Agriculture General

This cross-sectional study was carried out in March 2011, in Keshunga and Kashongi sub-counties in Kirhura District.  In Keshunga sub-county, six farmers were purposively selected by the leadership of Amate gaitu cooperative, based on their previous participation in AgShare pilot study. Kahongi sub-county was included in this study due to the high prevalence of brucellosis reported in previously (Kato and Nakavuma, 2010). Six farms were randomly selected Kashongi subcounty by the area veterinarian.

The main objective of this module is to develop your understanding and skills to successfully manage the marketing of agricultural and food products in a global, ever-changing, competitive and sometimes even in a hostile environment. The module specifically aims at:

• Acquainting you with the generic concepts of Marketing Management.

• Providing you with an overview of marketing of agricultural commodities and products.

• Making you appreciate the important decisions to take during the management of each element of the marketing mix: product, pricing, place, and promotion.

• Making you recognise the power and influence of consumers on market segmentation.

• Imparting you with skills to assess the performance of the marketing systems of agricultural commodities and products.

The aim of the AgShare Planning and Pilot Project is to create a scalable and sustainable collaboration of existing organizations for African publishing, localizing, and sharing of teaching and learning materials that fill critical resource gaps in African MSc agriculture curriculum.
This Impact Study focussed on assessing AgShare impact on the three layers of the project, namely: teaching and learning, project ‘take up’, and farming practice.

The purpose of the AgSgare convening was to provide an opportunity for project teams:

• Makerere College of Communication and Information Science (CoCIS) – Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge
• Makerere College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (COVAB) – Dairy Hygiene
• Haramaya Department of Agricultural Information and Communication Management (AICM)- Enhancing Agricultural information through mobile technology
• Haramaya Department of Agricultural Economics – Marketing of agricultural products
• Mekelle College of Water Resources and Irrigation Management – Water and soil conservation

to share experiences on progress made so far on the AgShare II project. At the same time, the convening offered an opportunity for project teams to plan for the remaining part of the project with support from the three partner institutions, namely Saide, MSU and RUFORUM. The specific objectives of the convening were:

• To identify progress made by institutions to date and challenges being experienced, and share experiences with a view to overcoming some of these challenges.
• To facilitate planning that enhances the timely completion of high quality products.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the effectiveness of the model used by the South African government to finance emerging black farmers for agricultural development and empowerment. It is widely acknowledged that the South African government spends a vast amount of money attempting to help black community members become commercial farmers. In this article, I argue that those who currently qualify for the funding are mostly farmers with little experience, expertise or interest in agricultural farming. The huge investment spent on such farmers ends up being lost in failed agricultural projects, and the government has not succeeded in finding better alternatives to empower emerging black farmers. Such activities benefit neither the government nor the black farmers intended to be assisted in various areas of the country. The black South African farmers remain agriculturally underdeveloped, while the government on the other hand loses a huge amount of money financing unsuccessful agricultural projects, which potentially threatens future food security. This article is conceptual in nature and uses literature to argue that the financing of emerging black farmers can only succeed if emerging black farmers are financed on basis of experience or ability and interest in farming and that such funding does not exclude potential public and private sector motivated employees who want to access such funding to pursue agricultural farming.

In addition to expanding agricultural land area and intensifying crop yields, increasing the global trade of agricultural products is one mechanism that humanity has adopted to meet the nutritional demands of a growing population. However, climate change will affect the distribution of agricultural production and, therefore, food supply and global markets. Here we quantify the structural changes in the global agricultural trade network under the two contrasting greenhouse gas emissions scenarios by coupling seven Global Gridded Crop Models and five Earth System Models to a global dynamic economic model. Our results suggest that global trade patterns of agricultural commodities may be significantly different from today’s reality with or without carbon mitigation. More specifically, the agricultural trade network becomes more centralised under the high CO2 emissions scenario, with a few regions dominating the markets. Under the carbon mitigation scenario, the trade network is more distributed and more regions are involved as either importers or exporters. Theoretically, the more distributed the structure of a network, the less vulnerable the system is to climatic or institutional shocks. Mitigating CO2 emissions has the co-benefit of creating a more stable agricultural trade system that may be better able to reduce food insecurity.

Malawi has experienced modest economic growth over the last decade and a half. However, agricultural growth has been particularly erratic, and while the incidence of poverty has declined, it still remains high. The Malawian government, within the framework of the Agricultural Development Plan (ADP), is in the process of implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which provides an integrated framework of development priorities aimed at restoring agricultural growth, rural development and food security. This paper analyzes agricultural growth and investment options that can support the development of a comprehensive agricultural development strategy consistent with the principles and objectives of the CAADP, which include achieving six percent agricultural growth and allocating at least ten percent of budgetary resources to the sector.

Economic modeling results indicate that it is possible for Malawi to reach the CAADP target of six percent agricultural growth. However, achievement of these goals will require additional growth in most crops and agricultural sub-sectors, meaning that Malawi cannot rely solely on growth in maize or tobacco to reach this growth target. Broader-based agricultural growth, including growth in pulses and horticultural crops, will be important if this target is to be achieved. So, too, is meeting the Maputo declaration of spending at least ten percent of the government?s total budget on agriculture. In fact, even under a more optimistic and efficient spending scenario, the Government of Malawi must increase its spending on agriculture in real value terms by about 20 percent per year between 2006 and 2015, and account for at least 24 percent of its total expenditure by 2015 if the CAADP goals are to be met.

