Farm Power and Mechanization for Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa

Farm Power and Mechanization for Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: B. G. Sims
Publisher: FAO
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
Many previous publications on farm mechanization, draught animal power, hand tool technology, etc. have tended to be narrowly focused. The topic of farm power and mechanization also tended to be separated from the actual process of growing crops. This manual looks at putting the different sources of farm power, mechanization, machines, equipment and tools in a much broader context. Farm power requirements need to be viewed with reference to rural livelihoods and to farming systems as well as to the critical area of labour saving in HIV/AIDS-hit populations. No one particular type of technology is advocated.

Farm Power and Mechanization for Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa

Farm Power and Mechanization for Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: B. G. Sims
Publisher: FAO
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
Many previous publications on farm mechanization, draught animal power, hand tool technology, etc. have tended to be narrowly focused. The topic of farm power and mechanization also tended to be separated from the actual process of growing crops. This manual looks at putting the different sources of farm power, mechanization, machines, equipment and tools in a much broader context. Farm power requirements need to be viewed with reference to rural livelihoods and to farming systems as well as to the critical area of labour saving in HIV/AIDS-hit populations. No one particular type of technology is advocated.

Agricultural Mechanization in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agricultural Mechanization in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: Karim Houmy
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
The manual work carried out by farmers and their families is often both arduous and time consuming and in many countries this is a major constraint to increasing agricultural production. Such day-to-day drudgery is a major contributoring factor in the migration of people, particularly the young, from the rural countryside to seek the prospect of a better life in the towns and cities. Farm production can be substantially increased through the use of mechanical technologies which both are labor-saving and directly increase yields and production. This document provides guidelines on the development and formulation of an agricultural mechanization strategy and forms part of FAO's approach on sustainable production intensification.

Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa

Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa PDF Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9251308713
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
This framework presents ten interrelated principles/elements to guide Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (SAMA). Further, it presents the technical issues to be considered under SAMA and the options to be analysed at the country and sub regional levels. The ten key elements required in a framework for SAMA are as follows: The analysis in the framework calls for a specific approach, involving learning from other parts of the world where significant transformation of the agricultural mechanization sector has already occurred within a three-to-four decade time frame, and developing policies and programmes to realize Africa’s aspirations of Zero Hunger by 2025. This approach entails the identification and prioritization of relevant and interrelated elements to help countries develop strategies and practical development plans that create synergies in line with their agricultural transformation plans. Given the unique characteristics of each country and the diverse needs of Africa due to the ecological heterogeneity and the wide range of farm sizes, the framework avoids being prescriptive.

Agricultural Mechanization and the Evolution of Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agricultural Mechanization and the Evolution of Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: Prabhu L. Pingali
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
The slow pace of agricultural mechanization in Africa has long been a puzzle. This book begins to solve the puzzle by looking at the conditions in sub-Saharan Africa that have led to only sporadic use of the plow rather than the hand hoe, very limited use of tractors and even oxen, and the failure of many projects seeking to move directly from hand hoes to tractors. The authors interviewed farmers at fifty sites in ten countries. They found that the pace of mechanization has been slow in Africa because it often is not cost effective. Among the issues discussed in the book are : (a) the effect on yields of substituting plows for hoes; (b) the cost-effectiveness of using draft animals as opposed to tractors; (c) conditions under which tractors can be used more efficiently than oxen; and (d) the negative consequences of government interventions to encourage the use of tractors beyond what is economically justified.

Mechanization for Rural Development

Mechanization for Rural Development PDF Author: Josef Kienzle
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
This publication gives a wide-ranging perspective on the present state of mechanization in the developing world, and, as such, constitutes a solid platform on which to build strategies for a sustainable future. Farm mechanization forms an integral plank in the implementation of sustainable crop production intensification methodologies and sustainable intensification necessarily means that the protection of natural resources and the production of ecosystem services go hand-in-hand with intensified production practices. This requires specific mechanization measures to allow crops to be established with minimum soil disturbance, to allow the soil to be protected under organic cover for as long as possible, and to establish crop rotations and associations to feed the soil and to exploit crop nutrients from various soil horizons. This work is the starting point to help the reader understand the complexities and requirements of the task ahead.

Addressing the Challenges Facing Agricultural Mechanization Input Supply and Farm Product Processing

Addressing the Challenges Facing Agricultural Mechanization Input Supply and Farm Product Processing PDF Author: B. G. Sims
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9789251057841
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
FAO is a global knowledge broker for the agri-food industry, including technologies for production and processing. In particular, the Agro-Industries Programme of FAO is increasingly tending to focus on appropriate input supply, innovation and value chain development. Improvements in these areas have the potential to sustain and improve livelihoods and well-being at whatever scale and in whatever region of the world. Within the World Congress on "Agricultural Engineering for a Better World," as a preparation for the challenges of the twenty-first century, FAO conducted two workshops. The first targeted the subject of "challenges for agricultural mechanization in sub-Saharan Africa," and the second focused on "using technology to add value and increase quality." This report contains the results of the Congress, and encourages both readers and decision-makers to consider the important role of engineering technologies for development and, indeed, for a better world. (Also available in French and Spanish)

Farming Systems and Poverty

Farming Systems and Poverty PDF Author: John A. Dixon
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
ISBN: 9789251046272
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025 PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264253238
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2016-2025 provides an assessment of prospects for the coming decade of the agricultural commodity markets across 41 countries and 12 regions, including OECD countries and key agricultural producers, such as India, China, Brazil, the Russian Federation and Argentina.

Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria

Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria PDF Author: Takeshima, Hiroyuki
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
Agricultural mechanization has often been characterized by scale-effects and increased specialization. Such characterizations, however, fail to explain how mechanization may grow in Africa where production environments are more heterogeneous and diversification of production may help in mitigating risks from increasingly uncertain climatic conditions. Using panel data from farm households and crop-specific production costs in Nigeria, we estimate how the adoption of animal traction or tractors affects the economies of scope (EOS) between rice, non-rice grains, legume/seed crops, and other crops, which are the crop groups that are most widely grown with animal traction or tractors in Nigeria. The results indicate that the adoption of these mechanization technologies is associated with lower EOS between non-rice grains, legume/seed crops, and other crops, but greater EOS between rice and other crops. An increase in EOS for rice is indicated in both primal and dual analytical approaches. Mechanical technologies may raise EOS between crops that are grown in more heterogeneous environments, even though it may lower EOS between crops that are grown in relatively similar environments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows the effects of mechanical technologies on EOS in agriculture in developing countries.

Farming Systems of the African Savanna

Farming Systems of the African Savanna PDF Author: A. Ker
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 0889367930
Category : Agricultural systems
Languages : en
Pages : 177

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Book Description
Farming Systems of the African Savanna: A continent in crisis