Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Cameroon

This report is an output of the project “Determination of high-potential aquaculture development areas and impact in Africa and Asia”. This monograph is the case study for Cameroon. Written in three parts, it describes the historical background, practices, stakeholder profiles, production levels, economic and institutional environment, policy issues, and prospects for aquaculture in the country. First, it documents the history and current status of the aquaculture in the country. Second, it assesses the technologies and approaches that either succeeded or failed to foster aquaculture development and discusses why. Third, it identifies the key reasons for aquaculture adoption

Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Cameroon

This report is an output of the project ôDetermination of high-potential aquaculture development areas and impact in Africa and Asiaö. This monograph is the case study for Cameroon. Written in three parts, it describes the historical background, practices, stakeholder profiles, production levels, economic and institutional environment, policy issues, and prospects for aquaculture in the country. First, it documents the history and current status of the aquaculture in the country. Second, it assesses the technologies and approaches that either succeeded or failed to foster aquaculture development and discusses why. Third, it identifies the key reasons for aquaculture adoption.Freshwater aquaculture, Policies, Economic analysis, Marketing, Trade, Research, Fishery industry, Cameroon,

Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Henan Province, China

This monograph is the case study for China, with a particular focus on Henan Province, the project location. Written in three parts, it first describes the historical background, production levels and trends, economic and institutional environment, policy issues, and market situation in China in general. The main part of the study presents findings from two different surveys conducted in Henan Province. County-level information is used to analyze the current situation of aquaculture, providing a more disaggregated picture than what is generally available from national statistics. Data collected in a survey of fish farmers in two locations in Henan are then analyzed with regard to the prevailing aquaculture technology and production practices, economic performance of pond fish farming, and the key reasons for aquaculture adoption. In the final chapter, constraints and opportunities for the aquaculture sector in China in general are discussed.Freshwater aquaculture, Economic analysis, Trade, Ecosystems, Pond culture, Fish consumption, Food security, Policies, Regulations, Legislation, Socioeconomic aspects, Yield, China, People's Rep.,

Small-scale inland fisheries in Africa: How to collect data for poverty assessment?

Accurate poverty assessments in developing countries require efforts to collect detailed household level data. Especially in Africa, such procedures are time consuming, expensive and can be subject to numerous constraints. In this paper we discuss the procedure of the collection of data on consumption, income and assets from poor households involved in small-scale inland fisheries as well as agricultural activities. A sampling scheme has been developed that captures the heterogeneity in ecological conditions and the seasonality of livelihood options. Sampling includes a three point panel survey of 300 households. The respondents belong to four different ethnic groups randomly chosen from three strata representing different ecological zones. In the first part of the paper the methodological framework, the survey design and interview procedure adapted to the conditions in Northern Cameroon is discussed. The second part of the paper presents selected results of the baseline study on consumption, income and assets for different types of households. In addition the record of past ecological, economic and social shocks is presented. --

The Economics of Biotechnology under Ecosystem Disruption

Economic analysis of chemical pesticide use has shown that the interactions between plants, pests, damage control technology and state of the ecosystem are important variables to be considered. Hence, a bio-economic model was developed for the assessment of Bt variety and pesticide-based control strategies of the cotton bollworm in China. The model simulates plant growth, the dynamics of pest populations and of natural enemies. The model predictions are used as major inputs for a stochastic partial budgeting procedure of alternative control strategies. Results show that: (1) productivity effects of Bt varieties and pesticide use depend on the action of natural control agents, and (2) the profitability of damage control measures increases with the severity of ecosystem disturbance. The findings highlight the importance of the choice of a counterfactual scenario in the assessment of the impact of agricultural biotechnology. Also, some doubts are raised whether the high benefits of Bt cotton varieties based on cross section comparisons are realistic.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q57, Q55, O13, O3,

Diffusion of information among small-scale farmers in Senegal: the concept of Farmer Field Schools

Recent research on the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the economic impacts of this concept and especially the knowledge diffusion effects from trained to non-trained farmers. Based on a study in Senegal this paper hypothesizes that the question of the project placement strategy is vital when analyzing knowledge diffusion effects of FFS in Africa. Results show that the share of trained farmers in a community is a decisive factor for adoption behavior and knowledge diffusion. It is concluded that when introducing an FFS, a critical mass of trained farmers is important to attain effective dissemination of information and to generate positive stimuli for adoption and learning among non-participants.Africa,Senegal,agricultural extension,Farmer Field School,diffusion

Institutional Constraints for the Success of Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries: The Case of Bt-Cotton in Shandong Province, China

