Query: devolution and agriculture

title: Devolution aspects of Brexit and agriculture
abstract: A submission requested by the House of Lords European Union Committee for its enquiry into Brexit and Agriculture

title: Finally Free to Green Agriculture Policy? UK post Brexit Policy Developments in the Shadow of the CAP and Devolution

title: 12. "Innovative Solutions to Modern Agriculture" Capitalist Farming, Global Competition, and the Devolution of the U.S. Rice Industry

title: Chapter 9. Devolution in Pakistan: Implications for Agriculture and Rural Development

title: Devolution and Post Brexit Trade Agreements: Towards a Joint Trade Policy Committee?
abstract: In October 2017 when presenting the Policy Paper, Preparing for our Future UK Trade Policy, the Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox, recognised that for the first time since the 1970s, the United Kingdom (UK) would have its own independent trade policy.1 Since the last time the UK had an independent trade policy, there have been notable constitutional changes within the UK, notably the creation of devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All parts of the UK will be differently affected by the decision to leave the European Union (EU) (i.e. Brexit) after 29 March 2019, particularly by the creation of an independent trade policy. As a member of the EU customs union and of the single market, the UK does not at present have an independent trade policy. Instead, trade policy is "largely determined by the EU"2, a position that will change upon the UK's departure from the EU. While trade is a reserved matter, areas of devolved competence such as agriculture will need to be taken account of in any future UK trade policy. The devolved administrations will require to be involved in what Dr Fox identified as "a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a stronger, fairer and more prosperous United Kingdom that is more open and outward looking than ever before."3 Indeed, the Policy Paper mentioned above further recognised that, "(t)he devolved administrations will have a direct interest in our future trade agreements,"4 with this recognition accompanied by a commitment, "to seek the input of the devolved administrations to ensure they influence the UK's future trade policy, recognising the role they will have in developing and delivering it."5 In this present paper, we critically review the UK government's current approach to involving the devolved administrations in post Brexit trade policy development. We demonstrate that there is a significant lack of clarity on the future role of the devolved administrations in the development of trade policy. The Scottish government is particularly concerned in this respect given that its extensive devolution settlement includes areas with significant trade dimensions such as agriculture, fisheries and environmental policy. We argue that greater clarity on such involvement is very much needed and in response, propose the creation of a Trade Policy Committee through an amendment to the Trade Bill.

title: Understanding the Influence and Effects of Devolution on Agricultural Development: A Case Study of Garissa County, Kenya
abstract: The Agriculture sector in Kenya is as important as the country. Much of the agricultural function was transferred to the devolved units when the new constitution was passed by Kenyans and promulgated. The question many are asking is, have county governments initiated strategies in place to improve food security and ultimately contribute to the economy. Agriculture is the major contributor of our economy today. Kenya needs to be a self sufficient country and feed its people. County governments have a huge role in ensuring this objective achieved. Based on this, a research title is proposed "Understanding the influence and effects of devolution on agricultural development: A case study of Garissa county, Kenya" The research seeks to clarify to the public and the other stakeholders concerned if actually devolved units have done anything to improve the agricultural sector since its inception. Have county governments put clear, achievable and practical strategies for this sector to grow and how best can counties improve this important sector. The research findings will be very helpful to those who are involve in the agricultural sector, directly or indirectly. The research objectives are; to compare performance of agriculture before and after devolution, to evaluate the achievements of devolution in the agricultural sector, to analyse the challenges faced by county governments in developing this sector, to examine the perception of the public on the best strategies to improve agriculture in Kenya and to give synthesised recommendations to all stakeholders. The research was conducted within Garissa County, four out of the six sub counties. A total of 310 respondents were engaged ranging from farmers, the general public and the staff of the county government The research found out that there is a gap in the sector that needs attention. Agricultural production, although remained steadfast over the years, has been in deplorable situation. The research findings is helpful to all stakeholders both levels of governments, farmers, the public and non state actors. The research commends that the County governments should use bottom up approach strategy when making critical decision affecting the department. This will aid them obtain raw and unbiased information for action. The department of agriculture experts should be deployed to all sub counties (at the grassroots) 95 percent of these staff stay at county headquarters doing nothing. Their presence at the villages, farms will come in handy or the farmers. People with experience and experts should be employed to spearhead this exercise. Routine visits should be made to the farming areas.

