Search Results (1,698)

Achieving food security for a growing population under a changing climate is a key concern in Senegal, where agriculture employs 77% of the workforce with a majority of small farmers who rely on the production of crops for their subsistence and for income generation. Moreover, due to the underproductive soils and variable rainfall, Senegal depends on imports to fulfil 70% of its food requirements. In this research, we considered four crops that are crucial for Senegalese agriculture: millet, sorghum, peanuts and rice. We used crop simulation models to explore existing yield gaps and optimal agronomic practices. Improving the N fertilizer management in sorghum and millet resulted in 40–100% increases in grain yields. Improved N symbiotic fixation in peanuts resulted in yield increases of 20–100% with highest impact in wetter locations. Optimizing irrigation management and N fertilizer use resulted in 20–40% gains. The best N fertilizer strategy for sorghum and millet included applying low rates at sowing and in early development stages and adjusting a third application, considering the expected rainfall. Peanut yields of the variety 73-33 were higher than Fleur-11 in all locations, and irrigation showed no clear economic advantage. The best N fertilizer management for rainfed rice included applying 30 kg N/ha at sowing, 25 days after sowing (DAS) and 45 DAS. The best combination of sowing dates for a possible double rice crop depended on irrigation costs, with a first crop planted in January or March and a second crop planted in July. Our work confirmed results obtained in field research experiments and identified management practices for increasing productivity and reducing yield variability. Those crop management practices can be implemented in pilot experiments to further validate the results and to disseminate best management practices for farmers in Senegal. Full article

Virginia’s coastal location and abundant marine resources make its seafood industry a vital contributor to the state’s economy, supporting both local communities and tourism. This study applied input–output models and updates the economic contributions of the Virginia seafood industry using 2023 data, building on models developed for 2019 that capture both direct effects and broader economic ripple effects. In 2023, the industry generated USD 1.27 billion in total economic output and supported over 6500 jobs—including watermen, aquaculture farmers, processors, and distributors—resulting in USD 238.3 million in labor income. Contributions to state GDP totaled USD 976.7 million, and tax revenues exceeded USD 390.4 million. The study also evaluates the economic role of Virginia seafood products sold in retail stores and restaurants, based on secondary data sources. In 2023, these sectors generated USD 458 million in economic output, supported more than 3600 jobs, produced USD 136.7 million in labor income, and USD 280.8 million in value-added. Combined tax contributions surpassed USD 74 million. Importantly, the analysis results for the Virginia seafood products from retail and restaurant should not be summed to the seafood industry totals to avoid double-counting, as seafood products move as output from one sector as an input to another. These results provide evidence-based insights to guide decision-making, inform stakeholders, and support continued investment in Virginia’s seafood supply chain and related economic activities. Full article

Enhancing farmers’ digital literacy is both an inevitable requirement for adapting to the digital age and an important measure for promoting the sustainable development of livestock and poultry manure resource utilization. This study surveyed and obtained data from 1047 farm households in Ningxia and Gansu, two provinces in China that have long implemented livestock manure resource utilization policies, from December 2023 to January 2024, and employed the binary probit model to analyze how digital literacy influences farmers’ willingness to adopt two livestock manure resource utilization modes, as well as to analyze the moderating role of three policy regulations. This paper also explores the heterogeneous results in different village forms and income groups. The results are as follows: (1) Digital literacy significantly and positively impacts farmers’ willingness to adopt both the “household collection” mode and the “livestock community” mode. For every one-unit increase in a farmer’s digital literacy, the probability of farmers’ willingness to adopt the “household collection” mode rises by 22 percentage points, and the probability of farmers’ willingness to adopt the “livestock community” mode rises by 19.8 percentage points. After endogeneity tests and robustness checks, the conclusion still holds. (2) Mechanism analysis results indicate that guiding policy and incentive policy have a positive moderation effect on the link between digital literacy and the willingness to adopt the “household collection” mode. Meanwhile, incentive policy also positively moderates the relationship between digital literacy and the willingness to adopt the “livestock community” mode. (3) Heterogeneity analysis results show that the positive effect of digital literacy on farmers’ willingness to adopt two livestock manure resource utilization modes is stronger in “tight-knit society” rural areas and in low-income households. (4) In further discussion, we find that digital literacy removes the information barriers for farmers, facilitating the conversion of willingness into behavior. The value of this study is as follows: this paper provides new insights for the promotion of livestock and poultry manure resource utilization policies in countries and regions similar to the development process of northwest China. Therefore, enhancing farmers’ digital literacy in a targeted way, strengthening the promotion of grassroots policies on livestock manure resource utilization, formulating diversified ecological compensation schemes, and establishing limited supervision and penalty rules can boost farmers’ willingness to adopt manure resource utilization models. Full article

