Jean-Claude Bizimana

Evaluation of new farming technologies in Ethiopia using the Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS)

Highlights • We propose a modeling framework that assesses environmental and economical consequences of agricultural intensification.• Agricultural interventions were evaluated using IDSS in two study sites in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.• IDSS analyses indicate that a significant improvement in family incomes and nutrition can be achieved through the adoption of farming technologies such as irrigation technologies and nutrient management.

An economic risk analysis of fertiliser microdosing and rainwater harvesting in a semi-arid farming system in Tanzania

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to relate farm-level technologies in a semi-arid area with economic viability, taking risk analysis into consideration. Data gathered from various sources, such as a household baseline survey, farm trials, agricultural experts and government agencies, were used. Crop yields, crop prices, and prices for key production inputs, mainly fertiliser and rainwater harvesting through tied-ridges, were simulated for the net economic return distributions, e.g., pearl millet, groundnuts, and sunflower under different farm-technologies scenarios using a farm simulation model. The results indicate that an intercrop of pearl millet and groundnuts is the most economically viable farming system compared with other alternative scenarios if supplemented with rainwater harvesting technology. Risk neutral and risk-averse farmers both prefer this approach. If these technologies are geographically considered and synthesised, they may be cost-effective for farmers with implications for the current and future livelihood and productivity of crops in rural semi-arid areas.

Cattle Markets Integration and Price Discovery: The Case of Mali

Abstract This article analyses the level of integration in 10 cattle markets in Mali. The results indicate a limited interdependence among markets where, in majority of cases, more than 70 per cent of price variation is due to own-price shocks. However, the Ségou market exhibited a high level of interaction with other markets, behaving mostly as a price information receiver. Some markets behaved as sources of price information, however, without taking a clear price leadership role. This low level of market integration may be attributed to limited access to livestock markets and timely price information.

Reducing Risk in Pastoral Regions: The Role of Early Warning and Livestock Information Systems

Pastoralists are facing many challenges that create greater uncertainty and increased risk for livestock production including reductions in grazing land, rangeland degradation, and changing climate. These challenges require new and innovative ways of providing information for risk management decision-making and for developing adaptive management strategies. The aim of this paper is to describe livestock early warning and livestock information systems that have been developed to assist pastoralists in reducing risks associated with livestock production by providing necessary data and information to support decision making. These systems were developed to provide near real-time monitoring of forage, water, and livestock market information. The forage and water components provide early warning of drought conditions and short term forecasts to assist pastoralist in assessing risks in the face of drought. The market information system captures livestock price and volume information at important primary and terminal markets. Livestock price data are captured by location, livestock kind, breed, sex, age, gender and grade, and data can be accessed from the system through cell phone text messaging. Examples of the design, outputs and products from the systems are provided, along with discussions on how these tools can be used for risk management decision making and adaptive management. Results of retrospective case studies on the 2009 to 2010 drought in southern Kenya given and used as examples of how these information systems can assist in identifying drought trajectories and as a basis for risk indexing. Future efforts will focus on development of a web-based geographic information system (GIS) platform to integrate the early warning and livestock market information data streams, as well as provide mobile GIS capabilities to allow location specific queries for livestock information from smart phones or tablets. DOI:10.15528/2176-4158/rcpa.v15n1p9-21