Kai Mausch
Biographic Data
| ID | 2574478 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kai Mausch |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kai |
| FAMILY NAME | Mausch |
| SIGNATURE | MAUSCH K |
| AFFILIATIONS | World Agroforestry Centre |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2962-7646 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 46 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Aspirations, ambitions and the adoption of diverse fruit trees – a case study of the livelihood effects in Kenya
Current food production systems all over the world face numerous challenges. Particularly smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa is in substantial need of sustainable solutions. Yet, the adoption of already existing sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry often remains low. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of smallholders’ decision-making processes for agroforestry adoption. Using the example of a CIFOR-ICRAF agrofor…
Linking innovations adoption with farm sustainability
We evaluate rainwater harvesting (RH) and fertilizer micro-dosing (FMD) impacts. • We assess combined RH-FMD on many dimensions of sustainability in Tanzania. • Food security can increase with combined RH-FMD in households in humid regions. • No effect found on food security in dry regions but a decrease in the economic pillar. • RH-FMD should be promoted in humid rather than dry regions of East Africa. Food insecurity and poverty are of major co…
Does Agricultural Commercialisation Increase Asset and Livestock Accumulation on Smallholder Farms in Ethiopia
The transition of farmers from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture is meant to reduce hunger, increase wellbeing and accelerate rural economic progress. While an impressive extant literature has analysed agricultural commercialisation effects on welfare from an income, expenditure and consumption perspective, authors place less attention on the implications on asset holdings, which is a more robust long-term measure of welfare. Using chick…
What are the links between tree‐based farming and dietary quality for rural households? A review of emerging evidence in low‐ and middle‐income countries
In most low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), conventional agricultural policy promotes specialized production systems of carbohydrate‐rich crops to address hunger and food insecurity. For rural populations, however, increased landscape uniformity can reduce both agrobiodiversity and wild biodiversity, which can contribute to diet uniformity. Although maintaining diversity in and around agricultural systems is far from a new approach, there i…
Hot topics in governance for forests and trees
We are living in a time of crisis on planet Earth. Urgent calls for transformational change are getting louder. Technical solutions have an important role to play in addressing pressing global challenges, but alone they are not enough. After all, who decides what kind of transformation is needed, of what, and for whom? What principles guide those decisions, and how are decision-makers held accountable? This commentary article argues that these go…
Women’s Changing Opportunities and Aspirations Amid Male Outmigration
In Makueni County, Kenya, an area experiencing intensifying migration flows, we investigate the aspired futures of rural men and women using a novel methodology combining a narrative-based survey tool, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Our findings indicate that, in the absence of men and presence of norms restricting women's movement out of rural life, women are becoming increasingly engaged in farm management. Women’s aspi…
Who Wants to Farm? Answers Depend on How You Ask
While there is a consensus that rural poverty has to be reduced, there are two opposing views on the role that agriculture can play in this regard: a “farm-based” and an “off-farm led” development paradigm where the respective other sector is merely a complementary income source during a transition period. The latter paradigm is supported by studies finding that rural youth in sub-Saharan Africa are not particularly interested in agriculture. How…
Not All About Farming
Rural development is a political topic in which debate has been more focussed on externally identified needs than on demands or aspirations of the rural population and polarised between the attractions of urban income earning opportunities and the importance of rural farming communities for national food provision. The heterogeneity of local aspirations and their implications for development have barely been considered. We explore the aspirations…
What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya
In the limited research on farming aspirations, little attention has been paid to the narratives which frame and shape them, and the ways in which the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the goals of extension services. Drawing on multimethod research conducted in Meru County, Kenya, we demonstrate how aspirations are not only situated within a consideration of personal circumstances, but are shaped in crucial ways by networks of relatio…
Rural Aspirations
