Symptoms and causes of poverty in a rural Vietnamese commune: Does ethnicity matter?

This study uses data from a sample survey of 200 households drawn from a mountainous commune in Vietnam’s North Central Coast region to measure and explain relative poverty. Principal components analysis is used to construct a multidimensional index of poverty outcomes from variables measuring household income and the value of domestic assets. This index of poverty is then regressed on likely causes of poverty including different forms of resource endowment and social exclusion defined by gender and ethnicity. The ordinary least squares estimates indicate that poverty is indeed influenced by ethnicity, partly through its interaction with social capital. However, poverty is most strongly affected by differences in human and social capital. Differences in the amount of livestock and high quality farmland owned also matter. Thai households are poorer than their Kinh counterparts even when endowed with the same levels of human, social, physical and natural capital considered in the study. This empirical result provides a rationale for further research on the causal relationship between ethnicity and poverty outcomes.

De la désorganisation à l’organisation apprenante en milieu rural

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Von der „Chaosgruppe“ zur lernenden Organisation. Fallstudien zur Induzierung und Verbreitung von Innovation in ländlichen Kleinorganisationen im Buruli (Zentral-Uganda). Die oft fehlende Nachhaltigkeit landwirtschaftlicher Projekte in Afrika allgemein und in Buruli (Zentral-Uganda) insbesondere gab den Anstoß zu der Forschung, die der vorliegenden Dissertation zugrunde liegt. Ein häufiger Grund für das Scheitern von Projekten ist, dass die lokale Bevölkerung die landwirtschaftliche Innovation als Risiko für die Ernährungssicherheit der Familie betrachtet. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist daher ein Beitrag zur Suche nach einem Weg zur Nachhaltigkeit, der dieser Tatsache Rechnung trägt. Als Forschungsmethode wurden die Gruppendiskussion und die Beobachtung mit den beiden Varianten „teilnehmender Beobachter“ und „beobachtender Teilnehmer“ gemäß Lamnek(1995b) angewendet. Es stellte sich heraus, dass die ablehnende Haltung der Zielbevölkerung landwirtschaftlicher Innovation gegenüber durch finanzielle Anreize, Seminare oder die Überzeugungskunst von Mitarbeitern der Entwicklungsorganisationen kaum behoben werden kann, sondern nur durch den Einbezug der Menschen in einen von ihnen selbst gesteuerten Risikomanagementprozess. Die Prozessberatung von Schein (2000) und die nichtdirektive Beratung von Rogers (2010) haben sich im Rahmen unserer Untersuchung für die Motivierung der Bevölkerung für eine risikobewusste Entwicklungsinitiative von großem Nutzen erwiesen ebenso wie für die Beschreibung dieses Prozesses in der vorliegenden Studie. Die untersuchten Gruppen wurden durch diesen innovativen Ansatz der Entwicklungsberatung in die Lage versetzt, das Risiko von Innovation zu analysieren, zu bewerten und zu minimieren, ihre Zukunft selbst in die Hand zu nehmen und in einem sozialen, ökonomischen und physischen Umfeld zu gestalten sowie auf Veränderungen im Laufe der Umsetzung angemessen zu reagieren. Der Erwerb dieser Fähigkeit setzte eine Umwandlung einfacher Bauerngruppen ohne erkennbare Strukturen in strukturierte und organisierte Gruppen voraus, die einer lernenden Organisation im ländlichen Raum entsprechen. Diese Transformation bedarf als erstes eines Zugangs zur Information und einer zielorientierten Kommunikation. Die Umwandlung der Arbeitsgruppe zu einer lernenden Bauernorganisation förderte die Nachhaltigkeit des Gemüseanbauprojekts und das Risikomanagement und wurde so zu einem konkreten, von der Umwelt wahrgenommenen Beispiel für die Zweckmäßigkeit des oben beschriebenen Forschungsansatzes. Die Herausbildung einer lernenden Organisation ist dabei nicht Mittel zum Zweck, sondern ist selbst das zu erreichende Ziel. Die Beobachtung, Begleitung und Analyse dieses Umwandlungsprozesses erfordert einen multidisziplinären Ansatz. In diesem Fall flossen agrarwissenschaftliche, soziologische, linguistische und anthropologische Perspektiven in die partnerschaftlich ausgerichtete Forschung ein. Von der Entwicklungspolitik erfordert dieser Ansatz einen neuen Weg, der auf der Partnerschaft mit den Betroffenen und auf einer Entemotionalisierung des Entwicklungsvorhabens basiert und eine gegenseitige Wertschätzung zwischen den Akteuren voraussetzt. In diesem Prozess entwickelt sich im Laufe der Zeit die „lernende“ Bauernorganisation auch zu einer „lehrenden“ Organisation und wird dadurch eine Quelle der Inspiration für die Gesamtgesellschaft. Die Nachhaltigkeit von ländlichen Entwicklungsprojekten wird damit maßgeblich verbessert.

