New Zealand and Australia comprise the largest dairy exporting block in world markets and the dairy industries of both countries have geared up in recent years to expand production of dairy products. The report synthesizes observations and insights from a site visit by the authors in February...

In this fourth Babcock Institute country study, Ireland's dairy industry was selected because (a) it reveals advantages and challenges associated with a pasture-based production system that is unique in the EU, (b) the country's dairy industry provides an excellent case study of the effects of...

This paper investigates sources and determinants of agricultural growth in Africa, concentrating on the growth path during the last three decades. The analysis employs the broader framework provided by empirical growth literature and recent developments in Total Factor Productivity (TFP)...

L’objectif de la présente étude est d’évaluer la diffusion et l’adoption des variétés de riz NERICA en Guinée cinq années après leur introduction. Les données collectées en 2002 sont relatives à 1535 paysans choisis dans 79 villages des quatre régions naturelles de la Guinée....

We assess the level and determinants of relative technical efficiency of maize-based smallholder farmers using a translog stochastic frontier (TL) model and a symmetric generalized Barnett production function (SGB), both of which are tested for economic regularity conditions. In addition, we...

This paper reports on findings of a study to examine the sources used by farmers in search of agricultural information on striga and/or stemborers control technologies and factors that influence acquisition of such information in Western Kenya region. A random sample of 476 households in Suba...

Indicators of poverty in western Kenya show high poverty levels. The area has low dairy development yet the potential for dairy development is quite high. Dairy farming has the potential to reduce poverty by increasing incomes and reducing unemployment. This paper reports factor...

Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan Economy. However, agriculture has experienced low productivity over the years. Poor access to agricultural finance has been identified as a contributing factor to low crop productivity. Kenyan agriculture has undergone some fundamental changes which have...

This study examined the contribution of gender with special emphasis on women farmers towards rural agriculture as well as factors constraining access to rural agricultural production and consequently household food security in Western Province of Kenya. Data were collected from a total of 161...

Collective actions groups have many advantages and are sometimes essential, yet they can reinforce or perpetuate inter-and intra-gender inequalities when their functioning is left entirely subject to internal community dynamics and they are not well managed. This is well illustrated by the case...