Smallholder Households Research Articles

The contribution of ‘chitoumou’, the edible caterpillar Cirina butyrospermi, to the food security of smallholder farmers in southwestern Burkina Faso

Edible insects have been advocated as a means to combat food insecurity, which is prevalent in West Africa. In this study we look at the contribution of the shea caterpillar Cirina butyrospermi, colloquially known as ‘chitoumou’, to the food security of smallholder households in rural southwestern Burkina Faso. We used a mixed methods approach to understand the relationship between caterpillar collection, consumption, and sale by smallholder households, and their seasonal food security status. We found that caterpillars are an important source of food and income for households, significantly increasing the household consumption of animal protein and, with shea nuts, representing the main income source for the majority of women. We also found that food security is higher during caterpillar season, and that household-level food security during this season can be predicted by the amount of caterpillars collected, consumed and sold. However, this relationship holds only during the caterpillar season, suggesting that the positive impact of caterpillars on food security is temporally limited. We conclude that the shea caterpillar is an example of an edible insect that is crucial for seasonal food security in a widespread agricultural system.

The contribution of \u2018chitoumou\u2019, the edible caterpillar Cirina butyrospermi, to the food security of smallholder farmers in southwestern Burkina Faso

Edible insects have been advocated as a means to combat food insecurity, which is prevalent in West Africa. In this study we look at the contribution of the shea caterpillar Cirina butyrospermi, colloquially known as ‘chitoumou’, to the food security of smallholder households in rural southwestern Burkina Faso. We used a mixed methods approach to understand the relationship between caterpillar collection, consumption, and sale by smallholder households, and their seasonal food security status. We found that caterpillars are an important source of food and income for households, significantly increasing the household consumption of animal protein and, with shea nuts, representing the main income source for the majority of women. We also found that food security is higher during caterpillar season, and that household-level food security during this season can be predicted by the amount of caterpillars collected, consumed and sold. However, this relationship holds only during the caterpillar season, suggesting that the positive impact of caterpillars on food security is temporally limited. We conclude that the shea caterpillar is an example of an edible insect that is crucial for seasonal food security in a widespread agricultural system.

The role of quantitative cross-case analysis in understanding tropical smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate shocks

Climate shocks are predicted to increase in magnitude and frequency as the climate changes, notably impacting poor and vulnerable communities across the Tropics. The urgency to better understand and improve communities’ resilience is reflected in international agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the multiplication of adaptation research and action programs. In turn, the need for collecting and communicating evidence on the climate resilience of communities has increasingly drawn questions concerning how to assess resilience. While empirical case studies are often used to delve into the context-specific nature of resilience, synthesizing results is essential to produce generalizable findings at the scale at which policies are designed. Yet datasets, methods and modalities that enable cross-case analyses that draw from individual local studies are still rare in climate resilience literature. We use empirical case studies on the impacts of El Niño on smallholder households from five countries to test the application of quantitative data aggregation for policy recommendation. We standardized data into an aggregated dataset to explore how key demographic factors affected the impact of climate shocks, modeled as crop loss. We find that while cross-study results partially align with the findings from the individual projects and with theory, several challenges associated with quantitative aggregation remain when examining complex, contextual and multi-dimensional concepts such as resilience. We conclude that future exercises synthesizing cross-site empirical evidence in climate resilience could accelerate research to policy impact by using mixed methods, focusing on specific landscapes or regional scales, and facilitating research through the use of shared frameworks and learning exercises.

