IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v71y2011icp4-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contribution of wetland agriculture to farmers' livelihood in Rwanda

Author

Listed:
  • Nabahungu, N.L.
  • Visser, S.M.

Abstract

This study analyzes factors that contribute to the livelihood of smallholder farmers living in the vicinity of the Cyabayaga and Rugeramigozi wetlands. Three tools were used: 1) focus group discussion 2) formal surveys and 3) Monitoring for Quality Improvement (MONQI). Farming systems in wetlands and on hillsides differ. Level of education, resource availability, land ownership and location have an important impact on the location and type of farming systems practiced by households. The dependency of households on wetlands varies between sites. Field size, status of soil fertility and input use are also key factors determining the level of contribution that wetland agriculture makes to farmers' livelihood. In Cyabayaga, the per household per year contribution of wetland cultivation to gross margin (GM) was 74% ($1901) compared to 24% ($84) in Rugeramigozi. The rice in Cyabayaga was the largest contributor to household income providing on average $1045 per household per season. Vegetables cultivated in the dry season in Rugeramigozi have high potential as cash crops. Poor maintenance of drainage and irrigation channels as well as inappropriate cropping systems in wetlands can undermine sustainability and have repercussions for the livelihoods of farmers dependent on agricultural wetlands.

Suggested Citation

  • Nabahungu, N.L. & Visser, S.M., 2011. "Contribution of wetland agriculture to farmers' livelihood in Rwanda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 4-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:71:y:2011:i:c:p:4-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.07.028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180091100303X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.07.028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adger, W. Neil & Luttrell, Cecilia, 2000. "Property rights and the utilisation of wetlands," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 75-89, October.
    2. Blarel, Benoit, et al, 1992. "The Economics of Farm Fragmentation: Evidence from Ghana and Rwanda," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 6(2), pages 233-254, May.
    3. de Groot, Rudolf S. & Wilson, Matthew A. & Boumans, Roelof M. J., 2002. "A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 393-408, June.
    4. O. Adekola & Sylvie Morardet & R. de Groot & F. Grelot, 2008. "The economic and livelihood value of provisioning services of the Ga-Mampa wetland, South Africa," Post-Print hal-00468552, HAL.
    5. Akwabi-Ameyaw, Kofi, 1997. "Producer cooperative resettlement projects in Zimbabwe: Lessons from a failed agricultural development strategy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 437-456, March.
    6. Falkenmark, M. & Finlayson, Max & Gordon, L. J. & Bennett, E. M. & Chiuta, T. M. & Coates, D. & Ghosh, N. & Gopalakrishnan, M. & de Groot, R. S. & Jacks, G. & Kendy, Eloise & Oyebande, L. & Moore, M. , 2007. "Agriculture, water, and ecosystems: avoiding the costs of going too far," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    7. J. Bidogeza & P. Berentsen & J. Graaff & A. Oude Lansink, 2009. "A typology of farm households for the Umutara Province in Rwanda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 1(3), pages 321-335, September.
    8. Molden, David, 2007. "Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture," IWMI Books, Reports H040193, International Water Management Institute.
    9. Polson, Rudulph A. & Spencer, Dunstan S. C., 1991. "The technology adoption process in subsistence agriculture: The case of cassava in Southwestern Nigeria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 65-78.
    10. Falkenmark, M. & Finlayson, Max & Gordon, L. J. & Bennett, E. M. & Chiuta, T. M. & Coates, D. & Ghosh, N. & Gopalakrishnan, M. & de Groot, R. S. & Jacks, G. & Kendy, E. & Oyebande, L. & Moore, M. & Pe, 2007. "Agriculture, water, and ecosystems: avoiding the costs of going too far," IWMI Books, Reports H040199, International Water Management Institute.
    11. Molden, David, 2007. "Water for food, water for life: a comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture: summary," IWMI Books, Reports H039769, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Ortmann, Gerald F. & King, Robert P., 2007. "Agricultural Cooperatives I: History, Theory and Problems," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 46(1), pages 1-29, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David L. Ortega & Aniseh S. Bro & Daniel C. Clay & Maria Claudia Lopez & Espoir Tuyisenge & Ruth Ann Church & Alfred R. Bizoza, 2019. "Cooperative membership and coffee productivity in Rwanda’s specialty coffee sector," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(4), pages 967-979, August.
    2. Verhofstadt, Ellen & Maertens, Miet, 2013. "Cooperative membership and agricultural performance: Evidence from Rwanda," Working Papers 157389, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    3. Adekola, Olalekan & Mitchell, Gordon & Grainger, Alan, 2015. "Inequality and ecosystem services: The value and social distribution of Niger Delta wetland services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 42-54.
    4. Kabirigi, Michel & Sekabira, Haruna & Sun, Zhanli & Hermans, Frans, 2023. "The use of mobile phones and the heterogeneity of banana farmers in Rwanda," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(6), pages 5315-5335.
