PIM webinar conducted on October 4, 2018 by Dr. Hiroyuki Takeshima, International Food Policy Research Institute. More about PIM Webinars and archive her: https://pim.cgiar.org/resource/webinars/
MLE as a market ward orientation of agriculture through extension includes agriculture and economics and is the perfect blend for reaching at the door steps of farming community with the help of appropriate technology.
climate-smart technologies and practices addresses the challenge of how to transition to a climate-smart agriculture (CSA) at a large scale for enabling agricultural systems to be transformed and reoriented to support food security under the new realities of climate change.CSA as “agriculture that sustainably increases productivity enhances resilient (adaption), reduces/removes GHGs ( Mitigation) where possible, and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals.
Masters seminar on Privatization of Agricultural Extension Services.Ayush Mishra
Privatization of Agricultural Extension Services.
Extension services have been traditionally funded, managed and delivered by government all over the world. The Monopoly of public sector extension has been challenged since 1980 with the emergence of many private players, who also fund and deliver extension services. This process of funding and delivering the extension services by private individual or organization is called Private extension. The primary reason behind the agricultural extension privatization is declining trend in government expenditure for extension in several countries, including India over the last few decades. With an increase in commercialized farming in the developing countries during 21st century, production system is shifting to demand driven from supply driven that demands a technically sound & client accountable extension service which is not just limited to input supply and advisory services but also seek processing and marketing of the produce. Challenges and opportunities possessed by globalization & liberalization era calls for structural and functional adjustment with cost effective & need based extension service. The public extension, facing financial & technical constraints has disappointing performance & the need for private extension service becomes even more important in these changing times. Decentralization, cost sharing, cost recovery withdrawal from selected services, and contracting are some of the options exercised by various governments in privatizing extension services.
Keywords: Agricultural extension, private extension service, privatization.
By Ponniah Anandajayasekeram.
Presented at the ASTI-FARA conference Agricultural R&D: Investing in Africa's Future: Analyzing Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities - Accra, Ghana on December 5-7, 2011. http://www.asti.cgiar.org/2011conf
MLE as a market ward orientation of agriculture through extension includes agriculture and economics and is the perfect blend for reaching at the door steps of farming community with the help of appropriate technology.
climate-smart technologies and practices addresses the challenge of how to transition to a climate-smart agriculture (CSA) at a large scale for enabling agricultural systems to be transformed and reoriented to support food security under the new realities of climate change.CSA as “agriculture that sustainably increases productivity enhances resilient (adaption), reduces/removes GHGs ( Mitigation) where possible, and enhances achievement of national food security and development goals.
Masters seminar on Privatization of Agricultural Extension Services.Ayush Mishra
Privatization of Agricultural Extension Services.
Extension services have been traditionally funded, managed and delivered by government all over the world. The Monopoly of public sector extension has been challenged since 1980 with the emergence of many private players, who also fund and deliver extension services. This process of funding and delivering the extension services by private individual or organization is called Private extension. The primary reason behind the agricultural extension privatization is declining trend in government expenditure for extension in several countries, including India over the last few decades. With an increase in commercialized farming in the developing countries during 21st century, production system is shifting to demand driven from supply driven that demands a technically sound & client accountable extension service which is not just limited to input supply and advisory services but also seek processing and marketing of the produce. Challenges and opportunities possessed by globalization & liberalization era calls for structural and functional adjustment with cost effective & need based extension service. The public extension, facing financial & technical constraints has disappointing performance & the need for private extension service becomes even more important in these changing times. Decentralization, cost sharing, cost recovery withdrawal from selected services, and contracting are some of the options exercised by various governments in privatizing extension services.
Keywords: Agricultural extension, private extension service, privatization.
By Ponniah Anandajayasekeram.
Presented at the ASTI-FARA conference Agricultural R&D: Investing in Africa's Future: Analyzing Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities - Accra, Ghana on December 5-7, 2011. http://www.asti.cgiar.org/2011conf
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Presented by Iddo Dror at the SEARCA Forum-workshop on Platforms, Rural Advisory Services, and Knowledge Management: Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development, Los Banos, 17-19 May 2016
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Increasing food production to feed the growing population is a primary challenge of Indian
farming system. Indian agriculture is characterized by millions of small and marginal
farmers. About 100 million farm families with 250 million workers (50% of work force)
contribute not more than 14 % to GDP. One of the major reasons behind these figures is lack
of appropriate mechanization mainly in small farms in India. One of the main causes for low
agricultural productivity in most of the developing countries, including India, is the lack of
appropriate machineries that suit the requirements of small scale farms. Thus many farms are
deemed as unproductive and inefficient. Need of appropriate mechanization for Indian farms
is defined in the report. This study report attempts to throw a light on other countries
scenario in case of mechanization and possible learning so as to improve outcomes in
agriculture in India.
The presentation includes a brief discussion of contract farming in India. Levels of benefits acquired and problems faced by farmers are assessed and presented for better understanding of the status of contract farming.
