report states, among other things, that in order to improve the agro-ecology approach in agriculture in Azerbaijan, relevant legislative and regulatory acts must be prepared and adopted; a regulatory mechanism aimed at increasing the efficiency of farmers' environmental activities based on the "polluter pays" principle must be developed and implemented; and scientific innovations, energy and resource saving technologies, waste-free and environmentally safe technological processes must be promoted. It also casts light to measures in regional environmental plans and socioeconomic development programs targeted at supporting and growing organic agriculture; agricultural landowners and land users should implement steps to conserve and improve soil fertility, as well as other environmental activities.

Arazi Toplulaştırmasının Benimsenmesinde Kitle İletişim Araçlarının Rolü: Çanakkale İli Örneği

Arazi toplulaştırması, tarımsal yapının düzeltilmesi amacına hizmet eden bir faaliyettir. Türkiye’deki uygulamaya göre arazi toplulaştırması, zorunlu ve isteğe bağlı yöntemle gerçekleştirilmektedir. İsteğe bağlı yöntemin ulusal çapta yaygınlaşması, toplulaştırmanın tarımsal arazi maliklerinin büyük çoğunluğunca benimsenmesine bağlıdır. Bunun için de üreticilerin öncelikle bu faaliyet hakkında bilgi sahibi olmaları gereklidir. Kitle iletişim araçları arazi toplulaştırmasının tanıtılması noktasında büyük olanaklar sunmaktadır. Bu çalışmada kitle iletişim araçları arasında yer alan radyo/televizyon ve internetin üreticilerin arazi toplulaştırmasından haberdar olmaları ve toplulaştırmaya katılımlarına yönelik tutumlarına etkisinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, Çanakkale ilinde arazi toplulaştırması yapılan 19 yerleşim yerinden 346 üretici ile anket yapılmıştır. Araştırma kapsamında üreticilerin radyo/televizyon dinleme/izleme sıklıkları ve internet kullanma durumları ile proje öncesinde arazi toplulaştırmasından haberdar olma düzeyleri ve toplulaştırmaya katılıma yönelik tutumları arasında istatistiki bakımdan anlamlı bir ilişki bulunup bulunmadığı incelenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, üreticilerin radyo/televizyon dinleme ve izleme sıklıkları ile proje öncesinde toplulaştırma faaliyetinden haberdar olma düzeyleri ve toplulaştırmaya katılıma yönelik tutumları arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunduğu tespit edilmiştir. Üreticilerin internet kullanma durumları ile toplulaştırmadan haberdar olma düzeyleri ve toplulaştırmaya aktif katılıma yönelik tutumları arasında ise istatistiki bakımdan anlamlı bir ilişki tespit edilememiştir. Çalışma sonuçlarına göre, televizyon ve radyoda arazi toplulaştırmasının faydaları ile ilgili programların çoğaltılması önerilmektedir. Ayrıca internetin bilgiye ulaşma amacıyla kullanımının yaygınlaştırılabilmesi için yayım çalışmaları yapılmasının da gerekli olduğu düşünülmektedir.

Youth Adaptation in Transformation of Plantation and Agricultural Land on Sebatik Island

Studies at the border between Indonesia and Malaysia have not received much attention due to geographical factors and neglect on the part of the Central Government. One such area is on Sebatik Island, directly adjacent to Malaysia. Therefore, this study was developed to fill the gap in border studies, by explaining border dependence on neighboring countries. This dependence can be seen through the adaptation strategies of youth who work in the agricultural and plantation sectors in the Sebatik region. Qualitative methods with a case study approach were used. Data were obtained through observations, in-depth interviews, and secondary data analysis. Youth were the main informants; however, we also interviewed stakeholders in the Sebatik area, such as owners of agricultural land and plantations in Sebatik. The results showed that the Sebatik border community depends on Malaysia for trade and thus the agricultural and plantation aspects in the region are oriented to the needs of Malaysia. This ultimately impacts young people, especially those who work as manual laborers, to adapt to changing crops on plantations in Sebatik.
 Keywords: border, youth, Sebatik, plantation, agricultural