Farm Household Welfare Research Articles

The Dynamics of Urbanization and Its Effects on Rural Livelihoods: Evidence from Adama City and Adama Rural District, Ethiopia

Rapid urbanization in cities brings about both opportunities and challenges for national development. This study focuses on investigating the dynamics of urbanization and its impact on livelihoods using land use/land cover change in Adama City, located in the Oromia Regional State. Various datasets from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), including Landsat Thematic Mapper (LTM), Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETH[Formula: see text]), and Operational Land Imager (OLI), were utilized. Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing tools were employed to extract relevant information from these datasets for years from 1986 to 2022. In addition, findings pertain to the impact of urbanization on income diversification and the overall welfare of farm households near Adama City was aligned with the study. The findings reveal that built-up areas and agricultural land exhibit the most significant changes over the examined period. However, these changes occur in opposite directions. The built-up area has experienced a substantial increase of 60% from 1986 to 2022, while agricultural land has decreased by 40% during the same timeframe. The conversion of farmland to built-up areas negatively impacts farm households by reducing farming activities and increasing reliance on non-farm activities, resulting in lower consumption expenditures for rural households near urban areas compared to those farther from the urban center. The result underscores the need for policies that promote appropriate land management and a well-planned urbanization process to ensure sustainable urban development. Furthermore, it is vital to enhance understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban growth and its impacts on farm households residing near urban areas. By addressing these issues, sustainable food security and poverty reduction objectives can be better achieved in peri-urban areas of the region.

Collective market action, farm performance, and household welfare among maize farmers: the role of outgrower scheme in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACT Although outgrower scheme facilitates farmers’ collective action in agri-food value chain market participation, evidence of its impacts on farm performance and welfare is still limited. We examine the determinants and impact of outgrower scheme collective market participation on farm performance and household welfare in northern Ghana, using a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model to account for selectivity bias. The empirical findings show that participants in collective input and output markets as well as the joint markets outperform nonparticipants in terms of farm performance (commercialization and net farm income) and household expenditure, with the highest gains associated with joint market participation. We also observed that factors such as gender, age, extension service, credit, transaction cost, and awareness of outgrower scheme significantly influence farmers’ inclusion in group marketing. The findings suggest that policies that facilitate farmers’ access to agricultural inputs and output markets in collective action should be implemented through public–private partnerships to enhance farm performance and the livelihood of farmers.

The role of organic rice farm income on farmer household welfare: Evidence from Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract The study aims to know the farmer’s income from organic rice farming and farmer household income, to determine the welfare of farmer households. This research was conducted by data collection from 70 farmers’ households. The data analysis was used for the estimation of the farmer household income exchange rate and good service ratio. The results showed that the farmers are not yet prosperous. Further analysis to determine the role of organic rice farming for farming households has received less attention from researchers. Regarding this study, on-farm income derived from organic rice farming has a role as income contribution about 34.71% on the welfare of farmer households, classified as moderate.

Food-cash crop diversification and farm household welfare in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana

Food-cash crop diversification and farm household welfare in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana

Internet use and rural income inequality: evidence from China

The integration of the digital transformation of agriculture and China’s ‘dual-carbon’ strategy for agriculture is new momentum for developing agriculture, reducing rural income inequality, and improving the subjective well-being of farm households. This paper uses data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2014, 2016, and 2018 to examine the impact of internet use on rural income inequality at the household level. The results show that internet use can significantly reduce rural income inequality by enhancing information availability and farm households’ nonfarm employment level. The results of a heterogeneity analysis reveal that the internet is more conducive to improving the income inequality of rural burdened families and families in Western China. Further analysis shows that improving income inequality can enhance the subjective well-being of farmer households. Accelerating the construction of digital villages, building internet skills cultivation systems, and focusing on the utility of internet use among vulnerable rural groups can reduce rural income inequality.

