Impacts of improved sorghum varieties intensification on household welfare in the mid-Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe

Musara, Joseph P.; Musemwa, Lovemore

doi:10.1080/03031853.2020.1721306

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The findings, as highlighted in Table 4 show that, the adoption of blended improved sorghum seed and partialorganic fertilizer CSA technology has a significant effect on both the productivity and household income of the adopting households. This result concurs with other studies, which also reported the gains from adoption of the different dimensions of CSA adoption (Musara and Musemwa, 2020;Mujeyi et al, 2021). As reported by Ghimire and Huang (2015) in Nepal, farmers who adopted improved maize varieties generated household wealth as opposed to the non-adopting counterparts.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This has crowded out a reflection on farming community initiated technologies designed in response to emerging challenges and opportunities. Additionally, most studies targeting traditional grains (e.g., Mapfumo, 2017;Musara and Musemwa, 2020;Phiri et al, 2020), have also focused more on the food security dimension, which does not directly support the industrialization and market based commercialization (with proxies of income and productivity) drive being advocated for by stakeholders in Zimbabwe and analyzed in this study as a gap filling effort. Furthermore, in the existing analyses, sorghum production is traditionally viewed by farmers as a system requiring minimal fertilizers.…”

Section: The Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rethinking Blended High Yielding Seed Varieties and Partial-Organic Fertilizer Climate Smart Agriculture Practices for Productivity and Farm Income Gains in the Drylands of Zimbabwe

Musara

Bahta

Musemwa

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Most blended climate smart agriculture (CSA) technologies focusing on seed-fertilizer combinations have either been marginally adopted or dis-adopted by smallholder farmers due to the nature of design and implementation. A data science research approach was used with 380 households in the mid-Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe. The study examines impact of adopting a farmer initiated CSA practice combining improved sorghum seed variety and partial-organic fertilizer on household income and productivity among smallholder farmers in the drylands of Zimbabwe. A cross sectional household survey using multi stage sampling with purposive and stratified proportionate approaches was conducted. A structured questionnaire was utilized for data collection. Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) model was utilized to account for self-selection bias of sampled farmers. Overall, a combination of farm specific factors (arable land, variable costs) and external factors (distance to the market, value of aid) have a bearing on the adoption decision and the associated impact on productivity and income. The counterfactual analysis shows that farmers who adopt the technology are relatively better off in productivity and income. Our findings highlight the significance of improving access to CSA practices which are initiated by the farmers using a bottom-up approach since they suit their operating contexts better. Tailor-made supporting programs including farmer networking platforms and decentralized markets need to be designed and scaled up by policymakers to encourage farmers to adopt blended soil fertility CSA practices in their farming practices. Networking arrangements need to be strengthened through local, government and private sector partnerships along the sorghum value chain.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: The Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Blended High Yielding Seed Varieties and Partial-Organic Fertilizer Climate Smart Agriculture Practices for Productivity and Farm Income Gains in the Drylands of Zimbabwe

Musara

Bahta

Musemwa

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…(i) Availing improved varieties (ii) Improved processing methods and equipment (iii) Improved post-harvest management (iv) Improved access to markets for both inputs and outputs These interventions are likely to make small grain crops more attractive for smallholder farmers. For instance, Musara and Musemwa (2020) showed that the allocation of more land toward improved sorghum varieties by smallholder farmers resulted in improved food diversity and food access. Moreover, improved varieties are likely to be more resilient to elevated temperature and low rainfall conditions due to climate change.…”

Section: Interventions To Overcome the Barriers To Small Grains Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Small Grains in Adapting to Climate Change: Zvishavane District, Zimbabwe

Nciizah¹,

Nciizah²,

Mubekaphi³

et al. 2020

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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Climate change has become one of the most profound threats to smallholder agriculture in semi-arid and arid areas. Farmers in this sector are especially vulnerable to climate change due to reliance on rain-fed agriculture, limited access to capital and technology among other challenges. While several potential adaptation options exist, many barriers hinder effective adoption of these practices, hence production in marginal areas remains very low. This chapter discusses crop adaptation through the adoption of small grains in Zvishavane rural, a semi-arid area in Zimbabwe. Small grains are conducive in hot areas; their drought-tolerant nature enables them to thrive in marginal areas making them an appropriate strategy in responding to climate change. However, several production and policy challenges associated with small grain production hinder their adoption by farmers. In view of this, this chapter discusses the potential of small grains as an adaptation strategy to climate change in Zvishavane District, Zimbabwe, and addresses potential challenges and opportunities for increased adoption and future research. The review showed that farmers in Zvishavane have perceived climate change due to noticeable changes in rainfall and temperature patterns in the past years. Despite small grain production being the best strategy due to drought and high temperature tolerance, an insignificant number of Zvishavane farmers is involved in small grain production. This is due to numerous barriers such as high labor demand associated with small grain production, the challenge posed by the quelea birds, food preferences, low markets, and low extension services and government support. It is therefore necessary to encourage adoption of small grains by developing improved varieties, adoption of climate smart agricultural practices, improved technical support, and access to markets among other interventions.

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Can farmer organization membership improve household food security and nutrition? Evidence from Northern Ghana

Addai,

Ng'ombe,

Temoso

2024

World Food Policy

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We examine the impact of farmer organization (FO) membership on food and nutrition security among rural rice farmers, using cross‐sectional data from a household survey from Ghana. We employ an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model to account for selection bias from observed and unobserved factors. Our findings show that participation in FOs significantly increases household dietary diversity by 10.56% and reduces food insecurity by 9.7%. The residualized quantile regression model results are consistent with the ESR model across both outcome variables. Policymakers should consider promoting FO membership as a strategy to enhance food and nutrition security among smallholders in developing countries.

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Impacts of improved sorghum varieties intensification on household welfare in the mid-Zambezi Valley of Zimbabwe

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

Rethinking Blended High Yielding Seed Varieties and Partial-Organic Fertilizer Climate Smart Agriculture Practices for Productivity and Farm Income Gains in the Drylands of Zimbabwe

Rethinking Blended High Yielding Seed Varieties and Partial-Organic Fertilizer Climate Smart Agriculture Practices for Productivity and Farm Income Gains in the Drylands of Zimbabwe

Role of Small Grains in Adapting to Climate Change: Zvishavane District, Zimbabwe

Can farmer organization membership improve household food security and nutrition? Evidence from Northern Ghana

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