| 1. |
- Abu Hatab, Assem, et al.
(författare)
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In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic : Perceived risks, management strategies and emerging opportunities for small and medium agri-food enterprises in a developing country
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. - 2212-4209.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to small and medium agri-food enterprises (SMAEs) in developing countries. However, research investigating what risks Covid-19 posed to these firms, how they responded, and what business opportunities emerged to SMAEs from the pandemic remains scanty. Drawing on a sample of 166 specialist SMAEs in Egypt, this study addressed these entwined questions by using multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) and mediation analysis. Our results point out that the Covid-19 pandemic exposed Egyptian SMAEs to complex and multidimensional risks, and caused profound effects on both upstream and downstream stages of their supply chains. In general, Egyptian SMAEs adopted a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to cope with such Covid-19 risks and impacts, which was attributed to their lack of sufficient financial resources to develop risk management strategies and formalize structures to deal with unexpected events. Interestingly, the results showed that several business opportunities emerged from pandemic; but SMAEs' resource disadvantages constrained their capacity to seize and exploit these opportunities. Moreover, we found that mitigation strategies adopted by SMAEs present a mediating factor between perceived Covid-19 risks and perceived business opportunities. Overall, our findings call for a paradigm shift in relation to enterprise risk management in developing countries' SMAEs toward more holistic frameworks to enhance their preparedness to future shocks, make mature operational and strategic management decisions, and exploit strategic opportunities.
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| 2. |
- Adamie, Birhanu Addisu, et al.
(författare)
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Dairy cow longevity and farm economic performance: Evidence from Swedish dairy farms
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Dairy Science. - 0022-0302 .- 1525-3198. ; 106, s. 8926-8941
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The longevity of dairy cows is mainly determined by farmers' subjective culling decisions and can be linked to the environmental impact of dairy production and to the social acceptance of the industry. Still, the economic impacts of dairy cow longevity are not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine how herd average dairy cow longevity is related to the farm economic outcome. We used 3 indicators of economic outcome: technical efficiency, profitability, and average milk yield per cow. We used 2 indicators of dairy cow longevity: average herd length of life and average herd length of productive life. The study was based on a unique and detailed dataset from Swedish dairy agriculture, where herd-management data from the national dairy herd recording scheme were combined with farm-level economic variables from the Swedish Farm Accountancy Survey, for a total of 1,959 observations from 2010 to 2018. The regression results highlight that both measures of average herd dairy cow longevity have an overall positive and significant association with farm-level economic performance. These associations had an inverted U-shape, which implies that the association is first positive and then declines. Descriptive statistics indicate that the point where the maximum economic performance is attained varied across the economic indicators. Our results are relevant for individual dairy farmers and their advisors, who are interested in understanding how herd average longevity relates to economic performance on the farms. Our results are also important from a greater sustainability perspective, because linking them to previous knowledge about the environmental and social sustainability benefits of keeping cows longer highlights longevity-associated trade-offs between those benefits and the farm economic outcomes.
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| 3. |
- Dureti, Guyo Godana, et al.
(författare)
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The new normal? Cluster farming and smallholder commercialization in Ethiopia
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agricultural Economics. - 0169-5150. ; 54, s. 900-920
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cluster farming is increasingly recognized as a viable means of improving smallholder economic integration and commercialization in many developing countries. However, little is known about its impact on smallholder welfare and livelihoods. We examine the relationship between cluster farming and smallholder commercialization using a large-scale survey of 3969 farm households in Ethiopia cultivating high-acreage crops such as teff, wheat, maize, barley, and sesame. Using switching regressions and instrumental variable estimators, we show that cluster farming is associated with commercialization measured as commercialization index, market surplus value, and market price. To further deal with endogeneity concerns, we also employ some pseudo-panel models where we observe similar insights. Beyond this, we account for heterogeneities by disaggregating households based on farm scales and crops cultivated. Our findings show that cluster farming is positively associated with commercialization for all farms and crop types despite this disaggregation. However, the related gains are higher among medium and large farms and vary per crop type. These findings imply that cluster farming is crucial in improving smallholder commercialization and may be a critical entry and leveraging point for policy. We thus lend support to initiatives and plans that seek to upscale cluster farming as they can potentially improve smallholder commercialization with ensuing impacts on rural livelihoods and welfare.
