PASAD - Policy Analysis for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe and Southern Africa

Keywords

Rural Development, Labor Markets, Sustainable Resource Use, Bio-Economics, Institutional Economics, Household Decisionmaking

Countries

Romania, Tanzania, Malawi

Summary

The PASAD project aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of sustainable rural development. Its major objective is to draw a more comprehensive picture of the rural economy through integrating various determinants of rural development and several methodologies, which allows the evaluation of linkages and interaction effects.

Decreasing soil fertility implies decreasing yields over time and hence lowers the real incomes of already poor farmers even further. Sustainability in agricultural production depends on various interdependent aspects that require integrated analytical approaches to address the complexity involved. Smallholder production of food crops in poor countries is particularly vulnerable to hazards that are related to (i) production technologies as well as (ii) factor and commodity markets. The former aspect includes appropriate input use and land management, while the latter particularly considers rural labor markets, intermediate input markets, and commercial output markets.

In this context, the project focuses on three crucial aspects, namely (i) institutional and other determinants to foster the degree of commercialization of agricultural small-scale produce, (ii) alternative occupational choices in rural labor markets with respect to agricultural and non-agricultural employment, and (iii) biophysical aspects concerning soil-conserving production technologies. The main hypothesis is that all three aspects need to be addressed sufficiently and simultaneously in order to promote sustainable smallholder agricultural production that is able to contribute to overall economic growth and development and, consequently, to food security.

Methodology

The project follows an interdisciplinary approach, which combines several methodologies within economic and social sciences:

• Computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling
• Bio-economic household modeling
• Household and labor force survey analysis
• Institutional analysis
• GIS-based spatial econometrics

Main Cooperation Partners

• University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
• National Bureau of Statistics (Tanzania)
• Economic and Social Research Foundation (Tanzania)
• Bunda College of Agriculture, University of Malawi (Malawi)
• Wageningen University (The Netherlands)
• Imperial College at Wye (United Kingdom)
• University of Hohenheim (Germany)
• International Food Policy Research Institute (USA)

Main Funding Partners

Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart

Further information

Project workshops were carried out in Malawi, Tanzania, and Romania to introduce the PASAD project, to present our research approaches and methodologies, and to receive feedback from the respective local research community. During these workshops we also established contacts with individual researchers as well as partner institutions for the collaborative research components of the PASAD project
List of Pasad-workshops

• Institute of Agricultural Economics at the House of Scientists, Bucharest/Romania, March 10, 2004.
• Economic and Social Research Forum (ESRF), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), July 15, 2003.
• Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro (Tanzania), July 17, 2003.
• Agricultural Policy Research Unit (APRU), University of Malawi, Lilongwe (Malawi), September 9, 2003.

Publications

Mduma, J. and P. Wobst (2005) Village Level Labor Market Development in Tanzania: Evidence from Spatial Econometrics. ZEF-Discussion Papers on Development Policy 96, Center for Development Research, Bonn.
 
Balint, B. (2004) Determinanten kommerzieller Orientierung und nachhaltiger Agrarproduktion individueller landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe in Rumänien. Presented at the Workshop on “Agrarentwicklung in Mittel- und Osteuropa für Doktoranden und Post-Doc’s”, Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe, May 22-24, Halle (Saale)/ Germany.
 
Balint, B. (2004) Determinants of Commercial Orientation of the Individual Farmers in Romania. Presented at the conference “Deutscher Tropentag 2004”, October 5-7, Berlin.
 
Balint, B. (2004) Did Transition bring about Ecological Sustainability in Romanian Agriculture? Presented at the “8th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economists”, June 10-12, Montreal.
 
Balint, B. (2004) Institutional Factors influencing Agricultural Sales of the Individual Farmers in Romania. Presented at the European School of New Institutional Economics, May 2-8, Cargese /France.
 
Edriss, A., H. Tchale and P. Wobst (2004) The Impact of Labour Market Liberalization on Maize Productivity and Rural Poverty in Malawi. Submitted to Journal of Development Studies.

Mduma, J. and P. Wobst (2004) Determinants of Rural Labor Market Participation in Tanzania. Submitted to African Studies Quaterly.
 