Livelihood Assets and Creative Thinking for Improving the Welfare of Farm Households

Livelihood Assets and Creative Thinking for Improving the Welfare of Farm Households

Impact of urbanization on the welfare of farm households: Evidence from Adama Rural District in Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

Urbanization is a widespread phenomenon with varying causes, patterns, and effects across countries. However, existing studies have overlooked the specific impact of urbanization on households near urban areas by failing to compare them with households in more distant regions. This study examines the impact of urbanization on rural household welfare in the Adama Rural District of the Oromia Region, Ethiopia. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed, selecting a sample of 397 households from two distinct categories. Of these households, 148 were located near the urban center, while 249 were far away. The study utilized descriptive and inferential data analysis methods and employed the propensity score matching technique to investigate the impact on farm households. Data was collected through questionnaires to gather cross-sectional information, supplemented by qualitative insights from Key Informant Interviews. The findings revealed that households near urban areas had a significantly lower mean annual consumer expenditure of 5207 ETB compared to 8092 ETB spent by families in distant areas. The results from propensity score matching further indicated that households near urban centers experienced lower annual consumption expenditures than those located further away. These results highlight the influence of urbanization on the welfare of rural farming households near urban areas. To address the negative effects of urbanization on these households, city administrations, and regional governments need to prioritize the development and implementation of alternative livelihood support strategies. Additionally, the study emphasizes the necessity of implementing policies that mitigate farmland loss while considering the socioeconomic factors impacting farmers in the region.

Carbon farming training and welfare: Evidence from Northern Ghana

Carbon farming, particularly soil carbon climate strategies, has emerged as a popular tool in addressing climate change and variability in worldwide agriculture. Yet, there is a paucity of evidence on its application, and even more so, limited evidence exists on the welfare impacts in developing countries, where the negative impacts of climate change and variability remain disproportionately higher. One potential option of increasing adoption of carbon farming practices is training for farm households to produce their own organic inputs from locally available resources. This study evaluates a biochar and compost production training undertaken in three semi-arid regions of Northern Ghana using inverse probability weighting regression adjustment (IPWRA) model. Sensitivity analyses are performed by employing least absolute shrinkage and selection operator treatment effects (TELASSO) method. The results show that participation in carbon farming training increased the adoption of compost and perception on soil quality. We also find that the intervention had statistically significant positive effects on agricultural productivity (measured as maize yield) and welfare outcomes (such as increase in per capita household expenditure and reduction in poverty status). These positive results show the importance of using soil carbon climate strategies in improving the welfare of farm households in developing countries. The study recommends that carbon farming capacity building initiatives should be scaled up to improve farm productivity and poverty reduction of farm households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Artisanal small-scale mining, farm labour attraction and household welfare in Ghana

The discourse on the impact of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) has often concentrated on land degradation, and surface water pollution. How ASM is increasingly attracting farm labourers (FL) in mining communities is rarely discussed. Drawing insight from selected mining communities, which combines the perspectives and experiences of small-scale miners, farmers, academics, and policymakers, this article uses the endogenous switching regression model to identify the determinants of FL attraction to ASM as well as the drivers of labour welfare. The model estimated the impact of labour supply on consumption expenditure per adult equivalent. The results show that FL decision to shift to ASM sector is constructed around welfare incentives. For instance, FL who joined ASM increased their consumption expenditure per adult equivalent by 66.6 percent. The article established that ASM provides crucial livelihoods to rural households. Meanwhile, if proper incentives such as fertilizer subsidy and agriculture extension intensification are not put in place, the labour attraction by ASM will have detrimental effects on food security. Therefore, proper regulatory frameworks should be enforced by duty-bearers to regulate the activities of ASM as it provides welfare improvements to farmers. Lastly, further studies should investigate the decency of labour supply services to ASM.

Welfare Effects of Agricultural Extension in the Sudan Savanna of Ghana

Agricultural extension services (AESs) are crucial in promoting farm performance and household welfare. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the interrelationship between extension access and farm household welfare in the Sudan Savanna of Ghana. The study is unique as it provides evidence of the influence of agricultural extension on household welfare in a conflict-prone and semi-arid area of the country. The study used a Heckman selection model and propensity score matching to assess smallholders' access to AESs and the welfare benefits of agricultural extension (AE). The study's findings showed that access to AESs led to higher yield, crop income, and fertilizer application, hence boosting household welfare. Furthermore, formal education considerably increased agricultural productivity while group membership enhanced access to AESs. In order to encourage AESs as part of programs to alleviate rural poverty and enhance family welfare, the study recommends that AE should be combined with other pro-poor development initiatives, such as the provision of basic and secondary education, especially in rural areas.

