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Article
Publication date: 23 September 2024

Shilei Cui, Donasius Pathera, Yajuan Li and Xiaoqiang Jiao

Smallholders are essential in ensuring food security; however, smallholder-dominated food production often involves high resource-environmental costs. This study analyzed the…

Abstract

Purpose

Smallholders are essential in ensuring food security; however, smallholder-dominated food production often involves high resource-environmental costs. This study analyzed the factors that differentiate horticultural practices, willingness to adopt technology and social networks between optimized practices (OPT) and farmer practices (FP) to provide localized and systematic solutions for the sustainable apple production.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore the approach of smallholder-dominated sustainable apple production, 257 apple producers in the Bohai Bay region, a major apple planting area in China, were investigated. Life cycle assessment (LCA), emergy analysis and social network analysis methods were used for evaluation.

Findings

The results showed that the net economic profit and emergy sustainability index (ESI) in OPT was 15.8 × 104 RMB·ha-1 and 1.2, respectively, which were 126.9 and 128.0% higher than FP. In contrast, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under OPT was 29.3% lower than those under FP. OPT has a higher percentage of adoption of scientific fertilizer application and water-saving irrigation technologies compared to FP. OPT has strong learning abilities, more social resources (such as technical training and sharing technical experience with others) and connections with stakeholders in the apple supply chain. Optimizing smallholders' social capital, willingness to adopt technology, behavioral willingness and technological awareness can promote sustainable apple production.

Originality/value

Considering the horticultural practices employed by smallholders in conjunction with their social networks, these factors contributed to the transition of smallholder-led apple production toward sustainability. The findings provided viable options and a theoretical basis for smallholder-dominated crop production to move toward sustainability, with significant implications for policymakers.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 April 2024

Alex Iddy Nyagango, Alfred Said Sife and Isaac Eliakimu Kazungu

Despite the vast potential of mobile phone use, grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with mobile phone use has attracted insufficient attention among scholars in Tanzania. The…

Abstract

Purpose

Despite the vast potential of mobile phone use, grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with mobile phone use has attracted insufficient attention among scholars in Tanzania. The study examined factors influencing satisfaction with mobile phone use for accessing agricultural marketing information.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a cross-sectional research design and a mixed research method. Structured questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data from 400 sampled grape smallholder farmers. Data were analysed inferentially involving two-way analysis of variance, ordinal logistic regression and thematic analysis.

Findings

The findings indicate a statistically significant disparity in grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction across different types of agricultural marketing information. Grape smallholder farmers exhibited higher satisfaction levels concerning information on selling time compared to all other types of agricultural marketing information (price, buyers, quality and quantity). Factors influencing grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with mobile phone use were related to perceived usefulness, ease of use, experience and cost.

Originality/value

This study contributes to scientific knowledge by providing actionable insights for formulating unique strategies for smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with agricultural marketing information.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2023

Antonio Cimino, Francesco Longo, Vittorio Solina and Saverino Verteramo

This paper proposes an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform to increase the sustainability and resilience of smallholders to face supply chain disruptions in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper proposes an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform to increase the sustainability and resilience of smallholders to face supply chain disruptions in the event of COVID-like crises. The platform facilitates interactions between smallholders and buyers, workers and freight transport companies in agri-food ecosystems. Furthermore, this research work presents the implementation of the freight transport companies’ platform module.

Design/methodology/approach

The research work begins with a literature review aiming at analyzing current available ICT solutions supporting smallholders and other actors in the agri-food supply chain. This analysis identifies the research gaps which have to be filled by the platform. Then, the authors proceed with the analysis of the operational scenarios of each platform actor by interacting with experts and operators working in the agri-food sector. The results of such analysis resulted in a comprehensive, unambiguous and consistent set of specification being used to define the platform structure and modules architecture. The platform modules have been developed by using the web-application framework Laravel.

Findings

Preliminary tests show that the proposed platform is usable and promises to improve the resilience and economic, social and environmental sustainability of agri-food supply chains, with a focus on smallholders.

Originality/value

The research work allows players in the agri-food supply chain and in particular small local producers to react and mitigate the impact of COVID-like crises through development of a platform in which smallholders, citizens (buyers and workers) and freight transport companies are simultaneously present.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 June 2022

Ismail Juma Ismail

Smallholder farmers in Tanzania were investigated in this paper to determine the dimensions and influence of psychological contracts on smallholder farmers' decisions to…

Abstract

Purpose

Smallholder farmers in Tanzania were investigated in this paper to determine the dimensions and influence of psychological contracts on smallholder farmers' decisions to participate in the market.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through structured questionnaires, of which a cross-sectional design was conducted in central Tanzania, the Dodoma region in which 467 smallholder farmers were surveyed. First, a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted by involving psychological contracts and market participation items derived from previous studies. This was followed by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to verify the items obtained in the EFA. The regression analysis was then performed to test the causal effects of psychological contracts on market participation among smallholder farmers.

