Behavioural Determinants of Functionality of Farmer Producer Organisations in Punjab

Small and marginal farming communities of Indian agriculture account for more than 85%of the total farming households. They face the challenges of land fragmentation, high costof inputs and inability to market their produce efficiently. To tackle these challenges, policymakers came up with the model of farmers’ mutual cooperation through Farmer ProducerOrganisations (FPOs). This study conducted in Punjab analyses the behavioural factorsresponsible for functionality of FPOs. A random selection of 150 members from 5 functionaland 5 non-functional FPOs (i.e., 15 respondents from each selected FPO) was made andthe respondents were interviewed personally. The findings revealed that the members(including management) of the functional FPOs had higher risk bearing capacity, greatereconomic motivation and more innovativeness as compared to the respondents from non-functional FPOs. Similarly, respondents from functional FPOs were socially, economicallyand managerially more empowered than the non-functional FPOs. Business skills of themembers, including the managerial members, of functional FPOs were also better ascompared to those from the non-functional FPOs. Regression estimates revealed that thefunctionality, better academic qualification, bigger land holding and joint family systemwere responsible for the higher net annual income of the respondents.

Perception and use of Contraceptives among Women in Farming Households of Rural Oyo State, Nigeria

The objective of this study was to investigate the extent and perception of contraceptive use among women from farming households in Oyo state, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics were used in profiling the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents, a multinomial logistic model was used to estimate the determinants of contraceptive usage, while the Likert scale was used to measure their perception towards the use of contraceptives. A total of 150 women were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results obtained indicated that while only 27% of the women were aware of contraceptives, 23% of them had used them. Cost was the most important consideration among the women for choosing a method as indicated by 41% of them. Further, among those who had not used any contraceptive, traditional and religious beliefs were their major considerations. The regression analysis showed formal education to be a significant factor (at α0.05) that increased the probability of women embracing contraception. Perception towards contraceptives among women in rural Oyo State, Nigeria was seen to be generally positive, although convenience of the methods (mean score 1.49) and side effects (means score 1.35) were considered to be drawbacks. It was recommended that more awareness needed to be created on birth control along with the introduction of modern methods of contraception with fewer side effects. Also, family planning interventions in Nigeria should be made context-specific and culturally appealing so as to increase their acceptability in rural farming communities.

Determinants of Preferences of the Respondents for the Payment for Environmental Services among the Rural Farming Households in Oyo State Nigeria

This study attempted to uncover the factors that influence preferences of the poor farming households for the attributes of Payment for environmental services (PES) in the Oyo State farm settlement Nigeria. Educational attainment, age of the respondents, previous knowledge of PES, land tenure, provision of micro credit, number of dependents, marital status and main occupation of the respondents. Dependent variable is preference for PES attributes.A multi-stage sampling technique was employed for this study.This study used exclusively Primary data.Which were collected through the use of a well-structured questionnaires and interview schedule for the literate and non-literate farmers respectivelyTotal sample of 395 out of 547respondents (i.e.72%) were drawn cumulatively. The regression results showed that previous knowledge of PES and provision of microcredit are significant at 5% each, while land ownership right is significant at 10% in the educational poverty group. In the consumption poverty group, previous knowledge of PES is significant at 5%, while land ownership right is positively significant at 1%, respectively. Housing/living standard poverty group; previous knowledge of PES and land ownership rights are significant at 5% each. From the findings of this study, it implies that if micro credit facilities are provided to these poor farming households, they will be willing to conserve the environmental resources (i.e. agricultural land). It therefore suggests that a well thought institutional arrangement with PES in view could be put up to enhance natural resource conservation and by extension reduction of poverty.

Decomposition Analysis of Poverty among Rural Farming Household in Oyo State, Nigeria

The incidence of poverty in Nigeria is worrisome, and it has constituted a national menace. The occurrence of poverty incidence had been found to be more pronounced among Rural farming households in the country. However, paucity of data exists in terms of decomposition of household poverty into relevant subgroups using their socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, this paper assessed the decomposition analysis of poverty among rural farming Households in Oyo State, Nigeria using the data collected through a well-structured interview schedule from 170 respondents who were selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data collected were described using frequency counts and percentage while poverty Indices was analyzed using Foster-Greer Thorbecke model and Decomposition analysis. The findings revealed that higher proportion (73.5%) of the respondents were above 40 years, 65.3% were male, 78.2% were married and 27.6% had secondary education, while 62.4% had household size of between 5 and 9 persons. Majority (79.4%) had farm size of more than 1.5 hectares and 62.9% had no access to remittance. Poverty incidence (P0) was 40.59%, Poverty depth/gap (P1) was 16.11% and Poverty severity (P2) was 0.09%, among the respondents using income-poverty line measure. Decomposition analysis showed that Poverty was high among households that were headed by male, young with low literacy level, and large household size. The severity of poverty was higher among households headed by labour of other farms. Effective poverty reduction strategies should therefore focus on education, livelihood diversification and control of household size.

The effect of the food insecurities in farming and non-farming households: lesson learnt from households in the Francis Baard district municipality, Northern Cape Province of South Africa

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of food insecurity in farming and non-farming households in the Francis Baard District Municipality. The research approach used in this study was quantitative. By using a cross-sectional survey, data was collected referring to the population of interest. A simple random sample comprising of 516 respondents from farming and non-farming households in the Frances Baard Municipality was selected. The data were analysed using multiple logistic regression (MLR) models. The results revealed that food shortages are more likely (B = 0.22, p = 0.01) to cause severe food insecurities in farming households when access to food gardens and smallholding is constant. On the other hand, non-farming households could also be affected by severe food insecurity due to food shortages (B = 0.29, p = 0.04) and lack of access to smallholding farming areas. The results further showed that food gardening is highly likely to reduce severe food insecurity. The results imply that the municipality has to provide access to food gardening facilities and smallholder plots for non-farming and farming households to combat severe food insecurity and promote food security. The policy on comprehensive producer support only recognises the support for the farmers' different categories than the households. Therefore, it is recommended that the policymakers amend this policy to enable the household to be empowered as beneficiaries.

A review of low-carbon adaptation model to climate change in rural farming households

Climate change is one of the greatest environmental issues of our time and involves complex interactions and changing likelihoods of diverse impacts. Individuals, communities and organizations have, through time, developed adaptive capacities to climate change impacts. This paper assesses by reviewing existing literature on the adaptation of the low carbon model to climate change by rural farming households in developing countries. It has identified the social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change from a vast review of the literature. The commonly used low carbon assessment models, from rural farming household’s point of view, have been identified as agricultural and economic models. It was found that farming practices were common and easy used adaptation models to low carbon situations. It was further indicated that complex economic models – partial equilibrium and general equilibrium - were used to assess the efficiency of adaptation options. Marker failures, policy failures and climate uncertainties were the main barriers to the low carbon adaption model. Although not easy, some remedies for adaptation barriers have been identified as policy reforms, government intervention, introducing various adaptation approaches such as early warning systems, disaster risk management, climate-smart agriculture and insurance systems.