Institut für Tropische Agrarwissenschaften (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institut)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/21

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Brewing a sustainable future: a firm-level analysis of sustainability initiatives in the coffee sector
(2025) Boller, Meta Leonie; Bosch, Christine; Heinzel, Kathleen; Birkenberg, Athena; Krupitzer, Christian
The coffee industry has long relied on third-party certification as their approach to sustainability, driven by customer demand and changing consumer behavior. Today, multiple forms of sustainability engagement have developed in the industry. This study uses a machine learning approach to analyze the engagement in sustainability initiatives of 100 firms active in the German market. Results reveal that company size and value chain position influence choice and engagement intensity in sustainability initiatives. A complementary literature analysis on policy recommendations to promote sustainability engagement in the coffee industry revealed a fragmented and insufficiently granular picture to address the diverse needs of stakeholders. While company characteristics significantly influence their choice of sustainability initiatives, policymakers often adopt generic approaches that do not reflect these nuances. Future research could extend this approach to deepen understanding or validate findings of policies for sustainable transformation in the coffee sector to other critical crops.
The farming question: Intergenerational linkages, gender and youth aspirations in rural Zambia
(2022) Ogunjimi, Oluwafemi; Daum, Thomas; Kariuki, Juliet
With agriculture considered key to generating jobs for Africa's growing population, several studies have explored youth aspirations toward farming. While many factors explaining aspirations have been well studied, little is known about the actors' shaping aspirations. We developed a novel framework that focuses on the factors and actors shaping the formation and actual aspirations of rural youth and applied a unique “whole‐family” approach based on mixed‐methods data collection from adolescents (boys and girls) and corresponding adults. We applied this approach in rural Zambia, collecting data from 348 adolescents and adults in 87 households. The study finds that parents strongly shape youth aspirations—they are much more influential than siblings, peers, church, and media. Male youth are more likely to envision farming (full or part‐time) than female youth. The male preference for farming reflects their parent's aspirations and is reinforced by the patriarchal system of land inheritance. Parents' farm characteristics, such as degree of mechanization, are also associated with aspirations. We recommend a “whole‐family” approach, which acknowledges the influential role of parents, for policies and programs for rural youth and a stronger focus on gender aspects.
Household decision dynamics and food insecurity: evidence from the one-cow-per-poor-family programme in Rwanda
(2025) Kareem, Olayinka Idowu; Akeremale, Mayokun; Wieck, Christine; Dusingizimana, Theogene; Kamana, Olivier; Chagunda, Mizeck G. G.
Rwanda, like many African countries, endeavours to overcome the food insecurity challenge with different initiatives. One such initiative is the ‘ one-cow-per-poor-family’ programme known as the ‘Girinka Programme’. With the introduction of every cow into the household, there is a resultant change in household bio-economics. Subsequently, some decisions must be made regarding either the consumption or the selling of milk, calves or manure. This study investigates the effect of household decision dynamics within the framework of this programme on food insecurity in Rwanda. The micro-econometrics analytical approach is adopted in the empirical strategy using the household data from the ‘Girinka Programme’ in an ordered probit model. A total of 3000 households were surveyed, and data were collected across 20 districts in Rwanda in 2016 and 2017 and used in the empirical estimations. Our findings affirm the a priori expectation that households’ food insecurity is reduced with additional income sources. Besides, the results indicate that the households acquired and/or used more land by participating in the programme through access to cow’s manure and income earned either by selling the heifer or milk, than before the programme. Also, we find that households with a higher number of calves are more food-secure. The estimations indicate that there is heterogeneity in the level of food insecurity across the districts owing to the decision dynamics of the households across the districts, which lead to different outcomes. The study concludes that participation in the Girinka Programme's intervention significantly reduced food insecurity. To this end, there is a need to establish, as a strategic policy option, the institutionalisation and strengthening of the Girinka Programme for sustainability, which should be affirmed and safeguarded as a social protection policy that directly impacts food insecurity and supports the attainment of sustainable development.
