Journal of Rural and Development 

About: Journal of Rural and Development is an academic journal published by Open Journal Systems. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Agriculture & Rural area. It has an ISSN identifier of 1978-9734. Over the lifetime, 776 publications have been published receiving 3245 citations.

Determinants of Household Food Security in Rural Ethiopia: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract: Food insecurity and malnutrition present key policy challenges in Ethiopia. This paper examined the determinants of food security among rural households in Ethiopia using data from the latest round of Ethiopian Rural Household Survey. Two measures of household food security (a self-reported food security status and a multidimensional index generated based on principal components analysis - PCA) were used. OLS regressions were first run to identify important determinants based on the two measures, disregarding endogeneity problems. Then Instrumental Variable (IV) estimation was carried out to account for endogeneity issues. The results revealed that age and education of household head, adequacy of rainfall, livestock possession, participation in off-farm activities, soil conservation practices and per capita consumption expenditure were strongly and positively related to household food security; while access to credit and remittance had a negative influence. Accordingly, the study suggests that a judicious combination of interventions that enhance income diversification opportunities in rural areas through promoting off-farm activities, education, training and extension services, and improving livestock productivity could help enhance household food security. Provision of awareness creation on better and productive utilization of such resources as credit should also be emphasized in rural areas.

A critical review of the follow-the-innovation approach: Stakeholder collaboration and agricultural innovation development

Abstract: Technological innovations have driven economic development and improvement in living conditions throughout history. However, the majority of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa have seldom adopted or used science-based technological innovations. Consequently, several scholars have been persistently questioning the effectiveness of intervention models in smallholder agriculture. Following the agricultural innovation systems framework (AIS), this paper reviews a participatory framework known as the ‘Follow the Innovation’ (FTI) approach, which was developed in the research project ‘Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land and Water Use in Khorezm’ (2001 - 2012) and employed in an ongoing BiomassWeb project ‘Improving food security in Africa through increased system productivity of biomass-based value webs’ (2013 - 2018). The review shows a need for a broader definition of innovation as an outcome of collaborative or collegiate participation of multi-stakeholders processes requiring scientists, extensionists, local communities and other stakeholders to perform five key tasks jointly. Salient implications of this review are highlighted for transdisciplinary research (such as in the BiomassWeb project) aiming at agricultural innovation development in complex environments. Key words: Coordination, dialogue, evaluation, innovations, monitoring, shared purpose, sub-Saharan Africa

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Where Does India Stand?

Abstract: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of the most definite and widely accepted goals by United Nations (UNs) as a result of discourse and deliberations among the member States. The global goals that seek to consider three dimensions of poverty i.e., social, economic and environmental dimensions to improve people's lives and protect the planet for future generations. The article seeks to juxtapose 17 SDGs and the existing status of the goals of India in comparison with the South Asian countries. The study extensively used secondary sources of data to paint a quantitative picture of SDGs and the ranking given by various international agencies. Since the SDGs were adopted in September 2015, we may not get the impact as such. The purpose of the study is to give a summarised picture of goals so that future course of action can be drawn from the study. The study found nearly 21.9 per cent of the people in India live below poverty line. The situation of poverty is grim more particularly in rural areas, as around 25.7 per cent live below the poverty line. Among the South Asian countries, lowest poverty rate exists in Sri Lanka that stood at close to 7 per cent. The life expectancy rate of India is 68.3 years, which is even less than that of Bangladesh. The per capita income of India is $5,663 which is half of that of Sri Lanka. The literacy rate of India is 74 percent, Maldives on its way to achieve cent percent literacy rate. In the Human Development Index, India was ranked 131 among the list of countries. However, it is noteworthy that among South Asian countries, Sri Lanka and Maldives could figure themselves in 73 and 105, respectively. The Global Hunger Index report of 2016 ranking has placed India at 97 out of 118 countries. India performed poorly in the Gender Development Index, managed to perform better than Pakistan and Afghanistan. India will have go long way to achieve 100 per cent access to clean drinking water and electricity. Starting business in India still not a good proposition and huge inequality persists in the income distribution. India’s position in crime index and pollution index is also not up to the mark. Global collaboration, engaging with countries of expertise will help in addressing these issues.

Climate Change Impact on Rice Yield and Production Risk

Abstract: The relationship among rice yield and weather variables in Korea is explored using a stochastic production function. The results reveal that average rice yield is positively related to temperature and negatively associated with precipitation. Both temperature and precipitation, which are risk-increasing inputs, are positively related to rice yield variability. The widened yield variability can be transferred to the fluctuation of rice production and rice price instability. Larger market risk is expected in the future since both temperature and precipitation are anticipated to increase. An evaluation of climate change impact on rice yield variability reveals that it may increase by up to 10%~20%. Reducing yield variability and managing market risk would be the primary goals of the government's farm policy and research.