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Economic results of Croatian farms
53-58Views:106The objective of the paper is to provide an overview of the situation and performance of Croatian farms. Croatian farmers rarely keep business books and therefore farm level business data are deficient. Croatian accession to the European Union in 2013 brought numerous innovations to agricultural sector. One is introduction of Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) which aims to determine the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on national agriculture of EU member states. The sample of Croatian FADN comprises 1,250 commercial farms. The paper brings results of agricultural sector financial analysis for the period 2011-2013. Total farm output decreased, but since the stronger decrease trend occurred in total inputs, this led to positive trend of gross and net farm income in the year 2013. Positive results are also shown at efficiency and productivity of Croatian farms. In the years 2011 and 2012 farms operated below the efficiency level while in 2013 efficiency increased above the efficiency level. In the observed period there was a 70% increase in productivity. The analysis shows that the most efficient farms are those in vegetables and flowers type. It also has the highest debt ratio due to their capital intensiveness. The vegetable and floriculture farms have the largest gross farm income in all three analysed years, but with a large drop in 2013, while the farms in type pigs and poultry have largest increase of gross farm income in last observed year.
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Determinants of credit access of cocoa farmers
73-78Views:301Access to credit is one of the critical areas that are of prime interest to development practitioners, agribusiness entrepreneurs and agricultural economists, mainly access to credit by farmers in order to increase their production and also reduce poverty. This study sought to analyze the determinants of credit access among cocoa farmers in the Asunafo North of the Ahafo Region of Ghana. The multistage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 100 cocoa farmers with the aid of a questionnaire. Sources of credit, factors influencing access to credit, and constraints to credit were analyzed with the aid of descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression, and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance respectively. The results of multiple linear regression revealed that, age, marital status, education, experience, and family size were significant factors that influenced access to credit. The constraints analysis with the aid of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance showed that, high interest rate was highly ranked with a mean score of 1.93 whilst the need for a guarantor was least ranked with a mean score of 7.40. Based on the results, the study recommended that a policy aimed at expanding formal and semi-formal financial institutions credit portfolio to embrace cocoa farmers by finding alternative to collaterals and also reducing the interest rate will improve credit access with a positive externality effect of poverty reduction among cocoa farmers in the study area.
JEL Classification: Q14
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Economic Performances of German Agri-Food Businesses: an Extension of Existing Discourses on the Topic
67-80Views:168Considering the circumstance that literature dealing with the economic performance of agri-food businesses in general, or particularly with the German agricultural sector, mainly deals with strictly agricultural-related theory in order to explain the economic success of agri-food businesses, the present paper aims to extend existing discourses to further areas of thought. Consequently, the characteristics: a) increased size of agribusiness, b) pull-strategies, c) the development of new markets and d) focus on the processing industry, that all correspond to the current picture of the German agricultural sector and are considered to be significantly responsible for recently managing to outpace the French agri-food sector, will be first explained in their success against the background of mainly non-agricultural-related literature. By doing so helpful and rather unnoted perspectives can be contributed to existing discourses. Second, the paper presents scatter plots which portray correlations between a) the added value of agriculture and the regular labor force, b) the added value of agriculture and the number of agricultural holdings and c) the added value of agriculture and the number of enterprises concerning milk consumption. Corresponding scatter plots which show different developments in Germany and France can be related to the findings of the first part of the paper and allow new perspectives in existing discourses as well.
