Regina Birner
Biographic Data
| ID | 175948 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Regina Birner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Regina |
| FAMILY NAME | Birner |
| SIGNATURE | BIRNER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Hohenheim |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4978-952X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 114 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 39 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
“What is the essence of cultivating a crop that does not yield enough to feed my family?” Farmer agency and the management of agrobiodiversity in Ghana and Burkina Faso
The preservation of agrobiodiversity is widely regarded as a cornerstone of sustainable agri-food systems, yet dominant narratives often portray crop diversity in smallholder farming as declining under pressures of intensification and market integration. Less attention has been given to how farmers themselves perceive, manage, and actively shape agrobiodiversity over time. Drawing on political ecology and farmer-agency perspectives within a broad…
“We are just like ploughing bulls”
Polygynous households constitute a significant share of agricultural producers in sub-Saharan Africa, which can influence productivity and food security through intrahousehold cooperation. Economic analyses often focus on the outcomes of cooperation while overlooking the diverse institutional mechanisms that shape it. This study aims to address this gap by analysing cooperation within polygynous households as a collective action problem using an …
Agri-tech startups in India
Non-traditional entrants innovate by recombining accumulated agricultural knowledge. • Institutional networks mediate access to public research and legitimacy. • Rural entrepreneurship increasingly operates through knowledge infrastructures. • Resource constraints are offset through network-enabled collaboration. • Agri-tech ventures reconfigure segments of agricultural value chains in India
Decoding conservation agriculture discourses in Zambia
Conservation Agriculture is globally promoted as a sustainable response to food insecurity and climate change, yet adoption in Zambia remains low despite decades of promotion. This study explores the discursive roots of this challenge, moving beyond economic and agronomic explanations. Using an integrated framework of discourse analysis and narrative policy analysis, and a hybrid purposive-random sampling, data were collected from 111 stakeholder…
Levelling the field
Information and communications technology has evolved significantly over the last seven decades, beginning with radio and video vans and culminating in the rise of smartphones and mobile internet in remote areas of the Global South. While ICT is an integral part of agricultural extension, little is known about how these changes have influenced agricultural extension practices. After a systematic review of 131 papers, we find that changes in ICT h…
Net-Map
Net-Map combines participatory action research and social network analysis with a sociological analysis of power relations. The tool helps to identify, visualize and discuss which actors are involved in a given network, how they are linked, what their goals and interests are, and how influential or powerful they are with regard to a specific outcome. The tool is well suited for facilitating interviews with, and discussions among, network actors t…
Unpacking the behavioral intentions of ‘emergent farmers’ towards mechanized conservation agriculture in Zambia
Entering the Digital Research Age
Agricultural studies mainly rely on quantitative research approaches. Despite growing interest in and uptake of qualitative, participatory, and visual methods due to their perceived advantages in gathering in-depth information and empowering participants, visual-digital research methods have yet to be largely applied. In our study on adaptation strategies to climate change among smallholder farmers in Uganda we compared different data collection …
Nutrition‐sensitive lockdowns
What do (future) civil servants think of bribery and corruption? Evidence from India
Agrarian change and land dispossession linked to the armed conflict in Colombia – a review
Violent conflict can accelerate the development of capitalism in rural areas, entailing the transformation of land distribution patterns. However, this transformation via land grabbing in wartime is under-addressed in the literature. This paper explores the case of land dispossession (LD) in Colombia, defined as land grabbing by taking advantage of the armed conflict, a process that affected mainly smallholders and ethnic communities. By conducti…
Food-security corridors
Forest conversion for farming remains an issue of scientific and societal concern due to its growing impacts on biodiversity and climate change. Therefore, scientists and policymakers emphasise the urgent need to find a balance between forest conservation and agriculture. Meanwhile, across tropical Africa, subsistence farmers account for nearly two-thirds of forest conversion to farms annually. These farmers’ perceptions and experiences about for…
Private companies' engagement in the labour market integration of refugees