Use of financial diaries to understand smallholder investment finance a cross country analysis in Mozambique, Tanzania and Pakistan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relative importance of different sources of finance for agricultural and non-agricultural investments using unique Smallholder Financial Diaries collected by Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) in Mozambique, Pakistan and Tanzania at the individual and household level.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the analytical framework of variance decomposition developed in Samphantharak and Townsend (2010), this study develops a method to quantify how much each cash deficit associated to investments and expenses of interest co-move with different financing sources.FindingsThis paper finds that self-finance, rather than formal or informal finance from external providers, is the main financing source for long-term and short-term smallholder agricultural investments. Further, the paper finds that the main source of self-finance varies depending on the economic opportunities faced by smallholders, with non-agricultural income as the dominant financing source for some, while agricultural income dominating for others.Research limitations/implicationsGiven CGAP’s Smallholder Financial Diaries is not nationally representative, research results should be interpreted carefully. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to analyze financing sources for smallholder households making use of high frequency financial data for individuals in developing countries.Practical implicationsThese findings imply that financial inclusion policies specifically targeting smallholders and the agricultural sector would benefit from enabling the development of an ecosystem of diverse financial services that respond simultaneously to both agriculture and non-agriculture needs.Originality/valueThis is paper furthers the authors’ knowledge on how smallholder households are financing their agricultural investments. Moreover, it applies methods in new ways to exploit a unique data set.

Bridging the financial inclusion gender gap in smallholder agriculture in Nigeria: An untapped potential for sustainable development

Abstract The sustainable development of Nigeria is being challenged by a persistent large financial inclusion gender gap (FIGG). The same gender gap in the country’s smallholder agriculture frustrates the multifunctional potentials of agriculture in achieving sustainable development outcomes. The smallholders drive the agricultural sector, comprise majority of the worlds’ poor and are found in all regions in Nigeria. This study used a mixed method review from secondary sources (Global Findex Databases 2011, 2014, 2017, Nigeria – CGAP Smallholder Household Survey 2016 and literatures) to investigate the trend in FIGG in smallholder agriculture in Nigeria. The causes and effects of FIGG on sustainable development were also identified by this study and the strategies to bridge the gap. Our study found that the FIGG in smallholder agriculture was 12% in 2016, while considering the whole population; it increased from 7% in 2011 to 20% in 2014 and 24% in 2017. The causes of FIGG were ascribed to socioeconomic, socio-cultural, institutional, legal and regulatory factors which affect the demand and supply of formal financial services. The FIGG in smallholder agriculture has interlinked negative effects like high cost on agricultural productivity, income inequality, food insecurity, limited market access and poverty which retards sustainable development. This study argued that bridging the FIGG in smallholder agriculture through targeted strategies like digital financial inclusion and gender responsive agricultural finance innovations would not only advance efforts aimed at closing the FIGG in Nigeria but would also reposition the country in achieving SGD5 and other sustainable outcomes. Progress made by Nigeria would contribute to African continent’s advancement and also fast track the global realization of the SDGs by 2030 given Nigeria’s highest population in Africa.

Smallholder Decision-Making on Sawlog Production: The Case of Acacia Plantation Owners in Central Vietnam

Background and objectives: Smallholder households with a plot size of 1–5 ha manage nearly half of Vietnam’s acacia plantations. They mostly harvest acacia timber after short rotation periods (5–6 years) producing woodchips with relatively low financial returns compared to potential profits from sawlog production through long rotation periods. The domestic wood production cannot yet meet the needs of the booming furniture industry for raw materials. This paper investigates factors that influence the adoption of long-rotation periods for sawlog production by small-scale plantation owners. Materials and methods: The impact of farmer and farm characteristics and the characteristics of the external environment on the probability to adopt long rotation periods is analyzed. The data were collected through focus group discussions (FGD) and a household survey to capture the wider socio-economic situation of small-scale plantation owners in central Vietnam. Findings: Results from FGDs and probit regressions show that factors that potentially constrain small-scale plantation owners from the production of sawlogs can be grouped into four themes: (1) small and fragmented land holdings, (2) high risks related to natural disasters and other biotic and abiotic hazards, (3) high production and monitoring costs, and (4) lack of knowledge and experience in plantation management. Conclusions: Potential policy approaches to promote the adoption of long rotation periods should include a package of measures that simultaneously address the constraints of smallholders and the various risks that they face.

