Although vegetable production, marketing and consumption has the potential to contribute signific... more Although vegetable production, marketing and consumption has the potential to contribute significantly to the development of especially the rural and poor population in Africa, its role is neglected in the nutritional and development discussions, especially that of African indigenous vegetables. Consequently, the production and consumption of vegetables in Africa is lacking far behind the world-wide average. Not only in the consumption (which is less than the WHO/FAO recommended minimum uptake of 200 g of vegetables/day/person), but also in the production of vegetables, Africa is bringing up the rear by producing annually app. 50 kg of vegetables per capita, which is less than half of the rate in most of the other regions of the world. Based on the Asian experience, positive health and economic effects can be projected by increasing vegetable consumption and production in Africa: Increased consumption will reduce the devastating health effects of insufficient vegetable intake. Increased consumption will lead to an increase in production. Hence, an increase in employment is forecasted through the high labour demand for cultivation as well as the possibilities of food processing. Higher production and adding value to the produce on site will lead to increasing incomes for the producers. These opportunities for Africa can only be yielded, if decision makers are willing to invest to improve the vegetable production, marketing and consumption. To increase the demand of vegetables, promotion and awareness raising has to take place, to increase the supply, improved technologies have to be offered and propagated. These investments will have a high return in improved health status of the population as well as being a motor for economic development, thus breaking the downward trend of malnutrition and poverty in Africa.
an innovation network for food security and poverty reduction, aims to strengthening South-South ... more an innovation network for food security and poverty reduction, aims to strengthening South-South dialogue and intraregional learning on sustainable agriculture technologies and trade facilitation. More information on https://fsc.uni-hohenheim.de/94107 or www.satnetasia.org.
... Group (ASAG), PO Box 5I/A Ahmedabad 380-009 India Shalaby, Ahmed Society for Cultural Develop... more ... Group (ASAG), PO Box 5I/A Ahmedabad 380-009 India Shalaby, Ahmed Society for Cultural Development, Alf Maskan, PO Box 2834, Cairo Egypt Sharma, Santosh Kumar People First, B ... 3, 53113 Bonn Germany Vlek, Paul LG Center for Development Research, Walter-Flex-Str. ...
What is bioenergy ? Bioenergy: energy derived from woody biomass, agro-residues, energy and food ... more What is bioenergy ? Bioenergy: energy derived from woody biomass, agro-residues, energy and food crops, agro-industrial and municipal solid wastes and other biological resources (Edmonds et al. 2012).
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Product liability: The publishers cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information about the application of operative techniques and medications contained in this book. In every individual case the user must check such information by consulting the relevant literature.
The world has made strides in reducing hunger and protein malnutrition but considerable progress ... more The world has made strides in reducing hunger and protein malnutrition but considerable progress is required to reduce micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) malnutrition, which is estimated to affect the health of up to two billion people. This need is recognized in UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2)-"End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture". To this end, research and development institutions such as the Global Horticultural Initiative (GHI) and the World Vegetable Center have embraced the concept of Horticulture for Sustainable Development (H4sD) with the aim of reducing micronutrient deficiency through the increased production and consumption of fruit and vegetables. Increased fruit and vegetable production brings many other benefits to people, such as enhanced income for smallholder farmers and other value chain participants, employment opportunities throughout the value chain, empowerment of women, and more sustainable agriculture when it is incorporated as part of an agricultural diversification program. Thus, fruit and vegetable horticulture has great potential to contribute directly to several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero hunger) and SDG 12 ("Responsible consumption and production"). This paper showcases recent evidence for the impact of international vegetable research and development done by the World Vegetable Center in collaboration with its partners, notably those in the GHI and in the public and private sectors. It highlights the impact of three major areas of the Center's work: breeding improved lines of globally important and traditional niche vegetables; developing improved production technologies, such as those aimed at off-season vegetable production; and training poor rural women in household gardening and nutrition. The paper ends with a discussion of challenges and priorities for increasing the medium and long-term impact of international vegetable research and development.
