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1 – 10 of over 2000Yared Deribe Tefera and Bisrat Getnet Awoke
Agriculture in Ethiopia relies heavily on traditional farm power sources and is designated by the lowest farm machinery access, in contrast to other Sub-Sahara African (SSA…
Abstract
Purpose
Agriculture in Ethiopia relies heavily on traditional farm power sources and is designated by the lowest farm machinery access, in contrast to other Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries. The purpose of this research is to analyze the heterogeneity of mechanization service transactions and factors determining farmers' cooperation in mechanization clusters and willingness to accept land consolidation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of producer households in major crop production areas in the Oromia, SNNPR, Amhara and Tigray regions. The sampling design involved three stages: districts were selected using a stratified sampling approach accompanied by simple random samples of kebele units and producer households in the second and final stages, respectively.
Findings
This study’s results show that mechanization service costs, service relationships, clustering and land consolidation exhibit significant heterogeneity across the study areas. Cluster farming was found to be advantageous against diseconomies, rationalized by upgrading the mechanization scale. The probit model parameterization of the probability distributions reveals that household, land, crop, mechanization service, remoteness and location-related factors determine participation in mechanization clusters and willingness to accept land consolidation.
Research limitations/implications
Fostering cooperation by focusing on constraints and demand of users is suggested to reduce transaction costs and expand hired mechanization services to unaddressed areas. The findings are relevant to most SSA countries where mechanization development is hampered by land fragmentation.
Originality/value
Limited information is available on agricultural mechanization development for smallholder farmers, particularly in Ethiopia, and this study adds empirical evidence about the synergy between cluster farming and mechanization, horizontal coordination and alternative supply models.
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Kurtis Swope, Ryan Wielgus, Pamela Schmitt and John Cadigan
Purpose – Land assembly can mitigate the negative environmental impacts of land fragmentation on urban areas, agriculture, and wildlife. However, the assembler faces several…
Abstract
Purpose – Land assembly can mitigate the negative environmental impacts of land fragmentation on urban areas, agriculture, and wildlife. However, the assembler faces several obstacles including transactions costs and the strategic bargaining behavior of landowners. The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the order of bargaining and the nature of contracts may impact the land assembler's problem.
Methodology – We develop theoretical predictions of subjects' behavior and compare these to behavior in a laboratory land-assembly game with monetary incentives.
Findings – Sellers bargain more aggressively when bargaining is sequential compared to simultaneous. Noncontingent contracts increase bargaining delay and the likelihood of failed agreements. Buyers and sellers act more aggressively when there are multiple bargaining periods, leading to significant bargaining delay. When a seller has an earnings advantage in the laboratory, it is the first seller to bargain in noncontingent contract treatments. In sequential bargaining treatments, most sellers preferred to be the first seller to bargain.
Research limitations – Our laboratory experiments involved only two sellers, complete information, and costless delay. Land assembly in the field may involve many sellers, incomplete information, and costly delay.
Practical implications – Some of our results contradict conventional wisdom and a common result from the land-assembly literature that it is advantageous to be the last seller to bargain, a so-called “holdout.” Our results also imply that fully overcoming the holdout problem may require subsidies or compulsory acquisition.
Originality – This chapter is one of the first to experimentally investigate the land-assembly problem, and the first to specifically examine the role of bargaining order and contract type.
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The present study assesses the morphological transition and the consequent changes in the use of land observed recently in southern Europe. We analysed the spatial distribution of…
Abstract
The present study assesses the morphological transition and the consequent changes in the use of land observed recently in southern Europe. We analysed the spatial distribution of basic land-use classes (built-up areas, cropland, forests) together with demographic and socioeconomic indicators with the aim to evaluate the differential impact of compact urban expansion and dispersed urbanization on peri-urban farming. Alternating distinct expansion waves over the last 50 years, Athens’ metropolitan region, Greece, was selected as the case study. Although per-capita built-up area was higher in the ‘dispersed’ urban wave compared with the ‘compact’ wave, cropland was the most vulnerable class to urbanization. A high rate of conversion from forests to cropland (in turn abandoned and, finally, developed) was observed since the early 1990s. This process is associated to land fragmentation and soil degradation driven by illegal housing and real estate speculation. Land-use changes are a target for policies mitigating soil consumption and promoting peri-urban agriculture on Mediterranean fringe land.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors that determine farmers’ intention to commercialise vegetable-based agribusiness ventures in rural areas and assess the effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse factors that determine farmers’ intention to commercialise vegetable-based agribusiness ventures in rural areas and assess the effect of commercialisation on farmers’ income.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a regression approach. Market participation and farmers’ income were hypothesised to be dependent on other external factors. This study employed data compiled from a quantitative survey of 357 farm households located in four major vegetable producing regions of rural East Java and Bali, Indonesia.
