TY - JOUR A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Shahzad, Muhammad Faisal A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Mueller, Klaus T1 - Fatalism, Climate Resiliency Training and Farmers’ Adaptation Responses: Implications for Sustainable Rainfed-Wheat Production in Pakistan JF - Sustainability N2 - Climate change is a severe threat to the agricultural sector in general and to rainfed farming in particular. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that can potentially affect the adaptation process against climate change. This study focused on wheat farmers and farming systems in the rainfed agroecological zone of Pakistan. Farmers’ data related to climate change fatalism, the availability of climate-specific extension services, socioeconomic and institutional variables, and farm characteristics were collected. A logit model to assess farmers’ decisions to adopt an adaptation measure and a multinomial logit model to assess their choice of various adaptation measures were used. The results showed that fatalistic farmers were unlikely to implement climate change adaptation measures. The variables related to the climate-specific extension services, including farmers’ participation in training on climate-resilient crop farming and the availability of mobile communication-based advisory services, had highly significant and positive impacts on farmers’ decisions and their choice of adaptation measures. Input market access and tractor ownership also had positive and significant impacts on farmers’ decisions to adapt and their choice of adaptation measures. This study highlights the need to improve rainfed-wheat farmers’ education levels to change their fatalistic attitudes towards climate change. Furthermore, government action is needed to provide climate-specific extension services to ensure sustainable production levels that will ultimately lead to food and livelihood security under a changing climate. KW - fatalism KW - climate-specific extension service KW - climate-resilient farming KW - rainfed farming KW - adaptation Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3338 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 12 IS - 4 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Mehmood, Yasir A1 - Faisal Shahzad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Farmers’ perceptions and role of institutional arrangements in climate change adaptation: Insights from rainfed Pakistan JF - Climate Risk Management N2 - Rainfed farmers are among the most vulnerable farming communities to climate change in Pakistan because of the heavy reliance of crop farming on rain and of farmers’ livelihoods on crop farming. The best and most timely responses against climate change are suitable adaptation measures. Accurately perceiving the risks associated with climate change is an essential factor for planning and then implementing adaptations. Using farm household-level data of 400 rainfed farmers collected through a well-designed and field-tested questionnaire, this study examines the association between various adaptation stages (climate risk perceptions, adaptation planning, and implementation of adaptation) and their determinants using a multivariate probit (MVP) model. The findings indicate that farmers’ perceptions of climatic changes are in line with historical climatic data. Climate risk management (CRM) trainings and digital agriculture extension and communication (DAEC) services (indicators of formal institutional arrangements) show a highly significant impact on all adaptation stages. Input market distance, farmer cooperative meetings (an indicator of informal institutional arrangement), off-farm income, education, and number of male family members are among the other key determinants. A highly significant association between various adaptation stages indicates that accurate climate risk perceptions lead to planning and implementation of adaptations. When risk perceptions are underestimated or lacking, then adaptations do not occur. The results further indicate that the timely availability of reliable information on advanced agricultural inputs, weather parameters, crop farming advisory services, and market information could help rainfed farmers devise sound adaptations to minimize risks associated with climate change. The study recommends the provision of CRM trainings and DAEC services to provide a better understanding and promote sound adaptation planning through the adaptive capacity enhancement of rainfed farming communities for sustainable production and livelihood security. KW - Risk perceptions KW - Adaptation planning KW - Climate risk management trainings KW - Digital advisory services KW - Rainfed KW - Pakistan Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7375 SN - 2212-0963 VL - 32 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehmood, Yasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald T1 - Effects of wastewater reuse on perceived health risks of farmers in Pakistan: Application of the Zero-Inflated Poisson regression model JF - Journal of Cleaner Production N2 - Not only is the reuse of wastewater, particularly for irrigation purposes, an increasingly common practice in developing countries, it is also encouraged by many governments and official entities. Although exposure to wastewater has noteworthy hazardous effects on human health and the environment, this is poorly understood by farmers who reuse wastewater for crop production. Using household-level survey data of 321 respondents, this study investigates the effects of wastewater reuse on farmers' perceived health risks and the determinants of farmers' reuse of wastewater for vegetable production in Punjab, Pakistan. A Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) regression model shows that wastewater irrigation has a significant