Vegetable production constitutes an important sub-sector of the agricultural economy of KwaZulu-Natal. Most vegetables are cultivated in mixed-cropping types of farming systems. The technical efficiency of vegetable based cropping systems was estimated in order to identify the potential increase in production without incurring additional costs. The factors affecting technical efficiency and con...

The debate on trade and poverty is reinforced by recent studies on the role of standards. It is argued that increasing standards act as trade barriers for developing countries and cause further marginalization of the poor. This paper is the first to quantify income and poverty effects of such high-standards trade and to integrate labor market effects, by using company and household survey data ...

Agricultural production in the Midwestern US is highly concentrated with 85% percent of cropland acreage planted to only corn and soybeans (NASS, 2006). Crop specialization has improved the productivity and market efficiency of grain based commodity crops, but maintaining profitability has become increasingly difficult as input prices continue to rise while grain prices fluctuate substantially ...

The growth of organic farming practices in the last few decades is continuing to stimulate the international debate about this alternative food market. As a p art of a PhD project r esearch about embeddedness in Alternative Food Networks (AFNs), this paper focuses on the promotional aspects of organic farms websites from the Madrid region. As a theoretical tool, some knowledge categories drawn ...

In Iran, carp is widely sold and used in its fresh, although a range of added value products may also be observed. The common carp and the three Chinese species are often reared in polyculture ponds. Since, the 1970S carp farming has spread along the Caspian Sea coasts, followed by other provinces, and farmed production reached a peak in 2004 with production of more than 60,000 tonnes. Rapid ex...

This paper demonstrates how crop diversification impacts on two outcomes of climate smart agriculture; increased productivity (legume and cereal crop productivity) and enhanced resilience (household income, food security, and nutrition) in rural Zimbabwe. Using data from over 500 smallholder farmers, we jointly estimate crop diversification and each of the outcome variables within a conditional...

Bananas and plantains are important for food security and income, but they are beset with numerous abiotic and biotic challenges that drastically reduce yield. Consequently, a range of technologies have been developed to tackle the various constraints. This study was carried out to determine the adoption potential of improved banana cultivars by smallholder farmers in Malawi. The study was carr...

Botswana is a semi-arid, middle-income African country that imports 90 percent of its food. Despite its relative prosperity, Botswana also suffers from one of the highest measures of income inequality in the world, persistent poverty, and relatively high levels of food insecurity. The objective of this paper is to explore how political economy, climate change and livelihood dynamics are synergi...

 Degradation of grassland and the environment restricting access to grazing resources increased pastoral vulnerability to drought and loss of livestock assets which pose threat to pastoral based livelihoods. In respond to these threats many pastoral communities diversify their livelihood to agro-pastoralism. This shift led to increased sedentarization of the pastoralists with many growing crops...