JEL Classification: Q10
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Impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the agro-food industry and rural livelihoods in Serbia
113-118Views:113Sixty-five per cent of the Serbian land area is agricultural and 55% of the population is rural.Agriculture share of GDP is more than 10% and about 47% of the rural labour force deals with agriculture. The aim of this work is to analyse the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on the Serbian agro-food sector and rural communities. Measures introduced, mainly by public institutions, for relieving the consequences of the crisis are presented and discussed. Easily accessible yet high quality data from the central Office of Statistics in Serbia and specialized literature have been used. Impacts have been assessed by analyzing and discussing the trends of many socio-economic indicators. The crisis has had general impacts on the Serbian economy (low GDP growth, unemployment increase, price volatility, purchasing power decrease, etc.). Due to the crisis growth in agricultural production has been very low (0.1% in 2009). Agro-food exports decreased dramatically in 2008. About 9000 agricultural jobs were lost in 2008 and 2009. Reduced exports and lower domestic demand impacted negatively on agricultural commodity prices and agricultural household incomes.Access to credit became more difficult especially for small producers. However, agriculture is still a very important safety net. Agricultural employment share has increased both for men and women. The importance of agriculture is even higher if we consider the “grey agricultural economy”. To mitigate the crisis effects, the Government provided subsidies to rural people and will adopt the National Strategic Plan and Programme for Rural Development. Nevertheless, public institutions - in partnership with private, civil society and international organisations - should improve rural producers’ access to market information and credits and foster investments in rural areas including non-agricultural ones and those aiming at improving physical capital.
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Determinants of job satisfaction amongst employees in the poultry sub-sector of Ghana: a test of equity theory
97-104Views:381The study investigated the factors affecting job satisfaction amongst workers of the poultry sub-sector: a test of equity theory in the Dormaa Municipality in the Bono Region of Ghana. The multistage sampling technique was employed in collecting data from 100 poultry workers with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The logit model was employed in modeling the factors affecting job satisfaction. The empirical findings reveal that occupational level, pay, and relationships with co-workers were the statistically significant determinants of job satisfaction. Moreover, the study found that based on equity theory if poultry workers are satisfied with their pay, they would want to stay longer compared to referent others who are not satisfied. Benevolent poultry workers were dominant (52%), followed by equity sensitive (28%) and entitled (20%) poultry workers. Moving forward, the relevance of equity theory on workers in the cocoa value chain should also be investigated as cocoa remains a staple crop in Ghana.
JEL Code: Q10
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Agricultural Trade Policy: ‘America First’?
89-93Views:151There has been a growing openness and importance in trade over time as indicated by an increasing ratio of trade to gross domestic product for the World. However, some recent movements have been more protectionist and less open to trade. The potential impacts of less trade are explored with the United States (US) taken as an example. Trade agreements have been important in increasing trade by the US, particularly for US agriculture which has had a trade surplus since 1959. Countries should benefit from trade according to economic theory. However, stances taken by the US administration during the first half of 2017 have resulted in the withdrawal of the US from the Trans-Partnership Agreement and an announced renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. With falling US farm income, the potential undoing of trade agreement benefits, and possible trade retaliations, US agriculture is concerned about any potential disruption in exports and losses from less trade. In addition, US consumers and importers of US agriculture should be concerned about a potential decrease in trade.
JEL Code: Q18
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Multifunctional agriculture: An engine of regional economic growth?
7-15Views:118The historical role of agriculture in economic geography and recent conceptual developments – including multifunctional agriculture (MFA), the new economic geography, amenity-driven growth, and the “world is flat” and “creative class” hypotheses – are examined, and recent empirical research in NorthAmerica and Europe is reviewed, in order to assess the potential for MFA as an engine of regional economic growth. Ideal MFA policy corrects market failures and is mostly amenity-augmenting. It has the capacity to enhance opportunities for farmers on urban fringe; stimulate growth in high-amenity rural regions accessible to cities that offer opportunities for high-value work; and generate growth in relatively remote high-amenity regions. The scope for market-failure-correcting MFA policy to propel economic growth in lessfavored regions is limited – remoteness is non-responsive to policy in the short to medium term, and amenities that attract in-migration (e.g. proximity to sea, lakes, mountains, pleasant climate) are givens for favored locations but can at best be complemented by pro-active policy – but not trivial. While this paper focuses on regional economic growth, it well to rememberthat growth is not everything. Regions unlikely to experience growth need to create satisfying futures. Market-failure-correcting MFA policy has the potential to improve quality of life, well-being, and perhaps incomes in many if not all rural places regardless of location. This accomplishment would not be trivial – economic growth for all regions regardless of resources, amenities, and remoteness is not a serious prospect, and regions in decline face daunting problems maintaining essential services and quality of life.
