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Now showing items 121-130 of 185
Aufsatz
The determinants of the performance of dairy smallholders in Malawi
(Kassel University Press, 2017-03-23)
Milk production in Malawi is stagnating although neighbouring countries steadily increase outputs. In this paper, we explored the determinants of the performance of dairy smallholders. As indicators of on-farm performance we used annual milk yield, calving intervals, and annual dairy income. Regression models revealed that milk yield was negatively related with farmer’s age, female farmer, and household size, but positively influenced by farmers’ experience. Calving intervals were strongly associated with labour costs ...
Aufsatz
Participatory Rural Appraisal for Diagnostic Analysis of spate irrigation systems in Raya Valley, Ethiopia
(Kassel University Press, 2017-05-12)
Spate irrigation is a complex and unique form of water management, which represent the main source of irrigation water in semi-arid river catchments. Water is diverted from seasonal rivers by using diversion structures made by stones, earth and brushwood, located within the river bed. The modernisation of spate irrigation realised in Raya Valley (northern Ethiopia) resulted in disappointing performances. One of the main reasons for this failure was the poor consideration of the characteristics of seasonal catchments ...
Aufsatz
Evaluation of cassava leaf meal protein in fish and soybean meal-based diets for young pigs
(Kassel University Press, 2017-04-21)
The unavailability and high cost of traditional ingredients calls for more research into alternative sources for pig feeding in the South Pacific region. The effect of replacing feed protein with cassava leaf meal (CLM) protein in weaner and growing pigs’ diets was investigated in two experiments. In experiment 1, three diets in which CLM protein replaced 0, 15 and 30% of feed protein were fed each to five replicate pens of weaner pigs. Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were ...
Aufsatz
Index-based agricultural insurance products: challenges, opportunities and prospects for uptake in sub-Sahara Africa
(Kassel University Press, 2017-07-25)
Agricultural insurance products have been piloted in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to address climate related risks faced by farmers. However, these products in general face low rates of adoption in SSA. Factors and challenges that may explain the low uptake of index-based insurance products in SSA are reviewed in this paper with the objective of assessing and documenting (i) the insurance products available to farmers, (ii) factors influencing farmers to purchase insurance products, (iii) challenges limiting farmers ...
Aufsatz
The Ri chicken breed and livelihoods in North Vietnam: characterization and prospects
(Kassel University Press, 2011)
For the last twenty years, the consumption of poultry meat has boomed in Vietnam as in the rest of the developing world. Capital-intensive production has grown rapidly to satisfy this demand. Based on a few numbers of genetically uniform strains, these systems threaten biodiversity. In Vietnam, both rural and urban households still keep indigenous chickens as part of a diversified livelihood portfolio. In line with the national in situ conservation strategy, this study approached the context of local poultry keeping ...
Aufsatz
Domestic policy responses to the food price crisis: The case of Bolivia
(Kassel University Press, 2011)
In face of the global food crisis of 2007-2008, severe concerns arose about how developing countries would be affected by the extreme short-term fluctuations in international commodity prices. We examine the effects of the crisis on Bolivia, one of the poorest countries of the Americas. We focus on the effectiveness of the domestic policy interventions in preventing spillovers of the development of international food prices to domestic markets. Using a cointegration model, we study price interdependencies of wheat ...
Aufsatz
Short-term poverty dynamics of rural households: Evidence from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia
(Kassel University Press, 2011)
The understanding of poverty dynamics is crucial for the design of appropriate poverty reduction strategies. Taking the case of Central Sulawesi, we investigate the determinants of both chronic and transitory poverty using data from 264 randomly selected households interviewed in 2005 and 2007. Regarding the US 1$/day poverty line, the headcount index declined from 19.3% in 2005 to 18.2% in 2007. However, we observed an increasing number of people living on less than US 2$/day expressed in purchasing power parity ...
Aufsatz
Ideotyping integrated aquaculture systems to balance soil nutrients
(Kassel University Press, 2011)
Due to growing land scarcity and lack of nutrient inputs, African farmers switched from shifting cultivation to continuous cropping and extended crop area by bringing fragile lands such as river banks and hill slopes into production. This accelerated soil fertility decline caused by erosion, harvesting and insufficient nutrient replenishment. We explored the feasibility to reduce nutrient depletion by increasing nutrient utilization efficiencies, while diversifying and increasing food production through the development ...
Aufsatz
Can commercialization of NTFPs alleviate poverty? A case study of Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax. kernel marketing in Cameroon
(Kassel University Press, 2011)
Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax. kernel (njansang) commercialization has been promoted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in project villages in Cameroon with the aim to alleviate poverty for small-scale farmers. We evaluated to what extent development interventions improved the financial situation of households by comparing project and control households. The financial importance of njansang to household livelihoods between 2005 and 2010 was investigated through semi-structured questionnaires ...
Aufsatz
Factors influencing a conversion to organic farming in Nepalese tea farms
(Kassel University Press, 2011)
Organic agriculture in developing countries has increased in past decades especially due to the high demand of organic products in developed countries. The rate of conversion to organic production in Nepal, however, is observed much slower than expected. This study investigates factors that determine the conversion to organic production using Nepalese tea producers as a case study. A survey of 181 farmers was conducted in the Ilam and Panchthar district of Nepal, among which 86 were organic farmers and 95 were ...