Factors affecting choice of financial services among rural consumers: Emerging experiences from Gicumbi District, northern Province in Rwanda

Enhancement of financial inclusivity of rural communities is often recognised as a key strategy for achieving economic development in third world countries. The main objective of this study was to examine the factors that influence consumers’ choice of a rural bank in Gicumbi district of Rwanda. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using a binary probit regression model and non-parametric procedures. Most consumers were aware of Popular Bank of Rwanda (BPR) and Umurenge SACCO through radio advertisements, social networks and community meetings. Accessibility, interest rates and quality of services influenced choice of a given financial intermediary. Moreover, the decision to open a rural bank account was significantly influenced by education and farm size (p<0.1). These results indicate the need for financial managers to consider these findings for successful marketing campaigns.

An analysis of household farm investment decisions under varying land tenure arrangements in Ghana

Land tenure insecurity is widely perceived as a disincentive for long-term land improvement investment hence the objective of this paper is to evaluate how tenure (in)security associated with different land use arrangements in Ghana influenced households’ plot level investment decisions and choices. The paper uses data from the Farmer-Based Organisations (FBO) survey. The FBO survey collected information from 2,928 households across three ecological zones of Ghana using multistaged cluster sampling. Probit and Tobit models tested the effects of land tenancy and ownership arrangements on households’ investment behaviour while controlling other factors. It was found that marginal farm size was inversely related to tenure insecurity while tenure insecurity correlate positively with value of farm land and not farm size. Individual ownership and documentation of land significantly reduced the probability of households losing uncultivated lands. Individual land ownership increased both the probability of investing and level of investments made in land improvement and irrigation probably due to increasing importance households place on land ownership. Two possible explanations for this finding are: First, that land markets and land relations have changed significantly over the last two decades with increasing money transaction and fixed agreements propelled by population growth and increasing value of land. Secondly, inclusion of irrigation investment as a long term investment in land raises the value of household investment and the time period required to reap the returns on the investments. Households take land ownership and duration of tenancy into consideration if the resource implications of land investments are relatively huge and the time dimension for harvesting returns to investments is relatively long.

Diversity and nutritional properties of Pakistani dates: implications for sustainable value chain and decent living perspectives of rural households

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) occupies almost three percent of the total worldwide cultivated area, with an annual production of seven million tonnes (t). Pakistan is an ideal place for the cultivation of date palm due to its sandy loam soil and semi-arid climate. In 2012, Pakistan produced 600,000 t of dates, on an area of 95,000 ha. Baluchistan province is the country’s top date producer, followed by Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces. More than 300 date varieties are known to exist in Pakistan and some commercially important cultivars are: Karbalaen, Aseel, Muzawati, Fasli, Begum Jhangi, Hillawi, Dashtiari, Sabzo, Koharaba, Jaan Swore, Rabai and Dhakki. Six districts from the four provinces of Pakistan (Jhang, Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur (Punjab), Dera Ismail Khan (KPK), Khairpur (Sindh) and Panjgur (Baluchistan)) with largest area under date palm cultivation were selected to conduct socio-economic surveys including the income sources of date palm growers. A structured questionnaire with open-ended and closed questions was used for face-to-face interviews of 170 date palm growers. At each location after selection of a first farmer through a local guide, the former was requested to provide names and addresses of three other date growers in his area. From these three names, one was randomly selected for the next sampling. Additionally, date palm fronds and fruits of all available cultivars were collected for morphological and nutritional analyses. Soil samples were collected from the groves for subsequent chemical and physical analyses. Almost all farmers used dates as a food item for their families and some were using low quality dates as a feed for their livestock. Apart from dates, other date palm components (trunk, spadix, frond, inflorescence and seed) were used by date palm growers as a raw material for making many by-products for their families. Date palm had a major contribution in the income of households, 24% received 91-100% of their income from date palms. More than half of the surveyed farmers had date palm groves, but scattered plantations, home gardens and intercropping systems with cereal and other fruits were also present. Dhakki, Muzawati, Aseel, and Karbalaen were the most important commercial cultivars grown in the provinces of KPK, Baluchistan, and Sindh. Aseel, Karoch, Haleni, Karbalaen, and Muzawati cultivars had the most firm fruit and good total soluble sugar, calcium and magnesium contents. The amount of magnesium found in dates of studied cultivars ranged from 0.143 to 0.876 mg g-1. A great variation in frond morphology was recorded among the cultivars. Fruit length and fruit weight was highest in Dhakki date, making it visually more attractive for customers in addition to its good nutritional properties. The seed weight of the studied cultivars ranged from 0.7-2.0 g, while Desi dates had largest seed, making them less attractive for marketing. However, in terms of nutritional value and fruit size, most of the investigated varieties can compete with globally important commercial dates.