Facing the combined challenges of an increasing world population, environmental degradation, clim... more Facing the combined challenges of an increasing world population, environmental degradation, climate change and civil unrest, our world needs new responses to sustainable development. While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been only partly successful, the United Nations agreed in September 2015 to a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to focus the development efforts of all countries. Looking at the contributions that can be made by horticulture to several of these SDGs, this paper will present the most applicable goals and targets and highlight how the sector can make a significant contribution to the achievement of several of the SDGs and thus to global development. The concept of "horticulture for sustainable development" (H4sD) will be described. H4sD activities pave the way for the integration of subsistence farmers, the landless and other resource-poor people once excluded from markets into broader economic activities. This will play a significant role in sustaining rural communities and improving the living conditions of the poor. Elements of the value chain for horticultural crops create employment and open new market opportunities for fruit and vegetables to play a pivotal role in fighting the triple threats of hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and over nourishment. Being mostly high value crops, horticultural crops contribute to wealth creation. Last but not least, horticulture can have a positive impact on the empowerment of women and contribute to the protection and enrichment of biodiversity and more liveable cities.
Despite their nutritional importance, utilisation, collection, production and consumption of Afri... more Despite their nutritional importance, utilisation, collection, production and consumption of African vegetables is decreasing, leading to genetic erosion that takes place at a rapid pace.
Varietal diversity in this paper refers to the portfolio of local/indigenous varieties managed by... more Varietal diversity in this paper refers to the portfolio of local/indigenous varieties managed by farmers. It is well recognized that this diversity is the building block for sustainable agricultural development. Crop genetic resources are inputs for variety development and pharmaceutical industries, means for indigenous crop insurance, and sources of indigenous medicine. Their continuous survival is, however, threatened by a variety of natural and human driven factors. This threat has brought about the need for designing conservation measures. Recently, among the various in situ and ex situ conservation strategies, on-farm conservation is receiving enormous attention due to its various desirable features. To implement this strategy, placement of incentives (that link conservation with utilization) and removal of perverse incentives will be crucial. To this end, there is a need to understand farmers’ motives for dealing with a portfolio of local varieties. With this motivation, the paper has adopted a utility-based model that considers on-farm varietal diversity as a positive externality of farmers’ livelihood decisions. To test the validity of the proposed relationships, a Poisson regression model is estimated using rural household survey data collected from 198 sorghum growing farmers in Eastern Ethiopia. The household survey was conducted from July 2001 till March 2002. The results have shown the most important factors promoting varietal diversity and those factors detaching the link between farmers’ land use decisions and their spillover effects on varietal diversity. Based on the empirical results, the paper concludes outlining the policy implications of the findings. + Corresponding author. / Eth. J. of Agric. Econ. 6(2) June 2007 42
African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) are increasingly consumed among the African urban population... more African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) are increasingly consumed among the African urban population; however, they sometimes require intensive processing before cooking. A collaborative pilot study was conducted in the urban and periurban setting of Arusha to better understand the value chain for Solanum aethiopicum, Amaranthus spp., Brassica carinata, and Solanum villosum, particularly in assessing the extent of postharvest loss and the potential for processing these crops for local markets. A livelihood analysis was conducted to determine growers' constraints and opportunities. A market supply chain analysis was carried out to establish a preliminary estimate of potential postharvest loss. The results show that the majority of growers relied on AIVs as primary source of income, although virtually all owned their own farmland. The main constraints to AIV activities were price fluctuations, weak bargaining power, and barriers to market entry. In general, loss after harvest (postharvest loss) was quite high along the chain, with farmers experiencing higher losses on average. Although most actors were aware of a variety of processing techniques, these techniques were not widely used because high and constant availability of fresh produce reduced the demand for processed ones. Processing AIVs for local market potential could therefore be limited to washing, cutting/slicing, and bagging AIVs to reduce processing time before cooking.
