TY - BOOK

T1 - Essays on livestock technology, diversification and welfare impact in sub–Saharan Africa

AU - Weyori, Alirah Emmanuel

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Livestock production remains a critical aspect of rural livelihoods serving different purposes especially for the poor in developing countries. Enhanced livestock productivity thus has the potential to stimulate growth in a sustainable way and also to strengthen and improve welfare. This is especially critical in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the face of imperfect input and output markets, missing credit and insurance markets, as well as limited off-farm employment opportunities. However, livestock productivity is constrained by the incidence of diseases and the use of obsolete technologies. Yet, studies show that livestock of the poor are more vulnerable to diseases because of inadequate investments in health improving techniques and technologies approaches. This thesis aims to contribute to an improved understanding of the adoption behavior of modern livestock interventions and their impact on household welfare in SSA. Specifically, the thesis sets out to investigate: (1) the drivers of adopting the so called “best–bet” African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT) management technologies and its impact on household food security; (2) the relationship between disease management practices such as deworming, vector control, veterinary treatment, and feed supplements. Specifically, the thesis investigates if these practices are adopted as complements or substitutes and what factors drive their adoption; 3) the returns to livestock disease control interventions especially linking interventions to animal productivity and household vulnerability and poverty and (4) the role of household diversification with respect to crop and livestock production in adapting to climate variability. The data for this thesis comes from small scale cattle farmers in the Kara and Savana regions of Togo and the Southern Nations Nationalities and People Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. Selection of respondents involved multi stage random sampling procedures to ensure equal probability of being selected given the geographically dispersed nature of the study region. Two waves of data were collected in Togo while one wave has been collected in Ethiopia. In 2013, a total of 486 and 492 households from Togo and Ethiopia respectively were interviewed. In 2016, a follow up survey was conducted in Togo involving the same households interviewed in 2013. A comprehensive data set consisting of household socio-economic information, involving all kinds of income generating activities such as self-employment, off-farm employment and other on-farm wage employments undertaken in the period. Noteworthy are the information on cattle production such as herd composition, disease and pest incidences, and health management. Household risks and shocks as well as assets, consumption and food security indicators have been collected. In addition to the household level data, village level information such as disease severity and incidence, drug resistance and village level institutions and infrastructure have been collected through stakeholder interviews in 2013. Different methodological approaches have been used to analyze the data in this thesis. In the first paper, the household utility maximization theory under risks and imperfect markets forms the basis for the empirical estimation of the household adoption decision and impact of rational drug use on food security. A binary logit model is used to estimate the factors influencing adoption while the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) is used to determine the impact on food security outcome. In the second paper, the adoption of multiple disease management practices is modelled as a function of disease load (risks exposed) in a cattle herd. This is done empirically through a multivariate maximum likelihood estimation procedure. In the third paper, considering the incomplete randomization of the treatment assignment and possible endogenous heterogeneity effects, a number of quasi–experimental identifications strategies, such as difference in difference, fixed effects and the fixed effects instrumental variable, have been implemented to determine the causal relationship between the interventions and household welfare. The implementation of the multiple strategies controls for potential confounding issues of self-selection and unobserved heterogeneity that would bias results. In the fourth paper on livelihood diversification, it is assumed that in the presence of climate variability with missing or imperfect credit and insurance markets households choose a combination of livelihood strategies to maximize future welfare as well as protecting current outcomes against adverse weather events. The portfolio mix decision is based cardinally on two motivations – survival or opportunity seeking. The empirical estimation allows determining the overriding motive by households to diversify. Different diversification decisions may be correlated therefore the determinants of diversification are jointly estimated using the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) with Mundlak correction factor to account for possible endogeneity issues arising from unobserved heterogeneity. Correlated random effects estimation fitted with logit and Generalized Least Square (GLS) assumptions are used to estimate impact of diversification on poverty and consumption outcomes respectively with inherent unobserved endogeneity bias taken care for by the Mundlak correction factor. The results from this thesis contribute to the empirical literature in a number of ways. First, the estimation of drivers and impacts of technology adoption on food security shows that access to information and veterinary services, improved knowledge, and access to disease inputs are critical to the adoption decision of improved disease management practices. Adoption impacts are generally positive. For example, results show that farmers who adopt improved practices have higher livestock productivity and higher consumption per capita. Improving livestock health by introducing knowledge-intensive integrated control measures is a promising way to enhance livelihoods and to improve food security of small-scale cattle dependent households in sub-Saharan Africa. Nonetheless, adoption of improved disease management practices remains low among cattle farmers. Policies that involve local veterinary personnel in the dissemination of technologies and inputs should be considered to stimulate adoption. Second, investigating the adoption of multiple best bet AAT management practices using the data from small scale farmers in Ethiopia shows that these practices are not complementary, but substitutional. The study finds this to be as a result of resource and budgetary constraints. Also, the observed low knowledge of the management of AAT amongst respondents explains the observed substitutional effect. Farmers mostly adopted and applied one technology – trypanocidal drugs– the most popular practice with little or no investment in deworming or pest control. The result highlights the need for targeted extension approach to redefine how such technology is disseminating. It further shows that the use of traditional extension methods to disseminate these practices could be hampering the simultaneous adoption of farm technology among livestock farmers. Third, measuring the impacts of the targeted AAT control intervention program using the panel data set from Togo generally shows positive outcomes for participating farmers. For example, the results show that participants improved their knowledge and practices in relation to diagnosing and management of livestock diseases in general and AAT in particular. Furthermore, the animals of program participants recorded higher productivity measured in milk output and reduced disease infections which are both direct benefits of the program intervention. Higher animal productivity and lower disease infections resulted in additional income that significantly increased per capita consumption and decrease poverty headcount, i.e., two important welfare indicators in rural SSA. The results show that interventions targeted at managing livestock of small scale cattle producers in SSA can lead to positive livelihoods outcomes. Finally, turning to drivers of diversification and how diversification helps households cope with climate variability effects, the results show that portfolio diversification in rural Togo is generally driven by wealth variables. Also, the results show a negative correlation between household diversification and climate variability. In terms of welfare implications, the results indicate that livestock diversification has the potential to improve a household’s welfare and also mitigate adverse effects of climate variability. Institutions seem to be supportive in crop and livestock diversification and also contribute to decreases in poverty. However, the current set up of institutions is not effective to mitigate negative effects from an increasingly risky environment. The results point to the necessity of strengthening credit, agricultural and market institutions as possible policy targets for stimulating livelihood diversification as a coping strategy for areas exposed to negative effects of climate variability and with missing or imperfect markets.