Are medium‐scale farms driving agricultural transformation in sub‐Saharan Africa?

AbstractThis study presents evidence of profound farm‐level transformation in parts of sub‐Saharan Africa, identifies major sources of dynamism in the sector, and proposes an updated typology of farms that reflects the evolving nature of African agriculture. Repeat waves of national survey data are used to examine changes in crop production and marketed output by farm size. Between the first and most recent surveys (generally covering 6 to 10 years), the share of national marketed crop output value accounted for by medium‐scale farms rose in Zambia from 23% to 42%, in Tanzania from 17% to 36%, and in Nigeria from 7% to 18%. The share of land under medium‐scale farms is not rising in densely populated countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, where land scarcity is impeding the pace of medium‐scale farm acquisitions. Medium‐scale farmers are a diverse group, reflecting distinct entry pathways into agriculture, encouraged by the rapid development of land rental, purchase, and long‐term lease markets. The rise of medium‐scale farms is affecting the region in diverse ways that are difficult to generalize. Findings indicate that these farms can be a dynamic driver of agricultural transformation but this does not reduce the importance of maintaining a clear commitment to supporting smallholder farms. Strengthening land tenure security of local rural people to maintain land rights and support productivity investments by smallholder households remains crucial.

Sales and Marketing of Fresh Milk by Smallholder Dairy Farmers in West Java

As a highly perishable product, sales and marketing are very important for fresh milk produced by dairy farmers. This paper aimed to analyze the sales and marketing of fresh milk done by smallholder dairy farmers in West Java. Data used in this paper is a part of the IndoDairy Smallholder Household Survey (ISHS) data collected during August–September 2017, covering 600 smallholder dairy farm households in Bandung, Garut, Cianjur, and Bogor Regencies. Descriptive statistic analysis using tabulation was employed to process the data. Almost all the dairy farmers sold fresh milk, except one in Bogor who sold milk in the form of processed milk. Almost all farmers (98 percent) sold their fresh milk to dairy cooperatives, showing dairy farmers’ strong dependency on the dairy cooperatives. The price of fresh milk received by the farmers ranged from Rp4,794/L (Bogor Regency) to Rp4,212/L(Cianjur Regency), giving an average of Rp4,459/L. Due to the strong dependency on the dairy cooperatives, it is important to strengthen dairy cooperatives’ management capacities to help dairy farmers improve their milk quality, and hence prices, as well as dairy farmers’ welfare.

Gender and microcredit in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Mozambican smallholder households

Among countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mozambique ranks among the highest with respect to gender inequality. As genderized access to microcredit can be a driver of gender inequality in general, this paper considers how gender conditions access to microcredit and macrocredit in Mozambique. With diary data on financial activities among individuals in Mozambican smallholder households, we estimate the quantile treatment effect of being a woman on the receipt of microcredit. Methodologically, our quantile treatment framework enables an analysis of loan size based upon the actual size distribution of monetary loans among smallholder households in Mozambique. Parameter estimates reveal that being a woman in Mozambique has a positive treatment effect on two types of informal loans in the top quantiles of the loan size distribution. This suggests that in Mozambique, to the extent that loans in the top quantiles are made to entereprenuers, microcredit can potentially catalyse gender-inclusive economic growth and development.

Integrated Agriculture-Nutrition Education with Orange-fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) Improved Maternal Knowledge, Food-Security and Dietary Intakes in Rural Tanzania (P10-134-19)