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Agri-environmental management and rural development: Hungary after EU accession
35-40Views:124In Hungary, similarly to developed countries, the share of agriculture in the GDP has declined. Even so, preparation of the sector’s long term strategy is crucial, as the role of agriculture exceeds the results represented in the GDP. Environmental and social functions of agriculture are revaluated in developed countries, and consumers at the end of the food chain actually govern the entire process. This is why information plays an increasingly important role, and gives signals (Verbeke, 2005) to the actors in the economy and society. This research area is diverse (including agricultural policy, environmental policy, rural development and sustainable development), and so I applied an interdisciplinary approach and conducted an integrated examination. The results show that in recent decades, the pressure of agriculture on the environment has been lower in Hungary than in the EU-15 and agri-environmental measures have taken hold in all types of land-use systems, even though they are more important in protected areas. Although this development provides a good basis for a long term strategy social capital has lost strength (Csath, 2002), so fostering the creation of internal and external rural networks – one instrument for this could be the Leader programme – is essential for sustainable rural development.
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Adjustment of poland’s agriculture and food sector to challenges of agricultural policy of the European Union
39-44Views:131Paper is aimed in assessment of first period of Poland’s membership in EU and covering agriculture and rural areas with the support under the Common Agricultural Policy in the context of future challenges faced by the agricultural policy.Analysis shows that accession to EU became a strong impulse for growth of the Polish food economy, however the main challenge for the Common Agricultural Policy in future, from Poland’s perspective, will be strengthening the multifunctional agriculture, i.e. territorial cohesion and positive effects of agricultural activity on natural environment.
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Farmers’ experience in adoption and usage of ICT solutions for agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia
25-30Views:244The adoption of new of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in farming activities becoming crucial for developing countries in order to meet the challenges of rapidly growing populations, urbanization and arable agricultural land declination. Because of it, each farmers’ organization or farmer has to concern their agricultural products and services more towards modernized and ICT related routine. The attempt has been made to analyze the reaction of the Macedonian farmers towards ICTs as a source of reliable and timely information about e-banking, online purchasing/selling, marketing, input and output optimization, increased revenue, remote farm management process etc. Semi-structured questionnaire was used for interviewing 132 semi-experienced and experienced farmers that use ICTs as sample for the research. The data were analyzed using appropriate statistics tool like correlation and Rank Based Quotient (RBQ). The findings showed that farmers stressed the cost of ICTs, lack of training, trust level in the government institutions, and lack of ICT infrastructure are thresholds for ICTs adoption and use in agriculture. This research contributes to understand the adoption and use of ICT, identify the constraints associated with ICT use and propose recommendations towards the improvement of ICTs for agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia.
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Risks and competitiveness in agriculture with emphasis on wine sector in Croatia
11-17Views:122International competitiveness, being a key objective of each economic entity, is at the same time significantly determined by the level of risk the entity is coping. Based on the assumption that risk management is directly linked to competitiveness in agribusiness, the scope of this paper is predominantly focused on the wine agribusiness in Croatia. The aim of this paper is to encompass available literature and transfer findings to interested parties, about risks and competitiveness in agriculture, with particular reference to the wine sector. Qualitative analysis of secondary data, descriptive i.e. monographic method, deductive method and comparison of available papers from the world and Croatia were applied in the paper. There are very few companies in general, however, that tend to use their abilities to manage risks as a source of competitive advantage. These companies go beyond compliance or cost-controlling defensive approaches and take a more aggressive stance toward risk. They have realized that their risk management capabilities can be leveraged as a source of competitive advantage (Elahi, 2013). Current literature showed that such companies indirectly exist within global agribusiness. Examples of such companies in the wine sector could be found in Old World and New World wine countries. In regards with the mentioned, further research in the wine sector that would more directly link competitiveness and risk management and benefits that could be drawn from such “linkage” is needed.
