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This study assesses the impact of the adoption of technological innovations on rice-growing performance in Senegal. Given the endogenous nature of the adoption process, we used an endogenous stochastic frontier model. The results reveal that adopting improved or certified varieties alone does not significantly impact farmers’ technical efficiency. The impact of sustainable land management practices remains small but significant. However, combining both types of innovations significantly improves farmers’ performance. Thus, to improve farmers’ technical efficiency, the simultaneous adoption of these technologies should be favored, given their complementary nature.
Over the course of five years (2014-2019), the production and sale of vanilla were essential and lucrative activities for the population of the SAVA region. Development is gradually manifesting in the social and economic lives of each individual or household involved in this sector. From the 2020 season until today, the price of a kilogram of vanilla has experienced an incredible erosion from 34% to -11.6%. The green has lost almost 60% of its export value for prepared (black) vanilla. The consequences of this situation have significantly amplified in this region, especially in the districts of Andapa and Sambava, due to the sudden shift in cultivation system by farmers and producers toward vanilla monoculture. There is desperation as in this sector it is the only quick and viable crop to escape unemployment, significant and chronic poverty, and overpopulation. The objective is to raise awareness about the effects of the continuous decline in vanilla prices on the socio-economic and financial lives of the population in the targeted areas. Socio-economic surveys were conducted, followed by data analysis using econometric models. Questionnaires were developed regarding price variations from 2020 to 2024. The variances and standard deviations were calculated for the obtained results. Thus, the repercussions of the decrease in the cost of vanilla are significant. Despite this, the vanilla sector represents the social, economic, and financial driving force of the two districts in the SAVA region, and the promotion and enhancement of this "Vola Magnanika" sector have been advocated.
The dissection of the contemporary cotton crisis in India has cast light on knowledge and deskilling, capitalism and commodification, biotechnology and public policy, Bt cotton and yield, diseases and management, etc. Whereas how agricultural-technology, plant breeding and biotechnology, have influenced cotton agriculture reciprocating to global demand is rarely invoked in the political-ecological analyses. Here, employing various data, I reconstructed the trajectory of cotton agrobiodiversity and underlying drivers nestled in the broad technopolitics of the last century. It revealed that a major change in the twentieth century was steered by cotton improvement through breeding when a few varieties of American cotton with industry-set staple-length have gained precedence, causing the continued abandonment of native species. The process was exacerbated by the large-scale adoption of the hybrids in the seventies and eighties. Increasing genetic homogeneity unleashed bollworm infestation that raised the pesticide application and cost of cultivation. Later, genetically modified Bt cotton was widely adopted in the twenty-first century to circumvent this problem. Genetic erosion driven by global technopolitical change has raised the vulnerability to major diseases, especially bollworm, wreaking havoc across geographies and culminating in agrarian distress. The study seems to lay a foundation for future research on the entanglement between technopolitical, bio-cultural, and agrarian change.
The objective of this work is to identify the determinants of the adoption of innovative sustainable land management technologies among agricultural households while highlighting the relationship between gender and the adoption of these technological innovations. The data used in this article come from the 2018-2019 Annual Agricultural Survey (EAA), which covers all agricultural households practicing rainfed agriculture distributed by census district. The study involved 5,863 agricultural households in Senegal. The estimates were carried out with Stata 2015 using the multinomial logit model method. The results showed that beyond the determinants studied in the literature, other factors such as the duration of the journey between home and the sales market, being the owner of the plot, the characteristics of the plot, being a member of a commercial cooperative, storage capacity, market access constraints, and marketing constraints significantly explain the adoption of SLM technologies. The study also shows that the female variable is on the one hand positively and on the other hand negatively correlated with adoption. Thus, to encourage adoption, it is necessary to strengthen awareness among farmers but also to improve the conditions of women on access and exploitation of land for better inclusion in adoption.
This contribution questions the inherent denial of economist and developmentalist logic associated with the dissemination of innovation theories. Reconsidering this process from a socio-historical perspective enables us to view it from the angle of resistance, using the Haitian mutualist system as an example. The persistence of socio-communal soli-darity practices (Konbit, Eskwad, etc.) specific to this system proves that social innovation can serve to recover existing models. The experiences of different local structures, such as OCPGA and REMIFA, with their Mutuals of Solidarity (MuSo) and Kosodes with their Tontines Sòl practice, bear witness to survival strategies against the hegemonic process of formal-izing exogenous innovation ideas from the outside. So how can we innovate without dominating and destroying? Viewing social innovation as a participatory process of resistance that preserves rather than dispossesses offers a viable alternative to the dominant framework.
In Gabon, infant mortality is a vital concern in regard to children’s health. The mortality rate has fluctuated over the years, rising from 32.90% in 2020 to 48% in 2021.The main causes of death are respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, skin and parasitic infections, malnutrition, eye and ear infections. The strategy put in place to regulate this situation is a set of actions carried out for comprehensive and integrated care to support breastfeeding mothers in the growth of their baby. This article shows how the progressive support of mothers regarding child feeding, from the birth of the child up to six months at the health center could be considered as a preventive non-pharmacological intervention. Participant observations were carried out at three health facilities: the Awendjié, Nzeng-Ayong and Peyrie maternal and child health centers.
This study investigates the role of Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) in preserving colonial and post-colonial dams, highlighting its potential for conservation and management. Using an integrative approach, the research explores the historical significance of these dams, evaluates existing methodologies, and proposes a tailored HBIM workflow for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The workflow emphasizes data integration from geomatics technologies, cultural heritage attributes, and digital modeling. Case studies of iconic dams, paired with historical insights, showcase the feasibility and adaptability of HBIM in this unique context. The proposed framework offers a robust tool for stakeholders to preserve Congolese heritage infrastructure efficiently while fostering sustainable development.
The objective of this article is to estimate adoption rates and factors determining certified seeds developed by research institutions. Using data from annual agricultural surveys (EAA) of the Department of Analysis, Forecasting and Agricultural Statistics (DAPSA) from 2018-2019. The results reveal a potential adoption rate at the household level of 72.86% and a current adoption rate of certified seeds of 18.25%. This level of adoption could have been effective if all farmers had been informed, made aware and supported. However, it is still possible to improve the adoption rate considerably by implementing a strategy to identify producers likely to adopt. However, the work reveals that apart from exposure, other factors such as insurance, membership in a PO, transfer of funds, subsidy, male gender and cereal cultivation are determinants significant in the adoption of certified seeds.