Private companies of all sizes may engage in the integration of refugees into the labour market. Taking the case study of the highly industrialised German city of Stuttgart, this study explores the motivation of (a) private large‐scale international enterprises including (automotive and high‐tech companies) and (b) family‐owned small‐ to medium‐sized companies (private social enterprises, suppliers to the automotive industries, architecture, and …
Are emerging farmers the missing link for mechanised Conservation agriculture? Viewpoints from Zambia
Conservation agriculture’s (CA) potential to improve resilience to climate change, environmental degradation, and food insecurity across Africa is hampered by critical challenges, especially high labour requirements without mechanisation. Yet, whether medium-scale farmers owning 5–100 hectares of farmland and tractors can be the antidote for CA upscaling remains unclear. Based on insights from Zambia, the authors argue that medium-scale farmers c…
Nachhaltige Bioökonomie und gesellschaftliche Transformation
Die Bioökonomie soll zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung beitragen, zugleich werden Definitionen und Visionen von Anbeginn sehr kontrovers diskutiert. Eine nachhaltige Bioökonomie erfordert einen grundlegenden Wandel in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, dem die Konkurrenz zweier scheinbar unvereinbarer Paradigmen, einem technologisch-ökonomischen und einem sozial-ökologischen, entgegenstehen. Der Beitrag plädiert dafür, das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen beiden…
Gender relations in smallholder cattle production in Zambia
Customary power, farmer strategies and the dynamics of access to protected forestlands for farming
In the last decade, multiple scientists and policymakers have been promoting bioeconomy for decarbonisation and as a way to tackle the ongoing socio-ecological crises. An effective transition to the bioeconomy in developing countries, which are predominantly agrarian,depends partly on its amenability to existing land access regimes and how actors in such countries are able to manage competing claims and needs associated with land use for biomass …
Uber for tractors? Opportunities and challenges of digital tools for tractor hire in India and Nigeria
Digital tools hold great promise to promote agricultural transformation and benefit smallholder farmers in the developing world. One such tool is Uber for tractors, which aims to enable farmers to access tractor hire services in a way that is deemed similar to the Uber service for ride-hailing. While widely praised, Uber for tractors has not yet been rigorously analyzed. How does it work in practice? And what is its potential to reduce the transa…
Governance challenges of small-scale gold mining in Ghana
The artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) sector – commonly described as low-tech, labor-intensive mineral extraction and processing, in developing countries, is increasingly associated with the use of heavy earth moving machines and hazardous chemicals for ore extraction, which can have negative implications on agricultural land use and the environment. Moreover, land reclamation, or the lack thereof, associated with ASM is a rising concern. Despit…
Origin and transit migration of Afghans and Syrians to Germany
We use Process Net‐Maps to visualize the irregular migration patterns of refugees and identify influential actors/factors shaping their decisions. A qualitative case study was used that included 87 Afghan and Syrian refugees (52 individual in‐depth interviews and 35 participants in five focus group discussions) residing in Stuttgart, Germany. Results show a typical pattern for respondents to first migrate to a neighboring country, and then a mixt…
Impact of Ethiopia's productive safety net program on household food security and child nutrition
Safety nets are expanding in African countries as a policy instrument to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. Whether safety nets have improved household food security and child diet and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa has not been well documented. This paper takes the case of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) and provides evidence of the impact of safety nets on household food security and child nutritional outcomes. Prior studie…
Factors Influencing the Development of Rural Producer Organizations in Post-War Settings. The Case of Coffee Growers Associations in Southern Tolima, Colombia
Since civil wars hit rural areas intensely, Rural Producer Organizations (RPO) -as forms of long-term collective action or cooperation among small farmers- are considered essential for peacebuilding. However, the factors underpinning the formation and performance of RPO post-war are unclear. Based on a case study in the municipality of Planadas, Colombia, where the former communist guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army …
Livestock Diversification for Improved Resilience and Welfare Outcomes Under Climate Risks in Kenya
Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia
Digital tools may help to study socioeconomic aspects of agricultural development that are difficult to measure such as the effects of new policies and technologies on the intra-household allocation of time. As farm technologies target different crops and tasks, they can affect the time-use of men, women, boys, and girls differently. Development strategies that overlook such effects can have negative consequences for vulnerable household members.…