Findings

The path analysis revealed that transactional, relational, and ideological contracts have a positive and statistically significant impact on the participation of smallholder farmers in the market. Therefore, smallholder farmers have own set of expectations for participating in the marketplace. As a result, smallholder farmers' relationships with market participation decisions can be strengthened.

Research limitations/implications

This study covered only smallholder farmers. However, future studies can include large-scale farmers, because psychological contracts and market participation difficulties also apply to them. This may increase the generalizability of the findings.

Originality/value

Past studies have not extensively covered the psychological contracts in smallholder farming, especially in market participation. Based on prior empirical and theoretical research from other disciplines, the findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the psychological contract framework and the significance of multiple psychological obligations between smallholder farmers and market management.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2024

Muhammad Waqar Arshad, Muhammad Moazzam, Muhammad Mustafa Raziq and Waqas Ahmed

This study explores value-added food products in smallholder dairy farming in developing countries by analyzing external pressures, supply chain learning, farmer innovation…

Abstract

Purpose

This study explores value-added food products in smallholder dairy farming in developing countries by analyzing external pressures, supply chain learning, farmer innovation, education level, and food safety compliance.

Design/methodology/approach

We employed a quantitative approach by surveying 418 smallholder dairy farmers in three districts of Pakistan using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results indicate that external pressure significantly affects value-added smallholder dairy farms. This relationship is mediated by supply chain learning and farmers' innovative behavior, and moderated by farmers' education level and compliance with food safety standards.

Research limitations/implications

Further research is required to explore the drivers of value addition at the supply chain level.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the understanding of smallholder dairy farming dynamics and provides practical implications for improving value addition by managing the interplay between antecedents and promoting best practices in the industry.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2023

Verlumun Celestine Gever, Nabaz Nawzad Abdullah, Mohammed Shaibu Onakpa, Ogochukwu Gabriella Onah, Chukwuemeka Chiebonam Onyia, Ifeanyi E. Iwundu and Esther Rita Gever

This study aimed to develop and test the impact of a social media-based intervention for improving the business skills and income of young smallholder farmers.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to develop and test the impact of a social media-based intervention for improving the business skills and income of young smallholder farmers.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the researchers used an exploratory approach to develop a social media-based intervention for acquiring business skills and improving income. Second, the researchers tested the effectiveness of the developed programme on a sample of 506 young smallholder farmers. Finally, the intervention and data collection took place over five years (2017–2021).

Findings

The result showed steady improvements in business skills and income from 2017 to 2021 for the treatment group, unlike the control group. Also, improvements in business skills led to a reduction in expenses and an increase in profit from 2017 to 2021. A further evaluation of the result showed that an addition of 5.1 mean scores in business skills led to the addition of $91 income between 2017 and 2018; for 2018–2019, 2.6 improvements in business skills increased income by $123. For 2019–2020, a 2.7 improvement increased income by $209, whilst for 2020–2021, a 1.6 improvement increased income by $320.

Originality/value

The results of this study could help explore ways of using social media to change behaviour aimed at improving income amongst young smallholder farmers.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 76 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 December 2022

Abdul-Jalil Ma-Azu, Awal Abdul-Rahaman, Abraham Zakaria and Clement Yaw Lamptey

This study examines the drivers of marketing channel participation amongst smallholder rice farmers in the northern region of Ghana.

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the drivers of marketing channel participation amongst smallholder rice farmers in the northern region of Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 397 smallholder rice farmers drawn from a multistage sampling procedure, the study employed multivariate probit (MVP) model in the empirical estimations. In this context, the model assumes that a rice farmer should at least participate in one market channel.

Findings

The study reveals that the wholesaler market channel is the most commonly used channel among farmers, followed by the aggregator channel. However, the processor market channel is the least patronized one in the study area. The results also show statistically significant correlation coefficients in four out of the six possible combinations, implying that market channel participation among smallholder farmers is not mutually exclusive. Rice market channel participation is positively and significantly influenced by age, gender, household headship, access to credit, extension service, irrigation, improved seed and access to price information.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited in extending the analysis to include the impact of market channels on some outcome measures. This is due to data limitation.

Originality/value

The findings of this study add to the growing literature on smallholder market channel participation in Ghana.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 August 2024

Carla Canelas, Felix Meier zu Selhausen and Erik Stam

Female smallholder farmers in low-income countries face barriers to accessing capital and commodity markets. While agricultural cooperatives provide services that contribute to…

Abstract

Purpose

Female smallholder farmers in low-income countries face barriers to accessing capital and commodity markets. While agricultural cooperatives provide services that contribute to the income and productivity of small-scale producers, evidence of cooperatives' social and economic empowerment of female smallholders remains limited. We apply Sen's capability approach to female entrepreneurs' socioeconomic empowerment to examine whether women's participation in a coffee and microfinance cooperative from rural western Uganda benefits their social and economic position within their household. First, we study the relationship between women's cooperative participation and their household coffee sales and savings. Second, we investigate the link between women's cooperative participation and their intra-household decision-making and whether the inclusion of the husband in his wife's cooperative strengthens or lowers women's decision-making power.

