The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Hiroyuki Takeshima - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Agricultural Mechanization in nepal patterns impacts and enabling strategies for promotion
2019Co-Authors: Hiroyuki Takeshima, Madhusudan BhattaraiAbstract:This chapter assesses the overall trends of Mechanization in Nepal, identifies the determinants of its adoption, and assesses their impacts on household incomes and Agricultural productivity. It mainly focuses on key Agricultural machineries—tractors, threshers, and pumps, which all have generally substantive transformational effects compared to more traditional tools. The chapter also identifies policy implications for the adoption of Mechanization by smallholders.
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overview of the evolution of Agricultural Mechanization in nigeria
Social Science Research Network, 2018Co-Authors: Hiroyuki Takeshima, Akeem LawalAbstract:Demand for Mechanization in Nigeria is growing in a fairly consistent way predicted by economic theories. The farming system has intensified and the use of animal traction has grown at a substantial rate. Demand side factors considerably explain the low adoptions of tractors in Nigeria. Where demand is sufficient for tractors, the private sector has emerged over time as a more efficient provider of hiring services (particularly farmer-tofarmer services) than the public sector. Conditions are consistent with the hypotheses that, because of generally low support for the Agricultural sector in Nigeria in the past few decades, Agricultural Mechanization (tractor use in particular) has remained low despite the declining share of the workforce engaged in the Agricultural sector. Agricultural transformation in the form of a declining Agricultural labor force has happened partly through the growth in the oil industry since the 1970s. Instead of inducing further exit from farming, tractor adoptions in Nigeria might have helped those who have remained in farming to start expanding their production scale. A knowledge gap, however, still remains regarding the dominance of large tractors and the potential effects of tractor adoptions on smallholders who have yet to adopt them.
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Agricultural Mechanization in ghana insights from a recent field study
Social Science Research Network, 2018Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, John Agandin, Peixun Fang, Scott Justice, Doreen S Kufoalor, Hiroyuki TakeshimaAbstract:Ghana is one of a few African countries where Agricultural Mechanization has recently undergone rapid development. Except for places in the forest zone where stumps are still an issue in fields, tractors used for plowing and maize shelling have been widely adopted even among small farmers. Medium- and large-scale farmers who own tractors provide the majority of Mechanization services. Recognizing this fundamental fact is important for designing any effective Mechanization policy, which should aim at the entire service market instead of targeting a selected group of service providers as beneficiaries. Tractor owners and operators are often discouraged from traveling long distances to plow only a few acres for individual small farmers, which becomes a considerable barrier for smallholders to access tractor services on time. This requires the government consider mechanisms to improve coordination among small farmers and to encourage Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) to facilitate such coordination. The use of harrowing or second-plowing has been shown as a productivity-enhancing farming practice but it is currently under-demanded by farmers. A pilot program to address the coordination failures and to nudge small farmers to adopt harrowing services together can be considered.
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evolution of Agricultural Mechanization in vietnam insights from a literature review and multiple rounds of a farm household survey
Social Science Research Network, 2018Co-Authors: Hiroyuki Takeshima, Yanyan Liu, Nguyen Van Cuong, Ian MasiasAbstract:Despite the reportedly rapid growth of Mechanization, as well as its unique history in economic and social systems, information on the patterns of Agricultural Mechanization growth in Vietnam has been limited. Through an extensive review of existing literature and several rounds of nationally representative household survey data, we document the evolution of Mechanization (particularly tractors and combine harvesters) in Vietnam, including the heterogeneity across regions and farm sizes, and the emerging roles of the private sector in the supply of machinery and hiring services.
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evolution of Agricultural Mechanization in vietnam insights from a literature review and multiple rounds of a farm household survey
Research Papers in Economics, 2018Co-Authors: Hiroyuki Takeshima, Yanyan Liu, Nguyen Van Cuong, Ian MasiasAbstract:Despite the reportedly rapid growth of Mechanization, as well as its unique history in economic and social systems, information on the patterns of Agricultural Mechanization growth in Vietnam has been limited. Through an extensive review of existing literature and several rounds of nationally representative household survey data, we document the evolution of Mechanization (particularly tractors and combine harvesters) in Vietnam, including the heterogeneity across regions and farm sizes, and the emerging roles of the private sector in the supply of machinery and hiring services. The historical growth pattern of Mechanization in Vietnam had been non-linear, characterized by somewhat high tractor-use prior to 1975 followed by a decline in the 80s before a resurgence in the 90s, with considerable variations in adoption patterns across regions.