The use of genetically engineered crop varieties has recently become one option to prevent pest damage in agriculture. The promoters of biotechnology stress the great potential for yield increase and pesticide reduction while the critics point out the potential risks for biodiversity and human health as well as institutional problems for implementation especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is an in-depth economic analysis of Btcotton production in North East China under small-scale conditions and several years after technology introduction. Data were collected in 2002 (March - October) in Linqing County, a major cotton growing area of Shandong Province, China. Data collection comprised a seasonlong monitoring of Bt-cotton production with 150 farmers from five villages, and three complementary household interviews. In addition, plot-level biological testing was carried out to determine the actual Bt toxin concentration in the varieties that were used by the farmers. All farmers in the case study were growing insect resistant Bt-cotton varieties in 2002. Nevertheless, they sprayed high amounts of chemical pesticides that were almost entirely insecticides. A proportion of 40% of the pesticides applied belonged to the categories extremely or highly hazardous (WHO classes Ia and Ib). The paper reviews methodological issues inherent to impact assessment of crop biotechnology and identifies market and institutional failure as possible reasons for continued high pesticide use. The production function methodology with damage control function was applied and it was found that for both damage control inputs, i.e. Bt and insecticides the coefficients were not significantly different from zero. In contrast to studies that treat Bt varieties as dummy variable in economic models, in this research it was possible to specify Bt toxin concentration in cotton leaf samples as a continuous variable. The results of this study support the notion that introducing Biotechnology in developing countries without enabling institutions that assure proper use of the technology can considerably limit its benefits. Hence it is important to include institutional criteria in the evaluation of agricultural biotechnology especially in developing countries. --

Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Malawi

This monograph is a result of a 3-year project to produce a decision-support toolkit with supporting databases and case studies to help researchers, planners and extension agents working on freshwater pond aquaculture. The purpose of the work was to provide tools and information to help practitioners identify places and conditions where pond aquaculture can benefit the poor, both as producers and as consumers of fish. This monograph is the case study for Malawi. Written in three parts, it describes the historical background, practices, stakeholder profiles, production levels, economic and institutional environment, policy issues, and prospects for aquaculture in the country. First, it documents the history and current status of the aquaculture in the country. Second, it assesses the technologies and approaches that either succeeded or failed to foster aquaculture development and discusses why. Third, it identifies the key reasons for aquaculture adoption.Pond culture, Freshwater aquaculture, Policies, Economic analysis, Marketing, Trade, Malawi,

Diffusion of information among small-scale farmers in Senegal: the concept of Farmer Field Schools

Recent research on the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach in agriculture in developing countries has raised some doubts on the economic impacts of this concept and especially the knowledge diffusion effects from trained to non-trained farmers. Based on a study in Senegal this paper hypothesizes that the question of the project placement strategy is vital when analyzing knowledge diffusion effects of FFS in Africa. Results show that the share of trained farmers in a community is a decisive factor for adoption behavior and knowledge diffusion. It is concluded that when introducing an FFS, a critical mass of trained farmers is important to attain effective dissemination of information and to generate positive stimuli for adoption and learning among non-participants

Strategic assessment of banana research priorities

In 2013/14 RTB conducted a strategic assessment of research priorities for its major target crops (cassava, banana, potato, sweet potato, and yam). All five studies followed a common framework jointly developed by a priority assessment taskforce. The six-step process for the assessment comprised of i) definition of agro-ecological zones and mapping of crop production to identify target are as; ii) analysis of key constraints; iii) selection of research options to be included in the assessment; iv) quantification of model parameters; v) estimation of research impacts; and vi) communication of findings. This report gives an overview of the approach and then focuses on the methods and results for the assessment of banana research priorities (steps 3 through 5). Based on the results of a large scale, carefully targeted online banana expert survey (523 respondents from more than 50 countries) and the outcomes of a global expert workshop held in early 2013, 12 high priority candidate banana research options were identified. Based on availability of time and resources, the following six banana research options were included in the quantitative assessment: 1) recovery of production affected by banana bunchy top virus BBTV); 2) integrated management of banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) and other bacterial diseases: develop improved cultural practices & low-cost diagnostic kits; 3) integrated management of banana Xanthomonas wilt (BXW) and other bacterial diseases: resistant genetically modified (GM) East African Highland banana (EAHB) varieties; 4) sustainable intensification of banana-based cropping systems; 5) breeding EAHB varieties resistant to nematodes, weevils, and black leaf streak; 6) breeding plantain varieties resistant to black leaf streak, nematodes, weevils, and with improved quality traits