IMPACT OF CASHEW GRAFTED PLANTS ADOPTION ON PRODUCTIVITY AND HOUSEHOLD WELFARE IN BENIN

In Benin, cashew nuts represent a socio-economic and strategic interest for farmers and the government. New technologies, such as grafted plants, have been introduced to improve this crop's productivity. This study used the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method to assess the impact of adopting cashew grafted plants on land productivity and farm household welfare in Benin. Data were collected from 200 cashew farmers, including 57 adopters and 143 non-adopters of grafted plants. The results revealed that the improvement in cashew nut yield due to adopting grafted cashew plants varies between 231 and 242 kg/ha respectively for Nearest Neighbor and Kernel matching algorithm. Nevertheless, this adoption requires important investments that contribute to increasing agricultural expenses. The results also revealed that grafted plants positively and significantly cashew income and total household income. Grafted cashew plants adopters have an additional 73 755 CFA per hectare cashew income. Total household income also improved by 110 000 CFA per hectare. However, the increase in income needs to be sufficiently large to reduce the proportion of poor among adopters significantly. These results prove that increasing cashew nut production in Benin and improving farmers' welfare will require developing cashew nut planting materials capable of boosting cashew nut productivity. To this end, implementing and diffusing grafted cashew plants throughout the territory requires significant investments to improve cashew productivity and farmers welfare.

Role of Indian Women's Self-Help Groups for the Development of Community Resilience in the Agricultural and Allied Sectors

Rural women play a significant role in agriculture and related industries in our nation and are essential to the welfare of farm households. The farm women perform a huge variety of tasks every day, including farming, raising and producing livestock, gathering forest produce, etc. In addition to their typical domestic duties, they also fetch water, fodder, and firewood for the family's needs as well as for the cattle. Women make up almost half of India's human resource pool. Many of them reside in rural areas, and many of them are uneducated, destitute, and under the poverty line. In addition, rural women have less access to a variety of resources than urban women. Therefore, it is necessary to alter their ability to work, broaden their knowledge, hone their talents, and raise their economic standing.

Can improved sorghum varieties enhance farm performance and household welfare? Evidence from Upper East Region of Ghana

This paper examines the role of improved sorghum variety adoption on smallholder farm performance and household welfare, measured by farm input expenditure, farm output, farm net returns, and household consumption expenditure per capita, using data from a household survey in Ghana's Upper East region. The study employed an endogenous treatment effects model, which addresses observable and unobservable selection biases associated with households' adoption decisions. The results reveal that improved sorghum variety adoption is significantly driven by government support, farm size, market distance, education, Farmer-Based Organization (FBO) membership, and household size. Moreover, gender, education, farm size, government support, FBO membership are the significant drivers of farm performance and household welfare among farm households. The results also show increased farm performance and better welfare associated with improved sorghum variety adoption. In particular, adopters incur 12.87% input expenditure, generate 6.95% farm output, 6.39% farm net returns, and 9.88% household consumption expenditure per capita, relative to non-adopters. Developing improved sorghum varieties and promoting uptake by farmers could enhance farm performance and improve rural livelihoods in Ghana.

Does youth participation in the farming program impact farm productivity and household welfare? Evidence from Nigeria

One significant issue in the Global South, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, is youth unemployment. This is a result of the aging and shrinking agriculture industry, increased unemployment rates mixed with a sizable unskilled workforce, and rapid population expansion. Studies have shown that farming programs, when supported by increased investment and regulatory frameworks, provide opportunities for meaningful employment for many young people. This study attempts to estimate the impact of youth participation in farming programs on farm productivity and welfare using rice-growing household data from northern Nigeria. We used propensity score matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression (ESR) to address biases that may arise from both observed and unobserved factors. Our results show that age, education, household size, farm size, extension, access to credit, and membership of a social group are positive and significantly associated with youth participation in farming programs. The outcome demonstrates that participants fare better than non-participants in terms of farm productivity and welfare status. Furthermore, youth participation in farming programs has implications for heterogeneity within the participant group, which depends on socio-economic characteristics such as access to finance, association membership, and education, emphasizing the need for specific interventions and focusing on particular youth groups. Therefore, access to credit through relevant agencies with low interest rates and flexible payment options, strengthening youth organization could encourage participation in farming programs and job opportunities for the prosperity of the rural economy.

Research on Welfare Changes of Farmers with Different Livelihood Assets after Rural Residential Land Exit in the Context of “Tripartite Entitlement System”: A Case Study of Fuhong Town in Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu, China

By referring to the sustainable livelihood analysis and capability approach and taking Fuhong town in Qingbaijiang district, China, as an example, this paper classifies the livelihood assets of farm households before their residential land exit using the livelihood asset quantification method, and then analyzes the changes in their welfare after exit from residential land by adopting fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. The research results indicate that (1) the sample farm households are classified into three types, i.e., richness type, balance type, and shortage type, according to the configuration of livelihood assets, including human capital, natural capital, physical capital, financial capital, and social capital, before the exit from residential land; (2) after the exit from the residential land, the welfare of farm households has generally been improved, but the extent of such improvements varies from type to type; (3) there is a certain relationship between the configuration of livelihood assets before the exit from residential land and the welfare level after such an exit. It is suggested that importance should be attached to the heterogeneity or level of differentiation of farm households, and furthermore, measures should be taken so as to ensure that the welfare level will not be downgraded after farm households exit from their residential land.