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| 4. |
- Hansson, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Investeringar i mjölkgårdar påverkar kornas livslängd
- 2023
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Ingår i: Husdjur. - 0046-8339. ; , s. 37-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- En svensk mjölkko slås ut efter att ha mjölkat i genomsnitt två och en halv laktation. Beslut om utslagning är mer komplext än många tror och en ny forskningsstudie visar att mjölkkornas ålder bestäms av andra faktorer än av deras hälsa och fruktsamhet.
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| 5. |
- Owusu Sekyere, Enoch
(författare)
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Alleviating water shortages by decreasing water footprint in sugarcane production: The impacts of different soil mulching and irrigation systems in South Africa
- 2020
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Ingår i: Groundwater for Sustainable Development. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-801X. ; 11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identifying ways and practices to alleviate water scarceness is an important policy issue across sectors, particularly in the agricultural sector in arid countries. The present study examines how water scarcity can be alleviated by decreasing the water footprint of sugarcane production using different soil mulching and irrigation systems in South Africa. The study also quantifies the economic benefits of reducing blue water footprints. The MyCanesim model and water footprint assessment methodologies were employed to estimate blue and green water footprints under the different systems in the Malelane region of South Africa. The findings reveal that blue water consumption for sugarcane grown with a thick mulch cover was substantially lower than for that grown with a light mulch cover. The difference was larger for centre pivot-irrigated sugarcane than for subsurface drip-irrigated sugarcane. The blue and total (blue plus green) water footprint values for crops grown with a thick mulch cover were only marginally lower than for those grown with the light mulch cover. The blue water footprint for subsurface drip-irrigated sugarcane was 8–10 m3/t lower than for centre pivot-irrigated sugarcane due to its higher application efficiency. The economic productivity of blue water usage for subsurface drip-irrigated sugarcane was higher than for centre pivot-irrigated sugarcane crops. In addition, the economic water productivity of blue water usage for crops grown with a thick mulch cover was slightly higher (5%) than that of those grown with a light mulch cover under subsurface drip irrigation. The findings support the notion that water-use efficiency in sugarcane production can be improved and the water footprints reduced by implementing more efficient irrigation systems, by covering the soil with a thick mulch cover to limit evaporation, and by implementing effective irrigation scheduling.
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| 6. |
- Owusu Sekyere, Enoch, et al.
(författare)
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Dairy cow longevity: Impact of animal health and farmers? investment decisions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Dairy Science. - 0022-0302 .- 1525-3198. ; 106, s. 3509-3524
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A dairy farmer's decision to cull or keep dairy cows is likely a complex decision based on animal health and farm management practices. The present paper investigated the relationship between cow longevity and animal health, and between longevity and farm investments, while controlling for farm-sp ecific charac-teristics and animal management practices, by using Swedish dairy farm and production data for the period 2009 to 2018. We used the ordinary least square and unconditional quantile regression model to perform mean-based and heterogeneous-based analysis, re-spectively. Findings from the study indicate that, on average, animal health has a negative but insignificant effect on dairy herd longevity. This implies that cull-ing is predominantly done for other reasons than poor health status. Investment in farm infrastructure has a positive and significant effect on dairy herd longevity. The investment in farm infrastructure creates room for new or superior recruitment heifers without the need to cull existing dairy cows. Production variables that prolong dairy cow longevity include higher milk yield and an extended calving interval. Findings from this study imply that the relatively short longevity of dairy cows in Sweden compared with some dairy producing countries is not a result of problems with health and welfare. Rather, dairy cow longevity in Sweden hinges on the farmers' investment decisions, farm-specific characteristics and animal management practices.