positive effect (P < 0.05) on farmers' perceived health risks. Farmers using wastewater have relatively little knowledge of its negative effects on human health compared to their counterparts using freshwater. Around 85% and 80% of farmers who used wastewater state that water scarcity and decreased production costs were the key reasons why they use wastewater for vegetable production, respectively. A logit regression model indicates that farmer age, household size, irrigation experience, income, access to institutional credit, awareness of health risks, access to canal water, ownership of tube well, and perceived health risks are the key determinants of wastewater reuse. The findings of this study and subsequent recommendations may guide policymakers in educating and updating farmers’ knowledge about the hazardous effects of wastewater through frequent training and workshops. Installation of plants for wastewater treatment by collecting a pollution premium from farmers seems to be a viable option for sustainable agricultural development. Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7423 SN - 1879-1786 IS - 369 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vijayan, Dhanya A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Girindran, Renoy A1 - Chattopadhyay, Srikumar A1 - Lukas, Martin C. A1 - Arshad, Muhammad T1 - Tropical forest conversion and its impact on indigenous communities Mapping forest loss and shrinking gathering grounds in the Western Ghats, India JF - Land Use Policy N2 - Conversions of natural forests to forest plantations threaten ecosystems and forest-dependent indigenous populations in many parts of the world. It is crucial to understand the scale and nature of such forest conversions and how they affect forest-dependent communities as a basis for prudent forest management and protection of indigenous livelihoods. This study analyses natural forest conversions and their impacts on tribal communities in the southern Western Ghats, a globally significant biodiversity hotspot. It focuses on two tribal settlements in protected forests within the catchment of the Achankovil River. The study involves time series analysis of forest cover change, based on a historical map and satellite images, field mapping of changes in the tribal communities’ areas of operation, household surveys, and focus group discussions. The analysis shows that the area of protected forest decreased by 53 % from 1978 to 2015. As a result, the size of the tribal communities’ gathering areas considerably shrunk, resulting in a decline in their collection of non-timber forest products and increased dependency on forest plantations labour for their livelihood. This is especially critical as the tribal communities still prefer to depend on natural forests for their sustenance. Preservation of natural forests is hence crucial not only for biodiversity conservation, but also to protect socio-economic and cultural traits of tribal populations. Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7395 SN - 1873-5754 IS - 102 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Abbas, Faisal A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Mehmood, Yasir A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Mueller, Klaus T1 - Analyzing the Impact of Government Social Spending, Population Growth and Foreign Remittances on Human Development in Pakistan: Implications for Policy JF - The European Journal of Development Research N2 - To achieve sustainable future for all, United Nations’ (UNs’) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs-2030) reinforced the formulation of social, economic and human development policies. Pakistan is a country with high population growth rate, among top ten recipients of foreign remittances but facing an acute problem of stagnant human development outcomes over the years. Of note, Pakistan’s economic growth is considered as growth without human face (see Easterly in The political economy of growth without development: A case study of Pakistan, 2001). It is, therefore, important from public policy point of view to understand the short-and long-run dynamics of the relationships between important social, demographic and economic factors. Accordingly, this paper investigates the short-and long-run relationships between population growth, government social spending, foreign remittances inflow and aggregate level of human development in Pakistan using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach of cointegration and error correction models. The cointegration test results showed that there is cointegration among the variables to proceed with the estimations of long-run relationships. Our empirical results confirm the existence of short-and long-run relationships between population growth, remittances inflow and human development in Pakistan. Population growth inversely while remittances inflow positively influenced Pakistan’s human development status both in the short-and long-run. The empirical findings of our study call for designing and implementing robust development policies—that result in effective and sustainable human development—mainly towards viewing population from a more humanitarian and equitable perspective in Pakistan. KW - Population growth; Government expenditures; Foreign remittances inflow; Human development; Sustainable development policy; SDGs; Pakistan; South Asia Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7314 SN - 0957-8811 IS - 34 SP - 1607 EP - 1626 PB - Springer Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehmood, Yasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Kong, Rong T1 - Occupational hazards, health costs, and pesticide handling practices among vegetable growers in Pakistan JF - Environmental Research N2 - Disregarding protective measures when handling pesticides in agricultural production