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Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 31023

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Senakpon Kokoye

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
Interests: economics development; agricultural development; financial product and credit access; climate change and resilience; environmental sustainability; quantitative Risk management; econometric and statistical modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Joseph Molnar

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
Interests: sociology of agriculture; research methods and statistics; technology transfer; rural development; environmental sociology; social organization; interorganizational relations

Prof. Dr. Curtis Jolly

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
Interests: agricultural policy and world trade; economic development; aquaculture economics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is aimed at exposing innovative approaches used to improve agricultural development and food security in developing countries. Agriculture in developing countries has been challenged by unsustainable practices, which has led to a decrease in household income and food insecurity. In addition, climate change, with all its impacts, has made it difficult for the agricultural sector to meet its goal of feeding the growing population. Over the past few decades, development projects have intervened to tackle the issues with promising results. Their interventions include research studies, provision of financial and technical support to farmers, and knowledge dissemination through extension programs. Limited documentation exists today to provide knowledge to the public on the current situation of those interventions. This Special Issue considers three thematic areas on the latest development in agricultural sector in developing countries. The first thematic focuses on the development of agricultural practices and innovations. The second thematic provides an overview of recent approaches used to better understand and tackle the issues of household income and food security. The third thematic looks at how to use extension and agricultural education to achieve sustainable agricultural development.

We invite researchers and development practitioners working in the field of agriculture, environment, climate change, and food security to submit their research articles for this Special Issue.

Papers should be policy-relevant, present-innovative, and appropriate theoretical and methodological approaches and might consider questions related but not limited to the following themes:

Agricultural practices and innovations;
Household income and food security;
Extension and agricultural education for sustainable agricultural development.

Dr. Senakpon Kokoye
Prof. Dr. Joseph Molnar
Prof. Dr. Curtis Jolly
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

food security
sustainable agricultural development
household income
extension program
climate change
innovations

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 8323 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determining the Resilience of Rural Households to Food Insecurity during Drought Conditions in Fars Province, Iran

by Nosha Nahid, Farhad Lashgarara, Seyed Jamal Farajolah Hosseini, Seyed Mehdi Mirdamadi and Kurosh Rezaei-Moghaddam

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8384; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158384 - 27 Jul 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3235

Abstract

Climate change and drought have greatly affected the food security of rural families. Regarding to importance of the resilience approach in food security, this study aimed to examine the resiliency determinant factors based on six indicators included income and food access, access to basic services, assets, social safety net, adaptive capacity, and stability. The above-mentioned indicators were extracted from the food and agricultural organization’s resilience index. This research was of the survey type, and data were collected from a sample of population based on a stratified random sampling. The sample population was 270 respondents from the Fars province who faced food insecurity due to drought. Based on the factorial analysis, the model presented in this research had a high predictability of resilience among rural households. The validity and reliability of this model were tested and verified. The results showed that the stability variable was considered the most important resiliency determinant toward food insecurity. Cluster analysis suggested two groups: high- and low-resilience households. The results revealed that more than half of rural families had a lower resilience to food insecurity, while less than 45 percent of rural households in this study had higher resiliency, which was characterized by a series of features. The verified model in this study identified a standard framework for assessing the resiliency of households to cope with food insecurity and to recover from shocks related to drought. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

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13 pages, 288 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Fertilizer Subsidies on Investment in Soil and Water Conservation and Productivity among Ghanaian Farmers Using Mechanized Irrigation

by Godwin Kofi Vondolia, Håkan Eggert and Jesper Stage

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8242; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158242 - 23 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3408

Abstract

The fertilizer subsidies reintroduced in various sub-Saharan African countries from 2007 aim to increase agricultural production and assist in the development of fertilizer markets. The present study evaluates the impact of a fertilizer subsidy program among farmers in Ghana who employ highly mechanized irrigation systems. The results indicate that farmers who received fertilizer under the subsidy program used 45% more fertilizer. However, they did not use more weedicide and were likely to reduce investment in soil and water conservation. Thus, the income gains resulting from the subsidy programs were not invested in such non-targeted inputs. Moreover, the program beneficiaries’ reduced investment in soil and water conservation may explain the finding that the subsidy did not improve their productivity. Thus, since fertilizer subsidy programs alone may not improve productivity, it may be necessary to target spending explicitly on complementary inputs such as investing in soil and water conservation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