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Organic food sourcing, processing and distribution: a case of satisfying a growing market
5-10Views:261A case study of an organic food company in the Slovak Republic involved in producing and sourcing inputs, food processing and distribution is presented. The case is based on a June 2014 “live” case study prepared for students in International MBA in Agribusiness programs at the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Warsaw University of Life Sciences and the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev. The company was established in 2001 with the objective to bring organic food to health conscious consumers. The company grows organic spelt grain, wheat, rye, buckwheat, herbs and apples on its 156 ha and 400 ha of owned and rented farmland. The company further processes these crops into more than 40 finished products. Students are presented with company information and summaries of a company visit and discussions with management. Students perform PEST and SWOT analyses, identify a shortage of owned and leased land as a problem the company must address, conduct research and analysis, and recommend product specification contracts as a solution to the problem.
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Multifunctionality of agriculture, public policies and scientific evidences: Some critical issues of contemporary controversies
53-58Views:129Various theoretical models of public policy analysis are used to treat situations of decision-making in which public deciders have to take into account the multifunctionality of agriculture. For some, science-society relations are not really problematical. Others acknowledge the current attempts of these policy-makers to find adequate scientific knowledge, and the difficulties they encounter. These difficulties stem partly from the very content of knowledge produced by research. Could other modes of production be more efficient? The status of the knowledge produced by these approaches is a subject of debate. Bridging the divide between science and policy more effectively is not only a question of knowledge brokerage.Accessibility and reliability of the existing evidences are also problems to be addressed. The debates around evidence-based practices may provide some landmarks in this new situation although they also emphasize the limits of the tools that can be built for this purpose.
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Education, scientific-research and consulting work in agriculture of Serbia
11-18Views:112Serbia has small number of producers2 which have encircled production system (from primaryproduction to processing), which do business successful, introduce marketing strategy and production standards, registered their products' mark of origin, succeed to export on EU market, use internet or has its own internet domain, etc. For creation of such, competitive and modern agricultural producer, there is necessity for production specialization, any kind of cooperation and better organization. In same time, there is more space for bigger financial support of state, as expert and consultative support „created“ through strong partnership between public and private sector, i.e. tough and constructive cooperation of state and farmers sector, like as institutions of education, science, research and consultative work. In the paper was given review of number and territorial dispersion of educational institutions, current scientific-research work and consultative functions in agriculture in Serbia, than was pointed out main problems in their functioning and previous work and also proposed concrete suggestions for overcoming of existing limitations, as for modernization /reorganization of those institutions, in a way to be more useful for agricultural producers.
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Assessing Readiness Levels of Production Technologies for Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
47-52Views:192The modern agricultural production is facing the problem of a growing society connected with the growing asking for food as well as different environmental threats. To solve this issue, agricultural production should be more sustainable and efficient which can be reached by using new technologies. In the paper the most important technologies, which were evaluated by different research methods to find how and when they could be used for a sustainable intensification of agriculture were highlighted by applying technology and market readiness models. By asking professionals from different fields of agriculture in practice as well as academia it was found that technologies that collect or utilize advanced data (sensors, drones) used for knowledge based management are more applicable for use, contrary to nanotechnologies where the costs of development and applications limits the readiness.