Non-agricultural business activity of farmers is crucial not only for stabilizing farm income but also for the multifunctional development of rural areas. Capturing changes in the level and nature of this activity supports the development of sustainable agricultural and rural policy. In this context, this study aimed to identify the scale and types of non-agricultural business activity and to recognize the main determinants of such business activities undertaken by farmers in Poland between 2002 and 2022. Sectoral-level data from the Agricultural Censuses and cyclical studies of the structure of farms and household budgets were used to approximate underlying motivations for running non-agricultural business (opportunity vs. necessity entrepreneurship). The findings indicate that, in Poland, the impact of regressive factors remains strong, pushing farmers to take on additional business activity due to the large share of small and very small farms. However, during the 21st century, a gradual spread of opportunity entrepreneurship among Polish farmers has been observed. This study highlights the rationale for supporting non-agriculture business activity motivated by progressive factors to increase the income resilience of farmer households and the sustainable development of agriculture. The article indicates the need for further research on the motives for undertaking non-agricultural economic activities by farmers and the impact of this activity on the allocation of farm resources. Full article

Solid biomass (agro-residue) is the most important source of renewable energy. The accelerating impacts of climate change and global population growth contribute to air pollution through the use of fossil fuels. These processes increase the demand for energy. The European Union has adopted a climate action plan to address the above challenges. The main aim of this study was to assess the economic performance of the producers of biomass for energy generation in Poland. The detailed objectives were to determine land resources in the studied agricultural farms and to determine the value of fixed and current assets in the analyzed farms. We used questionnaires as the main method to collect data. Purposive sampling was used to choose the farms. We conducted various tests to analyze the revenues from biomass sales and their normality, such as the Dornik–Hansen test, the Shapiro–Wilk test, the Liliefors test, and the Jargue–Berra statistical test. Moreover, we conducted regression analysis to find factors that are the basis for the economic performance (incomes) of farms that sell biomass. Results: This study demonstrated that biomass sales had a minor impact on the performance of agricultural farms, but they enabled farmers to maintain their position on the market. The economic analysis was carried out on a representative group of Polish agricultural farms, taking into account fixed and current assets, land use, production structure, and employment. The findings indicate that a higher income from biomass sales was generally associated with better economic results per farm and per employee, although not always per hectare of land. This suggests that capital intensity and strategic resource management play a crucial role in the profitability of bioenergy-oriented agricultural production. Conclusions: We concluded that biomass sales had a negligible influence on farm income. But a small income from biomass sales could affect a farm’s economic viability. Full article

Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture play a crucial role in securing food, income, and nutrition for millions, especially in the Global South. Rural small-scale aquaculture (SSA) is characterized by limited investment and technical training among farmers, diversification and dispersion of farms over large areas, reduced access to competitive markets for inputs and products, and family labor. Small-scale integrated circular aquaponic (ICAq) systems, in which systems’ component outputs are transformed into component inputs, have significant potential to increase circularity and promote economic development, especially in a rural context. We offer an integrated and comprehensive approach centered on aquaponics or aquaponic farming for small-scale aquaculture units. It aims to identify and describe a series of circular processes and causal links that can be implemented based on deep study in SSA and ICAq. Circular processes to treat by-products in ICAq include components like composting, vermicomposting, aerobic and anaerobic digestion, silage, and insect production. These processes can produce ICAq inputs such as seedling substrates, plant fertilizers, bioenergy, or feed ingredients. In addition, the plant component can supply therapeutic compounds. Further research on characterization of aquaponic components outputs and its quantifications, the impact of using circular inputs generated within the ICAq, and the technical feasibility and economic viability of circular processes in the context of SSA is needed. Full article

In order to fulfil SDG 13—taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impact—SDG 2—ending hunger and poverty—and the African Union CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026–2035, which’s goal is ending hunger and intensifying sustainable food production, agro-industrialisation, and trade, the resilience of commercial livestock farmers to agricultural droughts needs to be enhanced. Agricultural drought has affected the economies of many sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa, and still poses a challenge to commercial livestock farming. This study identifies and determines the factors affecting commercial livestock farmers’ level of resilience to agricultural drought. Primary data from 123 commercial livestock farmers was used in a principal component analysis to estimate the agricultural drought resilience index as an outcome variable, and the probit model was used to determine the factors influencing the resilience of commercial livestock farmers in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. This study provides a valuable contribution towards resilience-building strategies that are critical for sustaining commercial livestock farming in arid regions by developing a formula for calculating the Agricultural Drought Resilience Index for commercial livestock farmers, significantly contributing to the pool of knowledge. The results showed that 67% of commercial livestock farming households were not resilient to agricultural drought, while 33% were resilient. Reliance on sustainable natural water resources, participation in social networks, education, relative support, increasing livestock numbers, and income stability influence the resilience of commercial livestock farmers. It underscores the importance of multidimensional policy interventions to enhance farmer drought resilience through education and livelihood diversification. Full article

