THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

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THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION ON LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

After the seminal work of Schultz (1964), the importance of education in agricultural development has been widely affirmed. Education enhances the farming skills and productive capabilities of the farmers (Weir 1999). It enables them to follow some written instructions about the application of adequate and recommended doses of chemical and other inputs (Appleton and Balihuta 1996; Huang and Luh 2009). Again, numeracy helps them to calculate the costs and benefits of adopting a particular farming technology. But, the empirical assessment of that hypothesis has remained inconclusive (Asadullah and Rahman 2009; Hojo 2004; Lockheed et al. 1980; Narayanmoorthy 2000). No consensus has so far been agreed upon among the experts who studied the impact of farmer education on farm productivity. A group of studies (e.g., Abdulai and Huffman 2014; Asadullah and Rahman 2009; Azhar 1991; Chaudhri 1979; Duraisamy 1992; Mellor 1976; Pudasaini 1983; Ram 1980; Singh 1974; Young and Deng 1999) found a significant role of education in augmentation of agricultural productivity. On the other hand, studies like Battese and Coelli (1995), Coelli et al. (2002), Deb (1995), Kalirajan and Shand (1985), Llewellyn and Williams (1996), Narayanamoorthy (2000), and Wadud and White (2000) did not find any significant impact of education on farm productivity and efficiency. Some studies (e.g., Hasnah and Coelli 2004) found even a significant negative impact of education on farm efficiency. Again, studies like Lockheed et al. (1980), Phillips (1994), and Tilak (1993) reported mixed results.Footnote 1

The possible reasons for the inconclusive empirical results of the impact of education on agricultural productivity arise mainly due to four issues—(i) how to quantify the variable “education”, (ii) whose education needs to be taken into account, (iii) where it matters, and (iv) whom it matters to? The former two issues are related to the construction of the variable “education” used in empirical models. The latter two issues are concerned with the importance of formal education in varying farm environments and also to different farmers in the same environment. The first two issues are discussed at length and breadth by Lockheed et al. (1980) and Phillips (1994). On the question of how should education be measured, many authors took years of schooling attained or completed (Asadullah and Rahman 2009; Asfaw and Admassie 2004; Chaudhri 1979; Hojo 2004; Jamison and Lau 1982; Narayanamoorthy 2000; Reimers and Klasen 2013; Rahman et al. 2012), but some authors used the dummy variable showing attainment of a threshold level of certain years of schooling (Hojo 2004; Huang and Luh 2009; Jamison and Moock 1984; Moock 1973).Footnote 2 Again, the number of grades attended was also taken in studies like Haller (1972) or sometimes a simple indicator of literacy (Sharma 1974). Coming to the question of “whose education matters” in agricultural development, we find different studies taking education of different persons like education of the head of the farming household, average education of the household, maximum education of any member of the household, and minimum level of education of any household member above 14 years of age.Footnote 3 These two issues are well taken up in many studies (see Alene and Manyong 2007; Asadullah and Rahman 2009; Hojo 2004) as they incorporated more than one measure of education in the empirical model that covers both household head’s education as well as the education level of other members. Again, in those studies, education is defined as years of schooling or a dummy variable showing a minimum threshold level.

The third important reason is ascribed to the wrong assumption of a homogeneous farming environment that all farmers operate in. Schultz (1975) argued that education plays a significant role in modernized farm environment rather than the traditional one. The ability to deal with the disequilibria caused by the adoption of modern technology is largely a function of farmer’s education. Thus, more educated farmers adjust better and quicker than the less educated or illiterate farmers (Ali and Byerlee 1991; Hojo 2004). However, most of the past studies assumed that farmers operate in a uniform farm environment. So, the effects of conventional and non-conventional inputs on farm productivity are independent of the type of farm environments (Appleton and Balihuta 1996; Jamison and Moock 1984; Moock 1981). This again leads to another issue (that is, the fourth concern) that even in the same farm environment, as argued by Alene and Manyong (2007), farmers are not exposed to a homogeneous technology. Some farmers are adopters of modern technology while others are not. In their study, they found a significant impact of farmer education on adoption decision of modern cowpea varieties and thereby on-farm productivity of adopters in Nigeria. Thus, as they argue “the failure to account for differences in technology available to farmers, even in the same farm environment, is likely to confound the true effects of education on agricultural productivity” (Alene and Manyong 2007, p.156). So, the empirical specifications and subsequent analyses without taking care of all these issues fully may provide incomprehensible and confounding results. Hence, many studies found insignificant or even negative impact of education on agricultural productivity.

Statement of the problem

There may have been previous researches in this subject. This work gives further explanations and analysis in the impact of agricultural education on livestock production

Objectives of the study
To understand the impact of agricultural education on livestock production
To understand the relationship between agricultural education and livestock production

Research questions
What is the impact of agricultural education on livestock production
What is the relationship between agricultural education and livestock production