AB - Livestock production remains a critical aspect of rural livelihoods serving different purposes especially for the poor in developing countries. Enhanced livestock productivity thus has the potential to stimulate growth in a sustainable way and also to strengthen and improve welfare. This is especially critical in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the face of imperfect input and output markets, missing credit and insurance markets, as well as limited off-farm employment opportunities. However, livestock productivity is constrained by the incidence of diseases and the use of obsolete technologies. Yet, studies show that livestock of the poor are more vulnerable to diseases because of inadequate investments in health improving techniques and technologies approaches. This thesis aims to contribute to an improved understanding of the adoption behavior of modern livestock interventions and their impact on household welfare in SSA. Specifically, the thesis sets out to investigate: (1) the drivers of adopting the so called “best–bet” African Animal Trypanosomosis (AAT) management technologies and its impact on household food security; (2) the relationship between disease management practices such as deworming, vector control, veterinary treatment, and feed supplements. Specifically, the thesis investigates if these practices are adopted as complements or substitutes and what factors drive their adoption; 3) the returns to livestock disease control interventions especially linking interventions to animal productivity and household vulnerability and poverty and (4) the role of household diversification with respect to crop and livestock production in adapting to climate variability. The data for this thesis comes from small scale cattle farmers in the Kara and Savana regions of Togo and the Southern Nations Nationalities and People Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. Selection of respondents involved multi stage random sampling procedures to ensure equal probability of being selected given the geographically dispersed nature of the study region. Two waves of data were collected in Togo while one wave has been collected in Ethiopia. In 2013, a total of 486 and 492 households from Togo and Ethiopia respectively were interviewed. In 2016, a follow up survey was conducted in Togo involving the same households interviewed in 2013. A comprehensive data set consisting of household socio-economic information, involving all kinds of income generating activities such as self-employment, off-farm employment and other on-farm wage employments undertaken in the period. Noteworthy are the information on cattle production such as herd composition, disease and pest incidences, and health management. Household risks and shocks as well as assets, consumption and food security indicators have been collected. In addition to the household level data, village level information such as disease severity and incidence, drug resistance and village level institutions and infrastructure have been collected through stakeholder interviews in 2013. Different methodological approaches have been used to analyze the data in this thesis. In the first paper, the household utility maximization theory under risks and imperfect markets forms the basis for the empirical estimation of the household adoption decision and impact of rational drug use on food security. A binary logit model is used to estimate the factors influencing adoption while the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) is used to determine the impact on food security outcome. In the second paper, the adoption of multiple disease management practices is modelled as a function of disease load (risks exposed) in a cattle herd. This is done empirically through a multivariate maximum likelihood estimation procedure. In the third paper, considering the incomplete randomization of the treatment assignment and possible endogenous heterogeneity effects, a number of quasi–experimental identifications strategies, such as difference in difference, fixed effects and the fixed effects instrumental variable, have been implemented to determine the causal relationship between the interventions and household welfare. The implementation of the multiple strategies controls for potential confounding issues of self-selection and unobserved heterogeneity that would bias results. In the fourth paper on livelihood diversification, it is assumed that in the presence of climate variability with missing or imperfect credit and insurance markets households choose a combination of livelihood strategies to maximize future welfare as well as protecting current outcomes against adverse weather