ObjectivesThis aim of this ag-nutrition integrated intervention was to contribute to improved dietary diversity (DD), nutrition, food security and incomes of smallholder households (HH) with children under-five years. MethodsThe M&E strategy of the intervention assessed the overall effectiveness and sustainability of the OFSP delivery approach linking agriculture to nutrition behavior change and communication at community level. A total of 140 clubs were established and run by 157 trained community health workers (CHWs) with 2663 active members. There were 21,876 caregiver attendances to 1167 club meetings. A total of 27,676 eligible HH received OFSP seeds together with brochures containing messages on OFSP production utilization. Cross-sectional surveys among 549 mother-child (6–59 mos) pairs at baseline and 547 mother-child pairs at endline examined the effect of the project’s intervention on participating HH. The 24-month intervention linked beneficiaries to quality OFSP seed sources, received improved monthly nutrition education at community-level caregivers’ group meetings. Indices were developed to assess HH wealth, child caregivers’ knowledge on VA and nutrition, health seeking behavior and childcare practices, access and frequency of consumption of VA rich foods and, HH and young child DD. ResultsThe intervention had a positive impact on production (0.8% at baseline vs 42% at endline; P < 0.001) and consumption (0.4% vs 46%, P < 0.0001) of OFSP. There was a significant 23% (P < 0.001) increase in caregiver knowledge on nutrition and VA. The average health-seeking and childcare knowledge score of caregivers at endline improved by 28% (P < 0.001) compared to baseline. There were improvements in HH DD with 72% increase (P < 0.0001), young child DD at 18% increase (P < 0.01) as well as and young child VA intake between baseline and endline. The project significantly improved food security among beneficiary HH where low food insecurity (score of 0–2) improved from 32% at baseline to 53% during endline (P < 0.0001). ConclusionsThe positive agricultural and nutrition outcomes documented throughout the intervention period was a result of HH members being empowered to adopt OFSP technologies and management practices as well increased active participation in nutrition club meetings. Funding SourcesSupported by USAID.

A cost-benefit analysis of climate-smart agriculture options in Southern Africa: Balancing gender and technology

Climate change and extreme weather events undermine smallholder household food and income security in southern Africa. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies comprise a suite of interventions that aim to sustainably increase productivity whilst helping farmers adapt their farming systems to climate change and to manage risk more effectively. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and a mixed methods approach were used to assess the likelihood of investment in various CSA technology combinations. The data were drawn respectively from 1440, 696, and 1448 sample households in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, covering 3622, 2106 and 5212 maize-legume plots in these countries over two years. The cost-benefit analysis and stochastic dominance results showed that CSA options that combined soil and water conservation management practices based on the principles of conservation agriculture (CA), improved varieties, and associations of cereal-legume crop species were economically viable and worth implementing for risk averse smallholder farmers. A dynamic mixed multinomial logit demonstrated that women's bargaining power, drought shock, and access to CSA technology information positively influenced the probability of investing in CSA technology combinations. This study provides evidence of the importance of cultural context, social relevance and intra-household decision-making in tailoring suitable combinations of CSA for smallholder farmers in southern Africa.

Participatory agroecological research on climate change adaptation improves smallholder farmer household food security and dietary diversity in Malawi

This study examines whether agroecological farming practices, when employed by highly vulnerable households in sub-Saharan Africa, can improve food security and dietary diversity. The research involved a four-year study with 425 smallholder households, selected purposively based on high levels of food insecurity and/or positive HIV status. The households carried out agroecological experiments of their own choosing over a four-year period. Baseline (n = 306) and follow-up (n = 352) surveys were conducted in 2011 and 2013 respectively to assess changes in farming practices, food security, crop diversity and dietary diversity. Longitudinal mixed effects models were used with 203 matched households to estimate determinants of change in food security and dietary diversity at the population level. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were also conducted to provide depth to the survey findings. The findings show that participatory agroecology experimentation increased intercropping, legume diversification and the addition of compost, manure and crop residue amendments to the soil. Intercropping was associated with food security and the use of organic soil amendments was associated with gains in dietary diversity in bivariate analysis. Household food security and dietary diversity increased significantly over a 2-year period. Importantly, multivariate models showed that spousal discussion about farming was strongly associated with increased household food security and dietary diversity. Households who discussed farming with their spouse were 2.4 times more likely to be food secure and have diverse diets. Addition of compost or manure to the soil significantly influenced dietary diversity. These findings indicate that poor, vulnerable farmers can use agroecological methods to effectively improve food and nutritional security in sub-Saharan Africa. The study also highlights how linking agroecology to participatory research approaches that promote farmer experimentation and gender equity also lead to greater health and well-being. The study sheds light on how agroecological approaches can rapidly improve food security and dietary diversity, even under conditions of acute social, health or ecological stress. It draws attention to issues of equity and farmer-led approaches in addressing food security and nutrition.

