Subsistence agriculture

About: Subsistence agriculture is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8069 publications have been published within this topic receiving 156876 citations. The topic is also known as: subsistence farming.

The farm-level economics of soil conservation: the uplands of Java.

Abstract: On the densely populated island of Java in Indonesia, the area of severely eroded upland is increasing at the rate of 1-2 percent per annum and now totals around 2 million hectares (ha), approximately one third of Java's cultivated uplands. Average population density in these areas is 600-700 people per sq km, although it may fall to 400-550 per sq km in severely degraded upper watersheds. With holdings averaging 0.4 ha or less, with up to 20-25 percent of the population being landless in some areas, and with yields for upland rice and corn averaging 0.9-2.5 tons/ha, the general pattern is one of poor, predominantly subsistence households seeking to increase their immediate basic food production by using cropping systems that result in high soil-erosion levels from their rainfed lands. In addition, significant erosion problems are caused by absentee and better-off farm owners cultivating highly profitable but erosive crops, such as vegetables, and by the failure to "police" state-owned tree plantations properly, particularly in preventing illegal fuelwood collection and agricultural conversion (Barbier 1987; Roche 1987; World Bank 1987b, 1988). This paper is concerned with the incentives for upland farmers on Java to adopt soil conservation packages as a means to control erosion and improve long-term land productivity and agricultural growth. The paper reviews the soil conservation "packages" currently offered to upland farmers and the factors influencing their adoption, as observed by existing farm-level studies. The appendix contains a model characterizing this behavior. As expected, farming households in Java are economically rational in their response to their environment, both physical and economic. Land tenure arrangements, soil characteristics, input and output prices, availability of offfarm employment, and discount rates all combine to influence acceptance or not of soil conservation. Government policies must take into account these variables if ffective programs are to be designed. This paper concentrates on the farmer's decision to invest in the control of soil loss and land degradation on privately owned and operated land in the Javan uplands. The additional erosion problems caused by the encroachment and conversion of "open access" and publicly owned forest lands for fuelwood, fodder, and shifting cultivation are not examined, as these appear to be of less importance (Donner 1987, 67-68). Thus, the following analysis is generally applicable to land degradation problems arising from sedentary upland cultivation in developing regions rather than those arising from shifting cultivation and "open access" degradation of forests (Lopez and Nicklitscheck 1988; Southgate and Pearce

Reducing subsistence farmers’ vulnerability to climate change: evaluating the potential contributions of agroforestry in western Kenya

Abstract: Subsistence farmers are among the people most vulnerable to current climate variability. Climate models predict that climate change will lead to warmer temperatures, increasing rainfall variability, and increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events. Agroforestry, or the intentional use of trees in the cropping system, has been proposed by many development practitioners as a potential strategy to help farmers reduce their vulnerability to climate change. This study explores whether and, if so, how agroforestry techniques can help subsistence farmers reduce their vulnerability to climate change. From field research conducted in western Kenya, we find that households are not currently coping with climate-related hazards in a sustainable way. Farmers are aware of this, and believe that the most effective way to adapt to climate-related shocks is through improving their general standard of living. We evaluated agroforestry as one possible means of improving farmers’ well-being. By comparing farmers engaged in an agroforestry project with a control group of neighboring farmers, we find that involvement in agroforestry improves household’s general standard of living via improvements in farm productivity, off-farm incomes, wealth and the environmental conditions of their farm. We conclude that agroforestry techniques can be used as an effective part of a broader development strategy to help subsistence farmers reduce their vulnerability to climate-related hazards.

The Development of Individual Rights to Property in Tribal Africa

Abstract: S EVERAL economists have questioned the usefulness of conventional economic theory in the analysis of resource allocation in African subsistence economies. Those who adopt this position claim that resources in the indigenous or subsistence sectors are not allocated efficiently because the subsistence farmer does not use economic criteria when making decisions. Dalton states, "It is not that he is indifferent to material abundance or efficiency; rather unlike the West, the . . . [tribal] economy neither compels producers to seek out minimization, nor provides them with economic directives (factor and output prices) to make economizing decisions in work arrangement."' Sadie went much further than Dalton, arguing that the basic cause of the lack of economic progress is the nonmaterialistic, noncapitalistic nature of African culture and institutions.2 A number of empirical studies, however, conclude that the tribal African responds in an economically rational manner to economic stimuli.3 Dean has even applied Becker's market discrimination model4 to the exchange and trading patterns that developed between persons of different tribes in West Africa5 and Beals, Levy, and Moses applied a Sjaastad-type model6 to migration patterns in Ghana.7

Commercialization of Agriculture Under Population Pressure: Effects on Production, Consumption, and Nutrition in Rwanda

Abstract: This research reports on the effects of increased commercialization on production household real income family food consumption expenditures on nonfood goods and services and the nutritional status of the population in Rwanda. The process by which household food consumption and nutritional status are affected by commercialization is described with emphasis on identifying the major elements and how each element is influenced by the change. The issue was whether agricultural production systems and efficient use of resources can be sustained under population pressure. The study area was the commune of Giciye in Gisenyi district in northwestern Rwanda. The area is mountainous and has very poor quality and acidic soils with a deficiency of phosphorus. Population increase averaged 4.2%/year. There is a high prevalence of underconsumption and malnutrition. Subsistence food production is becoming increasingly more difficult. New activities include production of tea and expansion of potato production. There is beer processing from sorghum and off-farm employment. The forces driving commercialization are identified followed by a discussion of the production and income effects of the commercialization process the consumption relationships and effects the consumption/nutrition/health links and the longterm perspectives on rural development. The research design theory and data base are described. The conclusions were that increasing the rate of change in agricultural technology for subsistence crops would not maintain even the current levels of poverty; there must be reductions in population growth. The recommended strategy is to encourage diversification of the rural economy with specialization in both agriculture and nonagricultural products and to improve the human capital and infrastructure base. Labor productivity needs to be increased as well as employment expansion. Labor-intensive erosion control methods such as terracing are recommended as a resource investment which are assumed to take into account women and their time constraints. Tea production which is considered a womens crop has offered off-farm employment opportunities. Consideration must be given to land tenure policy and issues of compensation for loss of land during the commercialization process. Health and sanitation measures are needed concurrently with economic development.