Design/methodology/approach

We carry out a case study of a hybrid coffee and microfinance cooperative that promotes social innovation through the integration and empowerment of female smallholders in rural Uganda. Using a cross-sectional survey of 411 married female cooperative members from 26 randomly selected self-help groups of Bukonzo Joint Cooperative and 196 female non-members from the identical area, employing propensity score matching, this paper investigates the benefits of women's participation in a coffee and microfinance cooperative in the Rwenzori Mountains of western Uganda. We present and discuss the results of our case study within an extensive literature on the role of institutions in collective action for women's empowerment.

Findings

Our findings provide new empirical evidence on female smallholders' participation in mixed cooperatives. Our results indicate that women's participation in microfinance-producer cooperatives appears to be a conditional blessing: even though membership is linked to increased women's intra-household decision-making and raised household savings and income from coffee sales, a wife with a husband in the same cooperative self-help group is associated with diminished women's household decision-making power.

Research limitations/implications

The focus of this study is on female coffee smallholders in an agricultural cooperative in rural western Uganda. In particular, we focus on a case study of one major coffee cooperative. Our cross-sectional survey does not allow us to infer causal interpretations. Also, the survey does not include variables that allow us to measure other dimensions of women's empowerment beyond decision-making over household expenditures and women's financial performance related to savings and income from coffee cultivation.

Practical implications

Our empirical results indicate that female smallholders' cooperative membership is associated with higher incomes and coffee sales. However, husband co-participation in their wives' cooperative group diminishes wives' decision-making, which suggests that including husbands and other family members in the same cooperative group may not be perceived as an attractive route to empowerment for female smallholders. For these reasons, an intervention that encourages the cooperation of both spouses and that is sensitive to context-specific gender inequalities, may be more successful at stimulating social change toward household gender equality than interventions that focus on women's autonomous spheres only.

Originality/value

While the literature thus far has focused on microfinance's potential for women's empowerment, evidence on agricultural cooperatives' affecting women's social and economic position is limited. First, our findings provide novel empirical evidence on the empowering effects of women's participation in a self-help group-based coffee cooperative in rural Uganda. Second, our data allows us to explore the role of husbands' participation in their wives' cooperative and SGH. We embed our hypotheses and empirical results in a rich discussion of female entrepreneurship, microfinance and cooperative literature.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 31 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2024

Eka Rastiyanto Amrullah, Hironobu Takeshita and Hiromi Tokuda

This study identified the determinants of improved rice variety adoption and measured their impact on farm productivity and the income of smallholder farmers in Indonesia.

Abstract

Purpose

This study identified the determinants of improved rice variety adoption and measured their impact on farm productivity and the income of smallholder farmers in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

We used a multistage sampling procedure and data from household surveys in four districts in the Banten region of Indonesia. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model was used to estimate the impact of adoption, and the propensity score matching (PSM) non-parametric method tested the strength of the ESR findings.

Findings

The farm productivity of adoption increased by 11.45% and the income of smallholder farmers increased by 12.10% when compared to that of traditional methods.

Research limitations/implications

The positive and significant effects of improved rice variety adoption indicated that research programs that develop improved rice varieties can optimize the productivity and income of smallholder farmers.

Originality/value

Adopting improved rice varieties increases the productivity and income of smallholder farmers, and the level of education, rice farming experience, access to extension workers, off-farm work, and mobile phone ownership have positive and significant effects on the adoption of improved rice varieties.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2024

Riyadi Mustofa, Almasdi Syahza, Gulat Mendali Emas Manurung, Besri Nasrul, Rino Afrino and Eko Jaya Siallagan

This study aims to investigate the problems small-scale oil palm plantations in Indonesia’s forest areas face and the government policies addressing them.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the problems small-scale oil palm plantations in Indonesia’s forest areas face and the government policies addressing them.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey and data collection were used to determine the socioeconomic, environmental, legal and governance problems related to the development of smallholder plantations. Information was obtained from the respondents via a rapid rural appraisal approach.

Findings

The potential land for potential participants in the community oil palm rejuvenation programme is a forest area of 1,628,749.60 ha. Owing to its legal dimensions and unsustainable land management, the rejuvenation regulatory programme has not reached independent farmers.

Research limitations/implications

The use of plantation space beyond its designation hinders the government’s goal of accelerating the rejuvenation programme. The problems regarding the accumulation of forest area result in low achievement of the annual rejuvenation target in Riau Province (21%–25%). The authors present solutions to resolve land ownership conflicts and implement strategic policies to ensure the sustainable development of such plantations.

Originality/value

The authors introduce a conflict–resolution model for small-scale smallholder oil palm plantations to resolve the problems of forest area claims unaddressed in the Indonesian Job Creation Law. Land conflict resolution is categorised into five typologies: oil palm plantations with business permits; those without a forestry permit and subject to administrative sanctions; business activities in forest areas without forestry permits; resolving non-conformities in the progress of land or management controlled and used in forest areas prior to their designation by removing land parcels through modifying the forest area boundaries; and the settlement for farmers without cultivation registration certificates but have established plantations and whose land tenure can be proven.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

Keywords

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