Among the in-situ and ex-situ conservation options available to conserve crop genetic resources (... more Among the in-situ and ex-situ conservation options available to conserve crop genetic resources (CGRs), on-farm conservation has recently attracted massive attention from concerned organizations. To make this option operational, placing incentives and removal of perverse incentives are believed to be crucial so that landraces of no immediate interest to farmers can be conserved. However, before placing sound incentives and designing contracts with farmers, we have to understand farmers' motives for managing portfolio of traditional varieties and the opportunity costs they face when they are expected to use landraces. This paper empirically examines farmers' incentives and generates the opportunity costs they are facing based on a household survey data collected from 198 sorghum growing farmers in Eastern Ethiopia. To study farmers' incentives to maintain native varieties, we have adopted a utility-based model that considers on-farm diversity as a positive externality of farmers' livelihood decisions. Accordingly, on-farm diversity is considered as the derived outcome of farmers' revealed preferences subject to their concerns and constraints. Using such a framework, Poisson regression model is estimated. Opportunity costs are generated using different homogeneous treatment statistical models and further they are examined using switching regression model. As usual the paper concludes outlining the policy implications of the empirical findings to design contracts for on-farm conservation of CGRs.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Villages in the future: crops, jobs, and livel... more Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Villages in the future: crops, jobs, and livelihood 1 Detlef Virchow, Joachim von Braun (eds.). p. cm.-(Global dialogue EXPO 2000) Papers presented at the Global Dialogue in Hannover at the World Exposition in August 2000. Includes bibliographical references (p.).
Modern bioenergy is a core ingredient of sustainable economic development as it plays an importan... more Modern bioenergy is a core ingredient of sustainable economic development as it plays an important role in poverty reduction and green growth. This makes bioenergy innovations critical, especially in developing countries where many households and rural communities rely on traditional bioenergy. Managing the multiple tradeoffs among bioenergy use, agricultural productivity, and ecosystem functions is a major development challenge. Addressing this challenge requires the identification of the drivers, tradeoffs and impacts of bioenergy production, trade and use in the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus. The key
Although vegetable production, marketing and consumption has the potential to contribute signific... more Although vegetable production, marketing and consumption has the potential to contribute significantly to the development of especially the rural and poor population in Africa, its role is neglected in the nutritional and development discussions, especially that of African indigenous vegetables. Consequently, the production and consumption of vegetables in Africa is lacking far behind the world-wide average. Not only in the consumption (which is less than the WHO/FAO recommended minimum uptake of 200 g of vegetables/day/person), but also in the production of vegetables, Africa is bringing up the rear by producing annually app. 50 kg of vegetables per capita, which is less than half of the rate in most of the other regions of the world. Based on the Asian experience, positive health and economic effects can be projected by increasing vegetable consumption and production in Africa: Increased consumption will reduce the devastating health effects of insufficient vegetable intake. Increased consumption will lead to an increase in production. Hence, an increase in employment is forecasted through the high labour demand for cultivation as well as the possibilities of food processing. Higher production and adding value to the produce on site will lead to increasing incomes for the producers. These opportunities for Africa can only be yielded, if decision makers are willing to invest to improve the vegetable production, marketing and consumption. To increase the demand of vegetables, promotion and awareness raising has to take place, to increase the supply, improved technologies have to be offered and propagated. These investments will have a high return in improved health status of the population as well as being a motor for economic development, thus breaking the downward trend of malnutrition and poverty in Africa.
an innovation network for food security and poverty reduction, aims to strengthening South-South ... more an innovation network for food security and poverty reduction, aims to strengthening South-South dialogue and intraregional learning on sustainable agriculture technologies and trade facilitation. More information on https://fsc.uni-hohenheim.de/94107 or www.satnetasia.org.
... Group (ASAG), PO Box 5I/A Ahmedabad 380-009 India Shalaby, Ahmed Society for Cultural Develop... more ... Group (ASAG), PO Box 5I/A Ahmedabad 380-009 India Shalaby, Ahmed Society for Cultural Development, Alf Maskan, PO Box 2834, Cairo Egypt Sharma, Santosh Kumar People First, B ... 3, 53113 Bonn Germany Vlek, Paul LG Center for Development Research, Walter-Flex-Str. ...
