Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia

We investigated the role of labour in explaining the yield gap of cereals at both crop and farm levels on smallholder farms in Southern Ethiopia. A household survey containing detailed information of labour use at crop and farm level of ca. 100 farms in a maize-based system around Hawassa and ca. 10...

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Autores: Silva, J.V., Baudron, F., Reidsma, P., Giller, K.E.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:México
Institución:Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo
Repositorio:Repositorio Institucional de Publicaciones Multimedia del CIMMYT
OAI Identifier:oai:repository.cimmyt.org:10883/20145
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10883/20145
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Frontier Analysis
Farm Power
LABOUR
ZEA MAYS
TRITICUM AESTIVUM
INTENSIFICATION
EXTENSIFICATION
YIELD GAP
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spelling Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern EthiopiaSilva, J.V.Baudron, F.Reidsma, P.Giller, K.E.AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGYFrontier AnalysisFarm PowerLABOURZEA MAYSTRITICUM AESTIVUMINTENSIFICATIONEXTENSIFICATIONYIELD GAPWe investigated the role of labour in explaining the yield gap of cereals at both crop and farm levels on smallholder farms in Southern Ethiopia. A household survey containing detailed information of labour use at crop and farm level of ca. 100 farms in a maize-based system around Hawassa and ca. 100 farms in a wheat based system around Asella was used for this purpose. Stochastic frontier analysis was combined with the principles of production ecology to decompose maize and wheat yield gaps. Actual maize and wheat yields were on average 1.6 and 2.6 t ha−1, respectively, which correspond to 23 and 26% of the water-limited yield (Yw) of each crop. For both crops, nearly half of the yield gap was attributed to the technology yield gap, indicating suboptimal crop management to achieve Yw even for the farmers with the highest yields. The efficiency yield gap was ca. 20% of Yw for both crops; it was negatively associated with sowing date and with the proportion of women's labour used for sowing in the case of maize but with the proportion of hired labour used for sowing and weed control in the case of wheat. The resource yield gap was less than 10% of Yw for both crops due to small differences in input use between highest- and lowest-yielding farms. The contribution of capital and farm power availability to crop yields, input use and labour use was analysed at the farm level. Labour calendars showed that crops cultivated in Hawassa were complementary, with peak labour occurring at different times of the year. By contrast, crops cultivated in Asella competed strongly for labour during sowing, hand-weeding and harvesting months, resulting in potential trade-offs at farm level. Oxen ownership was associated with capital availability, but not farm power in Hawassa and with both capital availability and farm power in Asella. Farmers with more oxen applied more nitrogen (N) to maize in Hawassa and cultivated more land in Asella, which is indicative of an intensification pathway in the former and an extensification pathway in the latter. Differences in land: labour ratio and in the types of crops cultivated explained the different strategies used in the two sites. In both sites, although gross margin per unit area increased linearly with increasing crop yield and farm N productivity, gross margin per labour unit increased up to an optimal level of crop yield and farm N productivity after which no further response was observed. This suggests that narrowing the yield gap may not be economically rational in terms of labour productivity. We conclude that labour (and farm power) is not a major determinant of maize yield gaps in Hawassa, but is a major determinant of wheat yield gaps in Asella.39-51Elsevier2019-06-12T00:15:18Z2019-06-12T00:15:18Z2019Published Versioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlePDFapplication/pdf0314-521Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/10883/2014510.1016/j.agsy.2019.04.009174Agricultural Systemsreponame:Repositorio Institucional de Publicaciones Multimedia del CIMMYTinstname:Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigoinstacron:CIMMYTEnglishhttps://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0308521X18306711-mmc1.pdfETHIOPIABarking, Essex (United Kingdom)CIMMYT manages Intellectual Assets as International Public Goods. The user is free to download, print, store and share this work. In case you want to translate or create any other derivative work and share or distribute such translation/derivative work, please contact CIMMYT-Knowledge-Center@cgiar.org indicating the work you want to use and the kind of use you intend; CIMMYT will contact you with the suitable license for that purpose.Open Accessinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repository.cimmyt.org:10883/201452024-10-11T19:58:59Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
title Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
spellingShingle Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
Silva, J.V.
