This is the second progress report and final report combined of the research project on tomato losses in Nigeria. It should be read as the third part of the reports.
... See More + In the inception report we presented an overview of the context in which the post-harvest losses take place: the macro-economic developments and policies, changing market structures, sector policies, initiatives in the tomato sector from development organizations, structural factors affecting productivity, and some specific factors: drought, conflict, pests (Tuta absoluta). Also, some concepts related to food security, food losses and sustainability were presented: the main determinants and causes of food losses, the importance of well-functioning urban wholesale markets, the interconnectedness of agri-food chains and networks due to globalization. In the inception report the main research questions and a logical framework were formulated, with immediate objectives, expected results, outcomes and activities, outputs. In the first progress report, a description was given of the main activities carried out between July-December: the results of a first exploring mission to Nigeria by the project team; an explanation and results of the survey in the South-West among 48 farmers, 44 haulers and 48 traders; the exploring mission to the North, 29-31 of October, and a report on the first living lab workshop in Ibadan, 2-3 November. An overview was presented of the implementation of the survey in the North, among 158 farmers, 89 haulers and 109 traders; and the kick-off workshop for the pilot projects, 8-9 December: mainly oriented at the introduction of plastic returnable crates in 5 supply chains. In the present report, an overview will be presented of the results of the survey in the North, the living lab workshop in the North, the results of both pilot projects in the South-West and North. The authors also will present an update on the tomato policy of the Government of Nigeria (launched in May 2017). By way of conclusion, some scenarios for feasible business models for the introduction of plastic returnable crates will be worked out, product of the discussions in the feedback workshops in the South-West and North which took place on January 13 and April 23, respectively, and in meetings with development organizations, government and private sector companies in Abuja, Lagos and Kano, during the third mission (January 6-14) and fourth mission (April 21-28).
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Report 135505 MAR 20, 2019
Sibomana, Milindi; Quadt, Eruore Peace; Clercx, Luud; Blessing, Frits; Akinwekomi, Emmanuel; van der Waal, Hans WillemDisclosed
The study examined the determinants of catch sales of artisanal fishers through wealthy middle women in fishing communities of Ghana, often known as fish mothers or fish mongers.
... See More + The effects of selected variables were examined with a double hurdle model. Self-financing was found to negatively affect the fishers’ sale of fish catch through fish mothers. The fishers were nineteen percent less likely to sell to fish mothers if they self-finance, and that self-financing will result in a ten percent downward unconditional change on the percentage of fish sold to the fish mothers. Factors that positively influenced the sale of fish catch through the fish mothers were price, percentage of high value fishes, size of boat, fishing experience, and number of fishing trips conducted in a year. The estimated average partial effects of boat size had the strongest effect with about one hundred and forty-six percent and ninety-one percent change, respectively on conditional and unconditional effect on the percentage of catch sales sold through the fish mothers. Overall, the study shows that long-term consistent economic and investment considerations such as investing in larger boats are important drivers for fishers’ choice of selling catches through fish mothers. The main implication of the results is that fishers need some economic leverage such as access to formal capital and financial resources to incentivize them to exercise control over their marketing activities so that they can receive a higher profit from their fishing operations. This is important for the sustainability of coastal fisheries communities and the sector as a whole. Artisanal fishers need resources such as low interest loans and market information systems that will enable them to negotiate prices for their fish catch with fish mothers.
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The objective of this study is to provide an updated overview on the performance of cereal markets in Ethiopia. Specifically, the study seeks to inform and guide project operations for the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and the World Bank.
... See More + First, it aims to inform the government about incentives concerning grain storage before the GoE makes more public investments in storage facilities at the cooperative and union levels. Second, both the GoE and the World Bank need a better understanding of cereal market performance, including the constraints for private sector investment in storage facilities. Further, to respond to increasing demand from the government for more food-based (nonmarket) interventions to provide access to food to the poor instead of market-based (cash or voucher transfers), the PSNP program will need to be better informed about the level and extent of cereal market integration. The report is organized as follows: section two provides an overview of the maize and wheat subsectors. It also summarizes key observations about maize and wheat value chain performance based on a field survey. Section three details the conceptual framework and the empirical strategy to assess the maize and wheat markets performance. Section three presents the empirical model. Section four discusses data and section five presents the empirical results. Finally, the conclusions and policy implications are discussed in section six.