Although agriculture has strong linkages to the rest of the economy, with agricultural growth typically resulting in substantial overall growth in the economy and rising incomes in rural and urban areas, simply achieving the CAADP target of six percent will not be sufficient to halve poverty by 2015, i.e. achieving the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1). To achieve this more ambitious target, agriculture and non-agriculture would need an average annual growth rate above seven percent. This growth requirement is substantial, as is the associated resource requirements, indicating that the MDG target may be beyond reach. However, achieving the CAADP target should remain a priority, as this goal has more reasonable growth and expenditure requirements, and will substantially reduce the number of people living below the poverty line by 2015 and significantly improve the well-being of both rural and urban households.

Zambia has experienced strong economic performance since 1999. However, agriculture has not performed as well as the rest of the economy, and although the incidence of poverty has declined, it still remains high. The Zambian government, within the framework of the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP), is in the process of implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which provides an integrated framework of development priorities aimed at restoring agricultural growth, rural development and food security. This paper analyzes the agricultural growth and investment options that can support the development of a comprehensive rural development component under Zambia?s FNDP, in alignment with the principles and objectives of the CAADP, which include the achievement of six percent agricultural growth and allocation of at least ten percent of budgetary resources to the sector.

Computable general equilibrium (CGE) model results indicate that it is possible for Zambia to reach the CAADP target of six percent agricultural growth, but this will require additional growth in all crops and sub-sectors. Zambia cannot rely on only maize or higher-value export crops to achieve this growth target; broader-based agricultural growth, including increases in fisheries and livestock, will be important. So, too, is meeting the Maputo declaration of spending at least ten percent of the government?s total budget on agriculture. In order to meet the CAADP target, the Government of Zambia must increase its spending on agriculture in real value terms by about 17?27 percent per year between 2006 and 2015, and spend about 8?18 percent of its total expenditure on the sector by 2015.

Although agriculture has strong linkages to the rest of the economy and its growth will result in substantial overall growth in the economy and the household incomes of rural and urban populations, achieving the CAADP target of six percent agricultural growth will not be sufficient to meet the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) of halving poverty by 2015. To achieve this more ambitious target, both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors would need an average annual growth rate of around ten percent per year. These growth requirements are substantial, as are the associated resource requirements. Thus, while the MDG1 target appears to be beyond reach for Zambia, achieving the CAADP target should remain a priority, as its more reasonable growth and expenditure scenarios will still substantially reduce the number of poor people living below the poverty line by 2015, and significantly improve the well-being of both rural and urban households.

This Farmers’ Agribusiness training course has been developed to help both farmers and farmer organisations. Its intention is to provide access to additional skills and knowledge that will allow farmers to move from a 'farm' to a 'firm'. The orientation module provides a module and lesson overview, study methodology, timetables and bibliographic information on the course.

This Farmers’ Agribusiness training course has been developed to help both farmers and farmer organisations. Its intention is to provide access to additional skills and knowledge that will allow farmers to move from a 'farm' to a 'firm'. This lesson describes Kenya's agricultural set-up, the role of producers in the agricultural sector and the differences between public and private sector contributions to agriculture.

This resource guide is a compendium of the individual handbooks that were prepared for the AgShare university partners. It is subdivided into sections, such as lecture materials, student readings, websites, and video.

This Farmers’ Agribusiness training course has been developed to help both farmers and farmer organisations. Its intention is to provide access to additional skills and knowledge that will allow farmers to move from a 'farm' to a 'firm'. The module is subdivided into five sections: 

• Module 1: Structure of Agricultural Sector and Policies
• Module 2: Sustainable Agriculture
• Module 3: Entrepreneurship
• Module 4: ICT in Support of Agriculture, and 
• Module 5: Agribusiness Management for Farmer Organisations.

These modules can be studied in any particular order although the lessons within each module should be accessed in their correct order. (Click here for suggested approaches.)

To access the PDF version click here. You can download a case studies from here as well. 

If you are an instructor/lecturer using the Agribusiness case studies and wish to access the teaching notes click here.

This Farmers' Agribusiness training course has been developed to help both farmers and farmer organisations. Its intention is to provide access to provide access to additional skills and knowledge that will allow farmers to move from a 'farm' to a 'firm'. This is a pdf of all the 5 modules in the course. (4MB). The module is subdivided into five sections, Module 1: Structure of Agricultural Sector and Policies, Module 2: Sustainable Agriculture, Module 3: Entrepreneurship, 4: ICT in Support of Agriculture, and Module 5: Agribusiness Management for Farmer Organisations. 



These modules can be studied in any particular order although the lessons within each module should be accessed in their correct order. (Click here for suggested approaches.) The lessons are most effective if learners access the materials working in small groups of four or five.

To access the multimedia version click here. You can download a case studies from here as well. 

If you are an instructor/lecturer using this materials and case studies and wish to access the teaching notes click here.