The presentation done SWOT analysis of the existing agricultural extension system, especially related to technology assessment, refinement and upscaling through state government departments of agriculture in India. Some innovative extension models were suggested.
Xiaobo Zhang
BOOK LAUNCH
An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?
FEB 9, 2021 - 09:30 AM TO 10:30 AM EST
Xinshen Diao
BOOK LAUNCH
An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?
FEB 9, 2021 - 09:30 AM TO 10:30 AM EST
Role of Extension in Agricultural Innovation Systems_Kristin Davis IFPRI-PIM
Presentation by Kristin Davis, executive secretary of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) and research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) who coordinates PIM’s research on rural advisory services.
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Presented by Iddo Dror at the SEARCA Forum-workshop on Platforms, Rural Advisory Services, and Knowledge Management: Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development, Los Banos, 17-19 May 2016
Appropriate mechanization of small farmsSandeep Pawar
Increasing food production to feed the growing population is a primary challenge of Indian
farming system. Indian agriculture is characterized by millions of small and marginal
farmers. About 100 million farm families with 250 million workers (50% of work force)
contribute not more than 14 % to GDP. One of the major reasons behind these figures is lack
of appropriate mechanization mainly in small farms in India. One of the main causes for low
agricultural productivity in most of the developing countries, including India, is the lack of
appropriate machineries that suit the requirements of small scale farms. Thus many farms are
deemed as unproductive and inefficient. Need of appropriate mechanization for Indian farms
is defined in the report. This study report attempts to throw a light on other countries
scenario in case of mechanization and possible learning so as to improve outcomes in
agriculture in India.
The presentation includes a brief discussion of contract farming in India. Levels of benefits acquired and problems faced by farmers are assessed and presented for better understanding of the status of contract farming.
The presentation done SWOT analysis of the existing agricultural extension system, especially related to technology assessment, refinement and upscaling through state government departments of agriculture in India. Some innovative extension models were suggested.
Xiaobo Zhang
BOOK LAUNCH
An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?
FEB 9, 2021 - 09:30 AM TO 10:30 AM EST
Xinshen Diao
BOOK LAUNCH
An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?
FEB 9, 2021 - 09:30 AM TO 10:30 AM EST
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Agricultural mechanization in Africa: Lessons learned from South-South knowledge exchange
1.
2. Outline
Background
Synthesis of the work compiling experiences in Asia and Africa
Policy engagements and key policy outcomes
Agricultural mechanization and private investment for rural transformation
3. Substantial spread of tractors for land preparation in Asia and
widening gap with Africa
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
% of cultivated area prepared by
tractors (rice area for Sri Lanka)
Bangladesh
India
Sri Lanka
Vietnam
China
Nepal
Nigeria
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 20 40 60 80 100
Share (%) of
area plowed
by tractors
% of employment in agriculture
Thailand
Bangladesh
India
VietnamChina
NepalNigeria
Thailand
4. Farming system intensification and labor movement out of
agriculture in some African countries
Ethiopia
R-value = harvested area /
(arable land + pasture,
meadows)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Nigeria
Ghana
Kenya
East Africa
Southern Africa
Tanzania
West Africa
Middle Africa
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Groningen Growth and
Development Center
Nigeria Ethiopia
Ghana Kenya
Tanzania
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
World Development Indicator
Nigeria Ethiopia
Ghana Kenya
Tanzania
Declining share of employment in agriculture in African countries
5. Mechanization is a key driver of
technical change in returns-to-scale
in agriculture
Shifting comparative advantage from
smallholders to larger farmers
Land, labor market imperfections
may become more binding
constraints
Smallholders still gain from
mechanization if they cannot exit
farming
High-yielding varieties induce
smallholders’ mechanization
adoption
Where adopted, mechanization has directly raised returns-to-
scale, but also benefited smallholders
Takeshima H. (2017). Custom-hired tractor services and returns to scale in
smallholder agriculture: A production function approach. Agricultural Economics
48(3), 363–372.
Takeshima H, N Houssou, X Diao. (2018). Effects of tractor ownership on returns-
to-scale in household maize production: Evidence from Ghana. Food Policy 77,
33–49.
Takeshima H. (2018). Mechanize or exit farming? Multiple-treatment-effects
model and external validity of adoption impacts of mechanization among
Nepalese smallholders. Review of Development Economics, in press.
Takeshima H. (2017). The roles of
agroclimatic similarity and returns
to scale in demand for
mechanization: Insights from
Northern Nigeria. IFPRI Discussion
Paper 01692 (Nils Westermarck
Award at 30th Triennial Conference
for International Association of
Agricultural Economists,
Vancouver, Canada, 2018).