Stimulating smallholder dairy market and livestock feed improvements through local innovation platforms in the Himalayan foothills of India
Innovation platforms (IP) are increasingly used in agricultural development to address complex issues which require diverse actors to work jointly to identify constraints and implement solutions. Documenting outcomes associated with the use of IPs and identifying factors linked to positive results are important if performance is to be optimized. This study investigates changes in smallholder dairy production and marketing associated with the esta…
The Political Economy of Policies for Smallholder Agriculture
Donors and domestic policy makers
Can small farms benefit from big companies’ initiatives to promote mechanization in Africa? A case study from Zambia
After years of neglect, there is a renewed interest in agricultural mechanization in Africa. Since government initiatives to promote mechanization are confronted with major governance challenges, private-sector initiatives may offer a promising alternative. However, given limited scientific studies on such private-sector options such approaches are often viewed skeptically. One concern is that multi-national agribusiness companies take advantage …
Uber for tractors? Opportunities and challenges of digital tools for tractor hire in India and Nigeria
Digital tools hold great promise to promote agricultural transformation and benefit smallholder farmers in the developing world. One such tool is Uber for tractors, which aims to enable farmers to access tractor hire services in a way that is deemed similar to the Uber service for ride-hailing. While widely praised, Uber for tractors has not yet been rigorously analyzed. How does it work in practice? And what is its potential to reduce the transa…
Governance challenges of small-scale gold mining in Ghana
The artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) sector – commonly described as low-tech, labor-intensive mineral extraction and processing, in developing countries, is increasingly associated with the use of heavy earth moving machines and hazardous chemicals for ore extraction, which can have negative implications on agricultural land use and the environment. Moreover, land reclamation, or the lack thereof, associated with ASM is a rising concern. Despit…
Origin and transit migration of Afghans and Syrians to Germany
We use Process Net‐Maps to visualize the irregular migration patterns of refugees and identify influential actors/factors shaping their decisions. A qualitative case study was used that included 87 Afghan and Syrian refugees (52 individual in‐depth interviews and 35 participants in five focus group discussions) residing in Stuttgart, Germany. Results show a typical pattern for respondents to first migrate to a neighboring country, and then a mixt…
Who has the better story? On the narrative foundations of agricultural development dichotomies
While there is consensus on the need to promote agricultural development in Africa to achieve food security and use agriculture as an engine of growth, there is a lively policy debate on appropriate policies to achieve this goal. In the past two decades, there has been a revival of policies that favor government support to agriculture in Africa, especially in the form of input subsidies. Such policies have remained highly controversial, reflectin…
Better public sector governance through partnership with the private sector and civil society
Improving public sector governance is an important challenge for developing countries. Taking the case of Guatemala’s forest administration, the Instituto Nacional de Bosque (INAB), as an example, this article analyses an innovative option for public sector reform: the delegation of authority to an independent agency that is jointly managed by professionals from the public sector, the private sector and civil society. The article develops an anal…
Private companies' engagement in the labour market integration of refugees
Private companies of all sizes may engage in the integration of refugees into the labour market. Taking the case study of the highly industrialised German city of Stuttgart, this study explores the motivation of (a) private large‐scale international enterprises including (automotive and high‐tech companies) and (b) family‐owned small‐ to medium‐sized companies (private social enterprises, suppliers to the automotive industries, architecture, and …
Food-security corridors
Forest conversion for farming remains an issue of scientific and societal concern due to its growing impacts on biodiversity and climate change. Therefore, scientists and policymakers emphasise the urgent need to find a balance between forest conservation and agriculture. Meanwhile, across tropical Africa, subsistence farmers account for nearly two-thirds of forest conversion to farms annually. These farmers’ perceptions and experiences about for…
Times Have Changed
One challenge of collecting socioeconomic data, such as data on time-use, is recall biases. While time-use researchers have continuously developed new methods to make data collection more accurate and easy, these methods are difficult to use in developing countries, where study participants may have low literacy levels and no clock-based concepts of time. To contribute to the closing of this research gap, we developed a picture-based smartphone a…