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Frontier Analysis
Farm Power
LABOUR
ZEA MAYS
TRITICUM AESTIVUM
INTENSIFICATION
EXTENSIFICATION
YIELD GAP
title_short Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
title_full Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
title_fullStr Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
title_sort Is labour a major determinant of yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa? a study of cereal-based production systems in Southern Ethiopia
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Silva, J.V.
Baudron, F.
Reidsma, P.
Giller, K.E.
author Silva, J.V.
author_facet Silva, J.V.
Baudron, F.
Reidsma, P.
Giller, K.E.
author_role author
author2 Baudron, F.
Reidsma, P.
Giller, K.E.
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Frontier Analysis
Farm Power
LABOUR
ZEA MAYS
TRITICUM AESTIVUM
INTENSIFICATION
EXTENSIFICATION
YIELD GAP
topic AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Frontier Analysis
Farm Power
LABOUR
ZEA MAYS
TRITICUM AESTIVUM
INTENSIFICATION
EXTENSIFICATION
YIELD GAP
description We investigated the role of labour in explaining the yield gap of cereals at both crop and farm levels on smallholder farms in Southern Ethiopia. A household survey containing detailed information of labour use at crop and farm level of ca. 100 farms in a maize-based system around Hawassa and ca. 100 farms in a wheat based system around Asella was used for this purpose. Stochastic frontier analysis was combined with the principles of production ecology to decompose maize and wheat yield gaps. Actual maize and wheat yields were on average 1.6 and 2.6 t ha−1, respectively, which correspond to 23 and 26% of the water-limited yield (Yw) of each crop. For both crops, nearly half of the yield gap was attributed to the technology yield gap, indicating suboptimal crop management to achieve Yw even for the farmers with the highest yields. The efficiency yield gap was ca. 20% of Yw for both crops; it was negatively associated with sowing date and with the proportion of women's labour used for sowing in the case of maize but with the proportion of hired labour used for sowing and weed control in the case of wheat. The resource yield gap was less than 10% of Yw for both crops due to small differences in input use between highest- and lowest-yielding farms. The contribution of capital and farm power availability to crop yields, input use and labour use was analysed at the farm level. Labour calendars showed that crops cultivated in Hawassa were complementary, with peak labour occurring at different times of the year. By contrast, crops cultivated in Asella competed strongly for labour during sowing, hand-weeding and harvesting months, resulting in potential trade-offs at farm level. Oxen ownership was associated with capital availability, but not farm power in Hawassa and with both capital availability and farm power in Asella. Farmers with more oxen applied more nitrogen (N) to maize in Hawassa and cultivated more land in Asella, which is indicative of an intensification pathway in the former and an extensification pathway in the latter. Differences in land: labour ratio and in the types of crops cultivated explained the different strategies used in the two sites. In both sites, although gross margin per unit area increased linearly with increasing crop yield and farm N productivity, gross margin per labour unit increased up to an optimal level of crop yield and farm N productivity after which no further response was observed. This suggests that narrowing the yield gap may not be economically rational in terms of labour productivity. We conclude that labour (and farm power) is not a major determinant of maize yield gaps in Hawassa, but is a major determinant of wheat yield gaps in Asella.
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2019-06-12T00:15:18Z
2019-06-12T00:15:18Z
2019
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Published Version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 0314-521X
https://hdl.handle.net/10883/20145
10.1016/j.agsy.2019.04.009
identifier_str_mv 0314-521X
10.1016/j.agsy.2019.04.009
url https://hdl.handle.net/10883/20145
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv English
language_invalid_str_mv English
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0308521X18306711-mmc1.pdf
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Open Access
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Open Access
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv PDF
application/pdf
dc.coverage.none.fl_str_mv ETHIOPIA
Barking, Essex (United Kingdom)
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv 174
Agricultural Systems
reponame:Repositorio Institucional de Publicaciones Multimedia del CIMMYT
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