Challenges Of Agricultural Development Research Articles

Global Challenges and Barriers to Sustainable Economic Growth in the Agribusiness Sector

The paper presents four main megatrends of global economic development: 1) changes in value chains, 2) development of a new food system model, 3) redistribution of value chains in the agribusiness sector, 4) growing influence of large companies and individual countries on the global agrifood system. The aim of the paper is to investigate the macroeconomic global and national challenges of agro-industrial development that affect the sustainable development of the sector. Based on these megatrends and using a dialectical method, the authors have considered the main global and national challenges in agricultural development. They highlighted the following: demographic growth and hunger; resource scarcity and the crisis of the AIS 3.0 model; ethical risks and limitations; natural and climatic changes; recycling, recycling and valorisation of waste; political instability; challenges of innovative development. It is shown that identification of the main challenges facing the development of domestic agribusiness sector is the primary basis for the formulation of strategic development objectives of the agrarian sector. The global challenges identified in the paper represent the basis for the development of economic policy in the agribusiness sector, including the Russian agrifood policy, the development of quality formal and informal rules and institutions that support the economic growth of the agribusiness sector, and also allow risk-oriented approaching to agricultural development in different territories.

Digitalization, sustainability, and coffee. Opportunities and challenges for agricultural development

CONTEXTDigital technologies have the potential to address several sustainability challenges of the coffee value chain, however, given potential backlash consequences, this process must be assessed thoroughly. Descriptions of digital tools designed for this value chain have been presented in the literature, however, a critical examination of socio-environmental consequences of the process of digitalization is still lacking. OBJECTIVEUsing a socio-technical approach, this article examines innovation pathways proposed by the process of digitalization in the coffee value chain and identifies the opportunities and challenges of these pathways to contribute to sustainability goals in this value chain. METHODSTechnical characteristics of 20 digital tools oriented to the coffee producing sector are examined. We carried out a review of secondary information and conducted online semi-structured interviews with developers of these tools. Qualitative analyses of these characteristics were conducted across three themes: 1) knowledge and value systems represented, 2) power structures, 3) effective use of digital technology. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSOur analysis identified two digitalization pathways that are likely to affect different dimensions of sustainability. On the one hand, digital advisory services are focused on the diffusion of conventional agricultural practices to optimize production for a commodity market. On the other hand, trade platforms and traceability systems are associated with enhanced visibility of producers to facilitate their participation in differentiated markets. However, access barriers to technologies create asymmetrical participation of producers in these scenarios. Additionally, evidence shows that, more than a revolution, digitalization of the coffee value chain is about optimization of production based on the use of synthetic inputs and of traditional extension models, and more efficient social coordination within already centralized power structures. SIGNIFICANCEThe analytical framework based on the technical characteristics of digital tools and their interaction with social systems revealed that sustainability outcomes derived from the process of digitalization in the coffee value chain are far from being straightforward. Considering digital technologies not as a homogeneous category, but as a configuration of different technical arrays, each one with distinctive patterns and impacts, provides a more nuanced understanding of the role of digitalization for agricultural development.

Digitalization, Sustainability and Coffee. Opportunities and Challenges for Agricultural Development

Digitalization, Sustainability and Coffee. Opportunities and Challenges for Agricultural Development

China-Cameroon Agricultural Cooperation: Challenges of Agricultural Development in Cameroon

China-Cameroon Agricultural Cooperation: Challenges of Agricultural Development in Cameroon

Managing runoff in rainfed agriculture under no-till system: potential for improving crop production

ABSTRACT Strategies to mitigate degradation and ensure food and water security are among the main challenges in agricultural development. Unconsolidated information about the positive impact of conservationist practices on productivity increase is fundamental for their adoption by farmers. This study evaluated if the saved rainfall excess in catchment with terrace generates higher soybean and corn yield due to greater water availability in the crop rooting zone. Experiments were conducted in southern Brazil during the agricultural years of 2016/17 (soybean) and 2017/18 (corn) in two paired zero-order catchments (~2.4 ha) with similar topography and soil properties. One catchment has no terraces, while the other has five broad-based terraces as a complementary practice to control runoff. Soybean and corn yield was compared between catchments through five paired transects, totaling 47 sampling points. The fraction of available water (FAW – the current in relation to the total available water) was monitored at two points in each catchment, one at the base and the other at the top, considering the elevation. The FAW was monitored with CS616 probes at eight soil layers (from 0.00 up to 1.60 m) at each point during the crop growth cycle. The FAW was higher in the terraced catchment than the non-terraced catchment during the soybean (14 %) and corn (8 %) cycles. The terraced area provided higher soybean (12 %) and corn (10 %) than the non-terraced area. These results highlight the importance of terraces to increase productivity by managing runoff on hillslopes, indicating the potential of terraces to mitigate water deficits.

