A value chain study on sweet potato was conducted in 11 districts of Malawi across all the three regions to analyze and identify bottlenecks and inherent opportunities for possible investments for upgrading and development of the value chain. The study applied both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect primary data from 94 farmers belonging to 7 farmer groups using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 14 traders and 16 key informants comprising policy makers, NGO representatives and scientists from both local and international research institutions.
The study began with a review of literature on Malawi’s pigeon pea sector. Specifically, the literature review examined secondary material on pigeon pea production, trade (international and export market) and consumption/demand in Malawi. The literature review also included a quick analysis of secondary data on pigeon pea to understand trends in production, productivity, marketing, pricing, processing and consumption/demand.
This study presents the results from a meso-inventory conducted in Kebbi State, Northern Nigeria between March and July 2018. Was explored the extent to which the farmed-fish value chain is transforming structurally and the roles of capture fishing versus farmed fish. Kebbi is one of Nigeria’s leading states for fish production. Though largely Sudan Savanna (in the north) and Northern Guinea savanna (in the south), and thus semi-arid tropics, there is still a lot of water and a lot of fish.
This work aims to understand the opportunities to enhance the Malawi's tea industry. Using value chain analysis, this study sought to address two key questions relevant to Malawi’s tea industry and the county’s policymakers:Given the constraints the industry faces, can the Tea industry in Malawi improve its competitiveness in the global tea market? and What are the opportunities and threats to the expansion of the Tea industry in Malawi?
At the request of the USAID Malawi Mission, the MEAS project (Modernizing Extension and Advisory Services – a USAID funded project) conducted a rapid scoping mission to examine the pluralistic extension system in Malawi and to develop recommendations for strengthening extension and advisory services in the country.
This report documents those detailed gender dimensions of root and tuber crops (RTC) farming practices, showing how differently men and women engage in them, and it also provides a critical analysis of the gender considerations required for interventions. There are certain commonalities across field sites in the four countries.
This work has largely focused on the developed world, yet the majority of people and future economic growth lies in the developing world. Further, most research examines micro data on consumers or firms, limiting what is known regarding the role of macro factors on diffusion, such as social systems. Addressing these limitations, this research provides the first high-level insights into how green building adoption is occurring in developing countries.
This research delves into the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) among seven types of independent smallholders in Rokan Hulu regency, Riau province. The research area consisted of a relative established agricultural area on mineral soils and a relative frontier, mostly on peat. Smallholder types ranged from small local farmers to large farmers who usually reside in urban areas far from their plantation and regard oil palm cultivation as an investment opportunity.
Extension agent is one of the important factors in the agricultural process to deliver technology information and agricultural programs from government to farmers. The good performance of agricultural extension agents will have an impact on improving the performance of farmers to increase agricultural production.In Langkat Regency, the extension agent performance was not still optimal. Factors affecting the performance of the extension agent consist of internal and external factors.
This research aimed to figure out the attitude and readiness of agriculture extension officers in using the Information and Communication Technology. Data collection was done through a survey with total sample 60 respondents. Data gained were primary data from questionnaire filling by respondents who were all extension officers in Food Security and Extension Implementation Agency. Data analyses used in this research were reliability and validity analysis, Fishbein’s Attitude Model, and regression analysis which continued with F and t test.