The global banana industry faces a significant threat from Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (TR4).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen's empowerment has been promoted by researchers and development practitioners as one of the most promising strategies to address widespread hunger and malnutrition. However, the relationship between women's empowerment and dietary diversity and child nutrition has rarely been studied among vulnerable populations or individuals at greater risk of poor physical and social health status. Moreover, the effects of different domains of women's empowerment on nutritional outcomes, including dietary diversity and child anthropometry, have rarely been examined, especially with panel data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgricultural training programs remain one of the primary mechanisms for disseminating modern and climate-smart technologies with the aim to improve the welfare outcomes of smallholder farmers. With persistent low agricultural productivity in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), the content, effectiveness, and mode of delivery of training programs remain a debate. In this paper, we examine the adoption, productivity, and income effects of participating in a novel comprehensive agricultural training program (CATP) involving cowpea farmers in northern Ghana by using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDietary patterns for consumers among the elite and middle-income classes in developing countries are shifting rapidly toward the consumption of more animal-based products. Although this shift presents opportunities, there are significant market failures affecting their preferences and willingness to pay (WTP). This study used a multistage sample survey of 309 consumers from three different communities of Bukavu, Eastern DRC, to examine the effect of socioeconomic/socio-demographic characteristics and quality attributes on consumers' purchasing decisions and WTP for meat products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe liberalization of clinical veterinary services in Kenya introduced new service providers into the animal health service sector. This study examines the perceptions of livestock farmers regarding these service providers and analyses the factors that influence their choice of alternative service providers in Kakamega County. The empirical analysis shows that private animal health assistants were perceived to provide better services than alternative providers because they are more accessible and offer services on credit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) system has been promoted as an alternative solution to providing animal health services in marginal areas. Yet, access to quality animal health services still remains a fundamental problem for livestock dependent communities. This paper uses the concepts of accessibility, affordability, and transaction costs to examine the perceptions of livestock keepers about the various animal health service providers.
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