Livestock Revenue Research Articles

Assessing the impact of sand and dust storm on agriculture: Empirical evidence from Mongolia.

Assessing the economic impact of sand and dust storms provides critical insights to policy development and reforms; a subject that is gaining more attention as risk management becomes the dominant approach for hazard mitigation policies. To assess the causal impact of sand and dust storms on agriculture, specifically on crop and livestock revenue and physical production, random year-to-year variations in dust exposure were analyzed using a fixed effect regression. To complete this analysis, weather and climate data from the on-ground meteorological stations was combined with the household level socioeconomic surveys conducted by Mongolia's National Statistics Office (NSO) over a decade. The descriptive statistics of the meteorological data collected over the eight years period show that, on average, 29 dust events have occurred every year across the country, with greater variation among provinces (Aimags) and regions, reaching up to 108 events in a year in some provinces. The overall trend reveals a slight decrease in the dust events from 2009 to 2019. The econometric results show that value of crop and livestock production (gross income) and physical yields significantly decline in response to higher frequencies of sand and dust storms events. During this period, Mongolia experienced a 2.7% decline in crop revenue as a result of additional sand and dust storms. Assuming 2.7% constant decline in revenues across all agricultural sub-sectors and regions or Aimags, this could lead to about $37.8 million in losses to the economy, which is equivalent to about 0.27% of the national GDP of Mongolia. Increases in the frequency of sand and dust storms could reduce agricultural productivity by between 1.5% to 24%, depending on the crop. Estimates from the modelling exercise are robust to potential endogeneity bias in the measure of sand and dust storms; different specification and identification approaches accounting for the endogeneity bias consistently reveal negative and qualitatively similar impacts of sand and dust storms on crop and livestock productivity.

Economic impacts of climate change on livestock and crop returns in the coastal region of Kenya

Abstract. Wachira PW, Ndunda E, Sitati N. 2021. Economic impacts of climate change on livestock and crop returns in the coastal region of Kenya. Indo Pac J Ocean Life 5: 74-82. The objectives were to assess which impact climate change has on crop net revenue, to evaluate the impact of climate change on livestock net revenue, and to estimate the impact of climate change on combined net revenue. The study was conducted in all six counties in coastal area of Kenya, i.e.: Kwale, Lamu, Tana River, Mombasa, Kilifi, and Taita Taveta. A sum of 631 respondents was interviewed to obtain the cross-sectional survey data. The secondary data on precipitation, temperature, and evaporation for 40 years was obtained from Kenya Meteorological Department. The data was analyzed using the Ricardian model; the linear and quadratic effects of climate change on crops, livestock net revenue, and the combination were calculated. The study shows that climate change significantly (p<0.05) affects net revenues from livestock, crops, and a combination of livestock and crops. Other socio-economic variables that were found to also significantly (p<0.05) affect net revenue from crops, livestock, and a combination of crops and livestock were access to media, credit services access, farmer-to-farmer extension services, size of land owned, climate change awareness, education level, age, and gender of the household head. The results show a non-linear relationship between climate variables and net revenues from crops, livestock, and agriculture. This study concludes that a unit increase in precipitation increases crop revenues; at the same time, a unit increase in mean annual temperature significantly reduces crop and total farm income. The marginal effect of increasing a unit in precipitation is a reduction of livestock net revenue. An increase in livestock production revenue from a unit temperature increase (linear) can be attributed to the livestock breeds in the coastal region inherent to dry weather. However, results show that increasing quadratic temperature would reduce net livestock revenue. This study recommends enhancing awareness of climate change, crop, livestock, and combined agriculture adaptation strategies. Also important is access to credit facilities that help farmers greatly to acquire the necessary inputs for crop production in time. Further, training groups of farmers would be appropriate in the study area since the trained farmers preferably transfer the learned technologies to others through farmer-to-farmer extension services. Media access should be enhanced whereby information on appropriate livestock and crop production technologies may be communicated to farmers.

