IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v36y2011i6p805-814.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Targeting agricultural research and extension for food security and poverty alleviation: A case study of fish farming in Central Cameroon

Author

Listed:
  • Brummett, Randall E.
  • Gockowski, James
  • Pouomogne, Victor
  • Muir, James

Abstract

Over 5 years of participatory on-farm research, market access, profitability, farming systems productivity and economic sustainability were compared on 100 small-scale farms in Central Cameroon. Integration technology based on the use of agricultural by-products as fishpond inputs was the driver for intensification. Over all farms, fishpond productivity increased from 498kg to 1609kg fish/ha (2145kg/ha/yr). During the project period, the number of active fish farmers increased from 15 to 192 (including 55 farms which participated only through information exchange). Over all farms, net returns from aquaculture increased by 5 times over pre-project levels. Productivity, intensity and profitability increased more significantly in periurban areas with good market access, compared to rural areas. Among farmers with good market access, average net income from the aquaculture enterprise rose from $118 up to $1485. Research-Extension Team (RET) support cost an average of $61,300 per year. Over 5 years, rural farmers recaptured 23% of the relevant RET investment compared to 442% by periurban farmers. Likewise, increase in production attributable to RET intervention was higher for periurban (253%) compared to rural (11.3%) fish farmers. Within 3 years of the end of extension support, rural farmers had returned to pre-project production levels, whereas periurban farms had better maintained their productivity and profitability. Findings indicate that, in areas with little or no access to markets, the number of fishponds and fish farmers can be increased and yields improved, increasing local food supplies, but sustainability in the absence of extension subsidies is questionable. To achieve either of the two principal goals for the sector, food security and/or poverty alleviation, investments need to be made in improving the availability of quality technical assistance to targeted farmers and finding means of reducing social conflict arising from perceived inequalities in the accrual of the benefits of development.

Suggested Citation

  • Brummett, Randall E. & Gockowski, James & Pouomogne, Victor & Muir, James, 2011. "Targeting agricultural research and extension for food security and poverty alleviation: A case study of fish farming in Central Cameroon," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 805-814.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:36:y:2011:i:6:p:805-814
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2011.07.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919211000996
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2011.07.012?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. Nerlove, Marc & Vosti, Stephen A. & Basel, Wesley, 1996. "Role of farm-level diversification in the adoption of modern technology in Brazil:," Research reports 104, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Delgado, Christopher L. & Hopkins, Jane & Kelly , Valerie & Hazell, P. B. R. & McKenna, Anna A. & Gruhn, Peter & Hojjati, Behjat & Sil, Jayashree & Courbois, Claude, 1998. "Agricultural growth linkages in Sub-Saharan Africa:," Research reports 107, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Brummett, Randall E. & Lazard, Jérôme & Moehl, John, 2008. "African aquaculture: Realizing the potential," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 371-385, October.
    4. Tambi, N. Emmanuel, 2001. "Analysis of household attitudes toward the purchase of livestock products and fish in Cameroon," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 135-147, November.
    5. Brummett, Randall E. & Williams, Meryl J., 2000. "The evolution of aquaculture in African rural and economic development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 193-203, May.
    6. Brummett, Randall E. & Noble, R., 1995. "Aquaculture for African smallholders," Technical Reports 44729, Worldfish Center.
    7. Camagni, Roberto & Gibelli, Maria Cristina & Rigamonti, Paolo, 2002. "Urban mobility and urban form: the social and environmental costs of different patterns of urban expansion," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 199-216, February.
    8. Hishamunda, Nathanael & Ridler, Neil B., 2006. "Farming fish for profits: A small step towards food security in sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 401-414, October.
    9. Brummett, R.E. & Noble, R., 1995. "Aquaculture for African smallholders," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 9978, April.
    10. Neven, David & Odera, Michael Makokha & Reardon, Thomas & Wang, Honglin, 2009. "Kenyan Supermarkets, Emerging Middle-Class Horticultural Farmers, and Employment Impacts on the Rural Poor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 1802-1811, November.
    11. Pouomogne, V. & Pemsl, D.E., 2008. "Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Cameroon," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 37901, April.
    12. Harry de Gorter & Yacov Tsur, 1991. "Explaining Price Policy Bias in Agriculture: The Calculus of Support-Maximizing Politicians," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1244-1254.
    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. Filipski, Mateusz & Belton, Ben, 2018. "Give a Man a Fishpond: Modeling the Impacts of Aquaculture in the Rural Economy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 205-223.
    2. Béné, Christophe & Arthur, Robert & Norbury, Hannah & Allison, Edward H. & Beveridge, Malcolm & Bush, Simon & Campling, Liam & Leschen, Will & Little, David & Squires, Dale & Thilsted, Shakuntala H. &, 2016. "Contribution of Fisheries and Aquaculture to Food Security and Poverty Reduction: Assessing the Current Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 177-196.
    3. Moses Majid Limuwa & Wales Singini & Trond Storebakken, 2018. "Is Fish Farming an Illusion for Lake Malawi Riparian Communities under Environmental Changes?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-23, May.
    4. Assem Abu Hatab & Maria Eduarda Rigo Cavinato & Carl Johan Lagerkvist, 2019. "Urbanization, livestock systems and food security in developing countries: A systematic review of the literature," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 279-299, April.
    5. Oleg V. Zakharchenko & Olena O. Alieksieichuk & Alena V. Kliuchnyk & Alena V. Kliuchnyk & Nataliya Yu. Shyriaieva & Іrina V. Kudlai, 2020. "State support of agricultural producers as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of the agricultural sector," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(1), pages 687-704, September.
    6. Filipski, M. & Belton, B., 2018. "Give Someone a Fishpond Modeling the Impacts of Aquaculture in the Rural Economy," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277461, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. Christophe Béné & Jessica Fanzo & Steven D Prager & Harold A Achicanoy & Brendan R Mapes & Patricia Alvarez Toro & Camila Bonilla Cedrez, 2020. "Global drivers of food system (un)sustainability: A multi-country correlation analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-22, April.
    8. Constanza Gonzalez Parrao & Shannon Shisler & Marta Moratti & Cem Yavuz & Arnab Acharya & John Eyers & Birte Snilstveit, 2021. "Aquaculture for improving productivity, income, nutrition and women's empowerment in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    9. Constanza Gonzalez Parrao & Marta Moratti & Shannon Shisler & Birte Snilstveit & John Eyers, 2021. "PROTOCOL: Aquaculture for improving productivity, income, nutrition and women's empowerment in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), September.