Factors Influencing Household Food Security Among Irrigation Smallholders in North West Nigeria

Motivation: Food insecurity remains a continuing global challenge in most parts of the developing world, including Nigeria. While considerable resources have been devoted to tackling the menace owing to its negative impacts on health and well-being, progress is rather slow and uneven across regions and countries. Indeed, much is yet to be explored on the conditions that result in food insecurity. The paper investigates household food security and the socio-economic factors that determine it among smallholders in the Middle Rima Valley Irrigation Project, Sokoto State, Nigeria.Novelty: The combination of both the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Food Consumption Score (FCS) to measure food security and the regression of these variables against socio-economic characteristics of smallholder households represent an innovative way of assessing the effect of socio-economic characteristics on food security status of smallholder households which has scarcely been done in literature.Methodology and Methods: Quantitative data were successfully collected from 306 randomly selected households using a well-structured questionnaire. The HDDS and FCS were used to assess household food security level, and multivariate regression was used to examine factors associated with food security.Data and Empirical Analysis: Results indicate that at least 45% of the households were food insecure. The relationship between HDDS and FCS was found to be moderate, but positive and statistically significant. This thus validates the food insecurity phenomenon in the study area. Food insecurity is influenced by household income, education, training, farming experience, livestock ownership, and farm size. The latter however emerged as the most significant factor influencing food security of smallholder households.Policy Considerations: Targeted interventions are recommended in the areas of social protection initiatives, human capacity development through farmer training, and market access. The latter is imperative as smallholders may lack the motivation to increase production in an era of inadequate access to market. Furthermore, there is also the need to improve infrastructure to enhance access to market, encourage sustainable intensification and provide access to credit facilities for increased cultivation.

Recent intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle in equatorial Africa revealed by farmer perceptions, satellite-based estimates, and ground-based station measurements

Smallholder farmers and livestock keepers in sub-Saharan Africa are on the frontlines of climate variability and change. Yet, in many regions, a paucity of weather and climate data has prevented rigorous assessment of recent climate trends and their causes, thereby limiting the effectiveness of forecasts and other services for climate adaptation. In rainfed systems, farmer perceptions of changing rainfall and weather patterns are important precursors for annual cropping decisions. Here, we propose that combining such farmer perceptions of trends in seasonal rainfall with satellite-based rainfall estimates and climate station data can reduce uncertainties regarding regional climatic trends. In western Uganda, a rural and climatically complex transition zone between eastern and central equatorial Africa, data from 980 smallholder households suggest distinct changes in seasonal bimodal rainfall over recent decades, specifically wetter rainy seasons and drier dry seasons. Data from three satellite-based rainfall products beginning in 1983 largely corroborate respondent perceptions over the last 10–20 years, particularly in the southernmost sites near Queen Elizabeth National Park. In addition, combining all three information sources suggests an increasing trend in annual rainfall, most prominently in the north near Murchison Falls National Park over the past two decades; this runs counter to recent research asserting the presence of a drying trend in the region. Our study is unique in evaluating and cross-validating these multiple data sources to identify climatic change affecting people in a poorly understood region, while providing insights into regional-scale climate controls.