JEL Classification: Q16
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Potential impact of the European Green Agreement on EU and Hungarian crop production
Views:185European arable farming, including Hungarian arable farming, faces a huge dilemma: how to contribute to and maintain the global food supply while reducing greenhouse gas emissions while main taining biodiversity, but reducing inputs that are potentially damaging to society and the environment while ensuring that no more land is taken out of production? Not to mention that the increasingly urgent need to tackle climate change is also placing additional demands on EU agricultural decision-makers. Under the European Green Deal (GD), the 'From Farm to Fork' (F2F) strategy will help achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with a target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Achieving this will require significant changes in food production, a shift in crop health strategies and accelerated innovation in the agricultural sector. The study addresses these issues. Our first hypothesis (A1) is that the GD and F2F strategies can be implemented without problems and without losses. Our second assumption (A2) is that the know-how solutions and the technological conditions for precision agriculture that are already available exist, and that all of these already justify the feasibility of A1. In order to prove this, we have reviewed recent and up-to-date literature on DG and F2F. For A1, we found that there are pro and con findings in the literature. However, the summary finding is not positive. The conclusion of the studies, based on data calculations, is that EU agriculture faces huge additional costs if it is to maintain production and reduce environmental pressures. Their calculations suggest that more people will be disadvantaged by the decisions, and that millions of euros could be lost to the public. However, the article also shows that there are many cases where positive results can be achieved even with reduced chemical use. Facts and figures from international and Hungarian technological and know-how solutions and their trials at plant level show that the DG's objectives are already partially achievable. It has been established that the systematic use of precision technologies allows to increase the natural and at the same time the economic efficiency. In our work we have used the results of primary and recent secondary research. We have shown the downsides of GD, but also that with targeted support, the objectives of sustainability and GD can be approached. Changes in 2022, drastic price increases for inputs including fertilizers and pesticides, inflation at a 20-year high, energy prices spiraling out of control, and an almost unprecedented drought affecting crop production and horticulture, point to the need for a radical change in technology, thinking and regulation. And all this to ensure that there is enough affordable food in Hungary, that there are export products within and outside the Community, and that those working in agriculture have a decent living.
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Rural resilience and the role of social capital among farmers in Kirundo province, Northern Burundi
121-125Views:135In Burundi, more than 90% of the active population is engaged in family agriculture, which plays a vital role in food production and constitutes more than 50% of the GDP. Before the civil war of 1993, Kirundo was deemed the “breadbasket of the country”, as the region fed many parts of Burundi through growing particular foods such as legumes and cereals. Family farming was market-oriented. Kirundo alone includes 8 lakes which offer opportunities for field irrigation. Today, this region is the first province in Burundi which shows a high rate of malnutrition, as poverty has increased and a sharp 53.9 % decline in agricultural production has been witnessed between 1996 and 2009. The aim of this article is to analyse the role of social capital through the local association network in improving family agriculture and the resilience to climate change and conflict crisis. In this study, 73 farmers were surveyed in Kirundo province through means of a questionnaire, and the study was completed by collecting secondary data. Analysis of the data reveals that, despite recurrent droughts in that region which caused deaths due to famines and displacement of people to neighbouring countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania, 44% of the farmers who were surveyed were shown to have resilience to climate change. The analysis of data shows that these farmers were members of well organised local associations, and had learned about specific topics such as financial management, processing and storage of agricultural products and livestock. The social capital network positively influences their income and their resilience to climate change and conflict crisis.
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Consumption habits of “Free range chicken” in Hungary
69-73Views:178Poultry is highly ranked in theWorld meat production and consumption (it accounted for 32% in 2007), and, in the past 20 years it was growing with an annual rate of 3–6%, higher than in case of any other meat-types. This tendency is also valid for Hungary: poultry has the largest share (29.8 kg/person/year, 47%) in the domestic meat consumption since 2000, which is among the EU top (KSH, 2007). As the result of the animal health and nutrition scandals, the EU animal welfare and quality requirements and the advancements in health consciousness the Master-Good group launched the production, processing and trade of free-range poultry under the brand “Free-range chicken”. The new products had good consumer responses, because at present 1.5% of the processed chicken in Hungary (25 tons/week) is under this brand. As it regards the future of this product, we can expect the decrease of the current 1.5 times higher production price over broiler chicken, due to the increasing energy, labour and other cost items, thus the increase of the domestic consumption by 25–30% per annum can be foreseen. Besides the growth in domestic demand, increasing foreign consumer demand can also be expected because of the space requirement of the production. Summarising the above mentioned: „Free range chicken” can be one of the most successful products of the Hungarian poultry industry. In order to realise the prognosis mentioned above, it is inevitable to learn the consumer attitudes towards the brand. A primary market research programme supported by the Master Good group has been launched to study the main features of the domestic chicken meat consumption – including the „Free-range chicken” as highlighted brand. The primary aim of the research was the complete assessment and evaluation of the Hungarian chicken consumption habits and the identification of the possible take-off points. The research undertaken resulted basic information concerning the internal structure of the Hungarian poultry consumption (including that of the „Free-range chicken”), the potential consumer groups and their requirements, provided information on the consumers’knowledge of the products and identified the elements of the consumers’ judgements. This will serve as basis for a marketing communication programme to increase the domestic „Free-range chicken” consumption.
