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Agricultural production in Honduras was devastated by the impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020, placing people depending on agriculture in a vulnerable and food insecure situation. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn in the country, these extreme events are forcing more people to leave and head to North America in migrant caravans. Over the last decades, Honduras has been impacted by severe climate change events, including droughts and extreme tropical storms. According to the Global Climate Risk Index (CRI), developed by Germanwatch (Eckstein et al., 2019), Honduras was the second most affected country by climate change over a period of 20 years, from 1998 to 2017. Extreme rainfall and tropical storms, droughts, variation in rainfall patterns, and soil loss make agriculture more difficult, thus placing low-income rural families at the edge of hunger and food insecurity. In terms of migration policy, much focus has been given to economic instability, weak governance, violence and crime as push factors for migration, but the effect of food insecurity and climate change impact is often overlooked in this narrative. Agricultural areas in Honduras, traditionally the backbone of food production, have been identified as climate out-migration hotspots. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the most relevant data to understand the interactions between climate change, food insecurity and the current migration crisis in Honduras.

Maize and rice constitute the two major staple crops in Ghana. The demand for maize and rice outstrips production levels in Ghana, creating deficits for farmers to capitalize on to increase yield. Farmers procure certified seeds from different supply outlets to improve crop yield. This study assessed the effectiveness of supply outlets of certified maize and rice seeds. This study also examined factors that influence smallholder farmers' decisions in sourcing seed from the identified supply outlets.

Multi-stage sampling was used to collect data from smallholder farmers. A total of 360 farmers were interviewed for the analysis. The multivariate probit model was used to estimate the main drivers of the supply outlets of certified seeds.

The findings revealed that farmers' decisions to use certified seeds from a particular supply outlet are contingent on household size, years of farming, extension contacts, distance to the nearest market, distance to the district capital, access to credit and farm size.

Sourcing certified seeds from National Seed Traders Association of Ghana, Research Institutions and Ministry of Food and Agriculture is more effective than input dealers, open market and family and friends.

This study is one of its kind that looked at how effective are the supply outlets of certified seed purchasing outlets.

An increasing demand of agricultural intensification and value addition necessitates the use of improved inputs such as improved seed. Smallholder farmers contribute about 70% of agricultural production in Tanzania. Agriculture sector in Tanzania contributes about 24.1% of the GDP, 30% of exports and 65% of industrial raw materials. Thus, agriculture development, economic growth and industrialization are inseparable. Due to the nature of the product, smallholder farmers cannot judge the overall excellence of seed at the time of buying. This paper assessed quality uncertainty in maize and vegetable seed and its implication for market exchange between farmers and seed sellers in Kilolo district, Iringa Tanzania. The study used a random sample of 130 smallholder farmers and representatives from ten seed companies. Asymmetric information prevails between the two trading sides, i.e. sellers and buyers, leading into quality uncertainty. Moreover, product augmentation is profoundly overlooked whereby most of seed companies have not augmented their products. Because an improved seed is a quintessential example of an experience good, quality uncertainty of some crop varieties under field conditions favored some seed brands to be used more by farmers compared to others. This paper offers a thorough deduction on quality uncertainty under farmers' field condition and its implication on market exchange. It adds information in the body of knowledge on how an improved seed can contribute to sustainable production of food and industrial raw materials, which is a step towards desired industrialization agenda in Tanzania.

Climate change and its imminent threat to human survival adversely impact the agriculture sector. In an impoverished country like The Gambia, economic costs of climate change are colossal. This study aims to establish a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for The Gambia’s agriculture sector to examine the effects of climate change on crops, livestock and sea-level rise.

This study used a CGE model with other climate change impact models to compute the impacts of climate change on The Gambia’s agriculture sector. The social accounting matrix calibrates the results from the various models, thereby generating the baseline results which exemplify a “steady-state” and policy shock results illustrating the medium- and long-term effects of climate change on the country’s agriculture sector.