Customary power, farmer strategies and the dynamics of access to protected forestlands for farming
In the last decade, multiple scientists and policymakers have been promoting bioeconomy for decarbonisation and as a way to tackle the ongoing socio-ecological crises. An effective transition to the bioeconomy in developing countries, which are predominantly agrarian,depends partly on its amenability to existing land access regimes and how actors in such countries are able to manage competing claims and needs associated with land use for biomass …
Factors Influencing the Development of Rural Producer Organizations in Post-War Settings. The Case of Coffee Growers Associations in Southern Tolima, Colombia
Since civil wars hit rural areas intensely, Rural Producer Organizations (RPO) -as forms of long-term collective action or cooperation among small farmers- are considered essential for peacebuilding. However, the factors underpinning the formation and performance of RPO post-war are unclear. Based on a case study in the municipality of Planadas, Colombia, where the former communist guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army …
Livestock Diversification for Improved Resilience and Welfare Outcomes Under Climate Risks in Kenya
Stimulating smallholder dairy market and livestock feed improvements through local innovation platforms in the Himalayan foothills of India
Innovation platforms (IP) are increasingly used in agricultural development to address complex issues which require diverse actors to work jointly to identify constraints and implement solutions. Documenting outcomes associated with the use of IPs and identifying factors linked to positive results are important if performance is to be optimized. This study investigates changes in smallholder dairy production and marketing associated with the esta…
Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin
An understanding of factors influencing the decision of rural people to keep sheep and/or goats is crucial when formulating technologies and policies that support village-based small ruminant production. The knowledge of such factors will also improve assessment of impact intervention strategies on the livelihoods of rural people. Structured questionnaires administered in 228 households were used to study the ownership patterns of small ruminants…
Emergence, Adoption, and Implementation of Collaborative Wildlife Management or Wildlife Partnerships in Kenya
This article explores the factors that contribute to the emergence and adoption of wildlife partnerships in Kenya. This is a management approach based on the concept of collaborative management (comanagement). In addition, the article analyzes two case studies and examines how successful the implementation of partnership projects has been in terms of stewardship, distributional aspects, and fulfilling conservation interests. The key factors found…
Creating political capital to promote devolution in the forestry sector—a case study of the forest communities in Banyumas district, Central Java, Indonesia
Entering the Digital Research Age
Agricultural studies mainly rely on quantitative research approaches. Despite growing interest in and uptake of qualitative, participatory, and visual methods due to their perceived advantages in gathering in-depth information and empowering participants, visual-digital research methods have yet to be largely applied. In our study on adaptation strategies to climate change among smallholder farmers in Uganda we compared different data collection …
Are emerging farmers the missing link for mechanised Conservation agriculture? Viewpoints from Zambia
Conservation agriculture’s (CA) potential to improve resilience to climate change, environmental degradation, and food insecurity across Africa is hampered by critical challenges, especially high labour requirements without mechanisation. Yet, whether medium-scale farmers owning 5–100 hectares of farmland and tractors can be the antidote for CA upscaling remains unclear. Based on insights from Zambia, the authors argue that medium-scale farmers c…
Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia
Digital tools may help to study socioeconomic aspects of agricultural development that are difficult to measure such as the effects of new policies and technologies on the intra-household allocation of time. As farm technologies target different crops and tasks, they can affect the time-use of men, women, boys, and girls differently. Development strategies that overlook such effects can have negative consequences for vulnerable household members.…
Can Grassroots Mobilization of the Poorest Reduce Corruption? A Tale of Governance Reforms and Struggle against Petty Corruption in Bihar, India
The rural poor in India have long experienced corruption, exclusion from welfare schemes and the denial of rights. Critical accounts of development policy and practice advocate the need for pro-poor governance reforms as well as effective mobilization of the poor for exercising their rights and entitlements. However, there is a dearth of empirical work which examines the following questions. What are the dynamics of such mobilization strategies i…
Relative importance and determinants of landowners’ transaction costs in collaborative wildlife management in Kenya
