Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yanjun Ren, Yanling Peng, Bente Castro Campos, Houjian Li
Summary: Participation in contract farming has been shown to increase environmentally sustainable production behaviors among farmers, such as the use of environmentally friendly control technologies and organic fertilizers. While it may lead to higher production costs, the benefits from increased sale prices and farmers' overall income contribute to the positive impact of contract farming on environmentally sustainable production.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Jim Woodhill, Avinash Kishore, Jemimah Njuki, Kristal Jones, Saher Hasnain
Summary: The article addresses blind spots in understanding rural poverty and vulnerability and highlights the need for a new policy landscape to improve rural wellbeing and transform food systems. It provides a framework for assessing the dynamics of rural wellbeing and food system change, emphasizing the importance of small-scale farming and diversified livelihood options for overcoming rural poverty and inequality.
Article
Ecology
Chiara Sophia Weituschat, Stefano Pascucci, Valentina Cristiana Materia, Francesco Caracciolo
Summary: Sustainable intensification aims to minimize negative impacts of agriculture while maintaining productivity. This study shows that contract farming can support many farmers in adopting sustainable practices, but not all. Education level, cooperative membership, and sales arrangements influence farmers' willingness to adopt sustainable practices.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Development Studies
Guillaume Soullier, Paule Moustier
Summary: The study found that farmers' participation in contract farming varies over time depending on the availability of financing capital. While creditworthy farmers use tripartite marketing contracts to stay in the formal credit market, indebted farmers turn to production contracts as a last resort credit option.
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Ibrahim Bahati, Giuliano Martiniello, Gumataw Kifle Abebe
Summary: This study provides insights into the commercialization process of smallholder agriculture through sugarcane contract farming in Uganda's Bunyoro sub-region. The findings highlight the adverse effects of the wave of contract farming schemes around sugar, which integrate rural farmers into unequal contractual relations and expand the agro-extractivist search for cheap land and labor, rather than promoting inclusive rural development.
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Tilahun Amede, Aggie Asiimwe Konde, Jean Jacques Muhinda, George Bigirwa
Summary: Sub-Saharan Africa is facing major development challenges due to population growth and climate change. African agricultural systems are unique and characterized by low productivity, land degradation, and fragmented small farms. To address these challenges, context-specific, outcome-oriented farming solutions called 'sustainable farming' should be implemented.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jinglan Cui, Hongbin Liu, Hongyuan Wang, Shuxia Wu, Muhammad Amjad Bashir, Stefan Reis, Qiaoyu Sun, Jianming Xu, Baojing Gu
Summary: Producing more food with less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions is a challenge. A rice-animal co-culture system can increase rice yields and nitrogen use efficiency while reducing nitrogen losses and methane emissions, except for rice-fish co-culture systems. This system also increases farmers' income and aids sustainable intensification.
Article
Environmental Studies
L. Muralikrishnan, Rabindra. N. Padaria, Anchal Dass, Anil K. Choudhary, Bharat Kakade, Shadi Shokralla, Tarek K. Zin El-Abedin, Khalid F. Almutairi, Hosam O. Elansary
Summary: The study documented approximately 164 traditional rice varieties that may enhance resilience to climatic risks and have unique therapeutic benefits. Many traditional rice varieties have not been registered by scientific organizations due to poor awareness among farmers and community organizations, highlighting the urgent need to document, evaluate and harness their desired traits.
Article
Oceanography
Elina Apine, Prashanth Ramappa, Ramachandra Bhatta, Lucy M. Turner, Lynda D. Rodwell
Summary: Aquaculture plays a significant role in ensuring food security and providing livelihoods for coastal communities, but it also faces challenges in terms of sustainability, inequality, and governance. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities of sustainable mud crab aquaculture in the tropical coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh, India. The main risks identified include limited crab seed supply and a lack of support schemes, and the success of mud crab farming depends on factors such as survival rate and sea surface temperature. The study suggests that small-scale farming is more flexible and less risky than large-scale farming and can contribute to poverty alleviation with microfinance support and training.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Bencheng Liu, Yangang Fang
Summary: This study analyzes the differences in livelihood assets and agricultural functions of households with different livelihood strategies, as well as the relationship between the two, using data from the China Family Panel Studies and statistical analysis methods. Full-time farming households have higher agricultural product supply and ecological service function, while non-farming households have strong leisure and cultural functions.
Article
Environmental Studies
George C. Schoneveld, Xiaoxue Weng
Summary: This article reconceptualizes how smallholders and other actors in agrifood chains derive value from participating in the chains, improving the explanatory capacity of existing theories and approaches. The 'value networks' inspired approach helps investigate and attribute how different types of value are created and captured through different types of private institutional innovations. It also generates the knowledge needed for advancing business practice, development policy, and theories related to global value chains, global production networks, and households.
