Influence of agricultural extension services on technical efficiency of maize farmers in Malawi

Recognising potential selection bias due to non-randomness of the data, this study used propensity score matching on data from a nationally representative fifth Integrated Household Survey (IHS5) to investigate the effect of agriculture extension services on the technical efficiency of maize farmers in Malawi.

Is cowpea a ‘women’s crop’ in Mali? Implications for value chain development

Cowpea, which is produced primarily in West Africa, is valued locally for its agronomic benefits in dryland farming, nutritional content, and contribution to the livelihoods of farming families. Many feel that more investment in cowpea research and development is needed for the crop to achieve its economic potential.

Loan syndication and cocoa production: Evidence from Ghana

The syndication of loans is an innovative financing model that has emerged in the financial landscape to help lenders spread risk and share opportunities. This study examines the relationship between syndicated loans and cocoa production in Ghana, using annual time-series data spanning from 1993 to 2020, as well as the autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL).

Agricultural R&D investments and development goals in sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing prioritisation of value chains in Senegal

We look at the prioritisation of agricultural value chains (VCs) for the allocation of R&D resources that maximise development outcomes (poverty, growth, jobs and diets) in Senegal.

Economic analysis of yellow passion fruit production in southeastern Nigeria under different soil fertility management

Three experiments were conducted from 2014 to 2018 to examine the economics of yellow passion fruit production under different soil fertility management. In 2014, two yellow passion fruit genotypes, that is Conventional and KPF 4, were grown in the field and pot simultaneously under varying rates of poultry manure (PM), including 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 t/ha.

Influence of agricultural extension services on technical efficiency of maize farmers in Malawi

Recognising potential selection bias due to non-randomness of the data, this study used propensity score matching on data from a nationally representative fifth Integrated Household Survey (IHS5) to investigate the effect of agriculture extension services on the technical efficiency of maize farmers in Malawi.

Asymmetry and transmission of international price shocks of cocoa and coffee in Togo

This study assesses the mechanism of the transmission of international price shocks to producer prices of coffee and cocoa in Togo. A threshold autoregressive (TAR) model was estimated using monthly series of international and producer prices of coffee and cocoa in Togo from 1994 to 2018.

Stakeholders’ perspectives on the use of black soldier fly larvae as an alternative sustainable feed ingredient in aquaculture, Kenya

The use of novel feed ingredients from aquaculture is growing globally. However, their contributions to scalable and sustainable aquafeed solutions are unclear. New ingredients for feeds are desired in the framework of sustainability and a circular economy; thus, initiatives for implementing such novel ingredients are of interest to agricultural practitioners.

Opportunity cost of adopting improved planted forage: Evidence from the adoption of Brachiaria grass among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya

Current global trends in population growth, urbanisation and a growing middle-class economy have resulted in increased demand for livestock and products, and more so dairy products. This necessitates the need for livestock producers to respond to the growing demand.