Xinshen Diao - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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An evolving paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?
'International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)', 2020Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4843-1670 Diao XinshenAbstract:Agricultural Mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting Mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting Mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating Mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of Agricultural Mechanization within overall Agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.PRIFPRI1; CRP2DSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM
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Agricultural Mechanization in ghana insights from a recent field study
Social Science Research Network, 2018Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, John Agandin, Peixun Fang, Scott Justice, Doreen S Kufoalor, Hiroyuki TakeshimaAbstract:Ghana is one of a few African countries where Agricultural Mechanization has recently undergone rapid development. Except for places in the forest zone where stumps are still an issue in fields, tractors used for plowing and maize shelling have been widely adopted even among small farmers. Medium- and large-scale farmers who own tractors provide the majority of Mechanization services. Recognizing this fundamental fact is important for designing any effective Mechanization policy, which should aim at the entire service market instead of targeting a selected group of service providers as beneficiaries. Tractor owners and operators are often discouraged from traveling long distances to plow only a few acres for individual small farmers, which becomes a considerable barrier for smallholders to access tractor services on time. This requires the government consider mechanisms to improve coordination among small farmers and to encourage Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) to facilitate such coordination. The use of harrowing or second-plowing has been shown as a productivity-enhancing farming practice but it is currently under-demanded by farmers. A pilot program to address the coordination failures and to nudge small farmers to adopt harrowing services together can be considered.
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Agricultural Mechanization and Agricultural transformation
2016Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Jed Silver, Hiroyuki TakeshimaAbstract:A renewed focus on agriculture’s potential contribution to economic transformation in Africa has resulted in increased attention paid to Agricultural Mechanization. African agriculture still relies predominantly on human muscle power despite anecdotal evidence on urbanization and rising rural wages, in contrast to other developing regions that have experienced rapid increases in Agricultural Mechanization during the past few decades. Past state-led Mechanization pushes in Africa often failed due to insufficient understanding of the nature of demand for Mechanization technologies among farmers and insufficient knowledge of private-sector functions. This background paper reviews the factors likely to influence farmer demand for Mechanization in Africa and details different existing and potential Mechanization supply models. Although an empirical analysis of Mechanization demand and the effectiveness of supply chains is beyond the scope of this paper, in part due to data limitations, this paper suggests that demand for Mechanization may be emerging in some parts of Africa. It also suggests that private-sector-driven supply models are better positioned to meet this demand than direct government involvement and certain types of subsidized programs. The paper then identifies possible areas for government support to complement private-sector leadership in developing Mechanization supply chains. Nevertheless, significant further research is required to better understand the changing nature of Mechanization demand in Africa and the extent and effectiveness of different supply models in meeting it.
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big tractors but small farms tractor hiring services as a farmer owner s response to an under developed Agricultural machinery market
2015Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Xinshen Diao, Collins Asanteaddo, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:The debate about Agricultural Mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) has largely ignored the role of the capital service market in spreading the use of mechanical technologies. Yet, custom machinery hiring ser-vices have been essential for the widespread use and ownership of tractors and other Agricultural machines in many countries where small farms are dominant. Using survey data collected in 2013, this paper suggests that tractor services can play a key role in the adoption of tractor use among Ghanaian farming households. Medium and large-scale farmers own tractors in the survey districts, while most small-scale farmers access tractors through hire services. Farmers expand their farm size when they acquire a tractor, but not to such an extent as to fully utilize the capacity of the machine. They engage in hiring-out tractor services to increase the scale of tractor use and make profits. Medium-scale farmers offer the bulk of tractor services. These farmers will be key for spreading Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana.
