The Experts below are selected from a list of 324 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
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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Unleashing the Power of Mechanization
Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation, 2019Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:After reviewing recent developments in the uptake of agricultural Mechanization in Ghana, and the factors that are driving the growth in farmers’ demand, this chapter discusses supply-side constraints to greater Mechanization, and evaluates the government’s program of subsidized tractors through Agricultural Mechanization Services Centers (AMSECs). The chapter concludes that such interventions often lead to market distortions in machinery prices, encouraging rent-seeking behavior, and discouraging the development of private sector supply system. The program is also unnecessarily costly to the public sector. Instead, the government would be more effective in achieving its goals if it were to withdraw from the AMSEC program and instead play a more complementary and supporting role to the private sector. This might include funding appropriate Mechanization research, technical training of young mechanics, and ensuring that financial institutions can provide the longer-term lending needed by private agents and farmers in the Mechanization supply chain.
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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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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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agricultural Mechanization patterns in nigeria insights from farm household typology and agricultural household model simulation
2013Co-Authors: Hiroyuki Takeshima, Alejandro Nin Pratt, Xinshen DiaoAbstract:Anecdotal evidence indicates labor costs for farming in Nigeria are rising while levels of Mechanization remain low. Information is scarce regarding the types of farm households that use Mechanization in Nigeria and the potential demand for Mechanization services among farmers. We apply cluster analysis to data from the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture project in Nigeria to identify associations between Mechanization and farm household types. We then simulate an agricultural household model to assess the potential demand for Mechanization services in southern Nigeria. We find the following: (1) current tractor use is associated with input-intensive crop production; (2) tractor use in northern Nigeria is associated with increased nonfarm income-earning activities rather than area expansion and is emerging, albeit slowly, across many farm household types; (3) tractor use in the South is highly concentrated among medium-scale rice producers; (4) many smallholder farmers growing staple crops in the South may be willing to pay for a mechanized land preparation service if the service were available at the same market price charged in other locations; and (5) using Mechanization services, such farmers may cultivate a smaller area and allocate more labor for off-farm income-earning activities.
Shashidhara Kolavalli - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Unleashing the Power of Mechanization
Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation, 2019Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:After reviewing recent developments in the uptake of agricultural Mechanization in Ghana, and the factors that are driving the growth in farmers’ demand, this chapter discusses supply-side constraints to greater Mechanization, and evaluates the government’s program of subsidized tractors through Agricultural Mechanization Services Centers (AMSECs). The chapter concludes that such interventions often lead to market distortions in machinery prices, encouraging rent-seeking behavior, and discouraging the development of private sector supply system. The program is also unnecessarily costly to the public sector. Instead, the government would be more effective in achieving its goals if it were to withdraw from the AMSEC program and instead play a more complementary and supporting role to the private sector. This might include funding appropriate Mechanization research, technical training of young mechanics, and ensuring that financial institutions can provide the longer-term lending needed by private agents and farmers in the Mechanization supply chain.
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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.
Frances Cossar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Unleashing the Power of Mechanization
Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation, 2019Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:After reviewing recent developments in the uptake of agricultural Mechanization in Ghana, and the factors that are driving the growth in farmers’ demand, this chapter discusses supply-side constraints to greater Mechanization, and evaluates the government’s program of subsidized tractors through Agricultural Mechanization Services Centers (AMSECs). The chapter concludes that such interventions often lead to market distortions in machinery prices, encouraging rent-seeking behavior, and discouraging the development of private sector supply system. The program is also unnecessarily costly to the public sector. Instead, the government would be more effective in achieving its goals if it were to withdraw from the AMSEC program and instead play a more complementary and supporting role to the private sector. This might include funding appropriate Mechanization research, technical training of young mechanics, and ensuring that financial institutions can provide the longer-term lending needed by private agents and farmers in the Mechanization supply chain.
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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.
Nazaire Houssou - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Unleashing the Power of Mechanization
Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation, 2019Co-Authors: Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, Shashidhara KolavalliAbstract:After reviewing recent developments in the uptake of agricultural Mechanization in Ghana, and the factors that are driving the growth in farmers’ demand, this chapter discusses supply-side constraints to greater Mechanization, and evaluates the government’s program of subsidized tractors through Agricultural Mechanization Services Centers (AMSECs). The chapter concludes that such interventions often lead to market distortions in machinery prices, encouraging rent-seeking behavior, and discouraging the development of private sector supply system. The program is also unnecessarily costly to the public sector. Instead, the government would be more effective in achieving its goals if it were to withdraw from the AMSEC program and instead play a more complementary and supporting role to the private sector. This might include funding appropriate Mechanization research, technical training of young mechanics, and ensuring that financial institutions can provide the longer-term lending needed by private agents and farmers in the Mechanization supply chain.
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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.
Hiroyuki Takeshima - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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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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agricultural Mechanization patterns in nigeria insights from farm household typology and agricultural household model simulation
2013Co-Authors: Hiroyuki Takeshima, Alejandro Nin Pratt, Xinshen DiaoAbstract:Anecdotal evidence indicates labor costs for farming in Nigeria are rising while levels of Mechanization remain low. Information is scarce regarding the types of farm households that use Mechanization in Nigeria and the potential demand for Mechanization services among farmers. We apply cluster analysis to data from the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture project in Nigeria to identify associations between Mechanization and farm household types. We then simulate an agricultural household model to assess the potential demand for Mechanization services in southern Nigeria. We find the following: (1) current tractor use is associated with input-intensive crop production; (2) tractor use in northern Nigeria is associated with increased nonfarm income-earning activities rather than area expansion and is emerging, albeit slowly, across many farm household types; (3) tractor use in the South is highly concentrated among medium-scale rice producers; (4) many smallholder farmers growing staple crops in the South may be willing to pay for a mechanized land preparation service if the service were available at the same market price charged in other locations; and (5) using Mechanization services, such farmers may cultivate a smaller area and allocate more labor for off-farm income-earning activities.
