HOW BIG IS YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD? SPATIAL IMPLICATIONS OF MARKET PARTICIPATION BY SMALLHOLDER LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS

Identifying ways to increase market participation by smallholder producers requires identifying variables that influence market access. This is usually achieved using probit estimation. An important phenomenon affecting entry decision-making is the entry decision of a 'similar' household, where similarity is measured in terms of 'location.' When neighborhood influences are significant, it is important to allow for them in discrete decision contexts, such as probit estimation. This paper, therefore, assesses the magnitude of neighborhood influences in smallholder decisions concerning market entry. The empirical model is based on a cross-section of (110) farms situated in northern Philippines, visited (twice) in the 2000-2001 production year (a panel of 220 observations). The vehicle for analysis is a Bayesian formulation of a standard probit model, but one that allows for spatial autoregression in the decision vector. Estimation requires a Metropolis-step addition to a basic Gibbs sampling algorithm and generates useful insights concerning quantities that are important for market-access policy.Livestock Production/Industries,

Adoption of dual purpose forages: Some policy implications

Livestock, especially ruminant, production is an important component of farming systems in upland areas of the Philippines. Moreover, since upland agriculture is becoming unsustainable because of soil erosion and productivity of crops is limited by poor soils, livestock production is a particularly valuable source of income to complement crop production. Farmers rely heavily on livestock to provide a source of savings, cash income, draft power and nutritious food. Nevertheless, scarcity and poor quality of feed are major constraints to improved livestock productivity in upland areas. Introduction of planted forages in these systems has the potential to increase substantially the quality and quantity of available forages, thus providing fodder to supplement low-quality naturally occurring forages and crop residues; concurrently, forage plants promote sustainability by improving soil quality and reducing soil erosion. Adoption of forages by smallholder farmers in the rainfed upland areas of the Philippines is conditioned by the dual-purpose role of forage plants. A number of forage species have been used as contour hedgerow species for the reduction of soil erosion. These include Gliricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, Setaria spp., napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides). These species were chosen as hedgerow species because of their value as fodder for livestock, in addition to their roles in reducing soil erosion, controlling weed growth, and improving and stabilising fallow areas. A number of constraints affect the widespread adoption of forages for use as hedgerow species by smallholder farmers in the Philippine uplands. These factors include: the limited availability of seed; high mortality amongst the forage species planted; a lack of collective action; and the high initial cost of investment. Insufficient attention has been given to policy and socio-economic factors affecting adoption of forages. For example, the effects of socio-economic factors such as human capital (education, age), income and access to institutions (e.g. credit and extension) have not been studied in association with the adoption of forage species. Therefore, policy and technology options to address these issues are warranted. This paper uses an econometric approach (i.e. probit) to identify the factors affecting adoption of forages by smallholder farmers in the upland areas of the Philippines, using data from a survey conducted in 1996 by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The survey examined farmers who had adopted contour hedgerow technology at 2 upland sites, Cebu, Visayas and Claveria, Mindanao, the Philippines

Determinants of participation in contract farming in pig production in Northern Vietnam

The rapid growth in demand for pork in Viet Nam presents an opportunity for rural households raising pigs to improve their incomes. This market potential could be exploited to improve incomes of rural smallholders through institutional arrangements that provide improved access to livestock markets and services, through formal and informal contract arrangements. Contract arrangements, however, have explicit and implicit barriers to entry that tend to exclude smallholders, depending on the nature of the contracts. Based on data from a field survey conducted in four provinces in Northern Viet Nam in 2005-06, comprising a sample of 400 pig raising households (200 independent producers, 166 farmers with informal contracts, and 34 farmers with formal contracts with a large integrator), a multinomial logit model was used to identify the factors that determine the likelihood of engagement in formal or informal contracts. A simple probit model was subsequently developed for the determinants of engagement in informal contract arrangements. Results indicate that farmers with higher levels of education and larger physical asset holdings are more likely to be engaged in formal contracts. The latter are largely limited to large-scale farmers (with mean holdings of about 600 pigs per farm) that specialized in pig fattening. In contrast, informal contracts are less exclusionary of smallholder producers. Households with higher levels of education, managing full-cycle pig operations, and with pig production being a main occupation, are more likely to engage in informal contracts, than remain independent producers. However, rather than size of physical assets, social capital appears to be a more important determinant of engaging in informal contracts. Providing a supportive policy and institutional environment for various informal contracting arrangements in pig production and marketing could improve access to markets and services by rural smallholder pig producers

Emerging gender issues in Vietnam pig value chain

Using a broad systematic literature review of peer reviewed publications and grey literature, the paper summarizes the most relevant gender issues in the pig value chain of Vietnam, and the ways in which these could be addressed. Specifically, women were found to face more severe constraints than men in accessing productive resources, markets and services. They have limited access to land use rights and therefore have limited access to resources for pig production. Besides, time constraints and cultural norms hinder women from actively participating in trainings and extension activities. Several projects/programs have been undertaken to help reduce the gender gaps. Lessons learnt from successful projects indicate that approaching women farmers via the Women’s Union is an effective way to increase the active participation of women in trainings. Identifying and providing technical trainings that meet specific needs of women farmers could lead to productivity increase. Besides, it is important to facilitate collaboration and dialogue between men and women to encourage men’s support of women’s empowerment and to improve the positive impacts of project interventions