Findings
Results indicate that household attributes, business environment, supporting facilities and farm characteristics determined farmers to commercialise vegetable farming. Access to credit, seed technology and farm site played high contribution to the market participation. Ultimately, commercial vegetable farming provides an economic advantage regarding increased income. Land fragmentation and status of landholding were identified to influence the net revenue of vegetable farming.
Research limitations/implications
This study has a limitation concerning the number of samples and the availability of data and information. The number of samples is 357 which is about 4 per cent of the total population.
Practical implications
Establishment of vegetable agribusiness terminals with all market infrastructures, adequate access to market information, credit and human capital investment through training and extension services are also required, will boost market participation. Re-structuring land ownership might be the best step to augment farmers’ income, through consolidation of fragmented fertile lands devoted to intensive vegetable farming.
Originality/value
This study was purposely conducted in rural areas where there were subsistence farmers, as this is to improve farmers’ income by commercialising vegetable crops. A novel feature of this finding is the role of access to credit in the commercialisation of vegetable farming and the impact of landholding status on the profitability of intensive farming of high-valued vegetables.
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Tongwei Qiu, Qinying He, S.T. Boris Choy, Yifei Li and Biliang Luo
This study investigates the effect of renting in land on farm productivity, and the impacts of rented-in land size and transaction partner type on farm productivity.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the effect of renting in land on farm productivity, and the impacts of rented-in land size and transaction partner type on farm productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from the 2015 China Household Finance Survey are analyzed using an extended regression model and the two-stage least squares method.
Findings
Farm households that rent in land are likely to achieve higher farm productivity, and ignoring endogeneity underestimates the positive effect of land renting-in. Further evidence indicates that rented-in land size has an insignificant impact on farm productivity, and that there is no difference in farm productivity between lessees renting-in land from acquaintances and those renting-in land from non-acquaintances. These results may be caused by the higher degree of marketization of land rentals between acquaintances in China. With increasing competition in agricultural factor markets, in theory, rented-in land size should not affect farm productivity.
Practical implications
Overall, the analysis suggests that renting in land improves farm productivity, which supports the land transfer policies that have been rolled out in recent decades in China. However, our finding that rented land size does not affect farm productivity, consistent with the results in the literature, implies that the Chinese government should no longer subsidize or prefer large farms with low productivity. More attention should be paid to small lessees and market-oriented land rentals between acquaintances. Promoting the marketization of land transfers inside acquaintance networks could realize the potential of the land market, especially if land transfers decrease.
Originality/value
This study identifies the effects of renting in land, rented-in land size and type of rental transaction partner on farm productivity using nationally representative data. The findings imply that the government should pay more attention to the marketization of land rentals between acquaintances. Although existing studies regard land rental between acquaintances as informal and of low efficiency, the recent evidence shows that China's land markets are changing, and policy makers should adjust their policies accordingly.
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Aditi Bhattacharyya and Raju Mandal
This paper aims to analyze farm-level technical inefficiency of rice farming in Assam, India, using a multiple-output generalized stochastic frontier framework.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze farm-level technical inefficiency of rice farming in Assam, India, using a multiple-output generalized stochastic frontier framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data for this study were collected in 2009-2010 from 310 farm-households in four non-contiguous districts of Dhubri, Morigaon, Dibrugarh and Cachar that are located in different agro-climatic regions of Assam. Based on a Cobb–Douglas production function for multiple rice varieties, the paper simultaneously estimates the generalized stochastic production frontier and examines effects of exogenous factors on farm-level technical inefficiency.
Findings
Results of this study show that the average technical inefficiency of farms is 8.5 per cent in the sample. Further, inefficiency is lower in the frequently flood prone areas, and availability of government support helps reduce such inefficiency as well. However, technical efficiency is higher for the Muslim farm-households, and it decreases with greater land fragmentation. The study also finds that the use of primitive technology like bullock reduces technical efficiency of rice farming.
Originality/value
This paper is based on a novel data set that has specially been collected to examine productivity and efficiency of rice cultivation in the flood plains of Assam that has not been studied before. Further, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first one to model rice production as a multiple-output stochastic production frontier and analyze technical efficiency of rice production accordingly.
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Benjamin Gbolahan Ekemode, Oluseyi Joshua Adegoke and Adetunji Aderibigbe
The registration of land titles is an important component of title documentation and certification process that is influenced by a variety of factors. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The registration of land titles is an important component of title documentation and certification process that is influenced by a variety of factors. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to examine factors influencing land title registration practice in Osun State, Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
Data used for this paper were collected from 520 land title registration applicants, representing 48.10 per cent of the total number of applicants for land title/property rights registration in Osun State, Southwestern Nigeria, using systematic random sampling technique, with sampling interval k = 5. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, such as frequency distribution and percentages, relative importance index (RII) and factor analysis.
Findings
The findings revealed that factors such as high cost of title documentation and corrupt practices of land registry staff had significant influence on land title/property rights registration process, while factors such as suitability of organizational structure and personnel competence/low morale had less influence on land title registration in the study area.
