11 pages., via online journal., This study examined farmers' utilization of the Utom Inwang agricultural program on Atlantic 104.5 FM radio station. Data on listenership, utilization and constraints to utilization of information aired on the program were obtained from 150 randomly selected farmers. Although more of the respondents (53.3%) had a low listenership status, utilization of information was high (54.7%). Constraints to utilization were lack of finance (x¯ = 1.51) and poor feedback (x¯ = 1.21). Farming experiences (r = 0.188, p ≤ 0.05) and annual income (r = 0.376, p ≤ 0.05) were significantly related to utilization of the broadcast. Utom Inwang should be sustained, while financial information and feedback mechanisms should be improved upon.
22pgs, In recent decades, meat consumption patterns have been changing. This study investigates the main drivers of white and red meat consumption in crisis regions based on microeconomic theory, hegemonic masculinity theory, meat paradox theory, and nutrition transition theory. A quantitative questionnaire survey was conducted in Sulaymaniyah city in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2018. Data from 233 respondents were collected. Multifactorial linear regression analysis showed that the main drivers in the consumption of white meat and red meat are similar: higher income and preferences for the taste of white or red meat have a statistically significant, positive effect on meat consumption. Men consume white meat more than women. The consumption of red meat decreases when the respondent is concerned about the fat content of meat and animal welfare awareness does not have a statistically significant effect on the consumption of either type of meat.
17 pages, Rural households in developing countries often depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. However, many also pursue off-farm economic activities either to complement their farm income or because they lack access to agricultural land. Rural off-farm employment is often informal and temporary. Searching for jobs can be associated with high transaction costs, which may be a constraint on some households’ participation in off-farm employment. The increasing spread of mobile phones may help to reduce these transaction costs. Here, we test the hypothesis that mobile phone ownership increases rural households’ participation in off-farm employment and—through this mechanism—also improves household income. We use nationally representative panel data from rural India and regression models with household fixed effects to control for confounding factors and unobserved heterogeneity. We find that mobile phone ownership is positively associated with the likelihood of participating in various types of off-farm employment, including casual wage labour, salaried employment and non-agricultural self-employment. This association is larger in female-headed than in male-headed households. The estimates also show that mobile phone ownership is positively associated with household income, partly channeled through the off-farm employment mechanism.
22 pages, Support for the agricultural sector from the European Union via the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is evolving. The last CAP reform in 2014 made one further step toward mandatory approaches. To understand the "social thinking" and behavior when faced with these measures, an innovative application has been adopted. Globally, the farmers' discourse manifests contradictions between environmental concern and the financial dimension, which is the expression of their daily difficulties. Mandatory approaches to sustainable agriculture may favor what the Theory of Conditionality called "legitimate transgressions" if regulations appear unadapted to real practices because compliance and opportunity costs are too high.