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Agriculture in the Netherlands: Its recent past, current state and perspectives
23-28Views:487The driving forces that determine the prospects of the agricultural sector are dominated by international and European developments related to the demand for and supply of products. In this context, European policy, (such as the CAP), and national policy (e.g. nature management) can greatly influence the development of the agricultural sector.A further reduction of the support by the government forms an important element in the expected future developments.
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Urban Food Crop Farming and Farm Households’ Food Security Status in Oyo State, Nigeria
23-28Views:158Food production and supply has been on the decline in Nigeria with a consequent impact on household food security. This study examined the influence of urban farming on household food security in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 159 farm households in a cross-sectional survey. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on socio-economic characteristics, determine the food security status of urban crop farming households in the study area, and examine the effects of urban crop production on households’ food security status. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics while the statistical tools were Food Security Index (FSI) and Probit Regression Model (PRM). Results revealed that 84.9% of the respondents was male, 81.2% married. The average age, household size, and farm size were 49.6 years, 6 persons, 1.1 hectares respectively. Most (75.5%) of the respondents did not have access to consumption credit and 62.3% did not belong to any farmers association. Based on minimum daily energy requirement per adult equivalent of N230.8, 90.6% of the farm households was food secure.
The PRM showed that age (β = -0.1, p<0.05), household size (β= -0.4, p<0.01) and economic efficiency (β = -61.6, p<0.05) reduced the probability of household food security while access to consumption credit (β= 1.7, p<0.05) and allocative efficiency (β = 67.9, p<0.05) increased the probability of household food security. The study concluded that urban farming significantly influence household food security.
JEL Classification: Q11
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Education as a factor of awareness development of organic product consumers
39-42Views:124Organic agriculture provides good quality products, the development of sustainable agriculture, environmental protection and economic efficiency. To develop a habit of consuming organic food, as is case with all habits, it is necessary to educate the younger population, so that they can become accustomed to the fact that organic food is a source of both human health and a healthy environment. Therefore, educational institutions should initiate actions in order to develop awareness of the importance of healthy and safe food (especially fresh fruits and vegetables) among youth. This action has already been carried out in some countries.
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Food security assessment and consumption pattern in rural households in Ogun State, Nigeria
15-20Views:133The problem of nutrition security is getting worse in Africa, due to increasing population growth and poor progress in efforts directed at reducing food insecurity in many countries in the continent. The paper undertook an assessment of the food security situation and food consumption pattern in rural households in Ogun state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 260 rural households from whom data were collected through structured questionnaire. The tools of analysis were descriptive statistics and food security index. The former described the consumption pattern, and households’ sources of food availability, while the latter was used to analyse the food security situation. The result of the rural households’ consumption pattern reveals that the rural households derived more of their energy from carbohydrates at the expense of other classes of food items. The result also shows that majority (75.5%) obtained their food through their own production and supplemented same with food purchased from the market to meet up with their family needs. Based on the recommended daily calorie intake (R) of 2,470 kcal, 59.6% of the rural households were food insecure while 40.4% were food secure. The calculated head count ratio (H) for the food insecure households was 0.6, confirming that almost 60% of households in the study area were food insecure. For secure households, the head count ratio (H) was 0.4, further confirming that only about 40% of households in the study area were food secure. The shortfall index and surplus index were 0.2787 and 0.3498 respectively, meaning that the energy requirement was less by about 27 percent and in excess of 34 percent for the food insecure and food secure households. The paper recommends that while enhancing production of arable crops - roots, tubers and cereals, a sensible balance of tilting towards meeting the requirements in the consumption of animal protein/legume, fats/oils, fruits and vegetables must be maintained to ensure food security. This policy thrust could be enhanced through mass education.
