Hiroyuki Takeshima

Background: Despite a growing interest in household-level agriculture–nutrition linkage, evidence remains thin in countries like Tajikistan, one of the poorest former socialist countries where food crop production decisions by individual farm households had been significantly regulated by the government until recently. Objectives: We narrow this knowledge gap by examining the linkages between households’ food production practice as well as their productivity performances and dietary diversity scores (DDS) of both the household and individual women in Tajikistan. Methods: We use a panel sample of households and individual women of reproductive ages in the Khatlon province of Tajikistan, the poorest province and a major agricultural region of the country. Difference-in-difference propensity score regressions and panel fixed-effects instrumental variable regressions are applied. Results: Higher overall diversity in food groups (FGs) produced by households, as well as greater overall production per land and per household member at the household level, leads to higher DDS both for the household and for individual women, particularly in areas with poor food market access. FG-specific analyses suggest that for vegetables, fruits, legumes/nuts/seeds, dairy products, and eggs, significant one-on-one linkage exists between own production and consumption for these FGs. Conclusions: Results underscore the importance of supporting household-level agricultural diversification and agricultural productivity growth in Tajikistan to improve dietary diversity, especially in remote areas.

The fertilizer response of yield has been one of the major indicators of agricultural productivity in both developed and developing countries. Filling the evidence gap remains vital regarding fertilizer response in South Asia, given the emergence of intensifying weather shocks. Nationally representative evidence at field levels reflecting farmers’ actual production environments is particularly scarce. We fill this knowledge gap by using three rounds of nationally representative panel data of farm households with plot‐level rice (Oryza sativa) production information and assessing how the shapes of response functions are affected by shocks in temperatures, droughts, and rainfall, using common yield response functions including both quadratic function and stochastic linear response plateau (LRP). Notably, in the stochastic LRP model, we find that one standard deviation (1SD) increases in the percentiles of growing degree days (GDD) and high nighttime temperature (HNT) relative to their historical distributions reduce sub‐plateau yield response by 50% or more and yield plateau by up to 0.4 t/ha in Boro and Aman irrigated system. In the Aman rainfed system, 1SD increases in GDD and HNT percentiles reduce sub‐plateau linear responses by roughly 30%. Similarly, 1SD increases in drought severity and decreases in rainfall shift down the overall linear response function by 0.1–0.2 t/ha and yield plateau by about 0.1 t/ha. Furthermore, results for stochastic LRP are also consistent for both maximum likelihood estimation of Maddala–Nelson Switching Regression, as well as Bayesian regression models in which researchers’ prior beliefs are updated by posterior information obtained from the data based on the Bayes’ rules.

The gender difference in employment across sectors is a critical element of gender inequality in rural livelihoods and welfare in developing countries. The role of production technologies, including agricultural mechanisation, in addressing gender inequality is increasingly explored. Knowledge gaps remain, however, including how agricultural mechanisation differentially affects labour engagements across sectors. This study aims to partly fill these knowledge gaps through micro‐evidence from seven countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, India, Nepal and Vietnam), using several nationally representative panel data and supplementary data and applying correlated random effects double‐hurdle models with instrumental variables. We find that the use of tractors and/or combine harvesters by the household induces a greater shift from farm activities to non‐farm activities by female members than by male members. While statistical significance varies, these patterns generally hold consistently across all seven countries studied. These patterns also hold across different farm sizes. While these are short‐term relations, agricultural mechanisation proxied by tractors and/or combine harvesters is one of the crucial contributors to gendered rural livelihood. Future studies should more closely investigate these patterns' underlying mechanisms and implications.

Modern cooling technologies that utilize renewable energy sources have been increasingly recognized as promising tools to address various challenges emerging in progressively complex agrifood systems in developing countries. Knowledge gaps about the actual impacts of these technologies in developing countries remain, especially in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA). This study fills this knowledge gap by providing evidence from the evaluation of recent interventions in northeast Nigeria in which seven small solar‐powered cold storages were installed across seven horticulture markets. Combinations of difference‐in‐difference (DID) and variants of propensity‐score‐based methods suggest that cold storage significantly increased horticulture sales volumes and revenues of market agents. Back‐of‐the‐envelope calculations indicate that increased net revenues for market agents may be sufficiently large to recoup cold storage investments and operating costs within a reasonable time frame. Using cold storage also reduced the share of food loss. It lengthened the products' shelf‐life while raising prices received by market agents and farmers, which were associated with improved product quality, expanded value‐adding activities by market agents, and increased use of advance payments.

Agrifood sector mechanization service providers (MSP) and mechanization equipment retailers (MER) have increasingly become the providers of mechanical technologies for smallholders in developing countries, including Myanmar. Evidence remains scarce on the effects of COVID‐19 on these MSPs and MERs. This study provides insights into the effects of COVID‐19 restrictions on MSPs and MERs in Myanmar, using unbalanced panel data from five rounds of phone surveys. Direct responses to COVID‐19 involving movement restrictions, market disruptions, and growing financial challenges had significant negative effects on revenue prospects, service delivery, and sales of machines and equipment. Negative revenue prospects during a particular period can further hurt revenue prospects in subsequent periods. This is consistent with the hypotheses that MSPs who had incurred high sunk costs in machines can engage in more desperate and, thus, potentially suboptimal business practices to recover the sunk cost. Overall, policies to minimize movement restrictions and various financial struggles and mitigate any pessimism at the beginning of the production season are all important to make sure MSPs and MERs continue to function effectively under COVID‐19.