IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ssefpa/v12y2020i6d10.1007_s12571-020-01055-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of large-scale agricultural investments on household food security in Madagascar

Author

Listed:
  • Wegayehu Fitawek

    (University of Pretoria)

  • Sheryl Hendriks

    (University of Pretoria
    University of Pretoria)

  • Aurélien Reys

    (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD))

  • Filippo Fossi

    (University of Pretoria)

Abstract

Large-scale agricultural investments in developing countries have escalated over the past decade. While much is written about the potential adverse effects of these acquisitions on local communities, there is a paucity of evidence of these impacts. This paper explores the effect of large-scale agribusinesses on household food security in two locations in Madagascar. One is plantation area or Location A and the other one is contract farming area or Location B. The sample of 601 households was classified into households (i) in which at least one member was employed or (ii) contracted to the agribusiness, (iii) in the same area that were neither employees nor contractors (non-engaged) and (iv) counterfactual households from another community. Employment opportunities from the agribusinesses seemed to improved food security. Dietary quality, food security and resilience were higher among employed households. Contract households were generally more food insecure than the counterfactual and non-engaged households. Living in the zone of influence did not seem to have major adverse effects on the food security of non-engaged households. However, female-headed households seemed disadvantaged in terms of access to employment and contracting opportunities. Unless attention is paid to women’s access to employment and contracting opportunities, inequality may be exacerbated.

Suggested Citation

  • Wegayehu Fitawek & Sheryl Hendriks & Aurélien Reys & Filippo Fossi, 2020. "The effect of large-scale agricultural investments on household food security in Madagascar," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1349-1365, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:12:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s12571-020-01055-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-020-01055-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12571-020-01055-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12571-020-01055-6?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. Nolte, Kerstin & Ostermeier, Martin, 2017. "Labour Market Effects of Large-Scale Agricultural Investment: Conceptual Considerations and Estimated Employment Effects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 430-446.
    2. Marc F. Bellemare & Lindsey Novak, 2017. "Contract Farming and Food Security," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(2), pages 357-378.
    3. Genesis Tambang Yengoh & Frederick Ato Armah, 2015. "Effects of Large-Scale Acquisition on Food Insecurity in Sierra Leone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-35, July.
    4. AfDB AfDB, . "Improving Statistics for Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development - An Action Plan for Africa (2011–2015) - Bulletin N°3," Global Strategy Implementation Bulletin, African Development Bank, number 368.
    5. Baumgartner, Philipp & von Braun, Joachim & Abebaw, Degnet & Müller, Marc, 2015. "Impacts of Large-scale Land Investments on Income, Prices, and Employment: Empirical Analyses in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 175-190.
    6. Daniel Ayalew Mekonnen & Nicolas Gerber, 2017. "Aspirations and food security in rural Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(2), pages 371-385, April.
    7. Lay, Jann & Nolte, Kerstin & Sipangule, Kacana, 2018. "Large-Scale Farms and Smallholders: Evidence from Zambia," GIGA Working Papers 310, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    8. Butaumocho, Blessing & Chitiyo, Plaxedes T., 2017. "A Comparative Analysis Of Household Food Security Measures In Rural Zimbabwe," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 5(2), April.
    9. Ayala Wineman, 2016. "Multidimensional Household Food Security Measurement in Rural Zambia," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(3), pages 278-301, July.
    10. Tsegaye Moreda, 2018. "The right to food in the context of large-scale land investment in Ethiopia," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(7), pages 1326-1347, July.
    11. Lorenzo Cotula & Carlos Oya & Emmanuel A. Codjoe & Abdurehman Eid & Mark Kakraba-Ampeh & James Keeley & Admasu Lokaley Kidewa & Melissa Makwarimba & Wondwosen Michago Seide & William Ole Nasha & Richa, 2014. "Testing Claims about Large Land Deals in Africa: Findings from a Multi-Country Study," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(7), pages 903-925, July.
    12. Hirvonen, Kalle & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum & Worku, Ibrahim, 2015. "Seasonality and household diets in Ethiopia," ESSP working papers 74, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Odountan Ambaliou Olounlade & Gu-Cheng Li & Sènakpon E. Haroll Kokoye & François Vihôdé Dossouhoui & Kuassi Auxence Aristide Akpa & Dessalegn Anshiso & Gauthier Biaou, 2020. "Impact of Participation in Contract Farming on Smallholder Farmers’ Income and Food Security in Rural Benin: PSM and LATE Parameter Combined," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, January.
    14. Bosch, Christine & Zeller, Manfred, 2013. "The Impacts of Wage Employment on a Jatropha Plantation on Income and Food Security of Rural Households in Madagascar – A Panel Data Analysis," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 52(2), pages 1-22, May.
    15. Wineman, Ayala & Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O., 2017. "Land Markets and Land Access Among Female-Headed Households in Northwestern Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 108-122.
    16. Ernest Reig, 2012. "Food security in African and Arab countries: a review of the topic and some suggestions for building composite indicators with Principal Components Analysis," Working Papers 1210, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    17. Klaus Deininger & Daniel Ayalew Ali & Tekie Alemu, 2011. "Impacts of Land Certification on Tenure Security, Investment, and Land Market Participation: Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(2), pages 312-334.
    18. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & von Braun, Joachim, 2009. ""Land grabbing" by foreign investors in developing countries: Risks and opportunities," Policy briefs 13, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    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. Wegayehu Fitawek & Sheryl L. Hendriks, 2021. "Evaluating the Impact of Large-Scale Agricultural Investments on Household Food Security Using an Endogenous Switching Regression Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Ernest Nkansah‐Dwamena & Hyunsoo Yoon, 2022. "Why is sub‐Saharan Africa an attractive destination to foreign land grabbers? Evidence from country characteristics," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(2), pages 280-292, June.
    3. Castet, Antoine, 2024. "The impact of large-scale land acquisitions on child food insecurity in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    4. Li, Puyang & Zhang, Yujia & Turner, B.L. & Li, Wei, 2024. "Chinese sisal estates and smallholder land uses and livelihoods, Kilosa, Central Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Atenchong Talleh Nkobou & Andrew Ainslie & Stefanie Lemke, 2022. "Broken promises: a rights-based analysis of marginalised livelihoods and experiences of food insecurity in large-scale land investments in Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(1), pages 185-205, February.
    6. Lawrence Guodaar & Douglas K. Bardsley, 2024. "Social networks can mitigate climate change-related food insecurity risks in dryland farming systems in Ghana," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 29(7), pages 1-22, October.
    7. Dwyer, Michael B. & Nanhthavong, Vong, 2023. "Making concessions pay? Historical vs. potential tax revenues from Laos’s rubber sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    8. Samdrup, Tshering & Fogarty, James & Pandit, Ram & Iftekhar, Md. Sayed & Dorjee, Kinlay, 2023. "Does FDI in agriculture in developing countries promote food security? Evidence from meta-regression analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1255-1272.
    9. de Juan, Alexander & Geissel, Daniel & Lay, Jann & Lohmann, Rebecca, 2022. "Large-scale land deals and social conflict: Evidence and policy implications," GIGA Working Papers 328, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.

