Why African rural development strategies must depend on small farms

Larson, Donald F.; Muraoka, Rie; Otsuka, Keijiro

doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2016.07.006

Cited by 69 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 120 publications

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“…Maize is the main staple crop that smallholder farmers in South Africa and other developing countries produce (D'Haese et al, ). Evidence suggests that poverty reduction in SSA requires prioritization of staple crops (Boone et al, ; Larson, Muraoka, & Otsuka, ; Lipton, ). Second, the study went beyond taking impact as homogenous and examined the heterogeneous social grant effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of social grants on commercialization among smallholder farmers in South Africa: Evidence from a continuous treatment approach

2019

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This study examined the role of social grants to smallholder producers' incentives to sell maize marketable surplus. The study used the generalized propensity score (GPS) matching method to analyse the data collected from a sample of 774 smallholder producers in KwaZulu-Natal. The results support the disincentive hypothesis, demonstrating a negative association between social grants and market participation levels of smallholders. The study findings imply that policies aimed at increasing smallholder commercialization should also focus on how to reduce the disincentive effects of social grants.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of social grants on commercialization among smallholder farmers in South Africa: Evidence from a continuous treatment approach

2019

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“…Declining and small farm size in SSA is not a major concern, because an inverse relationship between farm size and productivity is widely observed in SSA (Larson et al 2014), indicating that small farms relying on family labor are more productive than large farms relying on hired labor. Therefore, the Green Revolution is compatible with smallholder agriculture in SSA (Larson et al 2016), as was the case in tropical Asia.…”

Section: Possibility Of a Green Revolution In Ssamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Indeed, the yield gap between the top 10 countries and India was relatively small, which strongly suggests that improved rice production systems have been successfully adopted at least in advanced areas in SSA. In fact, rice yields are higher than 5 tons per hectare in several irrigated areas in SSA, where MVs and improved management practices were adopted (Otsuka and Larson 2016), and also far higher than average rice yields in tropical Asia (see Fig. 2.4).…”

Section: Possibility Of a Green Revolution In Ssamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, I believe this is incorrect as not only improved seeds and fertilizers, but also improved management practices, such as seed selection, bunding, leveling, transplanting in row, and weeding are critically important to improving rice yields. This has been proven by assessing the impact of improved management training on rice yield, income, and profit per hectare under both irrigated and rainfed conditions in SSA (deGraft-Johnson et al 2014;Kijima et al 2012;Nakano et al 2018b;Otsuka and Larson 2016;Takahashi et al 2018). Rice yield seems to increase by 25-50% if proper management practices are adopted, even if improved seeds and chemical fertilizers are not used.…”

Section: Possibility Of a Green Revolution In Ssamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technology Transfer and Agricultural Development: A Comparative Study of Asia and Africa

Otsuka

2019

Paths to the Emerging State in Asia and Africa

Self Cite

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As in the case of any other sectors of the economy, the engine of agricultural growth in developing countries is the transfer of technology. This chapter pays a special attention to the role of transfer of intensive rice production systems from Japan to the former colonies of Taiwan and Kore before World War II, to tropical Asia in the 1960s to 1980s, and further to sub-Sharan Africa at present. What is found is that compared with other cereal crops lowland rice production technology is highly transferable from one major region to another. Another important point is that improved rice production system is not only intensive in the use of improved seeds and chemical fertilizer but also in “management,” including bunding, leveling, and straight-row transplanting. Therefore, in order to realize rice Green Revolution in Africa, it is critical to invest in training of rice farmers and extension workers. This chapter also explains how various other chapters dealing with agricultural issues in this volume are related with the issue of productivity growth of agriculture discussed in this chapter.

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“…In semi‐arid and arid regions of the continent, irrigation is considered indispensable to intensify food production . Boosting the productivity of smallholder farming systems is an important pillar of rural development strategies for most African governments (Larson et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Transdisciplinary Innovation in Irrigated Smallholder Agriculture in Africa

Froebrich

Ludi

Bouarfa³

et al. 2020

Irrigation and Drainage

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Boosting the productivity of smallholder farming systems continues to be a major need in Africa. Challenges relating to how to improve irrigation are multi‐factor and multisectoral, and they involve a broad range of actors who must interact to reach decisions collectively. We provide a systematic reflection on findings from the research project EAU4Food, which adopted a transdisciplinary approach to irrigation for food security research in five case studies in Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tunisia. The EAU4Food experiences emphasize that actual innovation at irrigated smallholder farm level remains limited without sufficient improvement of the enabling environment and taking note of the wider political economy environment. Most project partners felt at the end of the project that the transdisciplinary approach has indeed enriched the research process by providing different and multiple insights from actors outside the academic field. Local capacity to facilitate transdisciplinary research and engagement with practitioners was developed and could support the continuation and scaling up of the approach. Future projects may benefit from a longer time frame to allow for deeper exchange of lessons learned among different stakeholders and a dedicated effort to analyse possible improvements of the enabling environment from the beginning of the research process. © 2020 The Authors. Irrigation and Drainage published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage

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Why African rural development strategies must depend on small farms

Cited by 69 publications

References 120 publications

The role of social grants on commercialization among smallholder farmers in South Africa: Evidence from a continuous treatment approach

The role of social grants on commercialization among smallholder farmers in South Africa: Evidence from a continuous treatment approach

Technology Transfer and Agricultural Development: A Comparative Study of Asia and Africa

Transdisciplinary Innovation in Irrigated Smallholder Agriculture in Africa

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