Impact of grassland transfer on technical efficiency of livestock production in Northern China

ABSTRACT This paper estimates the impact of grassland transfer on the technical efficiency of livestock production, using the cross-sectional data collected from herders in Northern China. The propensity score matching approach and selectivity-corrected stochastic production frontier model are employed to address the selection bias issues. The empirical results show that, on average, the average technical efficiency score of herders with grassland transfer is significantly higher than that of herders without grassland transfer, which are 0.56 and 0.41, respectively, after addressing both observed and unobserved selection biases. The livestock revenue is positively and significantly affected by forage grass use, machinery use, stocking rate, family and hired labours use, and veterinary investment. Our findings highlight the importance of facilitating grassland transfer to increase livestock production efficiency and boost farm performance.

The impact of climate change on livestock production in pastoral areas of China

This study assesses the impacts of climate change on net livestock revenue, grazing intensity, and net revenue per livestock, based on a panel dataset of 959 herder households from 18 counties in three major pastoral provinces in China. The Ricardian model and the Hsiao two-step method are applied to quantify the impacts on household-level livestock production made by long-term changes of temperature and precipitation and short-term occurrence of natural disasters. The results indicate that long-term temperature leads to decreased net livestock revenue and net revenue per livestock, whereas long-term precipitation improves revenue per livestock. Next, both long-term annual temperature and precipitation result in an increase of grazing intensity. A further analysis based on the simulation of future climate change predicts that the future increase in temperature will have a negative influence on both net revenue and net revenue per livestock, while the precipitation increment will have a positive effect on livestock production.

Revenues on the hoof: livestock trade, taxation and state-making in the Somali territories

ABSTRACT This article considers the relationship between livestock taxation and local state formation dynamics in the northern Somali territories. While the economic importance of livestock in Somalia is undisputed, its significance as a source of revenue and legitimacy for public administrations and competing state-building projects has been overlooked. Drawing on fieldwork in Somaliland’s main livestock markets and the Berbera corridor, we highlight the interplay between public administrations that seek to maximize livestock revenue and traders who attempt to minimize taxation. State attempts to capture these ‘revenues on the hoof’ by both coercive and consensual means, shifting livestock trading routes and fluctuating animal trading volumes produce different taxation patterns across the Somali territories. As a result, fiscal contracts between livestock traders and public administrations are marked by various degrees of reciprocity and coercion.

Increasing of livestock revenue through integration corn and Bali cow

The study was conducted in farmers at Gantarang Keke, Bantaeng Regency, South Sulawesi. The purpose of this study was to determine increase of farmers’ income in the integration maize and Bali cow. The study used surveys, interviews and questionnaires for 30 farmers. Randomized block design uses 2 fertilizer factors, organic 4 levels and inorganic 3 levels, with 3 replications respectively. Parameters are production and biomass (straw, cob and klobot) of corn. The 15 head of Bali cow are used with 3 corn feed treatments and 5 replications. Results of research on corn production showed that organic fertilizers did not show significant different (P >0.05) but inorganic fertilizer showed increase significantly (P <0.05). There was no interaction effect in both fertilization treatments. The results of economic research on corn production showed net profit of corn business income by organic fertilizer which in the amount of Rp.6.27 million/harvest and R/C of 1.57.The net profit by inorganic fertilization was Rp.7.28 million/harvest, R/C was 1.65. The profits of the Bali cow was Rp. 4.78 million/year, R/C of 1.44. The integration of corn plants and Bali cow in farmers, gives good results because it is economical, effective and efficient. This business is economically feasible to try again.

Uptake of insurance-embedded credit in presence of credit rationing: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Kenya