    5. Ellen Verhofstadt & Miet Maertens, 2014. "Smallholder cooperatives and agricultural performance in Rwanda: do organizational differences matter?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(S1), pages 39-52, November.
    6. Dawson, Neil & Martin, Adrian & Sikor, Thomas, 2016. "Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications of Imposed Innovation for the Wellbeing of Rural Smallholders," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 204-218.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Giordano, Meredith, 2014. "Small private irrigation: A thriving but overlooked sector," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 167-174.
    2. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Wichelns, Dennis, 2010. "Satisfying future water demands for agriculture," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 502-511, April.
    3. Nangia, V. & de Fraiture, C. & Turral, H., 2008. "Water quality implications of raising crop water productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 825-835, July.
    4. Hatem Jemmali, 2018. "Water Poverty in Africa: A Review and Synthesis of Issues, Potentials, and Policy Implications," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 335-358, February.
    5. N.C. Narayanan & Jean‐Philippe Venot, 2009. "Drivers of change in fragile environments: Challenges to governance in Indian wetlands," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(4), pages 320-333, November.
    6. Venot, Jean-Philippe & Sharma, Bharat R. & Rao, Kamineni V.G.K., 2008. "The Lower Krishna Basin Trajectory: Relationships between Basin Development and Downstream Environmental Degradation," IWMI Research Reports 44515, International Water Management Institute.
    7. de Fraiture, Charlotte & Molden, David & Wichelns, Dennis, 2010. "Investing in water for food, ecosystems, and livelihoods: An overview of the comprehensive assessment of water management in agriculture," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 495-501, April.
    8. Turral, Hugh & Svendsen, Mark & Faures, Jean Marc, 2010. "Investing in irrigation: Reviewing the past and looking to the future," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 551-560, April.
    9. Rockström, Johan & Karlberg, Louise & Wani, Suhas P. & Barron, Jennie & Hatibu, Nuhu & Oweis, Theib & Bruggeman, Adriana & Farahani, Jalali & Qiang, Zhu, 2010. "Managing water in rainfed agriculture--The need for a paradigm shift," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(4), pages 543-550, April.
    10. Hamdi A. Zurqani & Elena A. Mikhailova & Christopher J. Post & Mark A. Schlautman & Azzeddin R. Elhawej, 2019. "A Review of Libyan Soil Databases for Use within an Ecosystem Services Framework," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-30, May.
    11. Venot, Jean-Philippe & Sharma, Bharat R. & Rao, K. V. G. K., 2008. "The lower Krishna Basin trajectory: relationships between basin development and downstream environmental degradation," IWMI Research Reports H041463, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Bossio, Deborah & Noble, Andrew D. & Aloysius, Noel & Pretty, J. & Penning de Vries, F., 2008. "Ecosystem benefits of \u2018bright\u2019 spots," IWMI Books, Reports H041603, International Water Management Institute.
    13. Mukherji, Aditi & Facon, T. & Molden, David & Chartres, Colin, 2010. "Growing more food with less water: how can revitalizing Asia\u2019s irrigation help?," Conference Papers h043241, International Water Management Institute.
    14. McCartney, Matthew P. & Rebelo, Lisa-Maria & Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali & De Silva, Sanjiv, 2010. "Wetlands, agriculture and poverty reduction," IWMI Research Reports 113010, International Water Management Institute.
    15. Molden, David, 2008. "Water security for food security: findings of the Comprehensive Assessment for Sub-Saharan Africa. [This report draws directly from the book Water for food, water for life: a Comprehensive Assessment ," IWMI Conference Proceedings 233268, International Water Management Institute.
    16. Bossio, Deborah A. & Noble, Andrew D. & Aloysius, Noel & Pretty, J. & Penning de Vries, F., 2008. "Ecosystem benefits of ‘bright’ spots," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.
    17. Matthew P. McCartney & Helen A. Houghton‐Carr, 2009. "Working Wetland Potential: An index to guide the sustainable development of African wetlands," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(2), pages 99-110, May.
    18. David O. Yawson & Barry J. Mulholland & Tom Ball & Michael O. Adu & Sushil Mohan & Philip J. White, 2017. "Effect of Climate and Agricultural Land Use Changes on UK Feed Barley Production and Food Security to the 2050s," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-14, October.
    19. Mohammad Alauddin & Upali A. Amarasinghe & Bharat R. Sharma, 2014. "Four decades of rice water productivity in Bangladesh: A spatio-temporal analysis of district level panel data," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 51-64.
    20. Leakey, Roger & Kranjac-Berisavljevic, Gordana & Caron, Patrick & Craufurd, Peter & Martin, Adrienne M. & McDonald, Andy & Abedini, Walter & Afiff, Suraya & Bakurin, Ndey & Bass, Steve & Hilbeck, Ange, 2009. "Impacts of AKST on development and sustainability goals," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:71:y:2011:i:c:p:4-12. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.