Analysis of economic potential areas based on farming agricultural sector in the border area of Sangihe Island Regency

Various potentials and challenges in agricultural development in the border region are expected to managed and overcome properly. The participation of all parties, is needed to support this sector. The purpose of study was to determine the basic food crop agricultural commodities that have fast growth and competitiveness in the border region of North Sulawesi. This study uses analytical methods with secondary data. The data analysis determined changes in the structure or performance of the regional economy against higher economic structures (provincial or national) is the location quotient analysis (LQ). To determine the performance or productivity of the work of the local economy by comparing it with the larger using Shift Share Analysis (SSA). The results showed that the most superior commodity and the base in the Sangihe Islands Regency was sweet potato with the LQ value of 12.64, cassava 9.1and peanut 2.96. The results of the Shift Share analysis show that the six agricultural commodities of food crops (lowland rice, dry rice, cassava, sweet potato, peanuts) have not been able to growth in the food crop agriculture sector because it has slow growth.

Modern Agricultural Transformation and Trend of Food Supply and Demand in China

This study aims to clarify the direction for agricultural transformation, the transformation path of production, and the trend of food supply and demand in China, and to propose development strategies and policy suggestions for China’s agriculture transformation. Facing six major challenges in agricultural development, China should further promote supply-side structural reform for its agriculture, optimize production structure, improve the supply and demand of agricultural products, and upgrade the quality of these products. After analyzing the panel data of farmer surveys, we propose to promote China’s modern agricultural transformation by improving the land transfer market and the socialized service system. Our projection analyses indicate that the imbalance between supply and demand of many agricultural products in China will be prominent by 2035. China’s feed self-sufficiency rate will continue to decline, and the demand gap for sugar and edible oil will gradually expand. The production of livestock products and the gap between supply and demand will largely depend on the feed grain trade policy and the grassland development policy, while vegetables and fruits still maintain a certain export comparative advantage.

Confronting Tradeoffs Between Agricultural Ecosystem Services and Adaptation to Climate Change in Mali

Changing climatic conditions present new challenges for agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa. Sorghum has proven to be an adaptable and resilient crop despite limited funding for crop development. Recent breeding efforts target hybrid and perennial technologies that may facilitate adaptation to climate change. Advantages of perennial crops over their annual counterparts include improved soil quality and water conservation and reduced inputs and labor requirements. In contrast, hybrid crops are often bred for improved grain yield and earlier maturation to avoid variable conditions. We use discrete choice experiments to model adoption of sorghum as a function of attributes that differ between these technologies and traditional varieties in Mali. Overall, the main perceived advantage of perennial crops is agricultural ecosystem services such as soil improvement, while adoption of hybrid crops is hampered by the inability to reuse seed. Women farmers are less concerned about higher labor requirements associated with perennial crops and the ability to reuse hybrids seeds than male farmers. Farmers prefer traditional sorghum to perennial sorghum and are indifferent between traditional and hybrid sorghum. These findings have important policy implications for understanding tradeoffs that are central to farmer decision making when it comes to breeding technologies for climate adaptation.

Climate smart agriculture, farm household typologies and food security: An ex-ante assessment from Eastern India