7. Scope of the synthesizing work
Scope
o Historical evolution of mechanization
o Demand-side factors
o Supply-side factors
o Effects on agricultural transformation
8 Asian countries
o E / SE Asia
o China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
o S Asia
o Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka
5 African countries
o Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania
8. Guiding framework of synthesis
A. Rising demand for mechanization in significant areas within Africa
o Farming system intensification
o Induced technological change (combined with increasing off-farm employment and rising rural wages)
B. Supply responds to rising demand over time, but with time lags and transition costs
o The public sector can mitigate these, partly through South-South knowledge exchange
1. Farming Systems Intensification (Boserup 1965; Ruthenberg 1980)
o Increasing population pressure and rising demand for agricultural products from urbanization
o Shortening fallow period, growing demand for more intensive tillage
o Farming system intensification in the 80s insufficient for tractor powers (Pingali, Bigot & Binswanger 1987)
2. Induced technological change in response to changing labor-land ratio (Hayami & Ruttan 1970; 1985)
o Mechanization as labor-saving technologies responding to increasing off-farm employment and rising rural
wages
3. Market Failures, particularly for the supply of machinery hiring service
o Indivisibility
o Limited spatial mobility
o Seasonality of demand
o Coordination failures
o Knowledge barriers
9. Mechanization growth experiences in Asia
1. Demand for mechanization originally raised through technological improvements and farming
system intensification
2. Demand has been further raised by rising labor costs due to economic growth, industrialization,
urbanization
3. Subsidies provided but with minimum distortions; competitive, without targeting particular types of
beneficiaries
4. Credit often provided by machine sellers, as well as commercial banks taking land use right as
collateral
5. Local manufacturing started from spare parts, then attachments, then machines
6. Smaller machines - power tillers, 4wt (< 50hp), small to medium sized combine harvesters
7. Multifunctionality of machines fully exploited, partly through irrigation expansion (powering water
pumps, carting)
8. Liberalization often facilitated mechanization growth – Vietnam, Bangladesh in the 90s, Myanmar in
the 2010s
10. Mechanization growth experiences in Africa
Spatial heterogeneity in
mechanization growth; Pockets of
areas with rising adoption, albeit
with low national level adoptions
Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania
Ethiopia -
o 1% of plots at national level
o but higher adoption in wheat-barley
systems in the Southeastern part
of the country (flatter terrain, more
presence of larger-farmers) where
tractors substitute draft animals
Kenya
o low adoption at national level
o but higher adoptions in the tropical
highlands and coastal lowlands
Source: Kahan et al. (2018)
Draft animal 4-wheel tractor 2-wheel tractor
Tractor (Nigeria)Agricultural machinery (Ghana)
(Tanzania)
11. Demand side factors in Africa
1. Rising population density and improving market access have induced the shift to
permanent cropping (Binswanger-Mkhize & Savastano 2017)
2. Within-country heterogeneity in farmland endowments led to different types of demands by
smallholders and large farmers
o Emergence of medium scale farms (Jayne et al. 2016)
3. Urbanization without industrialization (Gollin et al. 2016) including ag-industrialization,
widespread mechanization in the agricultural sector
4. Low demand at intensive margin
o High demand for first tillage, but rapidly declining demand for second- or third- tillage
o Low demand for multi-functional use
5. Dominance of tree, root crops in certain parts of Africa – less conducive to plowing in the
short-run
12. Supply side factors: market / government failures limit supply
responses where demand has emerged
1. High horsepower, expensive tractors still dominant in Africa
2. Little commercial credit extended by dealers, banks for tractor purchase
3. Manufacturing of spare parts, attachments, have not grown in Africa
4. Insufficient knowledge of tractor operations
5. Government has faced challenges in identifying efficient service providers to support
13. 13
Market-sourced tractor owners use tractors more
extensively than government-sourced owners in Nigeria
Source: Presenter’s calculation based on survey.
MS owners operate longer hours, serve more areas than GS owners
692
499
977*
691
Mean Median
Hours operated, per tractor, year
GS MS
29 41
74
128
GS (mean) MS (mean)
Areas served (ha), per tractor
per year
Own farming Hired out farming
Source: Takeshima et al. (2015)
14. 14
Tractor use highly seasonal but market-sourced owners are
more active all-year around in Nigeria
34
39
33
65
75
111
80
43
242427
34
63*
5559*
104*
119*
147*
126*
65
44*
57*
66*
72*
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112
GS
MS
43
40
37
44
61
85
73
52
42
36
33
42
63*
58*59*
78*
89*
92
84
67
49
56*
67*68*
Hours of operation per tractor % operating by month
Month
Substantial seasonality
But MS owners – mitigate seasonality; still find some work in off-season
* = statistically significant difference
between MS and GS
Source:
Takeshima et al.