    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. Wegayehu Fitawek & Sheryl L. Hendriks, 2021. "Evaluating the Impact of Large-Scale Agricultural Investments on Household Food Security Using an Endogenous Switching Regression Model," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    2. Castet, Antoine, 2024. "The impact of large-scale land acquisitions on child food insecurity in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Abdul-Hanan Abdallah & Michael Ayamga & Joseph A. Awuni, 2023. "Impact of land grabbing on food security: evidence from Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6071-6094, July.
    4. Nanhthavong, Vong & Bieri, Sabin & Nguyen, Anh-Thu & Hett, Cornelia & Epprecht, Michael, 2022. "Proletarianization and gateways to precarization in the context of land-based investments for agricultural commercialization in Lao PDR," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. De Maria, Marcello & Robinson, Elizabeth J.Z. & Zanello, Giacomo, 2023. "Fair compensation in large-scale land acquisitions: Fair or fail?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Ali,Daniel Ayalew & Deininger,Klaus W., 2021. "Does Title Increase Large Farm Productivity ? Institutional Determinants of Large Land-BasedInvestments’ Performance in Zambia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9702, The World Bank.
    7. Ayala Wineman & Thomas S. Jayne & Emma Isinika Modamba & Holger Kray, 2021. "Characteristics and Spillover Effects of Medium-Scale Farms in Tanzania," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 33(6), pages 1877-1898, December.
    8. Gyapong, Adwoa Yeboah, 2020. "How and why large scale agricultural land investments do not create long-term employment benefits: A critique of the ‘state’ of labour regulations in Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    9. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus, 2022. "Institutional determinants of large land-based investments’ performance in Zambia: Does title enhance productivity and structural transformation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Anti, Sebastian, 2021. "Land grabs and labor in Cambodia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    11. Khan, Muhammad Fawad & Nakano, Yuko & Kurosaki, Takashi, 2019. "Impact of contract farming on land productivity and income of maize and potato growers in Pakistan," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 28-39.
    12. Renzaho, Andre M.N. & Kamara, Joseph K. & Toole, Michael, 2017. "Biofuel production and its impact on food security in low and middle income countries: Implications for the post-2015 sustainable development goals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 503-516.
    13. Logan Cochrane & Danielle D. Legault, 2020. "The Rush for Land and Agricultural Investment in Ethiopia: What We Know and What We Are Missing," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-13, May.
    14. Menusch Khadjavi & Kacana Sipangule & Rainer Thiele, 2021. "Social Capital and Large-Scale Agricultural Investments: An Experimental Investigation [Implications of the presence of large scale commercial farmers on small scale farming in Nigeria: the case of," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 420-449.
    15. Deininger, Klaus & Xia, Fang, 2018. "Assessing the long-term performance of large-scale land transfers: Challenges and opportunities in Malawi’s estate sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 281-296.
    16. Ilkhom Soliev & Insa Theesfeld, 2017. "Reframing for Sustainability: Exploring Transformative Power of Benefit Sharing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-23, August.
    17. Lay, Jann & Nolte, Kerstin & Sipangule, Kacana, 2021. "Large-scale farms in Zambia: Locational patterns and spillovers to smallholder agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    18. Saparova, Gulkaiyr & Khan, Ghulam Dastgir & Joshi, Niraj Prakash, 2024. "Linking farmers to markets: Assessing small-scale farmers' preferences for an official phytosanitary regime in the Kyrgyz Republic," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 696-708.
    19. Mai Chiem Tuyen & Prapinwadee Sirisupluxana & Isriya Bunyasiri & Pham Xuan Hung, 2022. "Perceptions, Problems and Prospects of Contract Farming: Insights from Rice Production in Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    20. De Juan, Alexander & Hoffmann, Lisa & Lay, Jann, 2022. "Large-scale agricultural investments, employment opportunities and communal conflict," OSF Preprints j5vmh, Center for Open Science.

    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:spr:ssefpa:v:12:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s12571-020-01055-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.