What is bioenergy ? Bioenergy: energy derived from woody biomass, agro-residues, energy and food ... more What is bioenergy ? Bioenergy: energy derived from woody biomass, agro-residues, energy and food crops, agro-industrial and municipal solid wastes and other biological resources (Edmonds et al. 2012).
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Product liability: The publishers cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information about the application of operative techniques and medications contained in this book. In every individual case the user must check such information by consulting the relevant literature.
The world has made strides in reducing hunger and protein malnutrition but considerable progress ... more The world has made strides in reducing hunger and protein malnutrition but considerable progress is required to reduce micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) malnutrition, which is estimated to affect the health of up to two billion people. This need is recognized in UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2)-"End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture". To this end, research and development institutions such as the Global Horticultural Initiative (GHI) and the World Vegetable Center have embraced the concept of Horticulture for Sustainable Development (H4sD) with the aim of reducing micronutrient deficiency through the increased production and consumption of fruit and vegetables. Increased fruit and vegetable production brings many other benefits to people, such as enhanced income for smallholder farmers and other value chain participants, employment opportunities throughout the value chain, empowerment of women, and more sustainable agriculture when it is incorporated as part of an agricultural diversification program. Thus, fruit and vegetable horticulture has great potential to contribute directly to several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero hunger) and SDG 12 ("Responsible consumption and production"). This paper showcases recent evidence for the impact of international vegetable research and development done by the World Vegetable Center in collaboration with its partners, notably those in the GHI and in the public and private sectors. It highlights the impact of three major areas of the Center's work: breeding improved lines of globally important and traditional niche vegetables; developing improved production technologies, such as those aimed at off-season vegetable production; and training poor rural women in household gardening and nutrition. The paper ends with a discussion of challenges and priorities for increasing the medium and long-term impact of international vegetable research and development.
Facing the combined challenges of an increasing world population, environmental degradation, clim... more Facing the combined challenges of an increasing world population, environmental degradation, climate change and civil unrest, our world needs new responses to sustainable development. While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been only partly successful, the United Nations agreed in September 2015 to a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to focus the development efforts of all countries. Looking at the contributions that can be made by horticulture to several of these SDGs, this paper will present the most applicable goals and targets and highlight how the sector can make a significant contribution to the achievement of several of the SDGs and thus to global development. The concept of "horticulture for sustainable development" (H4sD) will be described. H4sD activities pave the way for the integration of subsistence farmers, the landless and other resource-poor people once excluded from markets into broader economic activities. This will play a significant role in sustaining rural communities and improving the living conditions of the poor. Elements of the value chain for horticultural crops create employment and open new market opportunities for fruit and vegetables to play a pivotal role in fighting the triple threats of hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and over nourishment. Being mostly high value crops, horticultural crops contribute to wealth creation. Last but not least, horticulture can have a positive impact on the empowerment of women and contribute to the protection and enrichment of biodiversity and more liveable cities.
Despite their nutritional importance, utilisation, collection, production and consumption of Afri... more Despite their nutritional importance, utilisation, collection, production and consumption of African vegetables is decreasing, leading to genetic erosion that takes place at a rapid pace.