Creating political capital to promote devolution in the forestry sector—a case study of the forest communities in Banyumas district, Central Java, Indonesia
Strategic environmental assessments for genetically modified organisms
Genetically modified crops appear to provide a promising option in finding sustainable solutions to end global hunger and poverty, but strategic decisions need to be made on how to spend limited agricultural research funds. Potentially, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) may be used as part of an environmental management system to introduce mainstreaming of environmental considerations in the policy research and priority-setting process of …
Better public sector governance through partnership with the private sector and civil society
Improving public sector governance is an important challenge for developing countries. Taking the case of Guatemala’s forest administration, the Instituto Nacional de Bosque (INAB), as an example, this article analyses an innovative option for public sector reform: the delegation of authority to an independent agency that is jointly managed by professionals from the public sector, the private sector and civil society. The article develops an anal…
Emergence, Adoption, and Implementation of Collaborative Wildlife Management or Wildlife Partnerships in Kenya
This article explores the factors that contribute to the emergence and adoption of wildlife partnerships in Kenya. This is a management approach based on the concept of collaborative management (comanagement). In addition, the article analyzes two case studies and examines how successful the implementation of partnership projects has been in terms of stewardship, distributional aspects, and fulfilling conservation interests. The key factors found…
Socio-economic determinants of keeping goats and sheep by rural people in southern Benin
An understanding of factors influencing the decision of rural people to keep sheep and/or goats is crucial when formulating technologies and policies that support village-based small ruminant production. The knowledge of such factors will also improve assessment of impact intervention strategies on the livelihoods of rural people. Structured questionnaires administered in 228 households were used to study the ownership patterns of small ruminants…
The Political Economy of Policies for Smallholder Agriculture
Donors and domestic policy makers
Gender Differences in Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Participation in Group-based Approaches
Can Grassroots Mobilization of the Poorest Reduce Corruption? A Tale of Governance Reforms and Struggle against Petty Corruption in Bihar, India
The rural poor in India have long experienced corruption, exclusion from welfare schemes and the denial of rights. Critical accounts of development policy and practice advocate the need for pro-poor governance reforms as well as effective mobilization of the poor for exercising their rights and entitlements. However, there is a dearth of empirical work which examines the following questions. What are the dynamics of such mobilization strategies i…
Exploring Institutional Factors Influencing Equity in Two Payments for Ecosystem Service Schemes
Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are considered promising instruments for promoting conservation and addressing socio-economic goals, including equity. While several studies analyse how institutions enable the delivery of cost effective conservation, fewer studies focus on the role that informal institutions play in influencing equitable outcomes especially in Africa. Focussing on the role of formal and informal institutions, this article co…
Can small farms benefit from big companies’ initiatives to promote mechanization in Africa? A case study from Zambia
After years of neglect, there is a renewed interest in agricultural mechanization in Africa. Since government initiatives to promote mechanization are confronted with major governance challenges, private-sector initiatives may offer a promising alternative. However, given limited scientific studies on such private-sector options such approaches are often viewed skeptically. One concern is that multi-national agribusiness companies take advantage …
Times Have Changed
One challenge of collecting socioeconomic data, such as data on time-use, is recall biases. While time-use researchers have continuously developed new methods to make data collection more accurate and easy, these methods are difficult to use in developing countries, where study participants may have low literacy levels and no clock-based concepts of time. To contribute to the closing of this research gap, we developed a picture-based smartphone a…
Impact of Ethiopia's productive safety net program on household food security and child nutrition
Safety nets are expanding in African countries as a policy instrument to alleviate poverty and food insecurity. Whether safety nets have improved household food security and child diet and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa has not been well documented. This paper takes the case of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) and provides evidence of the impact of safety nets on household food security and child nutritional outcomes. Prior studie…
Factors Influencing the Development of Rural Producer Organizations in Post-War Settings. The Case of Coffee Growers Associations in Southern Tolima, Colombia