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Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand, and the search for alternative supply models
Food Policy, 2014Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:Influential studies in the 1980s and early 1990s drew on the Boserup-Ruthenberg theories of farming systems evolution to argue that African countries were not yet ready for widespread Agricultural Mechanization. Through applying the theories of farming systems evolution and of induced innovation in technical change, this paper shows that demand for certain mechanized farming operations particularly plowing has emerged even among smallholders, suggesting that supply issues may now be the main constraint to successful Mechanization. We therefore adopt a supply chain approach to analyze two types of Mechanization practices in Ghana, i.e., a recent state-led Mechanization program and the private sector-led service hiring market, against an international perspective by drawing on three Asian supply models. We identify two major flaws in existing policies. First, the Agricultural Mechanization service centers that the government promotes fail to use tractors services with sufficient intensity. Second, direct importation of Agricultural machinery by the government inhibits imports of appropriate and affordable machinery. In contrast, the development of mechanized service hiring market in which medium and large scale farmers who are tractor owners provide hiring-out services to small-scale farmers represents a promising model for sustainable Mechanization in Ghana. This private sector-led second model is consistent with international experiences. © 2014.
Shashidhara Kolavalli - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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big tractors but small farms tractor hiring services as a farmer owner s response to an under developed Agricultural machinery market
2015Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Xinshen Diao, Collins Asanteaddo, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:The debate about Agricultural Mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) has largely ignored the role of the capital service market in spreading the use of mechanical technologies. Yet, custom machinery hiring ser-vices have been essential for the widespread use and ownership of tractors and other Agricultural machines in many countries where small farms are dominant. Using survey data collected in 2013, this paper suggests that tractor services can play a key role in the adoption of tractor use among Ghanaian farming households. Medium and large-scale farmers own tractors in the survey districts, while most small-scale farmers access tractors through hire services. Farmers expand their farm size when they acquire a tractor, but not to such an extent as to fully utilize the capacity of the machine. They engage in hiring-out tractor services to increase the scale of tractor use and make profits. Medium-scale farmers offer the bulk of tractor services. These farmers will be key for spreading Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana.
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Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand, and the search for alternative supply models
Food Policy, 2014Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:Influential studies in the 1980s and early 1990s drew on the Boserup-Ruthenberg theories of farming systems evolution to argue that African countries were not yet ready for widespread Agricultural Mechanization. Through applying the theories of farming systems evolution and of induced innovation in technical change, this paper shows that demand for certain mechanized farming operations particularly plowing has emerged even among smallholders, suggesting that supply issues may now be the main constraint to successful Mechanization. We therefore adopt a supply chain approach to analyze two types of Mechanization practices in Ghana, i.e., a recent state-led Mechanization program and the private sector-led service hiring market, against an international perspective by drawing on three Asian supply models. We identify two major flaws in existing policies. First, the Agricultural Mechanization service centers that the government promotes fail to use tractors services with sufficient intensity. Second, direct importation of Agricultural machinery by the government inhibits imports of appropriate and affordable machinery. In contrast, the development of mechanized service hiring market in which medium and large scale farmers who are tractor owners provide hiring-out services to small-scale farmers represents a promising model for sustainable Mechanization in Ghana. This private sector-led second model is consistent with international experiences. © 2014.
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Can the private sector lead Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana?
GSSP Policy Note N 4, 2014Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Xinshen Diao, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:Increasing Agricultural Mechanization has long been of interest to many African countries. Constrained by the limited area that can be cultivated through the use of the hand hoe and its association with perceptions of primitiveness and drudgery, Agricultural Mechanization and large-scale farming have long been a part of the vision of modernizing agriculture in many African countries, including Ghana.
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Agricultural Mechanization in ghana is specialization in Agricultural Mechanization a viable business model
2013Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Frances Cossar, Shashidhara Kolavalli, Kipo Jimah, Xinshen Diao, Patrick Ohene AboagyeAbstract:The Government of Ghana (GoG) since 2007 has been providing subsidized Agricultural machines to individual farmers and private enterprises established as specialized Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centers (AMSECs) to offer tractor-hire services to small-scale farmers across the country. Current demand in the country is primarily focused on land preparation services, especially plowing. This paper assesses whether AMSEC enterprises are a viable business model attractive to private investors. Using firm investment theory and field-based data on costs, revenues, and tractor efficiency, this research examines the profitability of specialized Agricultural Mechanization service provision with a focus on land preparation. Findings suggest that the AMSEC model is not a viable business model, even with the current level of subsidy. Low operational scale is the most important constraint to the profitability of investment in specialized Agricultural Mechanization service provision. With such a low operational scale, it is essential to consider various options for introducing low-cost, small tractors suited to the current farming scale in the country. Also, a used tractor model is one of the options available for policymakers in the country. Tractor-hire services can play an important role in transforming smallholder agriculture, but with heavy subsidies on big and costly tractors, the subsidy policy can distort supply chain development. As a result, many better-suited and lower-cost machines are unlikely to be introduced into local markets.