The value realization of forest ecological products (VRF) is crucial for rural revitalization, while the rural digital economy (RDE) plays a central role in enhancing farmers’ income (FI). This study constructs index systems to evaluate the RDE and VRF using the entropy weight method and the input–output model. Based on panel data from 31 Chinese provinces (2011–2021), we employ a comprehensive analytical framework that includes spatiotemporal evolution analysis, benchmark regression models, mediation effect analysis, and heterogeneity analysis. The results of the benchmark regression models show that the RDE significantly boosts FI, with each unit of increase in the RDE leading to a 2579-unit rise in income. Spatiotemporal evolution analysis reveals that the positive effect of the RDE weakens from the Eastern coastal regions to the less developed Western regions. Furthermore, mediation effect analysis indicates that VRF mediates the relationship between the RDE and FI. Heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the impact of the RDE varies across regions and income levels. These findings provide strong evidence of the role of the RDE in promoting FI and highlight VRF as a mediating mechanism, offering policy insights for integrating digital and ecological strategies to foster inclusive rural growth. Full article

Amid the rapid expansion of the digital economy, online shopping has become increasingly common among rural households in China, yet the social interaction mechanisms driving such behavior remain insufficiently explored. This study examines the impact of peer effects on farmers’ online shopping behavior using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) covering the years 2014 to 2022. A Logit model is applied to estimate peer influence, and interaction terms are introduced to assess the moderating roles of land assets and social expenditures. The results reveal that peer behavior significantly increases the likelihood of rural households participating in online shopping, with the effect being particularly strong among low-income, less-educated households and those in western regions. Additionally, both land-rich households and those with higher social expenditures demonstrate greater responsiveness to peer influence. These findings highlight the importance of local social interaction in shaping rural online shopping behavior and provide theoretical and practical implications for digital inclusion and rural e-commerce strategies. Full article

The development of a forestry carbon sink project is an important way to achieve carbon neutrality and carbon reduction, and the collective forest carbon sink project is an important part of China’s forestry carbon sink project. As the main management entity of collective forests, whether farmers are willing to produce forestry carbon sinks is directly related to the implementation effect of the project. In this paper, a partial equilibrium model of farmers’ forestry production behavior was established based on production function and utility function, and the path to enhance farmers’ willingness to produce forestry carbon sink through forestry carbon sink projects was analyzed in combination with forest ecological management theory. In terms of empirical analysis, the PSM-DID econometric model was established based on the survey data of LY in Zhejiang Province, China, and the following conclusions were drawn: (1) With the receipt of revenues from forestry carbon sequestration projects and partial cost-sharing by the government, farmers’ participation in forestry carbon sink projects can save investment in forest land management. (2) The saved forestry production costs and forestry carbon sink project subsidies can make up for the loss of farmers’ timber income, so that the net income of forestry will not be significantly reduced. (3) The forestry production factors saved by farmers can be transferred to non-agricultural sectors and increase non-agricultural net income, so that the net income of rural households participating in forestry carbon sink projects will increase. The forestry carbon sink project can improve the utility level of farmers and increase the willingness of farmers to produce forestry carbon sinks by delivering income to farmers and saving forestry production factors. This study demonstrates that a well-designed forestry carbon sink compensation mechanism, combined with an optimized allocation of production factors, can effectively enhance farmers’ willingness to participate. This insight is also applicable to countries or regions that rely on small-scale forestry operations. Full article

Eliminating all forms of poverty is a core component of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. At the household level, poverty and income inequality significantly threaten farmers’ sustainable development and food security. Based on a sample of 1234 kiwi farmers from the Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces in China, this paper empirically examines the impact of participation in agricultural industry organizations (AIOs) on household income and income inequality, as well as the underlying mechanisms. The results indicate the following: (1) Participation in AIOs increased farmers’ average household income by approximately 19,570 yuan while simultaneously reducing the income inequality index by an average of 4.1%. (2) Participation increases household income and mitigates income inequality through three mechanisms: promoting agricultural production, enhancing sales premiums, and improving human capital. (3) After addressing endogeneity concerns, farmers participating in leading agribusiness enterprises experienced an additional average income increase of 21,700 yuan compared to those participating in agricultural cooperatives. Therefore, it is recommended to optimize the farmer–enterprise linkage mechanisms within agricultural industry organizations, enhance technical training programs, and strengthen production–marketing integration and market connection systems, aiming to achieve both increased farmer income and improved income distribution. Full article

