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"POOR FARMERS"
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Heartland : a memoir of working hard and being broke in the richest country on earth
During Smarsh's turbulent childhood in Kansas in the '80s and '90s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country's changing economic policies solidified her family's place among the working poor. Her personal history affirms the corrosive impact intergenerational poverty can have on individuals, families, and communities. Combining memoir with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, this is an uncompromising look at class, identity, and the particular perils of having less in a country known for its excess.
Book
Understanding the relationship between poverty, environmental degradation, and power dynamics: a qualitative study in Northern Ghana
This study investigates the connection between poverty, power dynamics and environmental degradation, focusing on the specific context of Northern Ghana. Within the remits of environmental degradation, agriculture has long been acknowledged as a significant contributor to the depletion of environmental resources, although, recent discussions have highlighted the differential impact of poor and rich farmers. Employing a qualitative approach and utilizing multistage sampling techniques, this research delves into how poverty or wealth influences deforestation and water pollution, as well as the persistent narratives surrounding the primary drivers of environmental degradation. Qualitative data were gathered from 35 participants through semi-structured interviews. The interviews lasted between 45 min and 1 h. The data were analyzed thematically to explore the relationships between poverty, environmental degradation, and power dynamics in agricultural practices. The findings reveal that both poor and rich farmers contribute to deforestation, with rich farmers playing a substantial role in the expansion of farming activities. Additionally, the study uncovers that water pollution is predominantly caused by wealthier farmers, through the spillover of agrochemicals. Significantly, the study highlights the exclusion of the poor from poverty-environment studies and their limited power and influence as crucial factors that perpetuate the prevailing poverty-resource-depletion narrative. This study emphasizes the need to contextualize the poverty-environmental degradation nexus, recognizing it as a result of power dynamics and political agendas. The implications of these findings extend to policy formulation, underscoring the necessity of addressing underlying discourses of power for sustainable environmental management.
Journal Article
Health Risk, Income Effect, and the Stability of Farmers’ Poverty Alleviation in Deep Poverty Areas: A Case Study of S-County in Qinba Mountain Area
Health status and income level are both important factors in reducing poverty and accomplishing sustainable development in deep poverty areas of China. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide policy support for the sustainable poverty alleviation of farmers by analyzing the net effect of health risk on Farmers’ income poverty and its impact mechanism. Based on the data of more than 199,000 farmers, this study uses the Difference in Difference (DID) model to empirically analyze the effect of health-risk on farmers’ income poverty. The empirical findings obtained from DID model show that health risk has a significant and positive impact on income poverty, where the impact of disability is higher. Furthermore, the mechanism shows that the impact of health risks on income poverty is mainly influenced by farmers’ off-farm working choices and time. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the health risk significantly impacts non-vulnerable farmers’ poverty. With outdated healthcare facilities in poverty-stricken areas, people are more likely to fall into income poverty. Therefore, the study concludes that establishing an effective long-term mechanism of health risk prevention is essential to improving the endogenous development power of poor farmers and decreasing income poverty.
Journal Article
Risk factors associated with occurrence of anthelmintic resistance in sheep of resource-poor farmers in Limpopo province, South Africa
Anthelmintic treatment is the most common way of controlling nematode infections in ruminants even though several countries have reported anthelmintic resistance (AR), resulting in limitation for sustainable small ruminant production. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the knowledge of resource-poor sheep farmers in Limpopo province of South Africa on the use of anthelmintics. A questionnaire regarding helminthosis control practices was administered to small ruminant farmers in five districts of Limpopo province namely Capricorn, Sekhukhune, Waterberg, Vhembe, and Mopani. A total of 77 resource-poor farmers were interviewed between June and August of 2017 using a structured questionnaire with a combination of qualitative and quantitative open-ended questions. The interviewed farmers were divided into three groups based on their farming experience (< 5; 6–10, and ˃ 10 years of farming experience). Limited farming experience was shown as one of the risks, as farmers that owned sheep for less than 10 years could not identify the symptoms of gastrointestinal parasites infection and did not know how nematodes are transmitted to animals. However, no significant difference (p < 0.05) was found to exist between the three groups of farmers in terms of clinical signs identification and correct application of anthelmintics. About 43% of the respondents were unaware of gastrointestinal nematodes (GI) that infect sheep, could not identify the clinical symptoms of gastrointestinal nematodes infection, and only 34% knew how animals become infected. Although 67.5% of farmers mentioned that they never dose their sheep, 32.5% use anthelmintics at varying times in a year. None of the farmers weighed their sheep before dosing them instead visual appraisal of individual weight was the most common means of estimating the anthelmintic dose. The above information is an indication of risks associated with possible occurrence of anthelmintic resistance in the study areas. There is therefore, a need to give training to resource-poor farmers of small stock on proper application of anthelmintic treatment and to educate them on how to prevent development of AR. Future studies on AR should also be conducted in the province in flocks with high-treatment frequencies to establish the occurrence of AR using both in vivo and in vitro methods. The most common risk factor associated with the occurrence of AR in all the five districts of Limpopo province was found to be the use of anthelmintics without weighing the animals to determine the correct dosage.