One of the great challenges in agricultural development and sustainable intensification is the assurance of social equity in food security oriented interventions. Development practitioners, researchers, and policy makers alike could benefit from prior insight into what interventions or environmental shocks might differentially affect farmers' food security status, in order to move towards more informed and equitable development. We examined the food security status and livelihood activities of 269 smallholder farm households (HHs) in Bihar, India. Proceeding with a four-step analysis, we first applied a multivariate statistical methodology to differentiate five primary farming system types. We next applied an indicator of food security in the form of HH potential food availability (PFA), and examined the contribution of crop, livestock, and on- and off-farm income generation to PFA within each farm HH type. Lastly, we applied scenario analysis to examine the potential impact of the adoption of ‘climate smart’ agricultural (CSA) practices in the form of conservation agriculture (CA) and improved livestock husbandry, and environmental shocks on HH PFA. Our results indicate that compared to livestock interventions, CA may hold considerable potential to boost HH PFA, though primarily for wealthier and medium-scale cereal farmers. These farm HH types were however considerably more vulnerable to food insecurity risks resulting from simulated drought, while part-time farmers and resource-poor agricultural laborers generating income from off-farm pursuits were comparatively less vulnerable, due in part to their more diversified income sources and potential to migrate in search of work. Our results underscore the importance of prior planning for development initiatives aimed at increasing smallholder food security while maintaining social equity, while providing a robust methodology to vet the implications of agricultural interventions on an ex ante basis.

A cooperative governance network for crop genome editing: The success of governance networks in other areas could help to find common ground for applying genome editing in agriculture.

Emerging biotechnologies, such as genome editing, may revolutionize agricultural development through rapid and precise genetic manipulation of a wide range of crop traits without having to transfer foreign DNA [1]. If so, these new genetic‐engineering (GE) technologies can help to generate crop varieties to address critical challenges in agricultural development, such as climate resilience or nutrient uptake, or diet‐related problems in nutrition and health in poorer countries. However, society must also be protected from potential harmful effects of genetically manipulated crops on the environment, human health, or social welfare. Governance of these crops must therefore balance agricultural developments with risk assessment and prevention of potential harm. > …genome editing is being used to improve the characteristics of major crop plants, but the governance of crop genome editing is poorly defined and developed Presently, genome editing is being used to improve the characteristics of major crop plants, but the governance of crop genome editing is poorly defined and developed. Influential groups concerned with the potential hazards of such crops view this situation with growing alarm, which has created tensions with the academic community and regulatory agencies [2]. Both the USA and the European Commission are currently reviewing the governance of crops produced by genome editing and other new technologies. On the US side, at least, the review process appears unlikely to result in governance approaches that will satisfy parties that are concerned with either over‐ or under‐regulation of such crops, and tension and conflicts about them are likely to heighten. We propose an alternative approach for governance of these crops that may help to defuse tensions and enable exploration of genome editing technologies’ potential while protecting society from harm: a cooperative governance network. Such networks have performed well in …

Contemporary Challenges Facing the Small Farmers in the Green Scheme Projects in Namibia

The paper uses a combination of theory and both quantitative and qualitative evidence to demonstrate the significance and challenges of agricultural development in Namibian green scheme projects. For quantitative, a structured questionnaire to produce descriptive statistics was administered to 135 small farmers while eight (8) project manager who were interviewed at the studied schemes as key informant served as source of qualitative information that pin pointed out challenges and opportunities, faced by the small farmers in these schemes. The evidence points to the fact that although there are myriad of challenges, such as challenges related to production, access to efficient and effective market and access to credit faced by farmers, production and access to efficient and effect market challenges emerged as the most stumbling blocks to the optimal production and sales of small farmers’ produce. Usually access to agricultural credit is seen as one of the major challenges of smallholder farmers in Africa. In this study access to agricultural credit was less seen as a major stumbling block to the smallholder farmers’ productivity. This is attributed to the current farmers’ agricultural credit support scheme in place between Agricultural Bank of Namibia (Agribank) and the government of Namibia.

Challenges for agricultural development in a resource-rich developing country: a case study of Papua New Guinea

Many resource-rich developing countries are often faced with the challenge of generating sufficient employment for poverty alleviation due to factors such as the capital-intensive nature of resource extraction, the lack of (or weak) linkages between the resource sector and the wider economy, and potential Dutch disease effects. Using Papua New Guinea as a case study, this paper uses a dynamic computable general equilibrium model to analyse some options for a resource-dependent developing country to boost growth in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Four policy experiments were conducted to examine the impacts of increased primary factor productivity growth in the agricultural and manufacturing industries; increased investment in agriculture; increased investment in agriculture in conjunction with improved infrastructure; and improved value adding and productivity in agro-processing. Our results indicate that investing in agriculture and manufacturing without addressing supply side constraints such as poor road infrastructure would fail to maximise the desired impacts. We also show that by shifting the emphasis from production of primary commodities for export to value adding or secondary production activities, resource-dependent developing countries could enhance growth and employment.