Since civil wars hit rural areas intensely, Rural Producer Organizations (RPO) -as forms of long-term collective action or cooperation among small farmers- are considered essential for peacebuilding. However, the factors underpinning the formation and performance of RPO post-war are unclear. Based on a case study in the municipality of Planadas, Colombia, where the former communist guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army …
Livestock Diversification for Improved Resilience and Welfare Outcomes Under Climate Risks in Kenya
Using smartphone app collected data to explore the link between mechanization and intra-household allocation of time in Zambia
Digital tools may help to study socioeconomic aspects of agricultural development that are difficult to measure such as the effects of new policies and technologies on the intra-household allocation of time. As farm technologies target different crops and tasks, they can affect the time-use of men, women, boys, and girls differently. Development strategies that overlook such effects can have negative consequences for vulnerable household members.…
Stimulating smallholder dairy market and livestock feed improvements through local innovation platforms in the Himalayan foothills of India
Innovation platforms (IP) are increasingly used in agricultural development to address complex issues which require diverse actors to work jointly to identify constraints and implement solutions. Documenting outcomes associated with the use of IPs and identifying factors linked to positive results are important if performance is to be optimized. This study investigates changes in smallholder dairy production and marketing associated with the esta…
Who has the better story? On the narrative foundations of agricultural development dichotomies
While there is consensus on the need to promote agricultural development in Africa to achieve food security and use agriculture as an engine of growth, there is a lively policy debate on appropriate policies to achieve this goal. In the past two decades, there has been a revival of policies that favor government support to agriculture in Africa, especially in the form of input subsidies. Such policies have remained highly controversial, reflectin…
Nachhaltige Bioökonomie und gesellschaftliche Transformation
Die Bioökonomie soll zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung beitragen, zugleich werden Definitionen und Visionen von Anbeginn sehr kontrovers diskutiert. Eine nachhaltige Bioökonomie erfordert einen grundlegenden Wandel in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, dem die Konkurrenz zweier scheinbar unvereinbarer Paradigmen, einem technologisch-ökonomischen und einem sozial-ökologischen, entgegenstehen. Der Beitrag plädiert dafür, das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen beiden…
Gender relations in smallholder cattle production in Zambia
Customary power, farmer strategies and the dynamics of access to protected forestlands for farming
In the last decade, multiple scientists and policymakers have been promoting bioeconomy for decarbonisation and as a way to tackle the ongoing socio-ecological crises. An effective transition to the bioeconomy in developing countries, which are predominantly agrarian,depends partly on its amenability to existing land access regimes and how actors in such countries are able to manage competing claims and needs associated with land use for biomass …
Uber for tractors? Opportunities and challenges of digital tools for tractor hire in India and Nigeria
Digital tools hold great promise to promote agricultural transformation and benefit smallholder farmers in the developing world. One such tool is Uber for tractors, which aims to enable farmers to access tractor hire services in a way that is deemed similar to the Uber service for ride-hailing. While widely praised, Uber for tractors has not yet been rigorously analyzed. How does it work in practice? And what is its potential to reduce the transa…
Governance challenges of small-scale gold mining in Ghana
The artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) sector – commonly described as low-tech, labor-intensive mineral extraction and processing, in developing countries, is increasingly associated with the use of heavy earth moving machines and hazardous chemicals for ore extraction, which can have negative implications on agricultural land use and the environment. Moreover, land reclamation, or the lack thereof, associated with ASM is a rising concern. Despit…
Origin and transit migration of Afghans and Syrians to Germany
We use Process Net‐Maps to visualize the irregular migration patterns of refugees and identify influential actors/factors shaping their decisions. A qualitative case study was used that included 87 Afghan and Syrian refugees (52 individual in‐depth interviews and 35 participants in five focus group discussions) residing in Stuttgart, Germany. Results show a typical pattern for respondents to first migrate to a neighboring country, and then a mixt…
Economics (29 works) · Business (23 works) · Agriculture (20 works) · Geography (20 works) · Political science (20 works) · Economic growth (18 works) · Agricultural Innovations and Practices (14 works) · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Politics (8 works)