Article
Remote Sensing
Peter K. Hargreaves, Gary R. Watmough
Summary: This review highlights the inadequacy of traditional data in measuring poverty and achieving sustainable development goals, proposing satellite earth observation data as a potential supplement for sustainable rural development. The research found that most existing methods operate at a single spatial scale, for a single point in time, and proxy only one socioeconomic metric. It also notes an underutilization of fusion capabilities with disparate datasets.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2021)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Xueqing He, Peter Batary, Yi Zou, Wenwu Zhou, Guanghua Wang, Zhanyu Liu, Yaoyu Bai, Shanxing Gong, Zengrong Zhu, Josef Settele, Zhongxue Zhang, Zhijuan Qi, Zhaopu Peng, Mingyong Ma, Jin Lv, Haiyan Cen, Thomas Cherico Wanger
Summary: This study evaluates the effects of agricultural diversification on global rice production and finds that it can maintain soil fertility, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and yield. The research also shows that agricultural diversification can increase biodiversity by 40%, improve economy by 26%, and reduce crop damage by 31%.
Article
Ecology
Timothy Manyise, Domenico Dentoni
Summary: This paper proposes a framework that examines the impact of smallholder farmers' participation in value chain partnerships on agri-food systems resilience. It finds that partnerships are more effective in supporting smallholder farmers' entrepreneurial learning when they pool more resources among partners, distribute decision-making rights, and balance formal and informal coordination mechanisms.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Mai Chiem Tuyen, Prapinwadee Sirisupluxana, Isriya Bunyasiri, Pham Xuan Hung
Summary: This study evaluates preferences for contract attributes and attribute levels among contracting buyers, farmers, and government officials through data triangulation. The results highlight the most important attributes, including price options, payment, delivery arrangement, input provision, input-use requirements, and product quality standards. While there is a consensus on the ranking of attributes, stakeholders have different preferences for attribute levels.
Article
Agricultural Economics & Policy
Trang Nguyen, Alan de Brauw, Marrit van den Berg, Ha Thi Phuong Do
Summary: School-based interventions can improve children's and parents' knowledge of healthy diets and increase children's consumption of healthy foods. Nutrition lessons were effective in the short term but lost effectiveness in the long term, highlighting the importance of linking knowledge with practice. Access to healthy foods at school can increase children's healthy consumption, while child-parent communication is not a reliable channel for knowledge dissemination in this context.
Article
Food Science & Technology
Marcos E. Dominguez-Viera, Marrit van den Berg, Jason Donovan, Miriam E. Perez-Luna, Diana Ospina-Rojas, Michel Handgraaf
Summary: Diets in Mexico, particularly in low-income communities, have shifted towards increased consumption of processed foods due to limited access to healthy foods, high costs, and limited knowledge. Research suggests that there is willingness to pay for healthier processed foods in these communities, especially among females, younger consumers, and those with smaller families. Providing nutritional information did not significantly impact willingness to pay overall, but was effective for those with strong preferences for the food category studied.
FOOD QUALITY AND PREFERENCE
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Melissa Ramdayal, Harro Maat, Tinde van Andel
Summary: The study investigated the rice varieties grown by Hindustani smallholders in Suriname, finding that most farmers now cultivate modern cultivars while traditional landraces have largely been lost. Despite the disappearance of traditional cultivation practices, smallholders still have fond memories of manual rice planting, harvesting, and processing, as well as gender-based practices and beliefs associated with rice cultivation.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Lucia Halbherr, Harro Maat, Tiffany Talsma, Ronald Hutjes
Summary: This paper addresses the knowledge gap regarding the best way to integrate adaptation with development objectives through a case study of a community-based Climate-Smart Agriculture project in Vietnam. Five key factors that enhance rural resilience in a smallholder agricultural context are identified, including engaging local governments, considering broader landscape issues, providing support for farmers, fostering community capacity building, and promoting adaptive management and scenario planning. The conclusion emphasizes the multidimensional nature of resilience.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Koen Beumer, Harro Maat, Dominic Glover
Summary: This article challenges the assumption that market mechanisms are central in incentivizing sustainable innovations, using the example of the System of Rice Intensification. It reconsiders the relationship between markets and other types of economies to better understand their impact on sustainability.
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION AND SOCIETAL TRANSITIONS
(2022)
Article
Development Studies
Proscovia R. Ntakyo, Marrit Van Den Berg
Summary: As many African countries promote commercial agricultural production, it is crucial to understand the impact of this strategy on intra-household power dynamics. Commercial crops are traditionally associated with men, which may hinder women empowerment. This study investigates the relationship between commercial production and women's voice within households in rural Uganda using a quasi-experimental design. The findings suggest that the commercialization program had a significantly negative effect on women's empowerment in production and control over income, while men's empowerment in these domains increased. The effects on social empowerment were weak. Based on these results, it is recommended that policies and programs promoting commercial agricultural production among smallholders include a strong gender component.
JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Kaleb Shiferaw Jada, Marrit van den Berg
Summary: There is growing interest in using insights from behavioral economics and psychology to influence decision-making, including in the context of educational campaigns in nutrition-sensitive agriculture. This study investigates the impact of framed messages on stimulating demand for nutritionally enhanced crops and finds that nutrition education can effectively increase demand. Furthermore, gain-framed messages are slightly more effective, and individual motivational orientations and risk perceptions moderate the effect of framed messages.
Article
Economics
Els Lecoutere, Marrit van den Berg, Alan de Brauw
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic and related measures in Bangladesh were expected to cause job losses, reduced empowerment, and decreased diet diversity among women. However, a telephone survey conducted in November 2020 revealed that more women found jobs, and their diet diversity increased during the pandemic. There was no evidence of a decline in women's involvement in food purchase decisions or their autonomy over household income use. Changes in women's outside employment were not statistically related to changes in their involvement in food purchase decisions, autonomy over income use, or diet diversity.
JOURNAL OF ASIAN ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Janne Aarts, Eva Gerth, David Ludwig, Harro Maat, Phil Macnaghten
Summary: This study analyzes the Dutch response to the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to December 2020, focusing on the roles, dynamics, and logic of science advice. The study explores how the Dutch government responded based on styles of governance and expert advice. The findings suggest that the Dutch response was influenced by the interplay of corporatist, deliberative, and neoliberal forms of governance, resulting in consensus, criticism, and tension during the different phases of the pandemic.
HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nicholaas Pinas, Marieke van de Loosdrecht, Harro Maat, Tinde van Andel
Summary: Rice is a vital crop in Maroon communities in Suriname and French Guyana, with hundreds of traditional varieties cultivated. By examining local variety names, we can understand the history, farming systems, spiritual significance, and diversity of rice in these communities. Our research involved interviews with 67 rice farmers, collection of over 400 rice specimens, and creation of a database with 284 unique rice names. Naming conventions varied among the Maroon groups studied, with categories including morphology, agronomy, animals, and humans.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Rica Joy Flor, Harro Maat, Alexander Stuart, Rathmuny Then, Saban Choun, Sokunroth Chhun, Buyung Asmara Ratna Hadi
Summary: How can we effectively promote ecologically-based Integrated Pest Management (IPM) among farmers? We explored a new method called Adaptive Learning Networks, which focuses on engaging stakeholders and enabling adoption by farmers. By incorporating access to IPM products, new services, and policies into the learning process, the method facilitates multi-stakeholder learning and adaptation of IPM tools and techniques. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in the use of harmful chemicals and the potential for widespread adoption of IPM technologies.
OUTLOOK ON AGRICULTURE
(2023)
Article
History
Tinde van Andel, Harro Maat, Nicholaas Pinas
Summary: Given the scarcity of written documents, this article explores the role of oral history, ethnobotany, and linguistics in analyzing the African agency in transferring crops and knowledge within Maroon communities. The focus is on the names of specific rice varieties, which pay tribute to the enslaved women and their crucial role in ensuring food security for runaway communities. The study combines ethnobotanical surveys, Maroon oral history, archival documents, and published accounts to illustrate how Maroon farmers today preserve their agricultural diversity and cultural heritage by planting rice varieties named after their female ancestors.
SLAVERY & ABOLITION
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Harro Maat, Nicholaas Pinas, Tinde van Andel
Summary: This study demonstrates the importance of crop diversity in escape agriculture through the variation of rice varieties on Maroon farms in Suriname. The agricultural practices of Maroon communities and other marginalized groups in former colonies provide informative insights for interventions in agriculture. Agronomic support to marginalized groups should address historically grown social disengagement to be successful.
PLANTS PEOPLE PLANET
(2023)
Article
Business
Chen Weng, Hui Wang, Nico Heerink, Marrit van den Berg
Summary: Based on data from the China Household Finance Survey, this article examines the relationship between credit constraints and entrepreneurial performance among rural households. The findings show that access to credit significantly and positively affects the profits of credit-constrained entrepreneurial households. However, the profits of households that are not credit-constrained do not depend on loan sizes. The study highlights the importance of developing new rural financial institutions, providing proper compensations for expropriated land, and promoting savings and investments in different types of assets for improving the performance of rural entrepreneurs.
EMERGING MARKETS FINANCE AND TRADE
(2022)
Article
Food Science & Technology
Trang Nguyen, Marrit Van den Berg, Jessica E. Raneri, Tuyen Huynh
Summary: The article discusses the challenges and difficulties of setting research priorities for food systems, and summarizes how this process can be improved through a case study of the Vietnamese food systems, emphasizing the importance of concrete follow-up plans accompanying priority setting.
FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS
(2021)