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| 7. |
- Owusu Sekyere, Enoch, et al.
(författare)
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Dairy farmers' heterogeneous preferences for animal welfare-enhancing flooring properties: A mixed logit approach applied in Sweden
- 2021
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Ingår i: Livestock Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1871-1413 .- 1878-0490. ; 250
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we examine preferences for flooring properties that enhance animal welfare in dairy cattle barns among a sample of Swedish dairy farmers. The findings reveal that respondents differ in their choice of flooring properties that improve farm animal welfare. The findings also show that they consider low-slip risk and the softness of floors to be the most important properties. Findings from a latent variable model revealed that floor packaging and installation, workability and animal welfare are important factors that explain the respondents' preferences for different types of floors. The findings demonstrate that dairy farmers who prefer soft, low-slip and less abrasive floors are influenced by the way the floors are incorporated and installed into the building design, the ease with which other tasks can be performed after installing the flooring and the welfare that the specific flooring provides for the animals. The findings contribute relevant insights that are needed for the promotion and adoption of farm management practices that improve animal welfare.
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| 8. |
- Owusu Sekyere, Enoch
(författare)
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Does income diversity really stimulate household consumption expenditure diversity? Evidence from mean-based and unconditional quantile regressions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Applied Economics. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0003-6846 .- 1466-4283. ; 55, s. 6567-6581
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although both income diversity and household consumption expenditure diversity are positively correlated with income, little is known about how the former affects the latter. This study investigates how and to what extent income diversity stimulates household consumption expenditure diversity, utilizing data collected by the China Social Survey. We estimate a standard mean-based linear regression model and an unconditional quantile regression (UQR) model to explore mean-based and quantile-specific effects, respectively. The results of the linear regression show that income diversity significantly increases household consumption expenditure diversity. The UQR estimates provide more granular insights, revealing that income diversity improves consumption expenditure diversity at the lower quantiles (5(th) and 25(th)), with the largest effect occurring at the lowest 5(th) quantile; for the higher quantiles, income diversity has no effect on consumption expenditure diversity. Our findings highlight that policies aimed at improving consumption expenditure diversity and the quality of life of people in China should create an economic environment that allows people to diversify their income sources. From a methodological standpoint, we show that mean-based approaches may overlook the finer details of the linkages between income and consumption and thus should be applied cautiously.
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| 9. |
- Owusu Sekyere, Enoch, et al.
(författare)
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Economic impact of investment in animal welfare-enhancing flooring solutions - Implications for promoting sustainable dairy production in Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: British Food Journal. - 0007-070X .- 1758-4108. ; 125, s. 4415-4444
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to assess the economic impact of investment in different animal welfare-enhancing flooring solutions in Swedish dairy farming.Design/methodology/approachThe authors developed a bio-economic model and used stochastic partial budgeting approach to simulate the economic consequences of enhancing solid and slatted concrete floors with soft rubber covering.FindingsThe findings highlight that keeping herds on solid and slatted concrete floor surfaces with soft rubber coverings is a profitable solution, compared with keeping herds on solid and slatted concrete floors without a soft covering. The profit per cow when kept on a solid concrete floor with soft rubber covering increased by 13%-16% depending on the breed. Practical implicationsPromoting farm investments such as improvement in flooring solution, which have both economic and animal welfare incentives, is a potential way of promoting sustainable dairy production. Farmers may make investments in improved floors, resulting in enhanced animal welfare and economic outcomes necessary for sustaining dairy production.Originality/valueThis literature review indicated that the economic impact of investment in specific types of floor improvement solutions, investment costs and financial outcomes have received little attention. This study provides insights needed for a more informed decision-making process when selecting optimal flooring solutions for new and renovated barns that improve both animal welfare and ease the burden on farmers and public financial support.
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