events. The portfolio mix decision is based cardinally on two motivations – survival or opportunity seeking. The empirical estimation allows determining the overriding motive by households to diversify. Different diversification decisions may be correlated therefore the determinants of diversification are jointly estimated using the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) with Mundlak correction factor to account for possible endogeneity issues arising from unobserved heterogeneity. Correlated random effects estimation fitted with logit and Generalized Least Square (GLS) assumptions are used to estimate impact of diversification on poverty and consumption outcomes respectively with inherent unobserved endogeneity bias taken care for by the Mundlak correction factor. The results from this thesis contribute to the empirical literature in a number of ways. First, the estimation of drivers and impacts of technology adoption on food security shows that access to information and veterinary services, improved knowledge, and access to disease inputs are critical to the adoption decision of improved disease management practices. Adoption impacts are generally positive. For example, results show that farmers who adopt improved practices have higher livestock productivity and higher consumption per capita. Improving livestock health by introducing knowledge-intensive integrated control measures is a promising way to enhance livelihoods and to improve food security of small-scale cattle dependent households in sub-Saharan Africa. Nonetheless, adoption of improved disease management practices remains low among cattle farmers. Policies that involve local veterinary personnel in the dissemination of technologies and inputs should be considered to stimulate adoption. Second, investigating the adoption of multiple best bet AAT management practices using the data from small scale farmers in Ethiopia shows that these practices are not complementary, but substitutional. The study finds this to be as a result of resource and budgetary constraints. Also, the observed low knowledge of the management of AAT amongst respondents explains the observed substitutional effect. Farmers mostly adopted and applied one technology – trypanocidal drugs– the most popular practice with little or no investment in deworming or pest control. The result highlights the need for targeted extension approach to redefine how such technology is disseminating. It further shows that the use of traditional extension methods to disseminate these practices could be hampering the simultaneous adoption of farm technology among livestock farmers. Third, measuring the impacts of the targeted AAT control intervention program using the panel data set from Togo generally shows positive outcomes for participating farmers. For example, the results show that participants improved their knowledge and practices in relation to diagnosing and management of livestock diseases in general and AAT in particular. Furthermore, the animals of program participants recorded higher productivity measured in milk output and reduced disease infections which are both direct benefits of the program intervention. Higher animal productivity and lower disease infections resulted in additional income that significantly increased per capita consumption and decrease poverty headcount, i.e., two important welfare indicators in rural SSA. The results show that interventions targeted at managing livestock of small scale cattle producers in SSA can lead to positive livelihoods outcomes. Finally, turning to drivers of diversification and how diversification helps households cope with climate variability effects, the results show that portfolio diversification in rural Togo is generally driven by wealth variables. Also, the results show a negative correlation between household diversification and climate variability. In terms of welfare implications, the results indicate that livestock diversification has the potential to improve a household’s welfare and also mitigate adverse effects of climate variability. Institutions seem to be supportive in crop and livestock diversification and also contribute to decreases in poverty. However, the current set up of institutions is not effective to mitigate negative effects from an increasingly risky environment. The results point to the necessity of strengthening credit, agricultural and market institutions as possible policy targets for stimulating livelihood diversification as a coping strategy for areas exposed to negative effects of climate variability and with missing or imperfect markets.

U2 - 10.15488/5489

DO - 10.15488/5489

M3 - Doctoral thesis

CY - Hannover

ER -