(2015)
15. Key strategies for Africa
1. Lift import restrictions, and allowing importation of a variety of machines, tractors of
various brands, horsepower
o Inspection of imported tractors
o Access to foreign exchanges
o Licensing and import duties waiver requirements
2. Allow markets to select efficient service providers, machine designs
o Service providers obtaining tractors from the competitive market, without subsidies,
are often more efficient than government-selected service providers
3. Use subsidies, if needed, to increase, rather than limit, exposure to more brands, types
of equipment
o Past concessional loans required equipment and parts to be imported from the donor
country
o Greater variety of imported brands and types provides ideas for local adaptation
16. 4. Public goods
o R&D to develop and adapt locally appropriate machinery, often in collaboration with
domestic private sectors
o Knowledge that the private sector can use
o Local soil conditions, performance of different types of machines, suitable plow-
depth, tractor horsepower
o Investments in other complementary technology, rural infrastructure, that make
mechanization feasible
o Coordination (Chinese experience)
o Linking combine harvester owners and customers in other regions
o Coordination among migratory service providers
o Harvesting calendars
o Local institutional mechanisms (farm-based organizations, cooperatives) to promote
local coordination in crop planting and harvesting
5. Solutions differ within countries, across agricultural systems
Key strategies for Africa
17. Policy engagements and key policy
outcomes
Study-tour in Bangladesh
Policy changes in Ghana, Nigeria
18. Bangladesh mechanization study tour for 9 African officials
• November 3 – 7, 2015
• 9 officials from 4 African
countries
• With collaboration with
Bangladesh consultants
• Visited
• Ministry of Agriculture
• 2 Agri. machinery Importers
• Agri. Machinery
manufacturer
• Machinery dealers & spare
parts distributors
• Farmers (rainfed region)
• 2 Agri. machinery research
institutes
19. Key reflections by government officials
1. Potentials of smaller tractors
o Multi-functionality
o Suitable soils in pockets of Africa
o Lower HP 4wt used for haulage
2. Private-sector provides many kinds of services to tractor buyers, addressing market
failures
o After-sales services with warranties
o Importers / dealers provided credit
o Demonstration, advertisements of available equipment
o Extensive networks throughout the country
3. Intensive tillage – several rounds of tillages as yield respond well
4. Significant investments into R&D, extension
o R&D institutes specifically focusing on machinery
o High human capital / skill levels of staff at R&D
5. Growth in mechanization despite still weak standardization / regulatory capacities
20. Impacts on policies in African countries: Ghana’s Agricultural
Mechanization Service Enterprise Center (AMSEC)
Phase I (2007 - )
o Selective application requirements
o Low machine utilization
o High breakdown, damaging dues to improper operation / maintenance
o High default rates
Phase II (2016 - )
o New concessional loan facility from Brazil
o Partly incorporating recommendations by international agencies, including IFPRI
o Less selective application requirements
o Exploiting multi-functionality by providing various complementary equipment
o maize shellers, harvesters that can be attached or mounted to tractors, among others
o Free scheduled 1,000-hour technical tractor maintenance service
o Mobile workshops set up with subsidy - run by private individuals
o Spare parts
o Mandatory participation in MOFA-provided training for first-time buyers
21. Impacts on policies in African countries: Nigeria
Mini Mobile Mechanization System (MMMS)
o Power tillers and other machines provided, particularly for the youths
o Power tillers expected to be used for
o Plowing
o Transportation of light machines, including small harvesters, threshers, etc.
o Bangladesh study-tour helped them see the multi-functional use of power tillers
Shift from subsidized distributions of tractors to more market-oriented
approach
o Kaduna state in Nigeria
o Facilitating tractor market stakeholders
o Linking farmers’ associations and tractor-supplying companies
22. Concluding remarks
Public sector’s role in generating and transferring knowledge
o Asian experiences can offer much knowledge to Africa
o International (inter-continental) perspectives inform how mechanization grew, even though some
constraints had remained unresolved, or which constraints had been resolved by the private sector
o Important to more accurately understand Asian experiences through historical data
Significant areas for research to contribute
o Determinants of mechanization spread among smallholders
o Mechanization and future of smallholders
o Roles of mechanical technologies on agricultural, rural transformation
Agricultural mechanization – an outcome of private investment for rural transformation
o Significant roles of private investment for mechanical technologies; more private-sector driven than
biological technologies (Hayami & Ruttan 1985)
o Growth in agricultural mechanization reflects:
o Capital deepening (increased capital-to-labor ratio) in the rural and the overall economy
o Physical capital formation
o Capital market development
o Rural non-farm economies (tractor hiring service as backward-linkage from agriculture)
23. Acknowledgments
Writing of the country case studies:
o Fredrick Abeyratne, Andrew Agyei-Holmes, Guush Berhane, Ben Belton, Madhusudan Bhattarai, Steve
Biggs, Rob Cramb, Hugo De Groote, Xinshen Diao, David G. Kahan, Mekdim Dereje, Zachary Gitonga,
Scott Justice, Yanyan Liu, Ahmed Mansur, Cliff Marangu, Ian Masias, Bart Minten, Geoffrey C. Mrema,
Thomas Reardon, Ravindra S. Shekhawat, Gajendra Singh, Cuong Van Nguyen, Seneshaw Tamru, Viboon
Thepent, Myat Thida Win, Jin Yang, Xiaobo Zhang
Bangladesh study tour
o Kshirode Roy, African officials (Engineers Patrick O. Aboagye, Abdullahi G. Abubakar, Abdulai I. Adama,
Addisu T. Animaw, Akeem O. Lawal, Jasper A. M. Nkanya, John M. Nyakiba,, Tamiru H. Woldemariam,
Aliyu A. Musa)
Synthesizing of the Asian/African experiences
o Jed Silver
24. Key references
Aboagye PO, AG Abubakar, AI Adama, AO Lawal, & AA Musa (Synthesized by H Takeshima). (2016). Agricultural mechanization
and south-south knowledge exchange: What can Ghanaian and Nigerian policymakers learn from Bangladesh’s experience?
