Improved technologies are important in improving agricultural productivity and food security. The NuME project aims at improving food security among rural households through the dissemination of quality protein maize varieties. However, the project has yet conducted a gender analysis, which this...

Access by smallholder farmers to markets has traditionally been constrained by lack of market information. Yet progress in smallholder agriculture is inconceivable without greater market participation. The desire to strengthen farmer access to market has thus resulted in the emergence of many...

There is lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of contract farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers. Some authors argue that contact farming improves access to markets hence income, while others view contract farming as an avenue by which large corporations exploit smallholder...

This paper evaluates the potential of Jatropha curcas Linnaeus (Jatropha) as an alternative source of energy for rural households. The plant is said to have potential to diversify rural incomes, reclaim unproductive lands, reduce importation of fossil fuels, and consequently accumulation of...

The study conducted in morocco, within FAO/ROA project, showed that agriculture, while being affected by exogenous natural conditions and macroeconomic factors, contributes significantly to environmental amenities, poverty alleviation, social viability and national culture. The analysis of...

Despite various approaches addressing the challenges of food insecurity in Nigeria, the country is still characterized by chronic food shortages particularly in the rural areas. This is an indication that the problem of food insecurity has not been adequately and critically analyzed. This study...

Agricultural output commercialization has been found to have positive impacts on the income generating activities of household in sub-Sahara Africa. This paper examines the extent of agricultural produce commercialization and its impact on the household income generation vis-à-vis household...

Paper investigates the determinants of pesticide related Cost of Illness (COI), and acute symptoms, using a balanced panel of 363 farmers interviewed in 2005 and 2008. Finding shows that the incidences of pesticide-related health impairments have increased. Variation in number of symptoms and...

Agricultural technological improvements are crucial to increase on farm production and thereby reduce poverty. However the use of improper identification strategies on the impacts of improved technologies on farmer welfare could potentially pose a threat to good practice agricultural policy...

This paper traces the trajectories of successful commercial smallholders operating under differing sets of market institutions. Analysis focuses on maize, cotton and horticulture, three widely marketed crops with strikingly different market institutions. Maize receives intensive government input...