In this editorial introduction to the Special Issue “Rural aspirations—Livelihood decisions and rural development trajectories”, we outline current views on aspirations and their relevance for development research, projects and approaches. Using several examples from Africa, we outline how the combination of the different theoretical perspectives, case studies and regional backgrounds provides deeper insights about the role of aspirations in shap…
A Planetary Health Perspective on Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa
Bridging the gap
Female plot managers in Sub-Saharan Africa often realize significantly lower crop yields than their male counterparts. Even for legumes, which are often referred to as 'women's crops', yields are significantly lower. This study investigated the underlying causes of this gender yield gap in groundnut production. The analysis is based on survey data from 228 farm households from two groundnut growing regions in Uganda. We used the Blinder-Oaxaca mo…
Welfare impacts of improved chickpea adoption
We analyse the impact of improved chickpea adoption on welfare in Ethiopia using three rounds of panel data. First, we estimate the determinants of improved chickpea adoption using a double hurdle model. We apply a control function approach with correlated random effects to control for possible endogeneity resulting from access to improved seed and technology transfer activities. To instrument for these variables we develop novel distance weighte…
Welfare impacts of improved chickpea adoption
We analyse the impact of improved chickpea adoption on welfare in Ethiopia using three rounds of panel data. First, we estimate the determinants of improved chickpea adoption using a double hurdle model. We apply a control function approach with correlated random effects to control for possible endogeneity resulting from access to improved seed and technology transfer activities. To instrument for these variables we develop novel distance weighte…
Hot topics in governance for forests and trees
We are living in a time of crisis on planet Earth. Urgent calls for transformational change are getting louder. Technical solutions have an important role to play in addressing pressing global challenges, but alone they are not enough. After all, who decides what kind of transformation is needed, of what, and for whom? What principles guide those decisions, and how are decision-makers held accountable? This commentary article argues that these go…
Who Wants to Farm? Answers Depend on How You Ask
While there is a consensus that rural poverty has to be reduced, there are two opposing views on the role that agriculture can play in this regard: a “farm-based” and an “off-farm led” development paradigm where the respective other sector is merely a complementary income source during a transition period. The latter paradigm is supported by studies finding that rural youth in sub-Saharan Africa are not particularly interested in agriculture. How…
What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya
In the limited research on farming aspirations, little attention has been paid to the narratives which frame and shape them, and the ways in which the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the goals of extension services. Drawing on multimethod research conducted in Meru County, Kenya, we demonstrate how aspirations are not only situated within a consideration of personal circumstances, but are shaped in crucial ways by networks of relatio…
Bridging the gap
Female plot managers in Sub-Saharan Africa often realize significantly lower crop yields than their male counterparts. Even for legumes, which are often referred to as 'women's crops', yields are significantly lower. This study investigated the underlying causes of this gender yield gap in groundnut production. The analysis is based on survey data from 228 farm households from two groundnut growing regions in Uganda. We used the Blinder-Oaxaca mo…
Rural Aspirations
In this editorial introduction to the Special Issue “Rural aspirations—Livelihood decisions and rural development trajectories”, we outline current views on aspirations and their relevance for development research, projects and approaches. Using several examples from Africa, we outline how the combination of the different theoretical perspectives, case studies and regional backgrounds provides deeper insights about the role of aspirations in shap…
Women’s Changing Opportunities and Aspirations Amid Male Outmigration
In Makueni County, Kenya, an area experiencing intensifying migration flows, we investigate the aspired futures of rural men and women using a novel methodology combining a narrative-based survey tool, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Our findings indicate that, in the absence of men and presence of norms restricting women's movement out of rural life, women are becoming increasingly engaged in farm management. Women’s aspi…
Not All About Farming
Rural development is a political topic in which debate has been more focussed on externally identified needs than on demands or aspirations of the rural population and polarised between the attractions of urban income earning opportunities and the importance of rural farming communities for national food provision. The heterogeneity of local aspirations and their implications for development have barely been considered. We explore the aspirations…