imposes increased health risks and health costs on farmers as well as degrades the natural ecosystem. In Pakistan, where agriculture is the prime occupation in rural communities, there is overwhelming evidence of indiscriminate use of hazardous pesticides by farmers without taking adequate precautions. Using cross-sectional data, we examined personal protection and health costs to vegetable growers due to pesticide exposure and determinants of farmers' pesticide handling practices. The theory of averting behavior was used, and the possible factors affecting farmers' adoption of safety equipment and of disposal methods for pesticide containers were estimated using a logit model. Health effects (P < 0.05) and farmers' protection and health costs (P < 0.01) are found as important determinants of farmers' adoption of safety equipment and of disposal methods for pesticide containers. The mean protection and health cost of pesticide exposure per farmer per vegetable season in 2019 was US $3.60. Analytical outcomes indicate that safe and recommended pesticide handling practices are needed to be introduced through adequate integrated pest management (IPM) training programs and by improving farmers’ formal education. Thus, creating awareness through IPM training programs among vegetable growers and enhancing formal education to encourage the adoption of precautionary measures and safe disposal methods for pesticide containers may reduce health risks and health costs. Findings imply that adoption of adequate pesticide handling practices would further help reduce occupational hazards and promote sustainable agriculture in Pakistan. Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7366 SN - 1096-0953 IS - 200 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khalili, Niloofar A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Farajzadeh, Zakariya A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Drought shocks and farm household consumption behaviour: Insights from Fars province of Iran JF - International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction N2 - Drought is one of the most important shocks that has affected many farm households in rural Iran. This paper presents cross-sectional quantitative research with a micro-level analysis of the impacts of drought shocks on food and non-food expenditures of smallholders in rural Iran. Quantile regression model was applied to analyse the data obtained from 300 small farmers in the county of Marvdasht in Fars province, Iran. The results show that households who experience moderate and severe drought, apply a combination of different strategies, which are usually used to deal with idiosyncratic shocks and covariate shocks. A reduction in consumption expenditures is not the only and the first choice coping strategy but is one of the main strategies used by most drought-affected households. Our results further indicate that the non-food expenditures of smallholders in severe drought-affected villages are negatively affected by drought, however, food expenditures are not significantly affected. Non-food expenditures of households with overall lower consumption level were significantly affected. These findings point out the importance of the provision of compensation schemes for smallholders and the designing and implementation of coping mechanisms including non-agricultural job opportunities in drought-affected areas of Fars, Iran. Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7359 SN - 2212-4209 IS - 66 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Economic efficiency of rainfed wheat farmers under changing climate: evidence from Pakistan JF - Environmental Science and Pollution Research N2 - Rainfed wheat farming directly depends upon climatic indicators and is mostly at the mercy of climatic extremes. This study analyzed the relationship between the economic efficiency of rainfed wheat farmers and indicators of climate variability in Pakistan employing a two-stage methodological framework. We used farm household level crop input-output and management data and secondary data on climate. In the first stage, a stochastic production frontier (SPF) approach was used to calculate economic efficiency. Then, in the second stage, the calculated economic efficiency scores were regressed against the temperature threshold, temperature anomaly, and total rainfall, in addition to socioeconomic, institutional, and farm variables, using OLS and quantile regression models. The results showed that temperature anomaly and the number of days when temperatures exceed 30 °C have negative and significant impacts on the economic efficiency of rainfed wheat farmers. Total rainfall showed positive and significant impacts across both OLS and quantile regression models. Further, we modeled a novel and very important variable in the context of rainfed wheat production in Pakistan, that is, farmers’ participation in trainings in climate-resilient crop farming. This variable showed a positive and highly significant impact on economic efficiency of wheat farmers across all regression models. Our findings call for important policy implications, including developing up-to-date climate resilient adaptation strategies that are particularly focused on rainfed wheat farming. Establishing strong linkages between extension departments and rainfed wheat farmers could help sustain and improve the efficiency of rainfed wheat farmers and hence food and livelihood security. KW - Climate variability; Economic efficiency; Rainfed wheat; Stochastic production frontier; Quantile regression; Climate resilient crop farming Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7287 SN - 1614-7499 IS - 27 SP - 34453 EP - 34467 PB - Springer Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Khan, Ayesha A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Mülle, Klaus