GSSP Policy Note 6 and NSSP Policy Note 36, IFPRI.
Animaw AT, JAM Nkanya, JM Nyakiba & TH Woldemariam (Synthesized by H Takeshima). (2016). Agricultural mechanization and
south-south knowledge exchange: What can Ethiopian and Kenyan policymakers learn from Bangladesh’s experience? ESSP
Policy Note 47, IFPRI.
Binswanger-Mkhize, H. P., & Savastano, S. (2017). Agricultural intensification: the status in six African countries. Food Policy 67,
26-40.
Chamberlin J, TS. Jayne & D Headey. (2014). Scarcity amidst abundance? Reassessing the potential for cropland expansion in
Africa. Food Policy 48: 51-65.
Diao X, F Cossar, N Houssou & S Kolavalli. (2014). Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand, and the search for alternative
supply models. Food Policy 48, 168–181.
Diao X, J Silver & H Takeshima. (2016). Agricultural Mechanization and Agricultural Transformation. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01527.
Diao X, J Silver & H Takeshima. (2017). Agricultural Mechanization in Africa: Insights from Ghana’s Experience. IFPRI Issue Brief.
Diao X, J Agandin, P Fang, S E. Justice, D Kufoalor & H Takeshima. (2018). Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana: Insights from a
Recent Field Study. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01729.
Gollin, D., Jedwab, R., & Vollrath, D. (2013). Urbanization with and without Industrialization. Journal of Economic Growth 21(1), 35-
70.
25. Key references
Hayami Y & VW Ruttan. (1985). Agricultural development: An international perspective. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins
University Press.
Jayne TS, J Chamberlin, L Traub, N Sitko, M Muyanga, FK Yeboah, W Anseeuw, A Chapoto, A Wineman, C Nkonde & R Kachule.
(2016). Africa's changing farm size distribution patterns: the rise of medium‐scale farms. Agricultural Economics 47(S1), 197-
214.
Pingali P, Y Bigot & H Binswanger. (1987). Agricultural mechanization and the evolution of farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA.
Takeshima H, E Edeh, A Lawal & M Isiaka. (2015). Characteristics of private-sector tractor service provisions: Insights from Nigeria.
Developing Economies 53(3), 188–217.
Takeshima H. (2017). Custom-hired tractor services and returns to scale in smallholder agriculture: A production function approach.
Agricultural Economics 48(3), 363–372.
Takeshima H. (2017). The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns to scale in demand for mechanization: Insights from Northern
Nigeria. IFPRI Discussion Paper 01692.
Takeshima H, N Houssou, X Diao. (2018). Effects of tractor ownership on returns-to-scale in household maize production: Evidence
from Ghana. Food Policy 77, 33–49.
Takeshima H. (2018). Mechanize or exit farming? Multiple-treatment-effects model and external validity of adoption impacts of
mechanization among Nepalese smallholders. Review of Development Economics, in press.
Zhang X, J Yang & T Reardon. (2017). Mechanization Outsourcing Clusters and Division of Labor in Chinese Agriculture. China
Economic Review 43, 184-195.
26. THANK YOU !
For more information, please contact Hiroyuki Takeshima (H.Takeshima@cgiar.org)
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Editor's Notes
Under PIM support, IFPRI has conducting research and capacity building activities related to mechanization over the past few years.