PurposeDrought-related climate risk and access to credit are among the major risks to agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers in Kenya. Farmers are usually credit-constrained due to either involuntary quantity rationing or voluntary risk rationing. By exploiting randomized distribution of weather risk-contingent credit (RCC) and traditional credit, the authors estimate the causal effect of bundling weather index insurance to credit on uptake of agricultural credits among rural smallholders in Eastern Kenya. Further, the authors assess farmers' credit rationing, its determinants and effects on credit uptake.Design/methodology/approachThe study design was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in Machakos County, Kenya. 1,170 sample households were randomly assigned to one of three research groups, namely control, RCC and traditional credit. This paper is based on baseline household survey data and the first phase of loan implementation data.FindingsThe authors find that 48% of the households were price-rationed, 41% were risk-rationed and 11% were quantity-rationed. The average credit uptake rate was 33% with the uptake of bundled credit being significantly higher than that of traditional credit. Risk rationing seems to influence the credit uptake negatively, whereas premium subsidies do not have any significant association with credit uptake. Among the socio-economic variables, training attendance, crop production being the main household head occupation, expenditure on food, maize labour requirement, hired labour, livestock revenue and access to credit are found to influence the credit uptake positively, whereas the expenditure on non-food items is negatively related with credit uptake.Research limitations/implicationsThe study findings provide important insights on the factors of credit demand. Empirical results suggest that risk rationing is pervasive and discourages farmers to take up credit. The study results also imply that credit demand is inelastic although relatively small sample size for RCC premium subsidy groups may be a limiting factor to the authors’ estimation.Originality/valueBy implementing a multi-arm RCT, the authors estimate the factors affecting the uptake of insurance bundled agricultural credits along with eliciting credit rationing among rural smallholders in Eastern Kenya. This paper provides key empirical findings on the uptake of RCC and the effect of credit rationing on uptake of agricultural credits, a field which has been majorly theoretical.

THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION IN KENYA

Purpose: This study examined the effects of climate variability on livestock production in Kenya.Methodology: The study used the Ricardian cross-sectional approach to measure the relationship between climate variability and net revenue from livestock. Net livestock revenue is regressed against various climate and socio-economic variables to help determine the factors that influence variability in net livestock revenues. This study is based on data from ASDSP household baseline survey of 1871 livestock farming households interviewed across the country.Results: The empirical results show that climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) have significant effects on net livestock revenues in Kenya. The net livestock revenues are affected negatively by increases in temperature and rainfall. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends that there is a need to provide adequate extension information services to ensure that farmers receive up-to-date information so as to ensure increased production. Similarly, policies that increase farmer training and access to credit can help improve net livestock revenues.

Assessing the feasibility of carbon payments and Payments for Ecosystem Services to reduce livestock grazing pressure on saltmarshes

Saltmarshes provide important services including flood control, climate regulation, and provisioning services when grazed by livestock for agriculture and conservation purposes. Grazing diminishes aboveground carbon, creating a trade-off between these two services. Furthermore, saltmarshes are threatened by overgrazing. To provide saltmarsh protection and ensure the continuing delivery of ecosystem services, there is a need to incentivise land managers to stock environmentally sensible densities. We therefore investigated the possibility of agri-environmental schemes and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) to compensate for lost livestock revenue under reduced grazing regimes and provide carbon sequestration and other benefits. This is the first study to consider the benefits arising from a potential carbon market to saltmarshes, although similar schemes exist for peatland and woodland. We calculated the net economic benefit (costs of livestock production are removed from revenue) to farmers obtained from a hectare of grazed saltmarsh under low (0.3 Livestock Units per hectare per year), moderate (0.6), high (1.0) and very high (2.0) stocking densities accounting for livestock revenue, carbon benefits, and agri-environmental subsidies. We repeated the procedure considering additional benefits transferred from the literature in terms of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services provided by protected saltmarshes. The net benefits were assessed for a range of market carbon prices and social costs of carbon, e.g. the opportunity cost of carbon for society. Applying the model to Scottish saltmarshes we find that the current range of market prices could prompt transitions from high to moderate regimes in areas where livestock value is low, however break-even prices for transitions showed high spatial variability due to spatial variability in livestock values. In some areas of the West Highlands, the break-even carbon price is negative, indicating that the current agri-environmental schemes are able to more than compensate for the lost revenue accruing to farmers by a reduced grazing density. However, in other areas, such as the Outer Hebrides, the break-even carbon price is positive. Private PES schemes or increased public subsidies should then be provided to generate net benefits. It is reasonable to infer that a pure carbon market may have limited scope in incentivising consumers to buy carbon services, especially in areas with limited local number of buyers and corporates of small size. Under this circumstance, a premium carbon market offering bundled ecosystem services may help reduce grazing pressure across a larger number of Scottish saltmarshes, thereby providing globally important climate regulation services and at the same time protecting sensitive habitats.