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This study sheds light on the performance of cereal markets in Ethiopia. It combines market-level temporal and spatial price analysis with a detailed analysis at the producer, wholesale and retail levels for maize and wheat value chains.
... See More + Using time series price data, the study estimates (1) price volatilities to gauge the level of risk in maize and wheat markets, (2) spatial price linkages to assess the level of spatial arbitrage opportunities and market integration, and (3) seasonal price movements to assess the level of temporal arbitrage opportunities and implications for storage decisions. The price analysis results indicate four main findings. First, maize and wheat markets are integrated in the long run. This is indicative of the improvements in road infrastructure, and the availability of trucks and mobile communications. But the long-run price transmission between the deficient and surplus markets is less than complete and the adjustments to price changes in different markets are asymmetric. This could be due to asymmetric market information, transaction costs, and government interventions. Second, there is a significant degree of unpredictability in wheat and maize prices, implying high risk for the value chain actors. There has been a slight upward movement in maize and wheat nominal and real prices in different markets and at all market levels (producer, wholesale and retail), but there is significant unpredictability in maize and wheat prices, making spot market temporal and spatial arbitrage a risky business for value chain actors. Third, spatial margins are very volatile making inter-regional grain trade risky. Fourth, although there is significant seasonality in maize and wheat prices, the returns are low with high volatility. The implied storage periods for wheat and maize required between the seasonal low and high prices appear to be very long (5 to 10 months). The empirical results indicate that holding wheat and maize stock for such a lengthy period does not provide sufficient incentives, given the very low, but highly volatile monthly price returns for maize and wheat stocks. At wholesale level, the returns for maize and wheat aggregation are better than holding grain. Overall, the results indicate that there is low commercial incentive for the private sector to invest in storage. The findings point to key areas at policy level to improve the performance of cereal markets. These include the need to reduce price unpredictability through clearer policy directions and transparent information related to grain procurement and distribution, and by improving planning and coordination among grain importing entities; establishing market intelligence and data by investing in an agricultural market information system; addressing arbitrary tax enforcement based on grain stock held by traders and wholesale distributors without considering their turnover, strengthening the capacity of cooperatives and assessing the different needs and investments options of grain storage.
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More than a billion tons of food are lost annually across global food supply chains. Spillage, spoilage, insects, and rodents cause this post-harvest loss.
... See More + Addressing it is a daunting challenge due to the complexity of the many factors involved. But it is a worthwhile challenge because of the potential benefits, including improved food security, nutrition, economic productivity, and response to climate change. Poor or nonexistent public infrastructure is often an underlying cause of food not being transported or processed effectively. And climate change damages existing infrastructure and increases losses. Despite the numerous environmental, economic, and socio-cultural barriers involved, there are many examples of private sector enterprises that have tackled post-harvest loss successfully. They focus on education, collaboration, and markets. Intense analyses by multi-disciplinary teams will need to be conducted on socio-cultural factors, as well as consideration of appropriate technologies to address post-harvest food losses, the economic opportunities involved, and the likely climate change impacts.
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Global attention was focused on food price volatility in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Governments initiated policy measures to ensure food security of populations, which included increasing food reserves as well as measures to reduce food wastage, including wastage due to poor storage and handling.
... See More + One solution identified by countries running large food security programs was to introduce public-private partnerships (PPPs) in food storage, especially for storage of grain. The positive impacts of PPPs in this sector could be huge given the inefficiencies in grain storage and the large proportion of post-harvest wastage especially in the handling and storage of grain in developing countries.
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After the food crises of 2007-2008 and the growing realization that donor resources were not sufficient to meet global agricultural development challenges, the AgResults initiative was launched at the June 2012 G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico as an innovation to boost private sector engagement in meeting these challenges.
... See More + AgResults initiative comprised of seven pilot projects that incentivize the private sector to develop and deliver innovative products to smallholder farmers in settings where markets for these products are otherwise underdeveloped. Each pilot provides financial incentives to the private sector actors to encourage them to enter the market, but the incentives are paid only after they achieve predefined results. This Knowledge Note reflects the initial findings from the external evaluator’s ongoing research to evaluate the pilots. The authors conclude by identifying the critical steps involved in design of a pull mechanism. Throughout, the authors draw on examples from the AgResults On-Farm Storage pilot in Kenya to illustrate their guidance.
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