Papers by Siegfried Bauer
In order to combat adverse effects of farmland degradation it is necessary for farmers to adopt s... more In order to combat adverse effects of farmland degradation it is necessary for farmers to adopt sustainable land management and conservation strategies like intercropping and conservation tillage. However, efforts to adopt these strategies are very minimal in Ethiopia. In an attempt to address the objectives of examining factors affecting use of intercropping and conservation tillage practices, this study utilized plot- and household-level data collected from 211 farm households and employed a bivariate probit model for its analysis. The study revealed that intercropping and conservation tillage decisions are interdependent, and that they are also significantly affected by various factors. In addition, conservation tillage and intercropping practices as short- term interventions are found to augment the long-term interventions like terraces, diversion ditches, and tree plantations. The paper highlights important policy implications that are required to encourage intercropping and co...
This paper examines the community characteristics of successful common resource management. As in... more This paper examines the community characteristics of successful common resource management. As information base, data sets of 44 brackish water1 shrimp farming communities in Bangladesh have been used. The result shows that common resource management is associated with resource scarcity, market distance from the resource, leadership structure in the community, group size, status of heterogeneity in the community, and involvement of other institutions. The results tell that while graduates and influential leaders facilitate collective action, political leaders and outsiders impede it. Unlike the findings from other sources, distance to market place has been found very important for common pool resource management in Bangladesh. Resource management could be more successful, when they can form users' association, receive coordination and help from other institutions and technical support from governmental institutions.
This article explores the impact of corruption on farm-level efficiency in two different rice cro... more This article explores the impact of corruption on farm-level efficiency in two different rice cropping seasons in Bangladesh. The two different cropping seasons have different production and marketing conditions such that cost of corruption can be hypothesized being positively correlated with technical efficiency in one season while negatively in the other. A total of 210 rice farmer's data were analyzed through a stochastic frontier efficiency model. The results actually suggest that corruption costs might be efficiency enhancing or reducing, depending on the specific situation and context. If input markets are sufficiently well working, and farmers face liquidity constraints, corruption costs reduce efficiency. Under such settings, farmers have to bear extra cost imposed by corruption, and hence cannot purchase their required quantity of inputs. But, when famer's capital requirement is relatively less, and input markets are highly restricted; bribe helps to access to market. The bribe paying farmers can acquire more inputs, and hence will operate at higher level of efficiency. This finding underlines the advantages of open markets in Bangladesh and other developing countries, as restricting markets will encourage corruption.
The agricultural trade of the Sudan is expected to develop under the recent dramatic increase of ... more The agricultural trade of the Sudan is expected to develop under the recent dramatic increase of world food prices. Sudan as one of the developing countries and as price taker on the world agricultural market has been affected greatly by the world price increase. This paper aims at studying the impact of the increasing world food prices on developments of the agricultural crops trade sector of Sudan. In this paper a multimarket model is used as the main tool to estimate the increase of the world food prices on the crop trade sector. Multi-market analysis is a tool for simulating the effects of agricultural price policies on outcomes considered of interest to policy makers. The model under consideration takes the normal specification of a standard partial equilibrium model; it is static and consists of a set of demand and supply equations for each commodity with the level of production and demand determined by factors including prices, income, and demand and supply-shift variables, i...
Crop genetic resources are the building block of sustainable agricultural development as these ca... more Crop genetic resources are the building block of sustainable agricultural development as these can be used to develop crop varieties adaptable to heterogeneous environmental conditions. Nepal is considered the center of origin and diversity for Asian rice, which still has many landraces. However, there has been continuous loss of genetic diversity and concern over it has grown in recent years. The main objective of this paper is to identify the determinants of variety diversity on-farm in the rainfed ecosystem of Nepal by using two-limit Tobit procedure. The diversity on farm appeared to be quite high evaluated based on the number of named varieties grown by the farmers. Majority of the farmers cultivated both modern varieties and landraces simultaneously and the rice production is also getting commercialized gradually. The results showed that the motivating factors for variety diversification are the heterogeneous production environments, risk consideration and farmers' partici...
The aim of this study is to analyze the migration <br> process of the rural population of B... more The aim of this study is to analyze the migration <br> process of the rural population of Bangladesh. Heckman Probit model <br> with sample selection was applied in this paper to explore the <br> determinants of migration and intensity of migration at farm <br> household level. The farm survey was conducted in the central part of <br> Bangladesh on 160 farm households with migrant and on 154 farm <br> households without migrant including a total of 316 farm households. <br> The results from the applied model revealed that main determinants <br> of migration at farm household level are household age, economically <br> active males and females, number of young and old dependent <br> members in the household and agricultural land holding. On the other <br> hand the main determinants of intensity of migration are availability <br> of economically adult male in the household, number of young <br> dependents and...