Flagship 2
Cluster 2.1 - Agricultural Transformation and Rural Incomes
Activity 2.1.2 - Mechanization and Policies for Labor Saving Technology
Book
8 Asian countries and 5 African countries
chapters written by internal and external contributors
synthesized the findings
Policy engagements
Empirical research
New insights on the determinants and impacts of mechanization
Tractor-use for land preparation has grown even in extremely land-scarce countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka)
GDCC =
One common factor
In Nepal, Nigeria / Ghana – mechanization is a key driver of technical change in RTS
Smallholders – still benefit from mechanization if they remain in the farming sector
Due to various barriers
Returns-to-Scale (RTS)
Solow technologies vs Malthus technologies (Hansen & Prescott 2002)
Constant RTS vs Diminishing RTS
The rise in RTS an important agricultural development process worldwide (Hayami & Ruttan 1985)
Research empirically identified mechanization (tractor adoption, ownership) as a key technological driver of such change in RTS
Inverse-probability weighting
Generalized Method of Moments
Mediation effects
In Nepal and Ghana, tractor adoption or tractor ownership cause significant increases in RTS
Introduction
Theoretical Framework (Expanded)
Farming Systems Evolution
Induced Technological Change
Hiring Markets and Market Failures
Applying the Framework
Asia
Typical Cases
Atypical Cases
Common Factors
Africa
Continental and Country Trends
Demand Side Factors
Supply Side Factors
The Role of Government Policy
Import Restrictions
Inefficient Promotion
Public Goods
Africa’s Path Forward: Lessons from Asia and the Past
Private Hiring Services Must be Prioritized
Eliminate Distortions
Appropriate Technology
The farming system evolution, and induced technological change (combined with declining labor-land ratio) suggest the rising demand for mechanization in significant areas within Africa
While the induced innovation theory predicts that supply will respond effectively to rising demand over time, it will happen with time lags and with costs
Public sector including international community (including IFPRI) can shorten this time lag and transition costs, partly through South-South knowledge exchange.
Farming Systems Evolution (Boserup 1965; Ruthenberg 1980)
Increasing population pressure and rising demand for agricultural products from urbanization
Shortening fallow period, growing demand for more intensive tillage
Pingali, Bigot & Binswanger (1987) – farming system in the 80s did not reach the intensification level that required tractor powers
Induced Technological Change in response to changing labor-land ratio (Hayami & Ruttan 1970; 1985)
Mechanization as labor-saving technologies responding to rising labor scarcity relative to land in agriculture
Unlike the farming systems theory, the induced innovation theory explicitly considers public institutions as part of the technology development and adoption process, recognizing that technical change is unlikely to originate from a farming system itself only.
Market Failures, particularly for the supply of machinery hiring service
Indivisibility
Limited spatial mobility – especially with poor infrastructure
Seasonality of demand – short window for land preparation in semi-arid rainfed areas
Coordination failures
Knowledge barriers – steep learning curve for technical, business aspects of tractor ownership, operation in hiring markets => further risk factors
Demand for mechanization originally raised through technological improvements
Long history of intensive farming system, intensive animal traction use for multiple tillages per plot
High-yielding varieties from public R&D inducing tractor adoptions by smallholders
Demand has been further raised by rising labor costs due to economic growth, industrialization, urbanization
Tractor-use for land preparation has grown even in extremely land-scarce countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka)
Smaller machines - power tillers, 4wt (< 50hp), small to medium sized combine harvesters
Still, majority gained access through custom hiring services
Local manufacturing started from spare parts, then attachments, then machines
Subsidies provided but
minimum distortions; competitive, without targeting particular types of beneficiaries
supported the private sector’s supply response to the rising demand rather than attempting to create demand or directly intervening in the supply of mechanization
Credit often provided by machine sellers, as well as commercial banks taking land use right as collateral
Multifunctionality of machines fully exploited, partly through irrigation expansion (powering water pumps, carting)
Government’s involvement in hiring service scheme - rare, except Vietnam
Liberalization often facilitated mechanization growth – Vietnam, Bangladesh in the 90s, Myanmar in the 2010s
Rising farming-system intensification
Rising share of cultivated area to total cultivable area (R-value; earlier slide), shortening fallow period
Population density and market access have induced the shift to permanent cropping, even in sparsely populated areas such as the savannah zones of West Africa (Binswanger-Mkhize & Savastano 2017)
But not yet to the level of inputs use intensification achieved in Asian countries
Considerable within-country heterogeneity in farmland endowments
The majority of Africa’s virgin land suitable for cultivation is in remote regions of a handful of countries while in most systems, farms are declining in size and fragmenting as rural populations grow (Chamberlin, Jayne, and Headey 2014)
Where land is scarce, mechanization expansion is limited. This is particularly so if return is low for multiple-tillage per plot due to the lack of yield-enhancing technologies (Nigeria)
Dominance of tree, root crops in Africa – less conducive to plowing
Low adoption of tractors in forest zones where roots, cereals are planted in between cocoa and other tree crops
Despite slow ag-intensification, in Africa, consumption cities as the driver of urbanization – based on non-tradable services driven by natural resource revenues => therefore, still led to labor scarcity in ag
Ghana => rising average farm size
But Kenya – declining average farm size
Low demand at intensive margin
High demand for first tillage, but rapidly declining demand for second- or third- tillage
Low demand for multi-functional use
Understanding where demand has emerged – important. Then, focus on market failures in those areas
Low demand at intensive margin
- Observations from Ghana and Ethiopia suggest that tractors are generally not used for multiple plowing unless there is a tradition of using animal draft for second plowing. This issue could relate to the learning curve and behavioral factors associated with technology adoption, or simply reflect low perceived returns to multiple plowing. Nevertheless, the effects of lower demand for multifunctional use, which are discussed below as a market failure as it constrains profitable ownership of tractors, is an important component of demand itself.