The effects of climate change adaptation strategies on the welfare of rural farm households in Ethiopia

AbstractWe estimate the effect of multiple climate change adaptation strategies (CCAS) on farm household welfare using a new three‐wave panel data derived from the World Bank's geo‐referenced household socioeconomic survey and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) historical weather data. Using the multinomial panel endogenous switching regression model, we discovered that combining climate change adaptation strategies such as crop rotation and improved seed varieties is the most effective way to improve the welfare of smallholder farmers. The average treatment effect (ATT) results show that all CCAS have a positive and significant effect on the pattern of welfare improvement among smallholder farmers, but combinations of CCAS provide the highest payoffs. As a result, the combination of crop rotation and improved seed is the most appealing CCAS package that farmers could adopt as an ex‐ante strategy to improve farm household welfare. We also discovered that climate change and technology adoption are the most important factors influencing the welfare of rural farm households. Furthermore, we discover that the effectiveness of climate change adaptation strategies varies by farm households. Thus, we argued that targeted extension and advisory services, as well as other policies that support the synchronization of adaptation strategies, are critical for improving the welfare of rural farm households.

Correction to: Effect of use of tsetse repellant collar technology on the farm performance and household welfare of small‑scale livestock farmers in Kenya

Correction to: Effect of use of tsetse repellant collar technology on the farm performance and household welfare of small‑scale livestock farmers in Kenya

ANALISIS PENDAPATAN DAN TINGKAT KESEJAHTERAAN RUMAH TANGGA PETANI KUBIS DI KECAMATAN BALIK BUKIT KABUPATEN LAMPUNG BARAT

This research aims to analyze farm income, farmer household income level, farmer household expenditure, and farmer household welfare level. The research location is determined purposively at Balik Bukit District, West Lampung Regency. Furthermore the research uses a survey method and is carried out from January to February 2020. The data analysis used in this research is qualitative and quantitative descriptive analysis. Quantitative analysis is used to determine the amount of farmer income, farmer household income and household expenditure level of cabbage farmers, while qualitative descriptive analysis is used to analyze the welfare level of cabbage farmers' households. The results showed that cabbage farming run by cabbage farmers was very profitable because the R/C value of the total cost was more than one. The largest source of income (74.65%) was came from cabbage farming, followed by non-cabbage farming (19.74%), non-farm income (3.37%) and off-farm income (2.24%). Moreover household expenditures of cabbage farmers consisted of food expenditures and non-food expenditures. Household food expenditure of cabbage farmers was 44.96% per year, while non-food expenditure was 55.04% per year. Exchange rate Farmers' household income against production costs (3.57), food consumption (6.30), non-food consumption (5.15), total consumption (2.83), and total expenditure (1.58) indicate that cabbage farming households in Balik Bukit District were included in the prosperous category. Keywords: cabbage, expenses, household income, income, welfare

Effect of use of tsetse repellant collar technology on the farm performance and household welfare of small-scale livestock farmers in Kenya

Effect of use of tsetse repellant collar technology on the farm performance and household welfare of small-scale livestock farmers in Kenya

The Urgency of Agrarian Reform Policy: A Study of the Impact of Land Access on Farmer Household Welfare

Abstract: Inequality of land ownership is caused by unequal access to land. This study examined the impact of land access on total farmer's household expenditure. The Agrarian reform policy assumed open and expand access to land for groups of landless or near landless farmer households. Through state-led and market-led approaches, this research provided a categorization of access to land in two ways, which are access opening and access expansion variables with each sample coverage. Using the two periods difference-in-difference (DID) method, this study analyzed the impact of opening and expanding access to the total expenditure of farmer households using IFLS 2007 and 2014 data. The results showed that there is a significant difference in the total expenditures of farmer households due to the opening and expansion of access referring to the land distribution scheme (state-led approach), and there is no significant difference through the market-led approach. Therefore, agrarian reform policies need to be carried out by emphasizing the role of the state in implementing land redistribution to landless and small farmers. Keywords: Agrarian reform, state-led approach, market-led approach, impact of land access, total farmer household expenditure