Micro and meso-level issues affecting potato production and marketing in the tropical highlands of Sub-Saharan Africa: The known and the unknowns

Julius J. Okello, Norman Kwikiriza, Rogers Kakuhenire, Monica Parker, Elmar Schulte-Geldermann and Kennedy Pambo

No 205464, 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: This study uses ecological system theory to examine the micro and meso level factors that affect and are affected potato production in Sub-Sahara Africa. It focuses on gender, environmental factors, food security. The data and information used were collected using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The study finds that gender use within the households is changing. It also finds that dwindling land sizes and soil fertility are encouraging the migration potato plots to fragile margins while increased pest and disease pressure is encouraging greater reliance on pesticide -- resulting into increased incidences of pesticide poisoning, all of which have definite effects on the environment and sustainability of potato production and agriculture in general. It concludes that farm household (micro-level) decisions on potato production are driving and being driven by the environmental/ physical (meso) level ecology. The study discusses the implications of its findings for policy and sustainability of agriculture.

Keywords: Consumer/Household Economics; Crop Production/Industries; International Development; Land Economics/Use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/205464/files/A ... er_27may2015_rev.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea15:205464

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.205464

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().