The baseline results indicate the status quo showing the neglect of the agriculture sector due to limited investment in the sector. Hence, the sector is the “hardest hit” sector as a result of climate change. When the model factored in climate change in the medium term (2055) and long term (2085), the macroeconomic indicators of gross domestic product, national savings, wages, disposable income and consumer price index deteriorated, elucidating the vulnerability of the economy to climate change. The consumption of groundnuts, cattle and fish will decline by 5%, 5% and 4%, respectively, in the long term. However, the production of all agricultural commodities will decline by an average of 35% for the same period. The results for international trade show that exportation would decline while importation will increase over time. The general price level for agricultural commodities would increase by 3% in 2055 and 5% in 2085. Generally, the results manifest the severity of climate change in the agriculture sector which will have a multiplier effect on the economy. The impact of climate change would result in agriculture and economic decline causing hunger, poverty and human misery.

The caveat of this study revealed the nuances not captured by previous Gambian climate change studies, thus the novelty of the study.

Ghana's economy is largely agrarian, and the business of agriculture is dominated by smallholder farmers who are predominantly rural dwellers. As a result, efforts to lift rural farming households from poverty have been narrowed to the promotion of agricultural development to the neglect of the rural non-farm sector. However, this is fast changing in the advent of a burgeoning rural nonfarm economy and must engage the attention of policy actors. This study thus assesses the effect of non-farm participation on households' level of commercialization of agricultural crops in Ghana.

The study applies a generalized structural equation model (GSEM) to the Ghana Living Standards Survey round 6 dataset, a stratified and nationally representative random sample of 16,772 households in 1,200 enumeration areas.

This study finds that non-farm participation increases the produce sold to output ratio. It is concluded that non-farm engagement by farmers boosts commercialization in Ghana. Thus, for the Ghanaian and similar contexts, agricultural development interventions that incorporate non-farm activities are more likely to be successful in improving livelihoods.

The study uses only the ratio of sales value to output value definition for commercialization and acknowledges use of multiple definitions could be superior.

Various empirical studies have examined the link between the farm and nonfarm sectors. This paper is original in its approach as it tackles an aspect of the subject that has been understudied, namely, an exploration of nonfarm and farm linkages from the perspective of agricultural commercialization.

There is much evidence in the literature showing the benefits of input market participation on farmers’ welfare. The same is true for participation in marketing. However, there are very few studies on the expected benefit of input market participation and marketing. This study fills this gap by examining the issue in the Senegalese context for food and cash crops.

The authors estimate a multinomial endogenous switching regression using a highly detailed 2017 agricultural survey in Senegal. They first identify factors that shape farmers’ decision to participate in the input market and marketing and then assess the impact of market participation choices on farmers’ profits.

The results show that the most profitable market participation regime depends on the crop under consideration. For food crops, joint participation in markets maximizes profit per hectare, while for groundnuts, the main cash crop in Senegal, participation in the input market is not necessary to maximize farm profit.

Using panel data would improve the quality of estimations (time-variant effects) and help to consider the role of risk in output and input markets.

This paper helps to characterize different profiles of farmers based on their market participation and crop choices and provide policymakers with recommendations for maximizing farmers’ profit.

This study aims at navigating the effects of climate change on the right to access to food within the East African Community region, using the case study of Uganda.

The author used doctrinal review of different policies and strategies that have been developed and implemented by the EAC to address the growing patterns of food insecurity and climate change.

Findings show that besides climate change, there are other factors that have played a major role in contributing to food insecurity in the region such as the impact of the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war, absence of food storage reserves/banks, scarring effects of the COVID 19 pandemic, inadequate implementation of agricultural policies on climate change, high post-harvest losses and food waste amongst others.

This research paper is the author’s sole writing and has never been submitted for publication in any journal.

