Index insurance, which indemnifies agricultural producers based on an objectively observable variable that is highly correlated with production losses but which cannot be influenced by the producer, can provide adequate protection against catastrophic droughts without suffering from the moral...

Whilst a part of the global society is concerned with Agriculture’s ability to provide enough food to nourish the world’s population in 2050, another school of thought is more apprehensive of the ability of farmers to survive commercially. This argument is founded on the downwards trend in...

Declining soil fertility largely explains the gap between actual and potential yield among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the relationship between yield variability in smallholder commercial kale (Brasica oleracea) production in Kenya and farmers’ attitudes...

The transition out of extreme poverty and hunger in agrarian economies requires an understanding of how new agricultural technologies are adopted by poor farmers. In Uganda, improved germplasm from the cassava breeding program has generated new varieties that are increasingly being grown by...

Agricultural intensification is widely seen as a condition sine-qua-non for enhanced food security and as a major driver for overall economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this process, the financial system has an important role to play, especially to finance agricultural inputs....

As part of a major effort to address soil fertility decline in West Africa, a project on Balanced Nutrient Management Systems (BNMS) has since 2000 been implemented in the northern Guinea savanna (NGS) of Nigeria. The project has tested and promoted two major technology packages, including a...

This study examines the factors that determine the export performance of three major agricultural exportable commodities of cocoa, rubber and palm-kernel in the context of liberalization. Using time series data covering thirty three years and to avoid spurious result, error correction model was...

Teff, wheat and rice are becoming important market oriented crops in Ethiopia. This study aims at analyzing the market participation of farm households, market actors, market channels and determinants of household market participation for these crops. Results are based on analysis of data...

The study used programming methods to assess the farm-level impact of incorporating forages, including dual purpose Cajanus cajan (C. cajan), into the crop-livestock system in the Coastal Savannah Zone of Ghana. The system was modeled in GAMS and solved using linear programming. The optimal...