Increasing global population and threat from climate change are imposing economic, social, and ecological challenges to global food production. The demand for food is increasing, necessitating enhanced agricultural production with minimal environmental impacts. To meet this demand, sustainable intensification of both crops and livestock is necessary. This is more urgent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region characterized by low productivity and environmentally degrading agriculture. Integrated Agriculture-livestock-forestry (ALF) systems could be a key form of intensification needed for achieving food security and economic and environmental sustainability. The synergetic interactions between ALF nexus provide a mechanism to foster interconnectedness and resource circulation where practices of one system influence the outcomes in another. These systems enhance long-term farm sustainability while serving the farmers’ environmental and economic goals. It provides opportunities for improving food security, farmer incomes, soil health, climate resilience and the achievement of several UN Sustainable Development Goals. It is therefore crucial to strengthen the evidence supporting the contribution of these systems. On this basis, this paper reviews the potential pathways through which ALF nexus can enhance incomes, food security and climate change mitigation in SSA. The paper discusses the pathways through which the integration of crops, livestock and trees enhance (i) food security, (ii) incomes, (iii) soil health and (iv) mitigation of climate change in SSA. We argue that implementing ALF systems will be accompanied by an advancement of enhanced food security, farmer livelihoods and ecological conservation. It will foster a more balanced and sustainable sub-Saharan African agricultural systems. Full article

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an upcoming technology that is increasingly being used for monitoring and analysing environmental parameters and supports the progress of farm machinery. Agriculture is the main source of living for many people, including, for instance, farmers, agronomists and transporters. It can raise incomes, improve food security and benefit the environment. However, food systems are responsible for many environmental problems. While the use of IoT in agriculture and environment is widely deployed in many developed countries, it is underdeveloped in Africa, particularly in West Africa. This paper aims to provide a systematic review on this technology adoption for agriculture and environment in West African countries. To achieve this goal, the analysis of scientific contributions is performed by performing first a bibliometric study, focusing on the selected articles obtained using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, and second a qualitative study. The PRISMA analysis was performed based on 226 publications recorded from one database: Web Of Science (WoS). It has been demonstrated that the annual scientific production significantly increased during this last decade. Our conclusions highlight promising directions where IoT could significantly progress sustainability. Full article

Balancing ecological conservation and rural livelihoods in protected areas remains a global challenge, particularly under strict land use regulations and economic development constraints. Territorial spatial planning (TSP) in an ecological function area (EFA) faces constraints such as land use restrictions, ecological redlines, and economic development limits. This study investigates how ecological land resources influence farmers’ incomes in ecological function areas (EFAs), with a focus on the moderating role of advanced livelihoods (ALI). Using an integrated Fixed-Effects–SVM–Genetic Algorithm framework, we quantify nonlinear policy-livelihood interactions and simulate multi-scenario governmental interventions (e.g., ecological investment, returning farmland to forest/RFF) across Beijing’s EFA, which can obtain the key findings as follows: (a) Ecological land resources have a significant positive effect on farmers’ incomes due to production-manner adjustment guided by governmental green strategy and corresponding TSP in an ecological restoration area of an EFA, while they have a non-significant impact in the core ecological reserve areas on account of the strict environmental protection restrictions on economic activities. (b) Differences in financial support between lower and higher economic development zones can bring about adverse impact results on farmers’ incomes in an EFA. (c) ALI significantly amplifies the positive impact of ecological land use on farmers’ incomes, demonstrating its critical role in bridging ecological and economic goals. (d) Sensitivity analysis results under RFF, targeted government investment, and ALI can maximize income gains through policy interaction from the government and farmer sides jointly. The above obtained results are beneficial to balance ecological protection and economic interests of farmers’ sustainably in an EFA. Full article

With the increasing importance of green transformation in agricultural production, green pest control technologies (GPCTs), defined as a set of eco-friendly methods aimed at managing agricultural pests with reduced reliance on synthetic chemical pesticides, play a key role in improving agricultural production efficiency, ensuring product quality, and protecting the ecological environment. Based on field survey data from apple farmers in Yantai and Linyi cities, Shandong Province, collected in 2022, this paper employs endogenous treatment effects regression (ETR) and instrumental variable quantile regression (IVQR) models to analyze the impact of adopting green pest control technologies on household income and explores the heterogeneity of this effect across different income levels. The results show that the adoption of green pest control technologies significantly increases apple farmers’ net apple income and household income, confirming their income-boosting effect. Moreover, the income-boosting effect is more significant for lower-income farmers, suggesting that these farmers benefit more from the adoption of green pest control technologies by improving pest management and thus enhancing apple production efficiency. This study provides empirical evidence for the promotion of green pest control technologies and offers valuable references for policymakers, especially in supporting technology adoption among lower-income farmers. Full article