Complementarity of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties and farmer efficiency in maize production in Kenya

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:

This study contributes to the literature and policy on the impact of partial and package adoption of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties on yields among smallholder households in Kenya. We use a blend of the quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach and propensity score matching to control for both time-variant and time-invariant unobservable household heterogeneity. Our findings show that inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties significantly improve yields when adopted as a package rather than as individual elements.

Agriculture

Heat in the Heartland: Crop Yield and Coverage Response to Climate Change along the Mississippi River

Submitted by Hang Yin on

Farmers may adapt to climate change by substituting away from the crops most severely affected. In this paper we estimate the substitution caused by a moderate change in climate in the US Midwest. We pair a 10-year panel of satellite-based crop coverage with spatially explicit soil data and a fine-scale weather data set. Combining a proportion type model with local regressions, we simultaneously address the econometric issues of proportion dependent variables and spatial correlation of unobserved factors.

Climate Change

Impact of Improved Farm Technologies on Yields The Case of Improved Maize Varieties and Inorganic Fertilizer in Kenya

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
EfD Authors:

This study investigates the impact of package adoption of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize seed varieties on yield among smallholder households in Kenya. We used a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach combined with propensity score matching to control for both time-invariant and unobservable household heterogeneity.

Agriculture

Agronomic and Economic Efficiency of Manure and Urea Fertilizers Use on Vertisols in Ethiopian Highlands

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on

Soil fertility depletion is among the major impediments to sustained agricultural productivity especially in the less developed countries because of limited application of fertilizers. Soil fertility maintenance requires a balanced application of inorganic and organic nutrient sources.

Agriculture

Estimating Returns to Soil and Water Conservation Investments: An Application to Crop Yield in Kenya

Submitted by admin on

The authors investigated the impact of soil and water conservation (SWC) investment on farm productivity in Kenya. They focused on plots with and without SWC, testing whether increased SWC is beneficial for yield and affects input levels, input returns, and crop characteristics.

Agriculture

Live animal and meat export value chains for selected areas in Ethiopia: Constraints and opportunities for enhancing meat exports

Submitted by admin on

The Ethiopian live animal and meat export marketing system is operating in an environment characterized by several constraints that needs the attention and action of the government and other non-governmental development organizations.

Agriculture

Determinants of Soil Capital

Submitted by admin on

Explaining soil capital facilitates a better understanding of constraints and opportunities for increased agricultural production and reduced land degradation. The diversity in farmers’ soil capital, production strategies, and general farming systems (including conservation investments) points to the value of internalizing these aspects in the formulation of the government’s policies and extension advice on sustainable agriculture.

 

Agriculture

Production Function Analysis of Soil Properties and Soil Conservation Investments in Tropical Agriculture

Submitted by admin on
EfD Authors:

This paper integrates traditional economic variables, soil properties, and variables on soil conservation technologies to estimate agricultural output among small-scale farmers in Kenya’s central highlands. The study finds that integrating traditional economics and soil science is invaluable, especially as omitting measures of soil capital can cause omitted-variable bias. The central policy implication is that while fertilizers are generally beneficial, their application is a complex art, and more is not necessarily better.

 

Agriculture

Soil Conservation and Small-Scale Food Production in Highland Ethiopia: A Stochastic Metafrontier Approach

Submitted by admin on
EfD Authors:

This study used the newly developed metafrontier approach to assess the technical efficiency of small-scale food production in the Ethiopian highlands at plot level, in order to investigate the role of soil conservation technology in enhancing agricultural productivity.

 

Agriculture

The Role of Soil Conservation on Mean Crop Yield and Variance of Yield: Evidence from the Ethiopian Highlands

Submitted by admin on

Stone bunds in the Ethiopian highlands showed statistically significant and positive impact on yield in low-rainfall areas, but not in high-rainfall areas, and they did not have a statistically significant impact on production risk in either area.

 

Stone bund performance varied by agro-ecology type, which implies the need for appropriate technologies that enhance productivity and are better adapted to local conditions.

Agriculture