12 pages, 998 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Economic Analysis of Tropical Forest Resource Conservation in a Protected Area

by Noel Perceval Assogba and Daowei Zhang

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5850; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145850 - 21 Jul 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2592

Abstract

In this paper, we develop a reduced form model for factors influencing the conservation of forest resources. We then estimate it using a bivariate negative binomial regression model with cases of illegal farming and illegal cattle grazing in the W Reserve in West Africa. Our results show that population size and farm area in the periphery of the W Reserve are associated with an increase of 2.4% and 7.1% of the illegal farming, respectively. On the other hand, income level, the existence of a checkpoint, and the distance between the villages and the reserve decrease the illegal grazing activities by 7.3%, 63.2%, and 2.3%, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

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14 pages, 1539 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development Trend and Driving Factors of Agricultural Chemical Fertilizer Efficiency in China

by Rong He, Chaofeng Shao, Rongguang Shi, Zheyu Zhang and Run Zhao

Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114607 - 4 Jun 2020

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 5967

Abstract

In China, a high input of chemical fertilizers is currently required for a relatively low increase in agricultural production, and this has resulted in prominent nonpoint source pollution and problems related to the quality of agricultural products. These phenomena threaten China’s implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG-2). To explore agricultural chemical fertilizer efficiency and the factors driving the growth in chemical fertilizer use in China, as based on an international comparative analysis of China’s chemical fertilizer input, the development trend in the application level and the efficiency in the use of chemical fertilizer in China were subject to time series analysis, and the factors influencing change were identified and analyzed using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI). The results show that: (1) The gap in agricultural chemical fertilizer efficiency is still large when comparing China with modern agricultural countries, and excessive fertilizer input is still a major problem. (2) The continuous growth in the total amount of chemical fertilizer applied in China during the past 18 years has contributed to the increase in chemical fertilizer application intensity, which provided a cumulative contribution of 85.52%, with smaller contributions from the planting structure and crop sown area. Based on the analysis of fertilizer application, the chemical fertilizer application intensity of the main grain crops was the most significant factor, accounting for about a 40.00% cumulative contribution. (3) Since 2015, the total amount of chemical fertilizers has been reduced through gradually improving the utilization rate of chemical fertilizers, reducing the application intensity of chemical fertilizers, and implementing the fallow rotation system and other measures. Of these, the reduction in application intensity was the most effective at reducing the overall amount of applied fertilizer. To meet the target for achieving sustainable agricultural development, China must still reduce its use of chemical fertilizers by at least 21.80 million tons. Based on the results of current measures and international experience, some suggestions for reducing fertilizer usage are provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

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19 pages, 3493 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Participation in Contract Farming on Smallholder Farmers’ Income and Food Security in Rural Benin: PSM and LATE Parameter Combined

by Odountan Ambaliou Olounlade, Gu-Cheng Li, Sènakpon E. Haroll Kokoye, François Vihôdé Dossouhoui, Kuassi Auxence Aristide Akpa, Dessalegn Anshiso and Gauthier Biaou

Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 901; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030901 - 26 Jan 2020