Varietal diversity in this paper refers to the portfolio of local/indigenous varieties managed by... more Varietal diversity in this paper refers to the portfolio of local/indigenous varieties managed by farmers. It is well recognized that this diversity is the building block for sustainable agricultural development. Crop genetic resources are inputs for variety development and pharmaceutical industries, means for indigenous crop insurance, and sources of indigenous medicine. Their continuous survival is, however, threatened by a variety of natural and human driven factors. This threat has brought about the need for designing conservation measures. Recently, among the various in situ and ex situ conservation strategies, on-farm conservation is receiving enormous attention due to its various desirable features. To implement this strategy, placement of incentives (that link conservation with utilization) and removal of perverse incentives will be crucial. To this end, there is a need to understand farmers’ motives for dealing with a portfolio of local varieties. With this motivation, the paper has adopted a utility-based model that considers on-farm varietal diversity as a positive externality of farmers’ livelihood decisions. To test the validity of the proposed relationships, a Poisson regression model is estimated using rural household survey data collected from 198 sorghum growing farmers in Eastern Ethiopia. The household survey was conducted from July 2001 till March 2002. The results have shown the most important factors promoting varietal diversity and those factors detaching the link between farmers’ land use decisions and their spillover effects on varietal diversity. Based on the empirical results, the paper concludes outlining the policy implications of the findings. + Corresponding author. / Eth. J. of Agric. Econ. 6(2) June 2007 42
African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) are increasingly consumed among the African urban population... more African Indigenous Vegetables (AIVs) are increasingly consumed among the African urban population; however, they sometimes require intensive processing before cooking. A collaborative pilot study was conducted in the urban and periurban setting of Arusha to better understand the value chain for Solanum aethiopicum, Amaranthus spp., Brassica carinata, and Solanum villosum, particularly in assessing the extent of postharvest loss and the potential for processing these crops for local markets. A livelihood analysis was conducted to determine growers' constraints and opportunities. A market supply chain analysis was carried out to establish a preliminary estimate of potential postharvest loss. The results show that the majority of growers relied on AIVs as primary source of income, although virtually all owned their own farmland. The main constraints to AIV activities were price fluctuations, weak bargaining power, and barriers to market entry. In general, loss after harvest (postharvest loss) was quite high along the chain, with farmers experiencing higher losses on average. Although most actors were aware of a variety of processing techniques, these techniques were not widely used because high and constant availability of fresh produce reduced the demand for processed ones. Processing AIVs for local market potential could therefore be limited to washing, cutting/slicing, and bagging AIVs to reduce processing time before cooking.
Among the in-situ and ex-situ conservation options available to conserve crop genetic resources (... more Among the in-situ and ex-situ conservation options available to conserve crop genetic resources (CGRs), on-farm conservation has recently attracted massive attention from concerned organizations. To make this option operational, placing incentives and removal of perverse incentives are believed to be crucial so that landraces of no immediate interest to farmers can be conserved. However, before placing sound incentives and designing contracts with farmers, we have to understand farmers' motives for managing portfolio of traditional varieties and the opportunity costs they face when they are expected to use landraces. This paper empirically examines farmers' incentives and generates the opportunity costs they are facing based on a household survey data collected from 198 sorghum growing farmers in Eastern Ethiopia. To study farmers' incentives to maintain native varieties, we have adopted a utility-based model that considers on-farm diversity as a positive externality of farmers' livelihood decisions. Accordingly, on-farm diversity is considered as the derived outcome of farmers' revealed preferences subject to their concerns and constraints. Using such a framework, Poisson regression model is estimated. Opportunity costs are generated using different homogeneous treatment statistical models and further they are examined using switching regression model. As usual the paper concludes outlining the policy implications of the empirical findings to design contracts for on-farm conservation of CGRs.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Villages in the future: crops, jobs, and livel... more Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Villages in the future: crops, jobs, and livelihood 1 Detlef Virchow, Joachim von Braun (eds.). p. cm.-(Global dialogue EXPO 2000) Papers presented at the Global Dialogue in Hannover at the World Exposition in August 2000. Includes bibliographical references (p.).
Modern bioenergy is a core ingredient of sustainable economic development as it plays an importan... more Modern bioenergy is a core ingredient of sustainable economic development as it plays an important role in poverty reduction and green growth. This makes bioenergy innovations critical, especially in developing countries where many households and rural communities rely on traditional bioenergy. Managing the multiple tradeoffs among bioenergy use, agricultural productivity, and ecosystem functions is a major development challenge. Addressing this challenge requires the identification of the drivers, tradeoffs and impacts of bioenergy production, trade and use in the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus. The key
Uploads
Papers by Detlef Virchow