Changes of traditional farming systems and their effects on land degradation and socio-economic conditions in the Inle Lake region, Myanmar

At many locations in Myanmar, ongoing changes in land use have negative environmental impacts and threaten natural ecosystems at local, regional and national scales. In particular, the watershed area of Inle Lake in eastern Myanmar is strongly affected by the environmental effects of deforestation and soil erosion caused by agricultural intensification and expansion of agricultural land, which are exacerbated by the increasing population pressure and the growing number of tourists. This thesis, therefore, focuses on land use changes in traditional farming systems and their effects on socio-economic and biophysical factors to improve our understanding of sustainable natural resource management of this wetland ecosystem. The main objectives of this research were to: (1) assess the noticeable land transformations in space and time, (2) identify the typical farming systems as well as the divergent livelihood strategies, and finally, (3) estimate soil erosion risk in the different agro-ecological zones surrounding the Inle Lake watershed area. GIS and remote sensing techniques allowed to identify the dynamic land use and land cover changes (LUCC) during the past 40 years based on historical Corona images (1968) and Landsat images (1989, 2000 and 2009). In this study, 12 land cover classes were identified and a supervised classification was used for the Landsat datasets, whereas a visual interpretation approach was conducted for the Corona images. Within the past 40 years, the main landscape transformation processes were deforestation (- 49%), urbanization (+ 203%), agricultural expansion (+ 34%) with a notably increase of floating gardens (+ 390%), land abandonment (+ 167%), and marshlands losses in wetland area (- 83%) and water bodies (- 16%). The main driving forces of LUCC appeared to be high population growth, urbanization and settlements, a lack of sustainable land use and environmental management policies, wide-spread rural poverty, an open market economy and changes in market prices and access. To identify the diverse livelihood strategies in the Inle Lake watershed area and the diversity of income generating activities, household surveys were conducted (total: 301 households) using a stratified random sampling design in three different agro-ecological zones: floating gardens (FG), lowland cultivation (LL) and upland cultivation (UP). A cluster and discriminant analysis revealed that livelihood strategies and socio-economic situations of local communities differed significantly in the different zones. For all three zones, different livelihood strategies were identified which differed mainly in the amount of on-farm and off-farm income, and the level of income diversification. The gross margin for each household from agricultural production in the floating garden, lowland and upland cultivation was US$ 2108, 892 and 619 ha-1 respectively. Among the typical farming systems in these zones, tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) plantation in the floating gardens yielded the highest net benefits, but caused negative environmental impacts given the overuse of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and spatial analysis within GIS were applied to estimate soil erosion risk in the different agricultural zones and for the main cropping systems of the study region. The results revealed that the average soil losses in year 1989, 2000 and 2009 amounted to 20, 10 and 26 t ha-1, respectively and barren land along the steep slopes had the highest soil erosion risk with 85% of the total soil losses in the study area. Yearly fluctuations were mainly caused by changes in the amount of annual precipitation and the dynamics of LUCC such as deforestation and agriculture extension with inappropriate land use and unsustainable cropping systems. Among the typical cropping systems, upland rainfed rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation had the highest rate of soil erosion (20 t ha-1yr-1) followed by sebesten (Cordia dichotoma) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) plantation in the UP zone. This study indicated that the hotspot region of soil erosion risk were upland mountain areas, especially in the western part of the Inle lake. Soil conservation practices are thus urgently needed to control soil erosion and lake sedimentation and to conserve the wetland ecosystem. Most farmers have not yet implemented soil conservation measures to reduce soil erosion impacts such as land degradation, sedimentation and water pollution in Inle Lake, which is partly due to the low economic development and poverty in the region. Key challenges of agriculture in the hilly landscapes can be summarized as follows: fostering the sustainable land use of farming systems for the maintenance of ecosystem services and functions while improving the social and economic well-being of the population, integrated natural resources management policies and increasing the diversification of income opportunities to reduce pressure on forest and natural resources.