IP Publishing Ltd
December 2011 Issue (VOL 40, NO 4)
285 Editorial
287 Cattle as live stock: a concept for understanding and valuing the asset function of livestock
293 ‘Good farmers’ in Sub-Saharan Africa: evolving narratives
299 Farmers’ perceptions of smallholding co-ownership problems: a case study from Aydin, Turkey
313 Impact of support centres for social farming on benefits from livestock in northern Europe
329 IFAD projects: results and impact on poverty reduction in rural China
337 Knowledge about and attitudes to GMOs among students from various specializations
358 Index to Volume 40, 2011
Title: Cattle as live stock: a concept for understanding and valuing the asset function of livestock
Abstract: Where the main purpose of cattle keeping is not for meat and milk production, their valuation should be based on other functions, which may be deduced from the origin and meaning of the term ‘live stock’. By way of example, the monetary value was calculated of the market and non- market functions of cattle kept on Amazonian smallholdings. These cows were kept primarily for savings and financing.
Title: ‘Good farmers’ in Sub-Saharan Africa: evolving narratives
Abstract: In this paper, the example of cocoa production in Ghana is used to explore how the narratives portraying African farmers have changed over the last 70 years. These evolving narratives are explored through the notion of a ‘good farmer’. The argument is that, as the image of African farmers has been progressively rehabilitated (from ignorant and tradition-bound to skilled and research- minded), the image of formal research and extension has suffered. This reversal was associated with the progressive disempowering of formal agricultural research. With the recent renewed interest in agricultural development, narratives about African farmers are again evolving: ‘good farmers’ are now increasingly being defined as those who approach their farming as a proper business.
Title: Farmers’ perceptions of smallholding co-ownership problems: a case study from Aydin, Turkey
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of some of the land ownership consolidation programmes that have been attempted in a number of countries, and examines in more detail the present situation in Turkey. Much of the rural land in Turkey is fragmented, and the structural problems created by co- ownership of small properties will probably influence the viability of future farming in the country. This paper identifies the attitudes of co-owner farmers to the disposal of their own share to one of their heirs when that share’s value is paid at the current market value of the land. Ninety farmers who owned their landholdings were interviewed. Answers to the survey questions were analysed with a logit model, and the maximum likelihood method was employed to estimate the model. The results indicate that a farmer’s level of education and acceptance of the trend towards the disposal of an owned shared parcel to a third person are positively related to the likelihood that the farmer will choose to pass on the shared parcel of land to an heir. This is true provided that the share value the farmer is likely to recover is the current market value of the land.
Abstract: The application of crop protection chemicals (CPCs) may involve hazardous techniques or processes which can lead to various occupational injuries and environmentally undesirable side effects. This paper reports on the actions and attitudes of 300 Greek farmers who used spraying equipment in an area of northern Greece. All the farmers were interviewed, and attempts were made to ascertain their knowledge of CPCs, and the practices they used with regard to them. Also described is the methodology used for identifying erroneous behaviour and malpractice among the farmers. The main objective was to identify the particular characteristics of those farmers who had appropriate knowledge about CPCs and were applying them properly and to compare these with the characteristics of the farmers who neither had knowledge about CPCs nor used proper application practices. The profiles of members of the two groups are outlined. Over 80% of the respondents reported taking the necessary safety precautions in applying CPCs, but, when questioned, up to 20% provided incorrect answers. Better regard to safety rules was seen among part-time farmers, those who had been spraying for more than 10 years, and those with larger farms. Spraying equipment was used correctly by farmers who had been spraying for more than 10 years and those cultivating less than 6 ha of land. These farmers were unlikely to be involved with European Union Agricultural Development Programmes, and there was no consistent relationship between farmers’ education and age and protective and technical behaviour.