Seebens, H. (2004) Markets and Husbands: Female Headed Households and Soil Conservation in Kenya. Presented at the “8th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Ecological Economists”, June 10-12, Montreal.

Tchale, H. (2004) Soil fertility management choice in the maize-based smallholder farming system in Malawi. Presented at the Workshop “Shaping the Future of African Agriculture for Development: The Role of Social Scientists“, December 6 – 9, Nairobi.
 
Tchale, H. (2004) The role of agricultural policy in soil fertility management among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Presented at the Workshop “Rural Poverty Reduction through Research for Development and Transformation”, October 5 – 7, Berlin.
 
Balint, B. (2003) The Impact of Property Rights and Decentralization on Land Management in Romania. Presented at the conference “The Commons in Transition: Property on Natural Resources in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union”, April 11-13, Prague.
 
Mduma, J. (2003) Village Level Analysis of the Factors Affecting Households’ Participation in Rural Labor Markets in Tanzania. Presented at the Departmental Seminar, Department of Economics, University of Dar es Salaam, December 17, Dar es Salaam.
 
Seebens, H. and P. Wobst (2003) Social and Individual Costs of Child Labour. Presented at the “International Conference on Policy Modeling (EcoMod2003)”, July 5-6, Istanbul.
 
Seebens, H. and P. Wobst (2003) The Impact of Increased School Enrollment on Economic Growth in Tanzania. ZEF-Discussion Papers on Development Policy No. 74, Center for Development Research, Bonn.
 
 
Project-related
 
Arndt, C. and P. Wobst (2004) HIV/AIDS and Labor Force Upgrading in Tanzania. World Development 32(11):1831-1847.
 
Dorward, A., Fan, S., Kydd, J., Lofgren, H., Morrison, J., Poulton, C., Rao, N., Smith, L., Tchale, H., Thorat, S., Urey, I. and P. Wobst (2004) Institutions and Economic Policies for Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth. DSGD-Discussion Paper Series 15, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.
 
Dorward, A., H. Lofgren, J. Morrison, H. Tchale, and P. Wobst (2004) Modelling Pro-Poor Growth Strategies in Malawi: Lessons for Policy and Analysis. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Imperial College London, Wye Campus, Ashford (Kent).
 
Lofgren, H., J. Morrison, H. Tchale and P. Wobst (2004) Pro-Poor Development Strategies for Malawi: An Economy-wide Analysis of Alternative Policy Scenarios. Department of Agricultural Sciences, Imperial College London, Wye Campus, Ashford (Kent).
 
Oskam, A., R. Komen, P. Wobst and A. Yalew (2004) Trade Policies and Development of Less-favored Areas: Evidence from the Literature. Food Policy 29(4):445-466.

Arndt, C. and P. Wobst (2003) HIV/AIDS and Primary School Performance in Tanzania. Presented at the “25th International Conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists”, August 16-22, Durban.

Thurlow, J. and P. Wobst (2003) Poverty-focused Social Accounting Matrices for Tanzania. TMD Paper Series No. 112, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.

Arndt, C. and P. Wobst (2002) HIV/AIDS and Labor Markets in Tanzania. TMD Discussion Paper Series No. 102, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C.
 
Balint, B., I. Forkutsa, A. C. R. de Freitas and C. Reis (2002) Indicators for the Measurements of Institutional Performance concerning Water Management Application for Uzbekistan and Ghana. Term Paper, Center for Development Research, Bonn.

Braun, J. v., P. Wobst and U. Grote (2002) Development Box and Special and Differential Treatment for Food Security of Developing Countries: Potentials, Limitations, and Implementation Issues. ZEF-Discussion Papers on Development Policy No.47, Center for Development Research, Bonn.

Mduma, J. and J. Puig (2002) Competition for Water Resources for Irrigation Development and Natural ResourceConservation. Term Paper, Center for Development Research, Bonn.

Duration of the Project

07/02 - 06/05

Team

Project leader

• Dr. Peter Wobst

Doctoral Students

• Ms. Borbala Balint
• Mr. John Mduma
• Mr. Holger Seebens
• Mr. Hardwick Tchale

Research Assistant

• Mr. Benjamin Schraven