Practical implications
The findings of this paper suggest the inadequacies inherent in the land title registration process in the study area which has significant implications for land titling registration process in Osun State, the entire Nigerian state and other emerging African economies.
Originality/value
The paper is one of the few papers that analyzed the factors influencing land title registration from the perspective of end-users in an emerging African economy like Nigeria.
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Song Qu, Nico Heerink, Ying Xia and Junping Guo
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the compensation amount as well as the mode through which compensations are paid on farmers’ satisfaction with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the compensation amount as well as the mode through which compensations are paid on farmers’ satisfaction with the compensation received for farmland expropriation in China.
Design/methodology/approach
Using rural household survey data collected among 450 households in three provinces, located in eastern, central and western China, this paper estimates the impacts of compensation payments, compensation modes, household characteristics and other control variables on farmers’ satisfaction applying an ordinal probit model.
Findings
The major findings are: farmers’ satisfaction with the compensation depends not only on the size of the compensation but also on the gap between the compensation and the market value of the expropriated land; and the compensation amount positively affects farmers’ satisfaction when the social security compensation mode is used, but does not significantly affect farmers’ satisfaction when other modes are used.
Originality/value
First, it contributes to the literature on farmland expropriation by providing empirical evidence of the direct impact of the compensation amount and other factors on the degree of farmers’ satisfaction with farmland compensations. Second, potential interactions between compensation amount and compensation mode are taken into account in estimating factors affecting farmers’ satisfaction.
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Gucheng Li, Zhongchao Feng, Liangzhi You and Lixia Fan
Whether there exists an inverse relationship (IR) between farm size and its efficiency remains a hotly debated question among agricultural economists. In most studies to date…
Abstract
Purpose
Whether there exists an inverse relationship (IR) between farm size and its efficiency remains a hotly debated question among agricultural economists. In most studies to date, farm efficiency is measured by land productivity. Thus, the IR actually measures the relationship between farm size and land productivity. The purpose of this paper is to examine and understand the IR from a novel angle by using multiple definitions of farm efficiency indicators like labor productivity, profit ratio, total factor productivity (TFP) and technical efficiency (TE).
Design/methodology/approach
By using the farm-level panel data from Hubei province in China from 1999 to 2003, this paper employs the two-way fixed effect model of panel data and the stochastic frontier analysis of Battese and Coelli model to investigate the relationship between farm size and its production efficiency derived from the multiple definitions of production efficiency indicators including land productivity, labor productivity, profit ratio, TFP and TE.
Findings
The study confirmed the IR between land productivity and farm size, as in many formal studies. However, the relationship between farm size and other agricultural efficiency indicators may be positive, negative or uncorrelated at, depending on how the farm efficiency is defined. Therefore, the paper concluded that the relationship between farm size and its production efficiency is mixed. This paper provides economic explanations for the IR through the comprehensive study using the expansion of agricultural efficiency indicators.
Practical implications
Because different agricultural efficiency indicators have different policy implications for China's future agricultural and land policy, the findings have tremendous policy implications, particularly in terms of the current debate on large or small farm development strategy, the also so-called “go big or small” agricultural strategy. In this sense, the Chinese household responsibility system has played a critical role in its agriculture and will continue to play a critical role in terms of social security and social equality. Any reform to this system should proceed with caution.
Originality/value
While most existing studies only try to explain the IR from the perspective of land productivity, this paper attempts to propose a novel angle to examine the IR by using multiple definitions of agricultural efficiency and hopes to find some new conclusions.
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Xianlei Ma, Nico Heerink, Ekko van Ierland, Marrit van den Berg and Xiaoping Shi
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of perceived land tenure security in China on farmers' decisions to invest in relatively long‐term land quality improvement…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of perceived land tenure security in China on farmers' decisions to invest in relatively long‐term land quality improvement measures, taking into account the potential endogeneity of tenure security.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a survey held in 2008 and 2010 among 259 households in Minle County, Gansu province, covering the years 2007 and 2009, are used to estimate the factors affecting land levelling investments, irrigation canal investments and perceived land tenure security. The authors use the 2SCML technique and the IVLS method to estimate a selection model and a non‐limited regression model, respectively, and use IVP methods to examine the robustness of the results.
Findings
The authors' results indicate that perceived land tenure security significantly affects self‐governed investments but does not affect individual investments in land quality improvements. In particular, the authors find that households that consider land certificates as important for protecting land rights invest significantly more in irrigation canals construction and maintenance. The authors' results further provide evidence that individual investments in land quality improvement contribute to higher perceived land tenure security.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the available literature on the relationship between land tenure security and land investments by examining the role of perceived (instead of formal) land tenure security and by making a distinction between individual household investments and self‐governed land investments. The authors' results provide an explanation for the phenomenon that land readjustments still take place in some parts of China, but not in others.
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