High horsepower, expensive tractors still dominant in Africa
Contrast to Asia where four-wheel tractors are less than 50 hp
Ethiopia, Kenya > 100 hp
Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia – 60 ~ 85
4wt in Asia < 50 hp
Perceptions of heavy soils in Africa, but actual knowledge still limited due to weak capacity of soil research
Preference for deep tillage despite little scientific justification - in Ghana / Ethiopia
Limited exploitation of multi-functionality of tractors, power tillers
Mobility generally limited in Africa – most service providers hire to those within the village, without serving those outside villages
Little commercial credit extended for tractor purchase
Limited credit provided by dealers, in contrast to Asia
Inability to use land as collateral; general perceptions of low commercial viability of agriculture
Manufacturing of spare parts, attachments, have not grown in Africa
Insufficient knowledge of tractor operations
Government has faced challenges in identifying efficient service providers to support
Also, mention that,
MS-owners achieved higher profit than GS owners
Essentially providing more service for the same cost (fuel, repairs etc.)
Lifting import restrictions, and allowing importation of a variety of machines, tractors of various brands, horsepower
Tanzania – government agency must inspect all imported tractors
Ethiopia
an enterprise has to prove it is an agribusiness enterprise in order to be qualified to obtain foreign exchanges for its importation
importing tractors requires an investment license and machinery must be cleared and purchased within six months for import duties to be waived
Government can trust markets to select efficient service providers, machine designs
Service providers in the informal sector, obtaining tractors from the competitive market, without subsidies, are consistently found more efficient than government-selected service providers
Less efficient than farmers-to-farmer service providers operating in competitive markets
Specialized non-farm hiring-service enterprise – often failed to reach the break-even point, due to the lack of benefits from own-farm use (Ghana AMSEC Phase I)
Government can, however, often learn from the past mistake (Ghana AMSEC Phase II – later slides)
Subsidies, if needed, should increase, rather than limit, exposure to more brands, types of equipment
Past concessional loans required equipment to be imported from the donor country, supplied brands for which supply chains for spares and repairs were not developed
The presence of imported equipment, machines in the market – key to inducing local adaptation
Public goods
Asia
government support to R&D institutions, which develop and adapt wide varieties locally appropriate machinery, often in collaboration with domestic private sectors – India, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc.
R&D in varietal development
Technical improvements that make mechanization feasible
Varieties suitable for mechanical reaping, more frequent cropping, higher response to more intensive tillage, etc.
Investments in other complementary technology, rural infrastructure, that make mechanization feasible
Varieties suitable for mechanical reaping, more frequent cropping, higher response to more intensive tillage, etc.
Irrigation,
Effective coordination by government
Local government in China
facilitate linkage between combine harvester owners and customers in other provinces – study tour
Transportation,
Provision of free harvest information
Coordination of various migratory service providers
Support farmers to solve collective action problems -
For Africa, instead of collective ownership of tractors by farm-based organizations, cooperatives, it is better to use these groups as institutional mechanisms in promoting local coordination in crop planting and harvesting, which will be possible to help small farmers as a group for better access to hiring services
China:
In addition, PBAM gathered harvest information nationwide, printed a pocketsize harvest calendar covering major cropping areas, and distributed it to potential combine harvest operators for free.
Small combine (Kubota) – also made long-distance travel possible
When traveling in a group, coordination among team members is a key challenge. In the first several years, cooperative leaders
spent a lot of money on cell phone calls because changes in schedule, route, or meeting places had to be relayed to all the members
one by one. They complained about the problem to the PBAM. In response, the PBAM worked with China Mobile, one of the
largest telecommunication companies in China, to set up a group message service for the harvesting teams in 2011. As a result,
the telecommunication cost dropped dramatically.
Solutions differ within countries, across agricultural systems
Appropriate solutions will require focusing not only on the needs of farmers in different systems but also on the constraints faced by a small group of farmers who are potential suppliers of mechanization and to facilitate their acquisition, operation and hiring out of agricultural machinery
Also – include linkage with the synthesis
Market failure
Finance
But also the importance of government failures (- to some extent the shift toward more market-led hiring service)
Potentials for smaller tractors, including multi-functionality
Tillage, transportation, pumping irrigation water
Where soils are suitable within Africa, 2wts can be used for plowing
Harvesting, transportation by 2wts – less constrained by soils
4wt used in haulage (such as bricks, rods, cement, and sand.) – lower horsepower than 4wt used for plowing
Hauling sand for construction to ac-cess roads is often difficult with tipper or pickup trucks, so is done with 4WT. Though takes longer time, 30% cheaper than haulage by pickup
Private-sector provides many kinds of services to tractor buyers, addressing market failures
Importers
Machinery importers / manufacturer have networks established throughout the country, rather than concentrated in major cities
Alim Industries Ltd. – has 170 dealers / service points across the country
Importers in Bangladesh provide after-sales services with warranties that help owners receive low-cost access to timely repair services and spare parts in the early stage of ownership after their purchases.
