The capacity of agriculture to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities is exceeded by the rural populations of developing countries, and with limited opportunities available in urban centres, the rural non-farm economy (RNFE) becomes pivotal in improving rural livelihoods. Within an empowerment agenda, it is important for policy makers to understand why households enter into the RNFE. We investigated participation in the RNFE of farm worker livelihoods along with the motivation for participation in RNF employment. ...

Agricultural production in Kenya is dominated by smallholder enterprises which provide up to 60% of the country's workforce. The agrarian transition to enhance smallholder participation in neoliberal capitalistic markets demands compliance to sanitary and phytosanitary standards and with codes for worker's welfare and thus the concept of decent work. Evaluation of decent work deficits in the informal economy however remains a challenge associated with sector uniqueness and differences in socio- cultural attributes ...

Alternaria leaf blight (ALB) has been shown in recent years to be one of the major potential disease threats of sunflower capable of causing yield losses in all major production areas. The aim of this study was to determine the causal agent, prevalence and geographical distribution of ALB in the major sunflower production areas of South Africa. Surveys were conducted during 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 growing seasons at commercial sunflower production fields and at commercial cultivar trials. In the three growing ...

Madagascar is recognised as having both a high level of poverty and a food shortage. The contribution of the agricultural sector to the national income is higher than for any other sector, though this sector remains insufficiently developed to sustain national food demand. In order to increase food production, the diversification of staple food in conjunction with the detection of best-yield genotypes may be considered the simplest and least expensive alternative approach. For this reason, the response of productive ...

Sierras del Este is one of the two regions in Uruguay that are most vulnerable to climate change. A relevant vulnerability factor is the variability of the natural grasslands’ productivity. The objective of this study was to analyse the role of natural and land use drivers on grassland productivity as an essential factor for increasing the adaptive capacity of livestock production and reducing their vulnerability to extreme climatic events. The period 2000–2015 was analysed using the aboveground net primary production ...

A growing demand for the highly nutritious baobab fruit pulp from Europe and North America raises the question whether the marketing of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) products could be an opportunity as an income source for rural communities in Kenya, or if the increased demand from overseas would disturb domestic baobab use. To gain an idea of domestic baobab use, a value chain analysis of edible baobab products was performed, using qualitative methods. By using a non-probability sampling, 134 baobab value chain ...

Biochar application to soils increases biomass and crop yields, especially with rates higher than 100 t ha−1. Yet, there is limited knowledge on the combined effect of biochar and chemical fertiliser under different tillage systems. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of maize-cob biochar (BC) (rates of 5 and 10 t ha−1) combined with chemical fertiliser micro-dosing (MD) at a rate of 25% of the recommended quantity on total shoot dry matter (DM) and plant height of maize cultivated under flat (F) ...

Agrifood chains that are based on the values defined by end consumers are able to secure a competitive edge over other chains, but securing that competitive edge requires a thorough understanding of the consumers and their value preferences. This study was conducted with a view to understanding domestic apple consumers in Malang, Indonesia, and using that information to guide the opportunities for domestic apple supply chain development in Indonesia. Data were collected through an intercept survey of 200 apple ...

Promoting sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry (AF) could improve long-term productivity, enhance a sustainable rural livelihood and reduce pressure on natural resources and ecosystems in the tropics. However, AF seems to have adoption problems due to external market forces, lack of skills, financial resources and know-how ending in low flexibility and discontinuity of farmers in practicing AF. The objective of this study is to identify social, institutional, and economic factors that influence the ...

This study investigated the nutritional value of Dichrostachys cinerea subsp. nyassana pod meal (DCNPM), an abundant freely available feed resource derived from an invasive plant in Southern Africa, for weaned rabbits and piglets, and the ameliorative effect of wood ash extract (WAE) against deleterious effects of DCNPM tannins. In a completely randomised design (CRD), 16 weaned rabbits were randomly allocated to 4 dietary treatments (DCNPM at 0, 5, 10, and 20 %) with 4 replicate animals each, for 6 weeks (Exp. 1). ...