Seroprevalence of brucellosis and risk factors associated with its seropositivity in cattle, goats and humans in Iganga District, Uganda

IntroductionThe burden of brucellosis among smallholder farmers is poorly-documented in Uganda. The disease burden is likely to be high, given the high levels of endemicity, lots of exposures and due to lack of control measures. In order to designate appropriate control measures, the magnitude and risk factors for brucellosis need to be known. We established the burden of and risk factors for Brucella seropositivity in cattle, goats, and humans in Iganga district, eastern Uganda.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in in Kigulamo Parish, Iganga District. We enrolled 226 households and administered a structured questionnaire to heads of households to capture data on socio-demographic characteristics, human brucellosis-related risk factors, and livestock farming practices. Human, cattle, and goat blood samples were collected and tested serologically using commercial indirect-ELISA kits manufactured by USDA, USA.ResultsOf 451 human blood samples, 20 (4.4%) were positive. Among 345 cattle blood samples, 4 (1.2%) were positive and among 351 goat blood samples, one (0.3%) was positive. Persons who reported consuming locally-made dairy products had 4 times higher odds of Brucella seropositivity (OR = 4.0, CI = 1.14-14.03, p = 0.031) than those who did not. None of the risk factors we asked about were significantly associated with seropositivity in cattle and goats.ConclusionThe seroprevalence of brucellosis in humans in smallholder households in Kigulamo was relatively low and associated with consumption of locally made dairy products. No risk factors were significantly associated with seropositivity in livestock, likely due to the small number of seropositive animals. We recommend a One Health approach to control brucellosis simultaneously in animals and humans needed to sustainably reduce the burden of brucellosis in Uganda and beyond.

Using household survey data to identify large-scale food security patterns across Uganda.

To target food security interventions for smallholder households, decision makers need large-scale information, such as maps on poverty, food security and key livelihood activities. Such information is often based on expert knowledge or aggregated data, despite the fact that food security and poverty are driven largely by processes at the household level. At present, it is unclear if and how household level information can contribute to the spatial prediction of such welfare indicators or to what extent local variability is ignored by current mapping efforts. A combination of geo-referenced household level information with spatially continuous information is an underused approach to quantify local and large-scale variation, while it can provide a direct estimate of the variability of welfare indicators at the most relevant scale. We applied a stepwise regression kriging procedure to translate point information to spatially explicit patterns and create country-wide predictions with associated uncertainty estimates for indicators on food availability and related livelihood activities using household survey data from Uganda. With few exceptions, predictions of the indicators were weak, highlighting the difficulty in capturing variability at larger scale. Household explanatory variables identified little additional variation compared to environmental explanatory variables alone. Spatial predictability was strongest for indicators whose distribution was determined by environmental gradients. In contrast, indicators of crops that were more ubiquitously present across agroecological zones showed large local variation, which often overruled large-scale patterns.Our procedure adds to existing approaches that often only show large-scale patterns by revealing that local variation in welfare is large. Interventions that aim to target the poor must recognise that diversity in livelihood activities for income generation within any given area often overrides the variability of livelihood activities between distant regions in the country.

Drivers of vaccination preferences to protect a low-value livestock resource: Willingness to pay for Newcastle disease vaccines by smallholder households

Vaccination can be an effective risk management approach to minimize the burden of disease and increase livestock productivity for smallholder households in low income countries. In contrast to vaccination of cattle, a high-value smallholder asset, there is a significant knowledge gap for the drivers of vaccine adoption of smallholder poultry. Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes high mortality in chickens and is one of the greatest constraints to East African poultry production. To determine preferences and willingness to pay for NDV vaccines by chicken-owning households in Tanzania, we administered a survey with a contingent valuation activity to 535 households across six villages in Arusha, Singida, and Mbeya regions. Given the low current vaccination rate, we tested the null hypothesis that smallholder households do not value NDV vaccines and found overwhelming evidence that smallholders do value NDV vaccines. The willingness to pay (WTP) estimate was 5853 Tanzanian shillings ($2.64) to vaccinate ten chickens given the vaccine was protective for a period of three months. This estimate is about twice the market price reported by households in the study areas suggesting chicken-owning households value and benefit from NDV vaccines, but face other barriers to vaccination. Previous vaccination had the largest positive effect size on WTP suggesting smallholders observe benefits from vaccinating. In contrast to studies of vaccination of higher-cost cattle where off-farm income sources often drive willingness to pay, on-farm income was a driver of WTP for NDV vaccines suggesting different drivers affect protection of low-value livestock assets as compared to high-value assets.