Linking Communities of Practice with Value Chain Development in Smallholder Farming Systems

Value chains are an increasingly popular approach to understanding complex policy challenges in agricultural development. However, value chain research and development has often been too narrowly focused on the structural elements of production, resulting in lack of adaptive capacity. Drawing on the concept of communities of practice, this paper seeks to operationalize an understanding of how the social relations that underpin smallholder-related value chains can be better supported to enhance resilience. Case studies from the Caribbean are then used to illustrate how a community of practice approach to value chain development might facilitate the formation of social capital.

AgriculturalLand Conversion in Northwest Iran

Agricultural Land Conversion (ALC) has been introduced as one of the most important factors affecting ecosystem. This type of conversion has led to several challenges in agricultural development and human life. Monitoring ALC plays a crucial role when dealing with such challenges. The main objective of this study was to monitor the trend of ALC in the Qazvin province located in Northwest Iran from 1990 to 2010 using remote sensing data. The results showed that 44,845 ha of agricultural lands (3.03% of the total agricultural lands of the province) were converted to non-agricultural lands, of which, 32,033 and 10,243 ha (2.16% and 0.69% of total agricultural lands of the province), were respectively transformed to saline lands and urban areas and infrastructures. Our projection for 2030 shows that among other uses, the conversion of agricultural lands to the saline lands and urban areas and infrastructures will stay most likely. However, the conversion probability for irrigated and orchard lands to urban areas and infrastructures will be more than the saline lands while the conversion probability for dry and rangelands to the saline lands will be more than urban areas and infrastructures.

Women's involvement in agriculture in northern and southern Kaduna State, Nigeria

The position of women in meeting the challenges of agricultural development cannot be overemphasized. Women make a significant contribution to food production and processing, but men seem to take more of the farm decisions and control the productive resources. Full participation of women is required to increase agricultural productivity; which can only be achieved when women are perceived as subjects of development. Towards this end, a study was conducted in Kaduna State of Nigeria with a random sample of 230 women to examine the status of women's involvement in the agricultural sector. Data were collected by administering a structured questionnaire to the women. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics and the logit regression model. It was observed that women had a low rate of involvement in farm decisions (41.53%) and could not adequately access productive resources (11.25%). The satisfaction derived from agriculture by the women was low and significantly related to the size of household farm and share of the farm income that reached them.

Slash-and-Burn Rice Systems in Transition: Challenges for Agricultural Development in the Hills of Northern Laos

Slash-and-burn rice production systems in the hilly areas of Laos have changed little over the past decades except for a reduction in the fallow period which has caused a tremendous increase in labor requirements for weed control. From 1950 to 1990, the population density increased from 7.6 to 17.6 persons/km2, fallow periods decreased from 38 to 5 years, and weeding requirements increased from 1.9 to 3.9 weedings/rice crop. Because of high requirements for weeding, the return to labor is only 5 kg rice/labor day for slash-and-burn systems compared with 13 kg/day in lowland rice production. Soil organic C levels are declining fast, with losses of 5 t/ha observed during a single rice crop. Improvements of the living standard of the farm population, food security, stabilization of upland agriculture, and increased rice production are the main objectives of development agencies working in hilly areas. However, the options available are limited by the market opportunities and there is little chance that any of the technologies offered will be adopted on a significant scale. Hill farmers have a comparative advantage for livestock and timber production but generally lack the necessary resources to make long-term investments in either operation. Market, credit opportunities, and land tenure are key factors affecting the direction of future hill agriculture in Laos.

Agricultural Water Resources Management in India

Agriculture still forms the backbone of India's economy, accounting for almost half of the national income and providing employment to about twothirds of the work force. Accordingly, the greatest use of water resources has been for agricultural development, which would have benefited considerably by improvements in the management of water resources. Some of the challenges in agricultural development are described, e.g., delivery of water for irrigation, rising water tables, water‐logging and severely impeded drainage, increasing soil salinity, soil conservation practices, traditional irrigation practices, size of land holdings, limited research and agricultural extension work, marketing problems, unavailability of modern technology to Indian farmers on economically attractive terms, etc. Many of these considerations are shown by examples from various projects.