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Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana: is specialization in Agricultural Mechanization a viable business model?
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2013Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Frances Cossar, Shashidhara Kolavalli, Kipo Jimah, Xinshen Diao, Patrick Ohene AboagyeAbstract:Since 2007, the government of Ghana has been providing subsidized Agricultural machines to private enterprises established as Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centers (AMSEC) to scale up tractor-hire services to smallholder farmers. Although farmer s demand for Mechanization has increased in recent years, most of this demand concentrates on land preparation (plowing) service. Using the firm investment model and recent data, this paper quantitatively assesses whether AMSEC as a private enterprise is a viable business model attractive to private investors. Even though the intention of the government is to promote private sector-led Mechanization, findings suggest that the AMSEC model is unlikely to be a profitable business model attractive to private investors even with the current level of subsidy. The low tractor utilization rate as a result of low operational scale is the most important constraint to the intertemporal profitability of tractor-hire services. Our findings further support the argument of Pingali, Bigot, and Binswanger (1987), who indicated that Mechanization service centers supported through government s heavy subsidy are not a policy option anywhere in the world, even in the current situation in Ghana. Although the tractor rental service market is a proper way of mechanizing agriculture in a smallholder-dominated Agricultural economy such as Ghana, this paper concludes that the development of such a market depends crucially on a number of factors, including increased tractor use through migration across the two very different rainfall zones (north and south), increased tractor use through multiple tasks, and use of low-cost tractors. The government can play an important role in facilitating the development of a tractor service market; however, the successful development of such a market depends on the incentive and innovation of the private sector, including farmers who want to own tractors as part of their business portfolio, traders who know how to bring in affordable tractors and expand the market, and manufacturers in exporting countries who want to seek a long-term potential market opportunity in Ghana and in other west African countries.
Nazaire Houssou - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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big tractors but small farms tractor hiring services as a farmer owner s response to an under developed Agricultural machinery market
2015Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Xinshen Diao, Collins Asanteaddo, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:The debate about Agricultural Mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) has largely ignored the role of the capital service market in spreading the use of mechanical technologies. Yet, custom machinery hiring ser-vices have been essential for the widespread use and ownership of tractors and other Agricultural machines in many countries where small farms are dominant. Using survey data collected in 2013, this paper suggests that tractor services can play a key role in the adoption of tractor use among Ghanaian farming households. Medium and large-scale farmers own tractors in the survey districts, while most small-scale farmers access tractors through hire services. Farmers expand their farm size when they acquire a tractor, but not to such an extent as to fully utilize the capacity of the machine. They engage in hiring-out tractor services to increase the scale of tractor use and make profits. Medium-scale farmers offer the bulk of tractor services. These farmers will be key for spreading Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana.
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the changing landscape of agriculture in ghana drivers of farm Mechanization and its impacts on cropland expansion and intensification
2014Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Antony ChapotoAbstract:This study assesses whether the recent public and private efforts to improve farmers’ access to mechanical power in Ghana have had the intended effects on the country’s Agricultural sector. Using panel survey data, this paper analyses the drivers of farm Mechanization and its net impacts on cropland expansion and farming system intensification in northern Ghana. Several factors explain the use and use intensity of Agricultural Mechanization, including landholding size, total labor and fertilizer use per hectare, chemical use, and amount of land left fallow. More importantly, the results suggest that farm Mechanization did have a positive impact on cropland expansion during the survey period. The results presented here support the existence of a labor substitution effect resulting from tractor use.
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Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand, and the search for alternative supply models
Food Policy, 2014Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:Influential studies in the 1980s and early 1990s drew on the Boserup-Ruthenberg theories of farming systems evolution to argue that African countries were not yet ready for widespread Agricultural Mechanization. Through applying the theories of farming systems evolution and of induced innovation in technical change, this paper shows that demand for certain mechanized farming operations particularly plowing has emerged even among smallholders, suggesting that supply issues may now be the main constraint to successful Mechanization. We therefore adopt a supply chain approach to analyze two types of Mechanization practices in Ghana, i.e., a recent state-led Mechanization program and the private sector-led service hiring market, against an international perspective by drawing on three Asian supply models. We identify two major flaws in existing policies. First, the Agricultural Mechanization service centers that the government promotes fail to use tractors services with sufficient intensity. Second, direct importation of Agricultural machinery by the government inhibits imports of appropriate and affordable machinery. In contrast, the development of mechanized service hiring market in which medium and large scale farmers who are tractor owners provide hiring-out services to small-scale farmers represents a promising model for sustainable Mechanization in Ghana. This private sector-led second model is consistent with international experiences. © 2014.