title: The Effect of Devolution of Agricultural Sector on the Citizens' Livelihoods in Wajir County
abstract: Devolution of government functions is one of the key moves introduced by the government, to enhance its service delivery and promote self governance at County level. At a glance, devolution has come with both benefits and downsides, which are unique to the service/function that has been devolved. Agriculture was previously a function of the National government, under the Ministry of Agriculture. It is currently a devolved ministry, no longer under the sole control of the National government. Same as other devolved functions, it was expected that devolving the ministry of Agriculture would lead to better agricultural production at county level. Devolution Agricultural functions was expected to enhance agricultural production in the counties. The study thus sought to establish the effect of devolution of the agricultural sector on the livelihoods in Wajir County. This study was guided by the following objectives; to establish the effects of devolution of agricultural sector on the empowerment of small scale farmers, to determine the effects of devolution of agricultural sector on incomes of households and to examine the effects of devolution of agricultural sector on food security of households in Wajir County. The study is hinged on the Sustainable Livelihood Approach. The study adopted a descriptive survey that helped in determining and reports the way things are and attempts to describe such things as possible behavior, attitudes, values, and characteristics. The study targeted5273 small scale farmers and agricultural officers across all Wajir sub counties. The study sampled 372 farmers from all the Sub Counties in Wajir. Therefore, 372 farmers and 6 agricultural officers were used making a total sample size of 378 respondents. The researcher purposively selected six agricultural officers one from each sub county. In identifying the farmers from each sub county, the study used simple random sampling. The study will adopt both qualitative and quantitative data. The study used questionnaires for collecting data from 372 farmers, which will be constructed based on the research objectives. The questionnaires were administered using drop and pick method; this provided farmers with enough time to answer the questions. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, percentages and standard deviation. The study used Chi Square to establish the relationship between the variables. The study findings indicated that the effect of devolution of agricultural activities in Wajir County has significantly affected the level of food security, sources of income and empowerment among the households in the county. Due to devolution of the agricultural activities, the county government now provides extension services, funds, inputs such as fertilizers and credits for agricultural activities and that has led to an increase in food production which has greatly improved food security and enhanced income generation. The small scale farmers no longer rely on livestock farming but also crop farming. Since the study findings present a significant effect of devolution of the agricultural activities to the county level in Wajir, it recommends that the county government should invest more in some of the agricultural activities such as access to agricultural services like Plough and tractor, Borehole and dam for irrigation, Extension services, Livestock vaccination and Disease surveillance, control, and awareness. There should also be an increase in the provision of services such as the provision of farm inputs and marketing of farm products on behalf of farmers in order to encourage more participation in agriculture by the households. In so doing, the small scale farmers in Wajir County will be more empowered, their income will improve and food security will also be enhanced.

title: The devolution revolution: Implications for agricultural service delivery in Ghana:
abstract: In 2009, Ghana began pursuing the devolution of functions and responsibilities from the central government to the country's 216 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) Agriculture was among one of the first sectors to be devolved, a process that became effective in 2012. This paper analyzes how this transition has proceeded, with a focus on the implications for agricultural civil servants within the MMDAs, accountability to citizens, and agricultural expenditures. Empirically, the paper draws on a survey of 960 rural households, 80 District Directors of Agriculture (DDAs) district level budget data from 2012 to 2016, and semi structured interviews with a range of national and local government stakeholders. The findings show a number of positive benefits of the transition for DDAs, including more opportunities for employment mobility and the chance to engage more with local citizens in designing agricultural projects. Yet, financial constraints are the main complaint, with low and uncertain funding a common hindrance to delivering services and adequately staffing offices. Budget data reveals that the share of funding budgeted for agriculture has changed only marginally since 2012 while agricultural expenditures in absolute terms and as a proportion of agricultural households has declined, even in comparison to other devolved sectors. Political incentives may be partially responsible for these trends in budgeting as elected Assembly members tend to prioritize other sectors with more visible outcomes. Citizens are influenced by these dynamics, with those who have access to agricultural goods and services being significantly more likely to claim that they are satisfied with the agricultural devolution process.

title: What are the impacts of devolution on agricultural civil servants and services in Ghana
abstract: In 2009, Ghana passed Local Government Instrument 1961 (LI 1961) to devolve a set of functions from the central government to the countryaEUR(tm)s 216 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDA) Agriculture, along with public works and social welfare, was among the first sectors to be devolved. This transfer was formally institutionalized in 2012. In addition, LI 1961 stipulated that the staff of the MMDA departments were to be transferred from the national civil service to a newly created Local Government Services (LGS) A composite budget system also was introduced, which integrated the budgets of all departments of the MMDAs into the overall budget for the MMDA.

title: Comparison of Biodynamic and Organic Agriculture
abstract: Modern agricultural applications contain various biologic physical and chemical process steps to maximize the durability and fertility of the products. Because of the apprehensions that come out as a result of increase in usage of chemical input in these processes, some alternative concepts have been come to exist for modern agricultural applications. Even these approaches match with traditional applications, they differ by their some outstanding features. By the help of industrial devolution in 18TH century, the increasing popularity and global warming caused the people to notice the ecologic deformation on the earth and accordingly saving the ecology and the earth became one of the main topics of current issues. The biodynamic agriculture system is founded in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (philosopher) and E. Pfeiffer (agronomist) and built on an anthropologic theory that based on human nature universe concept. Biodynamic agriculture is familiar with organic agriculture. Mainly both of them are originated by oppositional perspective on using chemical input (manure, pesticide, herbicide, hormone e.g. The main dissimilitude of biodynamic agriculture with organic apart from philosophical and historical aspects is, using the biodynamic preparations includes some minerals or specific herbs those are fermented with animal organs. In this review study, the differences between organic and biodynamic agriculture are analysed by emphasizing the main advantages of biodynamic agriculture.