This study is primarily intended to examine the dynamics and determinants of rural household pove... more This study is primarily intended to examine the dynamics and determinants of rural household poverty and vulnerability in Northern Highlands of Ethiopia. The data for this research is mainly based on the Ethiopian Household Survey (ERHS). Results from disaggregation of the poor indicate that ultra poverty is predominant in the area. Similarly, using a three steps feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) we found that many of the households in the region are vulnerable to poverty. However, the trend has been found to vary across villages for both poverty and vulnerability measures. Besides, poverty decomposition of sample households showed that chronic poverty is dominant while transient poverty is secondary. An implication of this is that programs targeting on poverty should primarily focus on factors causing persistence deprivation without undermining risk factors that drag households in to poverty. Finally, some of the important determining factors of observed poverty appear to i...
Asian journal of agriculture and development, 2010
In Myanmar, rice is an invaluable commodity both as a staple food and a source of high foreign ex... more In Myanmar, rice is an invaluable commodity both as a staple food and a source of high foreign exchange earnings through export. The country's agricultural economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a market system since the late 1980s; however, the government has yet to engage in full-scale rice export deregulation. Therefore, Myanmar's rice marketing system works within the boundaries and limitations of a halfway-liberalized economy, inevitably eliciting questions about its performance. Using the Engle and Granger two-step co-integration method and the restructured Ravallion model of unrestricted vector auto-regression (VAR) error correction form, three surplus markets, three deficit markets, and Thai rice price series were tested to determine market integration and price causality. All price series were monthly data in both nominal and real values from 2001 to 2004. Results revealed that in the domestic market, integration was weak in real value of rice pric...
Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 2012
Stone-terrace construction is among the most common methods for conserving soil and water resourc... more Stone-terrace construction is among the most common methods for conserving soil and water resources in the intensively cultivated highland parts of Ethiopia. Human labour is the scarcest input required for construction as stones are freely available on the farm. Consequently, adopting terraces may not be enough by itself unless adequate amount of labour is devoted for its construction. In an effort to assess factors impeding adoption of stone terraces and its labour use intensity, this study uses a household-and plot-level data collected from 211 farm households and applies a double-hurdle model for analysis. A number of variables are found to be statistically significant in affecting adoption of stone-terraces and its labour use intensity. Among important implications of this study are gradually relaxing the limited land tenure security; designing programs for enlarging parcel size and minimizing fragmentation; and launching and strengthening farm training and education activities.
Sustainability, 2016
Facing widespread poverty and land degradation, Vietnam started a land reform in 1993 as part of ... more Facing widespread poverty and land degradation, Vietnam started a land reform in 1993 as part of its renovation policy package known as "Doi Moi". This paper examines the impacts of improved land tenure security, via this land reform, on manure use by farm households. As manure potentially improves soil fertility by adding organic matter and nutrients to the soil surface, it might contribute to improving soil productive capacity and reversing land degradation. Random effect regression models are applied to a panel dataset of 133 farm households in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam collected in 1993, 1998, and 2006. The results confirm that land tenure security has positive effects on manure use, but the levels of influence differ depending on whether the land has been privatized or whether the land title has already been issued. In addition, manure use is also influenced by the number of cattle and pigs, the education level and ethnicity of household heads, farm land size and non-farm income. The findings suggest that speeding up land privatization and titling, encouraging cattle and pig rearing, and improving education would promote manure use in farm production. However, careful interpretation of our research findings is required as land privatization, together with economic growth and population pressure, might lead to overuse of farm inputs.
The successful synthesis of amino acids in a reducing gas mixture presumably resembling the prima... more The successful synthesis of amino acids in a reducing gas mixture presumably resembling the primary Earth atmosphere, by the Miller-Urey experiment, had a long lasting influence on the general perception of such an early atmosphere. Based on atmospheric escape, such a reducing atmosphere, however, has a lifetime of only millions of years. According to present view the early atmosphere of Earth may have resulted from mantle degassing of volatiles (H2O, CO2, N2), followed by later accumulation of O2 as product of life (photosynthesis). For Mars, with similar degassing products, evolution of life could have been possible in its early history. Non-reducing atmospheres (with liquid water) although not conductive for local synthesis of prebiotic molecules, may provide a benign environment for the evolution of life via ubiquitous supply of "building blocks" from external sources.
Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 2013
By analyzing experiences of 210 rice farmers belonging to six villages of six different districts... more By analyzing experiences of 210 rice farmers belonging to six villages of six different districts in Bangladesh this article estimates the impact of corruption on farm production and profit. Unlike existing literature corruption here is defined in broader term. Both explicit and implicit cost items are included while calculating the cost of corruption. Through estimating the marginal physical product of fertilizer, a relative impact of corruption on farm production is estimated. Then by hypothesizing different scenarios with different levels of corruption, changes in a farmer's benefit cost ratio is estimated. It has been observed that with reducing cost of corruption farmers observe higher benefit cost ratio and vice versa. Cost of corruption is found to be relatively higher in restricted input market situation and relatively lower when the market is more competitive. Thus our results are suggestive for competitive market policy to reduce corruption which will ultimately result in more farm production and profit.
Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, 2012
Households are institutions that nurture, develop and sustain capabilities, material and social r... more Households are institutions that nurture, develop and sustain capabilities, material and social resources and activities necessary for their members to sustain livelihoods. This is possible through socialisation, communication, diffusion and adoption of improved technologies. In developing countries like Kenya, adoption of improved agricultural technologies is critical in facilitating households' productive and consumptive capabilities and functions for better livelihoods. Yet, the adoption of such technologies remains low. Households are made up of male and female members whose roles, responsibilities, rights and entitlements often differ. Therefore, there is need to understand how the conditions supporting the adoption process vary across male and female farmers and within households. This paper adopts the livelihood systems framework in analysing the influence of socioeconomic characteristics that influence men and women to adopt improved agricultural technologies. The field survey involved individual interviews with 190 randomly selected rural households from Nakuru District, Kenya. Data analysis procedures included descriptive statistics, factor analysis and a binary logistic regression model. Results indicate that men are more likely than women to adopt improved technologies while the propensity to adopt increases with increasing distance to market. Adoption is supported by social inclusion and peace and is more likely to occur among poorer, younger farmers, without skills for off-farm employment. Given that a wide range of male and female farmers' socioeconomic characteristics influence adoption, careful analysis should always precede all efforts aimed at encouraging adoption of new and improved agricultural technologies.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2013
This study was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Author TB designed the study, orga... more This study was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Author TB designed the study, organized data collection, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author MKU contributed to manage research flow and facilitate data collection. Authors SH and NHK managed the analyses and interpretation of the study. Author MZR managed the literature searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Journal of Sustainable Development, 2012
Based on farmers' preferences this study estimates the non-market values of agri-environmental at... more Based on farmers' preferences this study estimates the non-market values of agri-environmental attributes and their changes within the study area. The analysis is carried out using a choice experiment technique of stated-preference to conduct investigations regarding different land use options within the agricultural sector of the Konibodom region of Tajikistan. The dataset was constructed using a detailed household level survey amongst 117 representative farmers throughout the district, including all agriculturally important settlements. Detailed focus group discussions and a combination of personal interview and 'pick and drop' approaches were selected as the appropriate surveying techniques. In order to compliment the survey data, secondary data was collected from official statistics, key informants and experts from the field. Several types of models were specified and estimated such as Conditional Logit and Random Parameter Logit (RPL) Models. Significant improvements were achieved through the inclusion of interaction terms into the RPL model. The results of both the RPL models reveal that preference heterogeneity exists amongst farmers in the study area, implicating that a decision for land allocation under different crops is jointly associated with other socioeconomic and environmental factors, influencing one another.
Gender, Technology and Development, 2012
This article examines the impact of male out-migration on the workload and status of the women le... more This article examines the impact of male out-migration on the workload and status of the women left behind in rural Nepal. The study uses primary data collected through household surveys from two districts in the mid-hills of Nepal to analyze aspects of women's roles and responsibilities that are expected to change in the absence of male household heads. Specifically, the study focuses on the change in women's workload, the expansion of their roles, their ownership and access to productive resources, and the part they play in household decision making. The results suggest that women have broadened and deepened their involvement in rural society as a result of male out-migration, which could lead to either the empowerment or disempowerment of women. The nature and extent of this impact was conditional on the migration pattern and the remittances received by the households. Larger
Economic Modelling, 1990
This paper examines the basic problems of the mathematical programming models used for agricultur... more This paper examines the basic problems of the mathematical programming models used for agricultural sector and policy analysis. Experience with traditional programming models shows that a considerable improvement in performance is possible by adequately incorporating non-linear relationships. Particular emphasis will be given to the calibration and validation problems involved in this type of model. With the help of the Turkish agricultural sector model it will be demonstrated that an empirical specification of a non-linear programming model for the agricultural sector is possible even with poor statistical data and that an operational model version can be handled on a PC.
Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 2014
HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific re... more HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.
Uploads
Papers by Siegfried Bauer