T1 - Information asymmetry, input markets, adoption of innovations and agricultural land use in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan JF - Land Use Policy N2 - This paper presents empirical evidence on the effects of information asymmetry in input markets on the adoption of innovations and agricultural land use in rainfed districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Farmers’ input market integration may contribute to innovation and adoption among farmers, which may in turn positively influence the sustainable use of agricultural land. To examine this hypothesis, we conducted a study of farmers and input providers to assess the potential constraints on quality inputs, prices, and extension information. We used a multistage random sampling technique to collect data from 395 respondents. We then compared differences among adopters and non-adopters using the Mann-Whitney U test and Mood’s median test. Our results indicate that there is a significant difference between the adopters and non-adopters when considering their perceptions of asymmetric market information. Non-adopters are suspicious of exaggerated prices, the non-availability of price lists, adulteration of agricultural inputs, unbalanced input weight and the supply of low-quality alternate commodities (e.g., fertilizers and pesticides) in place of the recommended commodities in the markets. Our results call for the reformulation and implementation of appropriate policies to ensure transparent and equal information sharing among farmers engaged in input markets and for the provision of timely and quality inputs assured by regulatory checks and price checks. Free availability of information on innovations and appropriate oversight over markets appear not only to motivate farmers to adopt agricultural technologies but also to influence more sustainable land use practices. Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7240 SN - 0264-8377 VL - 90 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hossain, Md. Shakhawat A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Qian, Lu A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Khan, Imran A1 - Islam, Md Din Il A1 - Mahboob, M. Golam T1 - Climate change impacts on farmland value in Bangladesh JF - Ecological Indicators N2 - Many studies have examined the effects of climate change on farmland value in developed countries, but our understanding of the impact of climate change on farmland value is still very limited, especially in developing countries. In this study, we aimed to assess the effects of climate change on farmland value in Bangladesh using the Ricardian model. Household-level data collected from seven selected agroecological zones in Bangladesh were used to estimate the relationships among farmland value and long-term climate, farm household, and policy variables. The results showed that the current land values of farmers are sensitive to climate. A new variable called “flooding” was added to the Ricardian model, and the results indicated that floods are responsible for reductions in farmland value, especially in lowland areas. Among the socio-economic variables, the availability of extension services and access to irrigation facilities were positively correlated with farmland value. The estimated marginal impact results suggested that increases in temperature were associated with losses in small farmland value, whereas the precipitation levels in both seasons positively influenced farmland value. Selected global climate models predicted that climate change would have a negative impact on land value depending on the climate model and source of farm income. The empirical findings obtained from this study are expected to contribute to the formulation of sustainable adaptation strategies to maintain farm productivity and farmland value in Bangladesh in the context of climate change. KW - Climate change; Ricardian model; Farmland value; Flooding; Adaptation; Bangladesh Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7278 SN - 1872-7034 IS - 112 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khalili, Niloofar A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Farajzadeh, Zakariya A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Effect of drought on smallholder education expenditures in rural Iran: Implications for policy JF - Journal of Environmental Management N2 - Drought is a major global environmental challenge. It affects the livelihoods of many people, mainly in developing countries. Iran is one of the most affected and vulnerable countries in the Middle East to drought. In this paper, we present a microlevel analysis by employing the Tobit multiplicative heteroscedasticity regression to examine the effects of drought on small farm household education expenditures in rural Iran. We collected primary data from a sample of 300 smallholders in Marvdasht County in Fars Province of Iran. The results revealed a negative relationship between the farm income and education expenditures. This means that the farm households in rural Iran that were affected by the drought increased their expenditures on education for their children. The analysis of income elasticity indicated that a one percent decrease in farm income led to a 0.86% increase in education expenditures, which indicated that the education expenditures were necessary. Furthermore, we observed that in drought-affected families, girls were more likely to be pulled out of university education than were boys; however, for school education, there were no significant differences between the boys and girls. Our findings revealed the need to provide improved facilities and further finances for education expenditures, especially for female university students, and to formulate environmental management policies that include the provision of education facilities by the government of Iran in drought-affected villages. Our findings also shed light on the presence of positive externalities and the important role of education in helping rural households better cope with the negative repercussions of drought on their livelihoods. Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7250 SN - 1095-8630 IS - 260 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Khalili, Niloofar A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Farajzadeh, Zakaria A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Does drought affect smallholder health expenditures? Evidence from Fars Province, Iran JF - Environment, Development and Sustainability N2 - Drought is one of the most frequently occurring natural disasters and results in long-term social, economic and environmental impacts that affect large areas and populations. Over the past decade, Iran has experienced a very severe drought that has affected millions of people. In this paper, we employ a standard consumption regression model to perform a microlevel analysis of the effects of drought on small-farm household health expenditures in rural Iran. We surveyed a sample of 300 small-farm households in the Marvdasht County in Fars Province, Iran. The results showed that drought significantly negatively affects smallholder health spending. Farm households that are affected by severe drought decrease their health expenditures more than less-affected households. Further, for drought-affected farmers, health expenditures are a necessity, as the income elasticity of health expenditures is as low as 0.15. Our findings indicate the importance of designing and implementing a health policy that includes the provision of healthcare services in drought-affected villages by the government, which plays an important role in coping with the health effects of drought. KW - Drought; Health expenditures; Income elasticity; Policy; Iran Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7294 SN - 1573-2975 IS - 23 SP - 765 EP - 788 PB - Springer Nature ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mehmood, Yasir A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Kong, Rong T1 - Pesticide residues, health risks, and vegetable farmers’ risk perceptions in Punjab, Pakistan JF - Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal N2 - Extensive use of pesticides in agricultural production results in increased health risks and health costs, productivity loss, and degradation of the environment. Farmers’ risk perceptions of pesticide residues can help mitigate these issues. This paper applies an ordered probit model to analyze farmers’ perceptions of pesticide residues using a cross-sectional dataset of 209 vegetable cultivators in Punjab, Pakistan. Important determinants of farmers’ perceptions include their educational level, family labor, ratio of self-consumed foodstuffs, health effects, integrated pest management (IPM) training, knowledge, and awareness. Among these determinants, farmers’ awareness and IPM training programs are the principle indicators of risk perception. These results have significant implications for policymakers because farmers’ perceptions including overuse of pesticides tend to worsen if supported by the internalization of social norms, which, in turn, is restricted by farmers’ awareness and knowledge. The study findings suggest that special attention should be given to farmers who are limited to receiving information directly from agricultural extension officers. Moreover, intensive IPM training programs should be designed with the aim of conveying precautionary measures for human health and a sustainable agro-ecosystem. KW - farmers; environment; health hazards; health costs; Pakistan Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7218 VL - 27 IS - 3 SP - 846 EP - 864 PB - Taylor & Francis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullah, Ayat A1 - Arshad, Muhammad A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Zeb, Alam A1 - Mahmood, Nasir A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Socio-economic analysis of farmers facing asymmetric information in inputs markets: evidence from the rainfed zone of Pakistan JF - Technology in Society N2 - Information asymmetry plays an important role in the non-adoption of modern agricultural inputs like improved seeds, pesticides and fertilizers etc. Therefore, this study investigated the role of farmers’ socio-economic attributes and farm level characteristics in avoiding asymmetry of information in agricultural input markets (i.e. exaggerated prices and low quality). The approach captures the farm level heterogeneity and complexity that may help the authorities in strengthening existing market regulations to control price and quality disparities. We analysed 395 randomly selected farm households using multinomial logit model. We found that farmers with large landholding size are less likely to face quality and more likely to face price information asymmetry. Farmers with higher education, more physical assets and better access to other sources of information are less likely to face both quality and price information asymmetry. Borrowers as compared to purchasers are more likely to face information asymmetry on prices of agricultural inputs. Non-adopters of improved agricultural technologies are more suspicious of information asymmetry than adopters. The paper thus provides evidence that the socio-economic dynamics of information asymmetry can have an important influence on wide spread adoption of technology. Paying more attention to farm level heterogeneity and complexity would help to develop general market management plan and improve the adoption of technology by farmers. Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7235 SN - 1879-3274 VL - 63 IS - 101405 PB - Elsevier ER -