Journal Article
Efficacy of neem (Azadirachta indica) aqueous fruit extracts against Sarcoptes scabiei var. suis in grower pigs
The acaricidal activity of Azadirachta indica (neem) aqueous fruit extracts was evaluated against Sarcoptes scabiei var. suis (mange mites) in an on-farm trial using grower pigs. Aqueous neem fruit extracts of three concentrations 5%, 10%, and 25% w/v and a commercial acaricide, 12.5% amitraz-based Triatix spray (positive control), were compared with pigs that received no treatment (negative control). Thirty grower pigs of the Dalland breed were allocated to the five treatments in a completely randomized experiment. Each experimental animal was sprayed on day 0 and again on day 7. Counts of mange mites, scoring of lesion index, and calculation of rubbing index were done weekly. Topical application of 25% aqueous neem fruit extract had a higher efficacy ratio (p < 0.05) than the other fruit extract concentrations, and performed similarly to an amitraz-based acaricide, suggesting a dose-dependent response. Amitraz (positive control) cured clinical mange on grower pigs after 5 weeks and 25% aqueous neem fruit extract 6 weeks post-treatment. The results indicated that aqueous neem fruit extracts have acaricidal effects against mange mites and can provide a cheaper, safer, and more eco-friendly alternative for the control of Sarcoptes mange in pigs.
Journal Article
Invasive Alien Plants in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review and Synthesis of Their Insecticidal Activities
Despite the cornucopia of agricultural, economic and ecological ramifications of invasive alien plant species (IAPs) in sub-Saharan Africa, studies on their potential use as bio-insecticides have not received adequate attention compared to the burgeoning plethora of literature on their use in ethnomedicine. In the current study, we review the existing, but scattered literature on the insecticidal activity of different parts of some IAPs; specifically those invasive in sub-Saharan Africa but with published literature from Africa and elsewhere. From our literature survey, we found that 69 studies from four continents (Africa, Asia, North America and South America) reported the insecticidal activity of 23 plant species from 13 families (Asteraceae = 6 species; Solanaceae = 3 species; Apocynacee, Fabaceae and Euphorbiaceae 2 species each; Araceae, Bignoniaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Meliaceae, Mimosaceae, Myrtaceae, Papaveraceae, and Verbenaceae = 1 species each) that are invasive in, and alien to Africa. The highest number of published case studies were from India ( n = 19) and Nigeria ( n = 15). We found that varying concentrations of extracts or powders from different plant parts caused 50–100% mortality against a myriad of insect pests of agriculture and environmental importance. Our review discussed the prospects for exploiting IAPs as pesticidal plants in African countries especially among resource-poor small-holder farmers and locals to improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods. Finally, we highlighted safety concerns and challenges of using IAPs as bio-insecticides in Africa and formulates appropriate recommendations for future research.
Journal Article
Fertilizer use in African agriculture
The limited use of fertilizer by farmers in Africa stands in contrast to the much more extensive use of fertilizer by farmers in other developing regions.This contrast has stimulated considerable discussion about what should be the role of fertilizer in helping countries of Africa achieve their agricultural development goals, and what types of.
eBook
The significance of African vegetables in ensuring food security for South Africa’s rural poor
Technologies and services provided to resource-poor farmers need to be relevant and compatible with the context in which they operate. This paper examines the contribution of extension services to the food security of resource-poor farmers in a rural village in South Africa. It considers these in terms of the local context and the production of African vegetables in household food plots. A mixture of participatory, qualitative and quantitative research tools, including a household survey, is used to argue that local production practices contribute more to food security requirements than the extension services. This is because of the ability of African vegetables to grow relatively well in semi-arid areas where other exotic plants do not, their ability to provide at least two foodstuffs during their life cycle, and the ability of either the fruit or the leaves, or both, to be dried and stored for consumption in the winter months. These crops can make a significant contribution in terms of household food security, but a number of social and agroecological factors are constraining their production and placing their availability under threat. Despite this, the extension services remain focused on certain activities within vegetable garden projects, even when these are not meeting their proposed purpose—food security by means of cash-crop production. The paper concludes that social and agroecological constraints could be improved if the extension services were changed. This could include the use of context specific and low-cost technologies to ensure that these crops are able to increase their contribution to household food security for resource-poor farmers in semi-arid areas.
Journal Article