Tractor-finance: importers provide credit to tractor buyers
use a number of steps to screen customers to min-imize the risk of default. Application forms of beneficiaries are rated and evaluated, and credit applications are linked to the national ID system in order to ensure security. Supplier and im-porters require post-dated checks for 3 months of payments from customers as a source of security. They require no collat-eral from the customer, but retain ownership of the machine until the final payment is made.
Interest rate – 22% or so
Knowledge / awareness – advertisements of available equipment using signboards, street advertisements
Manufacturers (Alim Industries Ltd.)
developing the frames and implements for power tillers, threshers, and other machinery, using imported engines from China to power the machines
Intensive tillage – several rounds of tillage as yield respond well
Importance of information gathering
Significant investments into R&D, extension
R&D institutes specifically focusing on machinery – not common in African countries
coordinating organizations for R&D, like BARC - enhance the role that agricultural mechanization can play in the country
High human capital / skill levels of staff at R&D
However, balancing machine technology transfer from abroad, and local adaptive research – still remain unresolved
Bangladesh – 26,000 extension staff
Relatively little direct government intervention
Growth in mechanization occurred, despite still weak standardization / regulatory capacities
Testing institutions - absent
Ghana’s Agricultural Mechanization Service Enterprise Center (AMSEC)
Phase I (2007 - )
Established about 90 across the country upto 2011
Often provided with 5 or more tractors with subsidies (with plow, harrow and trailer)
Application requirements: The ability to pay required down-payment for subsidized price for 5 tractors
one of the four initiatives included in the country’s agricultural development strategy in 2007
Low machine utilization - many did not meet break-even points
High breakdown dues to improper operation / maintenance, improper knowledge of stumps
Damaging of transmission or hydraulic system – too expensive to repair
Lack of spare parts
Much of loans to the government had never been repaid by these AMSECs, which were supposed to have been paid back in 5 years
Phase II (2016 - ) (Diao et al. 2018)
In 2016, Ghanaian government secured a new concessional loan facility from the government of Brazil
Partly incorporating recommendations by international agencies, including IFPRI
Application requirements to pay down-payment for 5 tractors – dropped. Now people can apply for as few as 1 tractors, as long as they can make one-shot payment of 60% subsidized price of the tractor
Exploiting multi-functionality
Provisions of maize shellers, multi-crop threshers, pneumatic or mechanical planters, cassava planters, and harvesters, seed drills, boom sprayers and maize/soya/rice harvesters that can be attached or mounted to tractors
More focus on maintenance, training
Free scheduled 1,000-hour technical tractor maintenance service
12 mobile workshops set up with government subsidy for the provision of maintenance services and are run by private individuals
The manufacturers in Brazil from which the machinery was imported from are required to provide spare parts for two years.
Participation in MOFA-provided training mandatory for first-time buyer
Encouragements of recording meter – to avoid overuse of tractors
The early AMSEC programs were not very successful. While each of the 69 AMSECs established in 2007-2009 was provided 5 to 7 tractors (with plow, harrow and trailer) by paying only 10 – 20 percent of the subsidized price (by 30 percent) as a down payment for a 5-year zero interest loan, the repayment rate for the loan was low. According to a report published by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2015, the loan repayment rate for AMSECs established in 2007/2008 was only 17.2 percent and 44.9 percent for those established in 2009. Almost one-third of AMSECs have not made any repayment at all after the down payment (JICA 2015). A survey of 29 AMSECs conducted by the authors of the JICA report indicated that 30 percent of the 157 new tractors distributed to these AMSECs had broken down and had a short lifespan (with an average lifespan of less than 6 years compared to the usual lifespan of 10 years).
Read more the meeting note with Engineer Musa
- Shift from subsidized distributions of tractors to more market-oriented approach
Kaduna state in Nigeria
Facilitating tractor market stakeholders
Linking farmers’ associations and tractor-supplying companies
To better communicate farmers’ demand for particular types of machines to tractor-supplying companies
Agricultural mechanization – an outcome of private investment for rural transformation
Significant roles of private investment for mechanical technologies; more private-sector driven than biological technologies (Hayami & Ruttan 1985)
Growth in agricultural mechanization reflects:
Capital deepening (increased capital-to-labor ratio) in rural economy, and overall economy
Physical capital formation
Capital market development
Rural non-farm economies (tractor hiring service as backward-linkage from agriculture)
A number of research questions associated with the issue of private investment in rural transformation
Evidence from agricultural mechanization – provide useful insights in understanding the broader issue of the private investment in rural transformation