Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T11:19:47.270Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF CEREAL, VEGETABLE AND GRAPE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN URBAN AND PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE OF KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2011

ZIKRULLAH SAFI ,
LUC HIPPOLYTE DOSSA  and
ANDREAS BUERKERT
ZIKRULLAH SAFI
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics
LUC HIPPOLYTE DOSSA
Affiliation:
Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
ANDREAS BUERKERT*
Affiliation:
Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics
*
Corresponding author: tropcrops@uni-kassel.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Little is known about the economics of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Kabul, Afghanistan. This study therefore aimed to investigate the profitability of 15 mixed cropping farms with a total of 42 farm plots that were selected from a survey of 100 households (HHs). The sample represented the three dominant farm types: cereal producers (15 plots), vegetable farmers (15 plots) and grape producers (12 plots). A cost-revenue analysis of all inputs and outputs (costs of tillage, seed where applicable, weeding, harvesting, casual labour, machinery use, pruning, pesticides and of revenue from produce sold) over two years showed major differences in net HH income. Differences were largely due to production type and crops grown and reflected differences in market prices for produce. Cereal production yielded a total bi-annual revenue of 9630 US$ ha−1, and a gross margin and a net profit of 8770 US$ ha−1. Vegetable farming gave an average bi-annual revenue of 27 900 US$ ha−1, a gross margin of 26 330 US$ ha−1 and a net profit of 25 530 US$ ha−1. Surprisingly, vineyards generated the lowest returns with a revenue of 5400 US$ ha−1, and a gross margin and a net profit of 4480 US$ ha−1. The results suggest that among the production systems studied vegetable cultivation was most profitable given its direct linkage to city market demands, rather stable prices and much shorter growing season than for cereals and grapes. In addition, the inflow of wheat and grapes from rural areas into the city negatively affects local producer revenues. If vineyards are to be maintained in the city surroundings, incentives such as subsidized credit may need to be made available to producers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 705 - 716
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abdu, N., Abdulkadir, A., Agbenin, J. and Buerkert, A. (2011). Vertical distribution of heavy metals in wastewater-irrigated vegetable garden soils of three West African cities. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. DOI: 10.1007/s10705-010-9403-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avila, C. J. and van Veenhuizen, R. (2002). The economics of urban agriculture. Municipality of Quito, Ecuador. Urban Agriculture Magazine 7:1–4.Google Scholar
Al Said, F. A., Zekri, S. and Khan, I. A. (2007). Profitability analysis of selected farms in the Batinah region of Oman. Agricultural and Marine Sciences 12:1–12.Google Scholar
Amoah, P., Drechsel, P. and Abaidoo, R. C. (2005). Irrigated urban vegetable production in Ghana: sources of pathogen contamination and health risk examination. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage 54:49–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (no date). Urban and peri-urban agriculture. Available online: http://www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/COag/cOAG15/X0076e.htm [Accessed 22 May 2011].Google Scholar
Gerstl, S., Cissé, C. and Tanner, M. (2002). The economic impact of urban agriculture on home gardeners in Ouagadougou. Urban Agriculture Magazine 7:12–15.Google Scholar
Grieser, J., Gommes, R. and Cofield, S. (2006). On the estimation of monthly precipitation fields in Afghanistan. The Agromet Group, SDRN. Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla I-00100 Rome, Italy.Google Scholar
Hassan, S., Tabasam, N. and Iqbal, J. (2005). An economic analysis of wheat farming in the mixed farming zone of Punjab Province, Pakistan. Journal of Agriculture and Social Sciences 2:167–171.Google Scholar
ICARDA (2003). Needs assessment on horticulture in Afghanistan. Future harvest consortium to rebuild agriculture in Afghanistan. Aleppo, Syria.Google Scholar
Keraita, B. and Drechsel, P. (2002.) Wastewater use in informal irrigation in urban and peri-urban areas of Kumasi, Ghana. Urban Agriculture Magazine 8:11–13.Google Scholar
Keraita, B., Konradsen, F., Drechsel, P. and Abaidoo, R. C. (2007). Reducing microbial contamination on wastewater-irrigated lettuce by cessation of irrigation before harvesting. Tropical Medicine and International Health 12:8–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MAAHF (2005). Agriculture Prospects Report. Management and Policy Unit. Kabul, Afghanistan. Available at: ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/af277e/af277e00.pdf [Accessed 22 May 2011].Google Scholar
Maiangwa, M. G. and Okpukpara, B. (2007). Agricultural land use patterns and their relative gross margins in the north-west zone of Nigeria. Global Journal of Social Sciences 6:1930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nguni, D. and Mwila, G. (2007). Opportunities for increased production, utilization and income generation from African leafy vegetables in Zambia. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development 7:1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nugent, R. A. (1999). Measuring the Sustainability of Urban Agriculture. In For Hunger-Proof Cities: Sustainable Urban Food Systems, 95–99. (Eds Koc, M., Macrae, R., Mougeot, L. and Webb, J.) Ottawa, ON: International Development Research Center.Google Scholar
Safi, Z., Predotova, M., Schlecht, E. and Buerkert, A. (2011). Horizontal matter fluxes and leaching losses in urban agriculture of Kabul, Afghanistan. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science (accepted).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Veenhuizen, R. and Danso, G. (2007). Profitability and sustainability of urban and peri-urban agriculture. FAO, Rome, Italy.Google Scholar