Title: Impact of support centres for social farming on benefits from livestock in northern Europe
Abstract: Social farming uses farm activities as a means of promoting human mental and physical health. As organized social farming became more professional, some European countries introduced support centres to assist in its development. This paper reports on a study that examined the experience of such support centres in the Netherlands, Norway and Flanders to assess their current activities and their impact on social farmers who kept livestock. Information was gathered through interviews and online questionnaires. The Dutch farmers had generally restructured their livestock activities to meet some of the demands of social farming, whereas the Flemish farmers had not adapted their system, as they derived their main income from farming rather than from social care.
Abstract: Guinea pig production is practised by all strata of society in Côte d’Ivoire, without regard to gender, age, religion, instruction level or community. It is essentially a source of income, but socioeconomic and cultural background significantly influence the approach to guinea pig production. Adult owners use animals as a source of income. Children eat a significant part of the production themselves. Adolescents progress from consumption to marketing. This preliminary study opens the way for future work that could measure changes over time in the socioeconomic profile of guinea pig farmers and the attitude of the population towards guinea pig breeding.
Title: IFAD projects: results and impact on poverty reduction in rural China
Abstract: This paper analyses the economic, social and ecological benefits of projects of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) in China during the past two-and-a-half decades. An investigation was carried out through field visits to Jilin, Anhui, Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces and a comprehensive assessment was made of 12 IFAD projects in 13 provinces. The authors offer a systematic examination of the projects’ impact on China’s rural poverty reduction in five respects: food security, women and vulnerable groups, government policies on poverty reduction, state policies on rural finance, and institutional and capacity building of the Chinese government and the community. It is concluded that IFAD projects have achieved outstanding results and far-reaching impacts, and have played an important role in rural poverty reduction. Finally, with regard to policy recommendations, the authors propose that the Chinese government should: (a) continue to cooperate with IFAD for rural poverty reduction; (b) play IFAD’s demonstrative role in other poor areas of China; and (c) facilitate the institutional reform of China’s rural financial system.
Title: Knowledge about and attitudes to GMOs among students from various specializations
Abstract: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a hot topic for debate among researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines – in particular, agriculture, biotechnology and environmental protection. The debate, however, is not limited to science. GMOs are also discussed in the mass media, giving rise to extreme emotions, both positive and negative. Without entering the argument between the supporters and opponents of GMOs, this paper addresses the following questions. How do future experts in agriculture, biotechnology and environmental protection approach the topic of GMOs? Do they have similar or dramatically different views on this subject? What do they know about GMOs? Is their knowledge related to their attitudes? University students specializing in those three disciplines can be considered as future experts in the field, and so a questionnaire survey was conducted among them to answer the above questions. The results show that agricultural, biotechnology and environmental protection students differ in their attitudes to and knowledge about GMOs.
Abstract: Food security is a major concern in developing countries and requires urgent attention and collaborative effort from all stakeholders. As the human population continues to increase, the demand for food becomes far greater than the supply can meet. There is a need to cultivate more indigenous food crops and to diversify into new products by using processing and preservation techniques to ensure that more people have access to good quality, nutritious foods. It is therefore essential that agro-allied industries in African countries receive encouragement to improve the application of technology for processing raw food crops, increasing their shelf life, improving nutritional values and packaging, and maintaining high quality standards. This paper emphasizes the potential benefits for three staple African foods – maize, cassava and sorghum. The application of science to transform the properties of these foods and relevant technologies, such as extrusion cooking, can add value to their use in the immediate future and will help in meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
Abstract: Enabled by land reforms and fuelled by technological change, agricultural production in Vietnam grew tremendously after the mid-1980s. Focusing on groundnut, an export-oriented cash and food crop, this paper provides estimates of potential benefits from the adoption of improved varieties in northern Vietnam. At farm level, switching over to improved varieties generates additional revenue of VND1.8 to 3.9 million per hectare (US$1 is equivalent to about VND15,969). The aggregate benefits for northern Vietnam are huge. With the groundnut area remaining unchanged, the annual value of benefits from the adoption of improved varieties in 80% of the area by 2020 will be VND571,691 million (US$35.8 million) at a real discount rate of 5%. These benefits will be 14% larger if the groundnut area continues to expand at the rate achieved in the recent past.