    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. Moses Majid Limuwa & Wales Singini & Trond Storebakken, 2018. "Is Fish Farming an Illusion for Lake Malawi Riparian Communities under Environmental Changes?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Jessica Blythe, 2013. "Social-ecological analysis of integrated agriculture-aquaculture systems in Dedza, Malawi," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1143-1155, August.
    3. Elst, R. van der, 2003. "Local solutions to challenges of West Indian Ocean fisheries development," Naga, The WorldFish Center, vol. 26(3), pages 14-17.
    4. Jamu, D.M. & Ayinla, O.A., 2003. "Potential for the development of aquaculture in Africa," Naga, The WorldFish Center, vol. 26(3), pages 9-13.
    5. Tran, N. & Crissman, C. & Chijere, A. & Hong, M.C. & Teoh, S.J. & Valdivia, R.O., 2013. "Ex-ante assessment of integrated aquaculture-agriculture adoption and impact in Southern Malawi," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 40078, April.
    6. Brummett, Randall E. & Lazard, Jérôme & Moehl, John, 2008. "African aquaculture: Realizing the potential," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 371-385, October.
    7. Russell, A.J.M. & Gr÷tz, P.A. & Kriesemer, S.K. & Pemsl, D.E., 2008. "Recommendation domains for pond aquaculture: country case study: development and status of freshwater aquaculture in Malawi," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 37900, April.
    8. Dugan, P., 2003. "Investing in Africa: the WorldFish Center's African strategy in summary," Naga, The WorldFish Center, vol. 26(3), pages 4-8.
    9. Confred G. Musuka & Edson Banda & Ibhar Bwalya, 2023. "An Assessment of Aquaculture Performance in Chinsali and Shiwang’ andu Districts of Muchinga Province, Zambia," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(10), pages 2191-2208, October.
    10. Hishamunda, Nathanael & Ridler, Neil B., 2006. "Farming fish for profits: A small step towards food security in sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 401-414, October.
    11. Dalsgaard, J.P.T. & Oficial, R.T., 1998. "Modeling and analyzing the agroecological performance of farms with ECOPATH," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 13080, April.
    12. Randall Brummett, 2011. "Growing Fish to Make Money in Africa," World Bank Publications - Reports 10427, The World Bank Group.
    13. Brummett, Randall E. & Williams, Meryl J., 2000. "The evolution of aquaculture in African rural and economic development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 193-203, May.
    14. Hara, Mafaniso Michael, 2001. "Could marine resources provide a short-term solution to declining fish supply in SADC inland countries? The case of horse mackerel," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 11-34, February.
    15. Madan M. Dey & Ferdinand J. Paraguas & Patrick Kambewa & Diemuth E. Pemsl, 2010. "The impact of integrated aquaculture–agriculture on small‐scale farms in Southern Malawi," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(1), pages 67-79, January.
    16. Danjie Shen & Shujing Dong, 2022. "Transition of Urban Morphology in the Mountainous Areas Since Early-Modern Times from the Perspective of Urban Historic Landscape—A GIS Tools and Historical Map Translation Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-21, October.
    17. Schipmann, Christin & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Supply chain differentiation, contract agriculture, and farmers’ marketing preferences: The case of sweet pepper in Thailand," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 667-677.
    18. Ministry of Agriculture (Liberia), 2007. "Comprehensive Assessment of the Agriculture Sector in Liberia : Volume 1, Synthesis Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 7677, The World Bank Group.
    19. Cornelius Hirsch & Harald Oberhofer, 2017. "Bilateral Trade Agreements and Trade Distortions in Agricultural Markets?," WIFO Working Papers 531, WIFO.
    20. Harvey, David R., 2004. "Policy dependency and reform: economic gains versus political pains," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 31(2-3), pages 265-275, December.

    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:jfpoli:v:36:y:2011:i:6:p:805-814. 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/foodpol .

    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.