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Can the private sector lead Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana?
GSSP Policy Note N 4, 2014Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Xinshen Diao, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:Increasing Agricultural Mechanization has long been of interest to many African countries. Constrained by the limited area that can be cultivated through the use of the hand hoe and its association with perceptions of primitiveness and drudgery, Agricultural Mechanization and large-scale farming have long been a part of the vision of modernizing agriculture in many African countries, including Ghana.
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Agricultural Mechanization in ghana is specialization in Agricultural Mechanization a viable business model
2013Co-Authors: Nazaire Houssou, Frances Cossar, Shashidhara Kolavalli, Kipo Jimah, Xinshen Diao, Patrick Ohene AboagyeAbstract:The Government of Ghana (GoG) since 2007 has been providing subsidized Agricultural machines to individual farmers and private enterprises established as specialized Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centers (AMSECs) to offer tractor-hire services to small-scale farmers across the country. Current demand in the country is primarily focused on land preparation services, especially plowing. This paper assesses whether AMSEC enterprises are a viable business model attractive to private investors. Using firm investment theory and field-based data on costs, revenues, and tractor efficiency, this research examines the profitability of specialized Agricultural Mechanization service provision with a focus on land preparation. Findings suggest that the AMSEC model is not a viable business model, even with the current level of subsidy. Low operational scale is the most important constraint to the profitability of investment in specialized Agricultural Mechanization service provision. With such a low operational scale, it is essential to consider various options for introducing low-cost, small tractors suited to the current farming scale in the country. Also, a used tractor model is one of the options available for policymakers in the country. Tractor-hire services can play an important role in transforming smallholder agriculture, but with heavy subsidies on big and costly tractors, the subsidy policy can distort supply chain development. As a result, many better-suited and lower-cost machines are unlikely to be introduced into local markets.
Regina Birner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Agricultural Mechanization in africa myths realities and an emerging research agenda
Global Food Security, 2020Co-Authors: Thomas Daum, Regina BirnerAbstract:Abstract Across Africa, governments, development practitioners and private companies have rediscovered Agricultural Mechanization as a top priority. In the literature, however, Mechanization has largely been neglected following the earlier failures of state-led Mechanization programs. In this empirical vacuum, several popular propositions have emerged, such as “Mechanization leads to unemployment”. We examine nine such propositions and find that most of them are based on mixed evidence or not supported by evidence at all. Hence, they can be labeled “myths”. Such myths influence policies and programs and, thus, potentially undermine the potential contribution offered by Agricultural Mechanization in Africa to global food security. We propose a research agenda that aims to resolve controversies and support evidence-based policies for sustainable and inclusive Agricultural Mechanization.
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african Agricultural Mechanization myths realities and an emerging research agenda
Social Science Research Network, 2019Co-Authors: Thomas Daum, Regina BirnerAbstract:African farm systems remain the least mechanized of all continents. There were substantial state-led efforts to promote Agricultural Mechanization during the 1960s and 1970s, but these efforts failed, which led to a subsequent neglect of Mechanization, both in practice and in academia. In practice, this situation has changed more recently as governments, development practitioners and private companies have re-discovered Agricultural Mechanization as a top priority. In academia, scholars are also gradually devoting more effort to study Mechanization. However, there is still a large gap in the literature from several decades of neglecting Mechanization. In this empirical vacuum, several claims around Mechanization have emerged in the public debate. While some of them are accurate, many are too simplistic and some are plainly wrong or “myths”. Such popular myths can mislead policies and programs to promote Mechanization and lead to adverse effects on farmers. This paper presents a fact check on nine propositions regarding Mechanization. Which ones are true? Which ones are false? To answer these questions, the study uses most of the recent literature on Mechanization, thereby also providing a review of the current literature on Agricultural Mechanization in Africa. The paper draws up implications for future research and action.