Smallholder agricultural practices in Indonesia: information and communication technologies (ICTs) usage, extension agent performance, and the impact of interventions on technical efficiency
(2025) Dewi, Yovita Anggita; Zeller, Manfred
Indonesia’s agricultural sector—in particular including its smallholder farmers—remains the country’s economic backbone, as evidenced by its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP). This role was further demonstrated during the Covid-19 crisis, when the sector supported resilience through labor absorption, where many urban laborers and small entrepreneurs lost their job and fled back to their home villages. Smallholder farmers in Indonesia grapple with a range of hurdles including technical limitations, social dynamics, economic pressures, and institutional constraints, which hinder their ability to boost productivity, increase output, and improve their incomes. There are pathways to enhance productivity such as encouraging the adoption of new technologies, improving farmers’ access to information, financial resources, and market insights, expanding the reach and impact of extension and advisory services (EAS), and addressing the gender disparities within agriculture. This dissertation focuses on the role of extension services as far as they seek to improve their effectiveness and their effects on selected challenges regarding agricultural extension of smallholder farmers in Indonesia. Therefore, this work focuses on: (i) leveraging the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among extension agents and farmers to broaden and improve access to information, enhance knowledge and skill, and foster gender inclusion; (ii) evaluating the effectiveness of extension agents based on their performance in fulfilling their responsibilities; and (iii) empirically assessing the impact of government initiatives on agricultural productivity, with a particular emphasis to access to extension services and the utilization of certified seed. This dissertation employs various econometric techniques to study each topic, such as multiple linear regression models, probit regression models, principal component analysis, stochastic metafrontier analysis, and endogenous switching regression models. Furthermore, this research employs both in-person data collection and online survey. As outlined in chapter three, the online survey method serves as a valuable alternative when direct fieldwork is not feasible. Beyond cross-sectional data, this dissertation also draws upon panel data focusing on rice smallholder farmers to analyze the impacts of agricultural interventions, as elaborated in chapter four. Chapter two explores how ICT is used by extension agents and smallholder farmers, focusing on digital content mismatch and the heterogeneity of ICT use to enhance the extension services. ICT is widely used to provide extension services, founded on the major hope that expanding such services will improve the quality and efficiency of agricultural services while also reducing the gender disparity in access to agricultural services. In this chapter, this dissertation explores the most commonly used ICT tools to provide agricultural extension services, their effectiveness in reaching farmers, and the gender gap in the use of such services in Indonesia. Unique agent-to-farmer matched data are used, gathered through a survey of farmers and extension agents. The data analysis reveals a significant disconnect between the information disseminated by extension agents and what farmers ultimately receive. This trend is reflected in a low level of content match and a general lack of engagement, pointing to potential breakdowns in the information transfer process. Notably, this mismatch is considerably more pronounced among female farmers, with only 22.3% receiving matched content compared to approximately 54.6% of their male counterparts. Land ownership, commodity type and membership of farmer groups play a significant role in content mismatches. In term of heterogeneity in ICT usage, the findings show that telephone calls and WhatsApp are the most prevalent ICT tools used by agents to disseminate digital content to farmers. While there is no significant gender difference in ICT use of among extension agents, female farmers lag behind their male counterparts in using ICT. Organizational support and infrastructure play a key role in determining ICT usage among extension agents. By contrast, farmers’ usage of various ICT types is significantly determined by land ownership, commodity type, individual capacity, individual perception of ICT barriers, membership of farmer groups, and the frequency of meetings with extension agents. These findings underscore that female farmers confront not only face barriers to accessing digital tools but also often have their interests overlooked in contents disseminated by agents, leading to lack of interest and engagement. It is crucial to provide reliable infrastructure, adequate ICT facilities, and capacity-building initiatives within the extension organization environment to improve ICT usage among extension agents. For farmers, targeted assistance and training programs, increased female participation in extension activities, and the delivery of tailored contents that meets their specific needs could significantly improve engagement and involvement. Chapter three analyzes the performance of field extension agents in Indonesia using an aggregate performance indicator comprising timeliness, targeting, and content dimensions while capturing both institutional arrangements and demographic characteristics in explaining the performance. For the