What started as a FMCG distributor in 1967 in Kenya as Export Finance Company, is now a dynamic global conglomerate across 48 countries and 5 continents — Export Trading Group. ETG was taken over by the then CFO Mahesh Patel after exit of the founding stakeholders. It was then when the company shifted its focus to being a key regional player. In the next 35 years, the company grew systematically. Business focus evolved when Patel saw an opportunity in logistics in remote sub-Saharan Africa. This was followed by business expansion with supply chain diversification and significant infrastructure investments. All the different businesses amalgamated under a single group for better operations and ease of scaling up. They were later divided into six separate verticals for better management. Vamara (FMCG vertical) was launched in 2018 as the company moved towards digitalisation — externally and internally. ETG plans to focus on new business opportunities and continue to diversify across geographies and portfolios.

This study examined the impact of the Input Credit Scheme (ICS) by the Integrated Water Management and Agriculture Development (IWAD) on the productivity and food security of smallholder rice farmers in Ghana.

Cross-sectional data from 250 rice farming households in the Mamprugu Moagduri district of the North East Region obtained from a multi-stage sampling technique were used for the study. Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA), Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Kendall's coefficient of concordance were the methods of analysis employed.

Empirical results show that education, rice farming experience, dependency ratio, FBO membership, farm size and farm age were the significant factors influencing participation in the input credit scheme (ICS). Also, participants had an average rice productivity of 1,476.83 kg/ha, whereas non-participants had 1,131.81 kg/ha implying that participants increased their productivity by about 30%. In addition, the study revealed that participant households increased their household dietary diversity (HDDS) by 0.45 points amounting to about 8% diversity in their diets. High-interest rates associated with credit received, the short periods of credit repayment and the high cost of inputs provided under the scheme were the most challenging constraints associated with partaking in the ICS.

The available literature on agricultural interventions have predominantly emphasized input credit as a key factor for improving cropt productivity and food security of smallholders. This study provides compelling evidence that participation in ICSs can result in substantial benefits for agricultural development, as evidenced by increased productivity leading to improved food security. The significance of these findings is highlighted by the fact that, through participation in input credit schemes, smallholder rice farmers in many developing countries see substantial improvement in their capacity to access productive resources, thereby improving their productivity, while simultaneously reducing food insecurity.

Leveraging on the improved productivity of participants in the ICS, this study advocates that such input credit schemes should scale up to more food-insecure farming communities in Ghana.

The study uses a doubly robust econometric approach to evaluate the impact of ICS on smallholder rice farmers' productivity and food security in Ghana, making it the first of its kind. The findings offer a solid basis for future research and provide guidance for policymakers looking to boost agricultural development in Ghana.

Access to formal financial services is one of the main obstacles to the adoption of agricultural technologies such as Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs). In order to increase financial inclusion and lessen farmers' liquidity restrictions, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) are being promoted in rural farming communities. However, there extent to which VSLA contributes to the acceleration of agricultural practices, such as SAP, remains little explored in existing literature. The objective of this study was to quantitatively assess the impact of VSLA on the intensity of adoption of SAPs.

This study used cross-sectional data from 376 farming households in the East Gonja district of Ghana. An Endogenous Poisson Treatment Regression (EPTR) was applied to correct for self-selection bias that might emanate from both observed and unobserved differences in household characteristics.

The empirical results indicated that farmers' engagement in non-farm economic activities, ownership of land and size of agricultural land under cultivation positively and significantly influence the intensity of SAPs adoption. Moreover, participation in VSLA improves the adoption of SAPs, and that VSLA-participants adopted about three more SAPs than they would have if they did not participate in VSLA.

This study re-affirmed the significance of VSLA in rural farming communities and recommend that it should be promoted as an alternative to formal financial services to enhance financial inclusiveness, and consequently boost the uptake of SAPs.

In the search of literature, this study is the first to estimate the impact of VSLA on adoption of SAPs. The use of EPTR helps to bring out the true treatment effects of VSLA on SAPs.