Assessing vulnerability of horticultural smallholders’ to climate variability in Ghana: applying the livelihood vulnerability approach

Changing climate is posing considerable threats to agriculture, the most vulnerable sector, and to smallholder farming systems, the predominant agricultural livelihood activity in Africa. Study of specific systems enables clearer and more effective responses to be directly targeted for enhanced adaptation, but there is limited knowledge guiding specific subsector vulnerability assessments. We applied the Livelihood Vulnerability Index to understand and identify the nature and sources of vulnerability among smallholder horticultural farming households to climate variability in two districts in Ghana. A total of 480 households engaging in fruit and vegetable crop production were surveyed in Keta and Nsawam districts of Ghana. Data were collected on indicators for Livelihood Vulnerability Index components such as socio-demographic profiles, livelihood strategies, social networking, health, food, production, water, natural disasters, and climate variability. The vulnerability-contributing factors were aggregated in a composite index and differences were compared. The results indicate that smallholder horticultural farmers in Keta are more vulnerable in relation to high exposure and high sensitivity to climate variability, while smallholders in Nsawam are more vulnerable in terms of low capacity to adapt to climate variability. As it is the case for smallholder horticultural farming communities, the study suggests that Livelihood Vulnerability Index can be broadly applied to highlight potential areas for intervention and reduce the vulnerability of sector-specific farming communities within local and national levels.

The importance of ecosystem services to smallholder farmers in climate change adaptation: learning from an ecosystem-based adaptation pilot in Vietnam

Smallholder farmers strongly connect to their surrounding environment and depend on ecosystems for their daily subsistence and welfare. Different climate change phenomena in recent years have affected resilience of smallholder farmers in Vietnam and ecosystems where they live. The importance of ecosystem services in climate change adaptation was investigated in surveys, focus group discussions, meetings and interviews with key district and commune staff, male and female farmers of Son Tho commune in rural North Central Region of Vietnam. In conjunction with surveys an Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) pilot was conducted in 2016 and 2017 with a group of 26 smallholder households. All survey respondents acknowledged that they depend on ecosystems and services for their livelihoods. Extreme weather events are predicted to increase with climate change. Smallholder farmers and ecosystems were most vulnerable to the effects of droughts and heat waves that limited supplies of clean water and impacted crop harvests, and by storms, whirlwinds and cold spells. The EbA pilot identified that all ecological patches provided direct and indirect benefits through multiple goods and services generated for provision, regulation, supporting and cultural services. The pilot demonstrated that ecosystem services supported smallholder farmers to adapt to extreme events and climate change, in particular, by mitigating the effects of droughts. Management of ecosystem services can provide joint benefits for both climate change mitigation and adaptation, particularly where the spatial distributions of carbon, hydrological services or biodiversity are positively correlated.

The Economic Impact of Stall Feeding on Cow Milk Production and Calf Death: Empirical Evidence from Northern Ethiopia

Ethiopia, the emerging economies of Africa has abundant cow milk potential but its milk harvest is negligible. In order to enhance milk yield, an improved livestock feeding practice such as stall feeding (SF) is introduced and expanded in the region. In this paper, we aim to evaluate the impact of stall feeding on rural farmers’ milk production and calf death using IV 2SLS model. The paper used a primary data collected from 251 randomly selected smallholder households consisting 115 adopters and 136 non-adopters. Accordingly, the average SF adopter’s milk production per day per cow is 1.3 litters larger as compared to the non-users. Likewise, Stall feeding significantly reduces the probability of death for the newly born calves by about 68%.