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 7363

Abstract

Investigated in this work is the impact of contract farming participation on smallholder farmers’ income and food security in rice crop production in Northern Benin using 400 randomly selected rice farmer households. Unlike previous studies, we corrected for both observed and unobserved biases by combining propensity score matching (PSM) and the local average treatment effect parameter (LATE). The results showed significant negative consequences of partaking in rice contract farming. We found evidence of significant negative effects on rice production income at a 1% level. The more the rice farmers join in contract farming, the lower the farm income became. Decreased food consumption was also a result of contract farming participation for potential participants by a score of 60.64, placing their households at the food security status level of poor food consumption because the quantity and nutritional quality of the food consumed were inadequate. Contract farming is, therefore, not a reasonable policy instrument that can help farmers increase their income and improve their food security level in the Alibori Department, Benin if farmers do not diversify their crops. The necessary resources and economic environment are not yet in place to allow contract farming to take full advantage of its potential benefits. To prevent the wasting of scarce public resources, expanding contract farming would not be appropriate in marginal areas with markets and other infrastructure. Additional measures are needed for contract farming to be profitable for contracting actors and to ensure sustainability and the large-scale participation of farmers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

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14 pages, 1795 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Options for Improving Potato Productivity through Reducing Crop Yield Gap in Loess Plateau of China Based on Grey Correlation Analysis

by Ning Wang, Yingying Xing and Xiukang Wang

Sustainability 2019, 11(20), 5621; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205621 - 12 Oct 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3242

Abstract

Differences in crop yield between different fields in the same region have existed for a long time. Methods for improving the productivity of low-yield fields are a hot topic in large-scale agriculture. This experiment was carried out in potato planting farmland and at a potato experimental station in the Loess Plateau in China to study the effects of soil moisture and soil nutrients on potato yield potential and yield gap. The relationships between potato yield and soil nutrient factors were analyzed using the grey correlation method. The grey correlation method is a new technique for performing prediction, relational analysis and decision-making in many areas. The results indicate that (1) the high-yield group at the potato experimental station (HE) was 72,678 kg/ha; the mean-yield group at the potato experimental station (ME) was 36,083 kg/ha; the high-yield group in the potato planting farmland (HF) was 34,259 kg/ha; and the mean-yield group in the potato planting farmland (MF) was 19,386 kg/ha. (2) The yield gap (YG1) between HF and MF was 14,873 kg/ha; the yield gap (YG2) between ME and the MF was 16,697 kg/ha; the yield gap (YG3) between HE and the MF was 53291 kg/ha. (3) The effects of soil moisture and nutrients on potato yield were ranked from large to small: soil available potassium content > soil nitrate nitrogen content > soil organic matter content > soil water content > soil available phosphorus content. The results of correlation analysis and grey correlation analysis showed that the available potassium had the strongest correlation with potato tuber yield. (4) The content of nitrate nitrogen was significantly correlated with the content of available potassium and available phosphorus, while the water content was significantly correlated with the content of organic matter. According to the influence of soil moisture and nutrients on the potato tuber yield, it is suggested that integrated water and fertilizer cultivation measures be implemented, and the input of potash fertilizer and nitrogen fertilizer be increased. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

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22 pages, 2298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nutrient-Dense Crops for Rural and Peri-Urban Smallholders in Kenya—A Regional Social Accounting Approach

by Henning Krause, Anja Faße and Ulrike Grote

Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3017; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113017 - 28 May 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3567

Abstract

Kenya ranks among the countries with the highest micronutrient deficiency worldwide. Due to their high micronutrient content, African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) can be a solution to this problem, and urban areas in Kenya have seen a rise in demand for these crops in the previous decade. To fill the gap between supply and demand, programmes to promote AIV production have been implemented in rural and peri-urban areas. However, the effects of increased AIV production on income and food security in the regional economies are not clear. Thus, in this analysis, we first evaluate differences between the livelihoods of household groups with different levels of food security in rural and peri-urban Kenya using a two-step cluster analysis. Then, we generate a regional social accounting matrix (SAM) and calculate the direct and indirect income effects of AIVs and other crops grown in the area using a multiplier analysis. For the analysis, a total of 706 small-scale vegetable producers in four counties in Kenya were interviewed in 2015. Households in rural areas were more food insecure, especially with respect to the utilization and stability dimension of food security. Multiplier analysis showed increased indirect income effects of AIVs in the regional economy compared to those of many cash crops. We suggest further promoting the production of AIVs in rural and peri-urban Kenya. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural Development and Food Security in Developing Countries: Innovations and Sustainability)

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