methodology, this chapter uses data from an online survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,974 field extension agents randomly selected from the roster of national extension agents. This cost-effective approach enables rapid data collection and measuring performance during unforeseen events such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Its applicability extends to a wide range of contexts and regions. The study employs binary and ordinal probit models to analyze the performance of extension agents and the relevant factors involved. The results show that improved performance of field extension agents is associated with advanced career progression, the availability of external funding, the opportunity to collaborate with various stakeholders including non-governmental organizations, private sectors and financial organizations, involvement in government programs, the implementation of disciplinary measures, and the use of various extension methods. It is suggested that the government should encourage collaboration, secure funding from external sources, and establish a system of rewards and punishment to promote performance, while encouraging innovative extension service methods. Chapter four emphasizes that efforts to increase farm technical efficiency (TE) can take many forms, including government interventions to help smallholder farmers, such as those in Indonesia's rice farming. This chapter explores how such interventions—notably the adoption of certified seeds and the provision of extension services—affect TE. Using a panel dataset of smallholder farmers enables capturing the dynamics of TE over time while accounting for unobserved variability. This chapter employs a stochastic metafrontier production function to demonstrate the TE associated with various farming strategies. The findings show that users of certified seeds had slightly higher TE than non-users, although the lower metafrontier TE among certified seed users emphasizes the need for a more holistic approach to technical advancement. It is essential to strengthen seed supply chains by enhancing the infrastructure and logistics for distributing certified seeds, ensuring that smallholder farmers have easy access to quality seeds. In terms of factors influencing inefficiency, the family head’s education level, row planting technique implementation, regional variances, and the percentage of on-farm income all substantially influence TE. Meanwhile, the extension services intervention not only improves TE but also results in much higher technology gap ratios and metafrontier TE than among non-beneficiaries. This suggests that extension services play a crucial role in improving farmers’ abilities to adopt new technologies and improve their farming techniques. Expanding agricultural extension services is also crucial, with increased funding and resources dedicated to providing tailored advice and support to smallholder farmers. This dissertation delves into the various initiatives to address the challenges encountered by smallholder farmers, with a particular focus on leveraging the potential of extension and advisory services. It also highlights broad challenges related to limited access, poor connectivity, and inadequate extension services, which require several interventions including improving institutional arrangements such as promoting public-private partnerships and enhancing management. Promoting digital inclusion by encouraging digital training programs and providing gender-sensitive content is also crucial. To support extension services, integrating ICT into the daily tasks of extension agents is essential. At the same time, the government should increase investment in infrastructure.
Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia
(2021) Daum, Thomas; Capezzone, Filippo; Birner, Regina
Digital tools may help to study socioeconomic aspects of agricultural development that are difficult to measure such as the effects of new policies and technologies on the intra-household allocation of time. As farm technologies target different crops and tasks, they can affect the time-use of men, women, boys, and girls differently. Development strategies that overlook such effects can have negative consequences for vulnerable household members. In this paper, the time-use patterns associated with different levels of agricultural mechanization during land preparation in smallholder farming households in Zambia were investigated. A novel data collection method was used: a pictorial smartphone application that allows real-time recording of time-use, which eliminates recall bias. Existing studies analyzing the intra-household allocation of resources often focus on adult males and females. This study paid particular attention to boys and girls as well as adults. The study addressed seasonal variations. Compositional data analysis was used to account for the co-dependence and sum constraint of time-use data. The study suggests a strong gender differentiation for land preparation activities among mechanized households; for households using manual labor, such differentiation was not found. There is some evidence that the surplus time associated with mechanization is used for off-farm and domestic work. The study cannot confirm concerns about negative second-round effects: mechanized land preparation is not associated with a higher workload for women and children during weeding and harvesting/processing. The study provides a proof-of-concept that smartphone applications can be used to collect socioeconomic data that are difficult to measure but of high relevance.

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