IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/afjare/183891.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farm viability of (semi)subsistence smallholders in Sierra Leone

Author

Listed:
  • Saravia Matus, Silvia L.
  • Gomez y Paloma, Sergio

Abstract

This paper explores how different theoretical viewpoints on market integration and socioinstitutional settings alter farm viability assessments based on (semi)subsistence farm income measurements. The measurement of net farm income (NFI) is presented under two approaches: one based on Neoclassical Economics, and another from a Neo-Institutional perspective. Using data from Sierra Leone it is demonstrated that the assumptions about (output and input) market integration/participation, labour usage accounting and other institutional arrangements of (semi)subsistence farming affect NFI calculations. As a consequence, different farm viability readings emerge, directly influencing the outcome of policy decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Saravia Matus, Silvia L. & Gomez y Paloma, Sergio, 2014. "Farm viability of (semi)subsistence smallholders in Sierra Leone," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:afjare:183891
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.183891
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/183891/files/1.%20Saravia%20Matus_%20Gomez%20y%20Paloma.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.183891?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nigel Key & Elisabeth Sadoulet & Alain De Janvry, 2000. "Transactions Costs and Agricultural Household Supply Response," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(2), pages 245-259.
    2. Colman,David & Young,Trevor, 1989. "Principles of Agricultural Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521336642.
    3. de Janvry, Alain & Fafchamps, Marcel & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 1991. "Peasant Household Behaviour with Missing Markets: Some Paradoxes Explained," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 101(409), pages 1400-1417, November.
    4. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    5. Robin Boadway, 2006. "Principles of Cost-Benefit Analysis," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 2(1), pages 1-44, January.
    6. Ellis, Frank, 2000. "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296966, Decembrie.
    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. Silvia Saravia-Matus & T. S. Amjath-Babu & Sreejith Aravindakshan & Stefan Sieber & Jimmy A. Saravia & Sergio Gomez y Paloma, 2021. "Can Enhancing Efficiency Promote the Economic Viability of Smallholder Farmers? A Case of Sierra Leone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.

    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. Fred Mawunyo Dzanku, 2018. "Rational But Poor? An Explanation for Rural Economic Livelihood Strategy," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(2), pages 365-381, June.
    2. Makate, Clifton & Angelsen, Arild & Holden, Stein Terje & Westengen, Ola Tveitereid, 2022. "Crops in crises: Shocks shape smallholders' diversification in rural Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    3. Muriithi, Beatrice W. & Matz, Julia Anna, 2014. "Smallholder Participation in the Commercialisation of Vegetables: Evidence from Kenyan Panel Data," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 53(2), pages 1-28, May.
    4. Tilman Brück, 2003. "Coping Strategies in Post-War Rural Mozambique," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 384, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Vellema, W. & Buritica Casanova, A. & Gonzalez, C. & D’Haese, M., 2015. "The effect of specialty coffee certification on household livelihood strategies and specialisation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 13-25.
    6. Luitfred Kissoly & Anja Faße & Ulrike Grote, 2017. "The integration of smallholders in agricultural value chain activities and food security: evidence from rural Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(6), pages 1219-1235, December.
    7. Arild Angelsen & Mariel Aguilar-Støen & John Herbert Ainembabazi & Edwin Castellanos & Matthew Taylor, 2020. "Migration, Remittances, and Forest Cover Change in Rural Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Escobal, Javier, 2005. "The Role of Public Infraestructure in Market Development in Rural Peru," MPRA Paper 727, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Barrett, Christopher B. & Bezuneh, Mesfin & Clay, Daniel C. & Reardon, Thomas, 2001. "Heterogeneous Contraints, Incentives, and Income Diversification Strategies in Rural Africa," Working Papers 179567, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    10. Makate, Clifton & Angelsen, Arild & Holden, Stein Terje & Westengen, Ola Tveitereid, 2023. "Evolution of farm-level crop diversification and response to rainfall shocks in smallholder farming: Evidence from Malawi and Tanzania," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    11. Leavy, Jennifer & Colin, Poulton, 2008. "Commercialisations in Agriculture," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 16(1), pages 116-116, May.
    12. Emily Ouma & John Jagwe & Gideon Aiko Obare & Steffen Abele, 2010. "Determinants of smallholder farmers' participation in banana markets in Central Africa: the role of transaction costs," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(2), pages 111-122, March.
    13. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    14. Babigumira, Ronnie & Angelsen, Arild & Buis, Maarten & Bauch, Simone & Sunderland, Terry & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Forest Clearing in Rural Livelihoods: Household-Level Global-Comparative Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 67-79.
    15. Brett A Bryan & Jianjun Huai & Jeff Connor & Lei Gao & Darran King & John Kandulu & Gang Zhao, 2015. "What Actually Confers Adaptive Capacity? Insights from Agro-Climatic Vulnerability of Australian Wheat," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    16. Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda, 2012. "Targeted Subsidies and Private Market Participation: An Assessment of Fertilizer Demand in Nigeria:," IFPRI discussion papers 1194, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Margarita Gafaro & José Antonio Ocampo & Sonia Daniela Monroy-Cely & Alejandro Rueda-Sanz, 2019. "Revisión de experiencias de apoyo a la agricultura familiar," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, issue 91, pages 1-77, August.
    18. Jan Fałkowski & Maciej Jakubowski & Paweł Strawiński, 2014. "Returns from income strategies in rural Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 139-178, January.
    19. Debelo Bedada Yadeta & Fetene Bogale Hunegnaw, 2022. "Effect of International Remittance on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 383-402, June.
    20. Food Security and Agricultural Projects Analysis Service (ESAF), 2004. "Food insecurity and vulnerability in Viet Nam: Profiles of four vulnerable groups," ESA Working Papers 23798, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).

    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:ags:afjare:183891. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaaeaea.html .

    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.