Email this article 
Hide
Show all
Sustainable agriculture and livelihood outcomes: evidence from farmers organizations in Tubah sub-division, Cameroon
Abstract
Agriculture is the main economic sector in most developing countries and accounts for more than 50% of the population. Low agricultural productivity, which is due to unsustainable agricultural practices, is a major negative contributor to farmers' livelihoods. The continuous use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides has led to low agricultural productivity, low soil fertility, unfavorable economic returns, and food poisoning due to unsustainable agricultural practices. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effects of sustainable agriculture on livelihoods outcomes of farmers organizations in Cameroon. The data was elicited via survey questionnaire administered on the sample of 114 registered and 88 unregistered farmer organizations comprised of common initiative groups and cooperatives giving a total sample of 202. Using cluster sampling approach, proximity villages were grouped into four clusters of villages and stratified sampling was then used to selected members of the organizations to participated in the study. We used instrumental variable least square two stage and control function regression estimation techniques. Results revealed that sustainable agriculture have a negative significant contribution to the livelihood of farmer organisations to the tune of 21.1%. The negative contribution is explained in the usage of overdose chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides as instruments of agricultural sustainability. This study recommended that policies directed towards agricultural sustainability should be soil nutrients and water friendly such as the use of organic fertilizer, bio pesticides, to reduce the negative effect of unsustainable agricultural practices on livelihood of farmers in Cameroon. It is therefore necessary to promote and adopt organic fertilizers on farms by farmer, bio pesticides and encourage farming methods such as crop rotation that maintain the soil fertility.
Keywords
References
Alhassan, Y. J., Sanchi, I. D., and Sabo, A. Y. 2022. Advances in Agriculture, Food Science and Forestry. Education, 10, 2.5.
Aromolaran, A., and Muyanga, M. 2020. Impact of COVID-19 on Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods in Nigeria Round 1 Report.
Arora, N. K., and Mishra, J. 2016. Prospecting the roles of metabolites and additives in future bioformulations for sustainable agriculture. Applied Soil Ecology, 107, 405-407.
Baye, F., and Fambon, S. 2010. Parental literacy and child health production in Cameroon. African Journal of Economic Policy, 17(2), 99-130.
Cain, K. E. 2021. Feast: Influencing Nutrition Self-Efficacy and Food Choice Quality in Mexican American Women The University of Arizona].
Epule, T. E., and Bryant, C. R. 2016. Small scale farmers’ indigenous agricultural adaptation options in the face of declining or stagnant crop yields in the Fako and Meme divisions of Cameroon. Agriculture, 6(2), 22.
Fan, V. Y., Jamison, D. T., and Summers, L. H. 2020. Pandemic risk: how large are the expected losses? Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 96(2), 129.
Gomiero, T. 2015. Effects of agricultural activities on biodiversity and ecosystems: Organic versus conventional farming. Handbook on the Globalisation of Agriculture, 77.
Gomiero, T. 2021. Organic agriculture: impact on the environment and food quality. In Environmental impact of agro-food industry and food consumption (pp. 31-58). Elsevier.
Gukas, T. 2018. Herders and farmers conflicts: government and none governmental organizations interventions in peace building in plateau state, Nigeria.
Jackson, W. 1985. Toward a sustainable agriculture. The Trumpeter, 2(1).
Lenerts, A., Popluga, D., Schulte, R. P., and Pilvere, I. 2017. Sustainability assessment of agricultural production: case study of Latvian crop sector. 16th International Scientific Conference,
Lopez, L. 2012. Indefinite objects: Scrambling, choice functions, and differential marking. MIT press.
Manzi, T. 2010. The link between relative deprivation and lifestyle choices of affluent black South Africans University of Pretoria].
Mwabu, G. 2009. The production of child health in Kenya: a structural model of birth weight. Journal of African Economies, 18(2), 212-260.
Natarajan, N., Newsham, A., Rigg, J. and Suhardiman, D. 2022. A sustainable livelihoods framework for the 21st century. World Development, 155, 105898.
Omorogiuwa, O., Zivkovic, J. and Ademoh, F. 2021. The role of agriculture in the economic development of Nigeria. European Scientific Journal, 10(4).
Pradhan, A., Chan, C., Roul, P. K., Halbrendt, J. and Sipes, B. 2018. Potential of conservation agriculture (CA) for climate change adaptation and food security under rainfed uplands of India: A transdisciplinary approach. Agricultural Systems, 163, 27-35.
Rashid, S. M. M., Islam, M. R., Quamruzzaman, M., Yeasmin, M and Azad, M. J. 2016. Impact of e-agriculture on farmer's livelihood in bangladesh. American-Eurasian Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, 16(5), 976-983.
Schneiderat, U., Hoffmann, I. and Steinbach, J. R. 2003. Diversification of livelihood strategies of households in communal areas in namibia and south africa-results from two case studies. Proceedings of the VIIth International Rangeland Congress, 26th July-1st August,
Singh, P. K., Schaefer, A. L., Parsek, M. R., Moninger, T. O., Welsh, M. J. and Greenberg, E. 2000. Quorum-sensing signals indicate that cystic fibrosis lungs are infected with bacterial biofilms. Nature, 407(6805), 762-764.
Sridhar, A., Balakrishnan, A., Jacob, M. M. and Dayanandan, N. 2019. Global impact of COVID-19 on agriculture: role of sustainable agriculture and digital farming. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(15), 42509-42525.
Wooldridge, J. M. 2002. Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data MIT press. Cambridge, ma, 108(2), 245-254.
Workie, E., Mackolil, J., Nyika, J. and Ramadas, S. 2020. Deciphering the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on food security, agriculture, and livelihoods: A review of the evidence from developing countries. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 2, 100014.
Yunlong, C. and Smit, B. 1994. Sustainability in agriculture: a general review. Agriculture, ecosystems & environment, 49(3), 299-307.
DOI: 10.33687/ijae.012.001.4955
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2024 Nyamka Milton Kbebsii
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