JEL code: R20
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Commodity Indices Risk and Return Analysis Against Libor Benchmark
55-66Views:128This study analyze the risk and return characteristics of commodity index investments against the LIBOR benchmark. Commodity-based asset allocation strategies can be optimized by benchmarking the risk and return characteristics of commodity indices with LIBOR index rate. In this study, we have considered agriculture, energy, and precious metals commodity indices and LIBOR index to determine the risk and return characteristics using estimation techniques in terms of expected return, standard deviation, and geometric mean. We analyzed the publicly available daily market data from 10/9/2001 to 12/30/2016 for benchmarking commodity indices against LIBOR. S&P GSCI Agriculture Index (SGK), S&P GSCI Energy Index (SGJ), and S&P GSCI Precious Metals Index (SGP) are taken to represent each category of widely traded commodities in the regression analysis. Our study uses time series data based on daily prices. Alternative forecasting methodologies for time series analysis are used to cross-check the results. The forecasting techniques used are Holt-Winters Exponential Smoothing and ARIMA. This methodology predicts forecasts using smoothening parameters. The empirical research has shown that the risk of each of the commodity index that represents agriculture, energy, and precious metals sector is smaller compared to its return, whereas LIBOR based interest rate benchmark shows higher risk compared to its return in recession, non-recession and overall periods.
JEL Classification: C43, G13, G15
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Graduate students’ opinions about entrepreneurship as an employment opportunity
23-29Views:150One of the most unwanted and unavoidable consequences of the economic recession is the high rate of unemployment. Graduate students in Croatia are faced with lack of employment possibilities, and for some of them the self-employment looks like a good solution. In this paper, we investigate attitudes and intentions of graduate students at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture regarding to selfemployment. Most of the surveyed students are in the age between 21 and 25 years, and they have already got some kind of knowledge about entrepreneurship during the formal education. In addition, majority of them have the experience of part-time jobs. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model was used to find out to which extent students’ attitudes and experience influence their expressed self-employment intentions. The results revealed that Zagreb students’ scores are close but somewhat lower than the same scores found in the comparable study from Australia. This goes for the investigated variables: (1) previous entrepreneurial experience (PEE), perceived desirability of selfemployment (PDSE), perceived entrepreneurial self-efficacy (PESE) and self-employment intentions (SEI). It was found that the score on the PEE is significantly related to scores on the PDSE (p=0.000), and PESE (p=0.000), which means that the experience positively influence respondents’ attitudes on self-employment and self-efficacy. There is also a statistically significant difference in the on the SEI with respect to the PDSE (ANOVA F=9.804, p=0.000): respondents that consider self-employment more desirable expressed higher intention to perform it. The PDSE was found as the most influencing model variable in regards to the self-employment intention. The results points out the importance of previous experience, role models and positive attitudes towards self-employment in the process of the entrepreneurship development in young, educated population.
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Resource use efficiency among rice farmers around fragile ecosystems: evidence from Kilombero Wetland, Tanzania
77-88Views:203Farmers have been encroaching fragile wetlands as a strategy to increase their rice production thus threatening wetlands’ existence and capacity to other critical ecosystem services. This calls for efficient production to strike the balance between food rice production and wetlands’ sustainable existence. The current study sought to provide assess rice farmers’ technical efficiency of resource use by detecting the determinants of rice yield and further identify the determinants of technical efficiency of the resources used by rice farmers in Kilombero wetland. A cross-sectional survey of 145 randomly sampled farmers aided in achieving the study objective. A stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) model was used to analyze data. The mean technical efficiency among farmers was at 60.54% level. The positive determinants of rice yield were land and fertilizers while labor influenced it negatively. Age, education, farming experience, group membership, and credit access reduced inefficiency while the distance to the extension agent and off-farm income increased farmers’ inefficiency. The study concludes that there is a possibility of expanding rice production without threatening the wetland’s existence. It recommends that government and other stakeholders to ensure that rice farmers are up-to-date with optimal use of fertilizers in rice production since it will assist in improving rice yield while the rate of expansion of rice lands in the wetlands will lower. Policy implementers ought to establish initiatives that inspire rice farmers to capitalize on farmer groups and join education programs to take full advantage of their potential efficiency and might participate in community development activities.
JEL code: Q15
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