English

Cameroon has enormous potentials for small ruminant production which are still largely underexploited. The Far North Region harbors about 3/4 of the total population of small ruminants (goat and sheep) in the country. Above 80% of the region’s population is involved in livestock rearing. Despite these potentials, the sustained challenges in the sector have been attributed to low investment in the sector. Production rate is low and does not meet up with the meat demands of an ever increasing population. To resolve this problem a number of projects have been put in place by the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to work through the intermediary of common initiative groups to boost the production of livestock especially that of small ruminants. This work was carried out to examine how two of such livestock projects funded by two NGOs, Heifer International Project Cameroon (HPIC) and Comite Diocesain de Developement (CDD) in the Far North Region were managed and its effects on the quality of life of the producers. A case study was carried out on 200 producers organized in 17 common initiative groups. The result of the survey was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 English Version and the hypotheses tested using the Spearman’s Rank Correlation. The results obtained from the field revealed that 90, 97.5, and 98% of the producers witnessed an increase in livestock production, revenue and satisfaction of social needs after assistance respectively. It is concluded that the proper management of small ruminant livestock projects through the intermediary of common initiative groups has a significant and positive impact on the quantity of livestock production and socio-economic development of producers. Other projects aimed at increasing livestock production could follow the management styles of HPIC and CDD. Key words: Management, socio-economic development, livestock projects, capacity building, inputs, monitoring, control.

Managing Livestock Species under Climate Change in Australia.

Simple SummaryWorld communities are concerned about the impacts of a hotter and drier climate on future agriculture. By examining Australian regional livestock data on sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle, and pigs, the authors find that livestock production will expand under such conditions. Livestock revenue per farm is expected to increase by more than 47% by 2060 under the UKMO, the GISS, and a high degree of warming CSIRO scenario. The existence of a threshold temperature for these species is not evident.This paper examines the vulnerabilities of major livestock species raised in Australia to climate change using the regional livestock profile of Australia of around 1,400 regions. The number of each species owned, the number of each species sold, and the aggregate livestock revenue across all species are examined. The four major species analyzed are sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle, and pigs. The analysis also includes livestock products such as wool and milk. These livestock production statistics are regressed against climate, geophysical, market and household characteristics. In contrast to crop studies, the analysis finds that livestock species are resilient to a hotter and more arid climate. Under the CSIRO climate scenario in which temperature increases by 3.4 °C, livestock revenue per farm increases significantly while the number of each species owned increases by large percentages except for dairy cattle. The precipitation reduction by about 8% in 2060 also increases the numbers of livestock species per farm household. Under both UKMO and GISS scenarios, livestock revenue is expected to increase by around 47% while the livestock population increases by large percentage. Livestock management may play a key role in adapting to a hot and arid climate in Australia. However, critical values of the climatic variables for the species analyzed in this paper are not obvious from the regional data.

Working Farm Participation and Acreage Enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program

Among Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) participants, there is a distinction between farm households using the program to ease out of farming and those using the program to augment production receipts. We find evidence that factors other than crop or livestock revenue and environmental factors are associated with program participation and acreage enrollment among farmers who continue agricultural production. Program payments and farm size are positively associated with the amount of land enrolled in the CRP, and characteristics of participants in land retirement and working-lands CRP components are similar.

Livestock Revenue Insurance

AbstractThis study outlines several possible structures for livestock revenue insurance. The policies take the form of an exotic option, an Asian basket option. The actuarially fair premiums for these policies are equal to the prices of the options they represent. Because of the complexity of pricing Asian basket options, we combined two techniques for pricing options to reach the actuarially fair premiums. Projected premiums, producer welfare, and program efficiency are evaluated for the insurance products and existing market tools. Using efficiency ratios and certainty equivalent returns, we compare the insurance policies to strategies involving existing futures and options. © 2001 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 21:553–580, 2001