Welfare impacts of improved chickpea adoption
We analyse the impact of improved chickpea adoption on welfare in Ethiopia using three rounds of panel data. First, we estimate the determinants of improved chickpea adoption using a double hurdle model. We apply a control function approach with correlated random effects to control for possible endogeneity resulting from access to improved seed and technology transfer activities. To instrument for these variables we develop novel distance weighte…
A Planetary Health Perspective on Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa
Bridging the gap
Female plot managers in Sub-Saharan Africa often realize significantly lower crop yields than their male counterparts. Even for legumes, which are often referred to as 'women's crops', yields are significantly lower. This study investigated the underlying causes of this gender yield gap in groundnut production. The analysis is based on survey data from 228 farm households from two groundnut growing regions in Uganda. We used the Blinder-Oaxaca mo…
Hot topics in governance for forests and trees
We are living in a time of crisis on planet Earth. Urgent calls for transformational change are getting louder. Technical solutions have an important role to play in addressing pressing global challenges, but alone they are not enough. After all, who decides what kind of transformation is needed, of what, and for whom? What principles guide those decisions, and how are decision-makers held accountable? This commentary article argues that these go…
Women’s Changing Opportunities and Aspirations Amid Male Outmigration
In Makueni County, Kenya, an area experiencing intensifying migration flows, we investigate the aspired futures of rural men and women using a novel methodology combining a narrative-based survey tool, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Our findings indicate that, in the absence of men and presence of norms restricting women's movement out of rural life, women are becoming increasingly engaged in farm management. Women’s aspi…
Who Wants to Farm? Answers Depend on How You Ask
While there is a consensus that rural poverty has to be reduced, there are two opposing views on the role that agriculture can play in this regard: a “farm-based” and an “off-farm led” development paradigm where the respective other sector is merely a complementary income source during a transition period. The latter paradigm is supported by studies finding that rural youth in sub-Saharan Africa are not particularly interested in agriculture. How…
Not All About Farming
Rural development is a political topic in which debate has been more focussed on externally identified needs than on demands or aspirations of the rural population and polarised between the attractions of urban income earning opportunities and the importance of rural farming communities for national food provision. The heterogeneity of local aspirations and their implications for development have barely been considered. We explore the aspirations…
What’s the Story on Agriculture? Using Narratives to Understand Farming Households’ Aspirations in Meru, Kenya
In the limited research on farming aspirations, little attention has been paid to the narratives which frame and shape them, and the ways in which the aspirations of those who farm intersect with the goals of extension services. Drawing on multimethod research conducted in Meru County, Kenya, we demonstrate how aspirations are not only situated within a consideration of personal circumstances, but are shaped in crucial ways by networks of relatio…
Rural Aspirations
In this editorial introduction to the Special Issue “Rural aspirations—Livelihood decisions and rural development trajectories”, we outline current views on aspirations and their relevance for development research, projects and approaches. Using several examples from Africa, we outline how the combination of the different theoretical perspectives, case studies and regional backgrounds provides deeper insights about the role of aspirations in shap…
Does Agricultural Commercialisation Increase Asset and Livestock Accumulation on Smallholder Farms in Ethiopia
The transition of farmers from subsistence to market-oriented agriculture is meant to reduce hunger, increase wellbeing and accelerate rural economic progress. While an impressive extant literature has analysed agricultural commercialisation effects on welfare from an income, expenditure and consumption perspective, authors place less attention on the implications on asset holdings, which is a more robust long-term measure of welfare. Using chick…
What are the links between tree‐based farming and dietary quality for rural households? A review of emerging evidence in low‐ and middle‐income countries
In most low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), conventional agricultural policy promotes specialized production systems of carbohydrate‐rich crops to address hunger and food insecurity. For rural populations, however, increased landscape uniformity can reduce both agrobiodiversity and wild biodiversity, which can contribute to diet uniformity. Although maintaining diversity in and around agricultural systems is far from a new approach, there i…
Aspirations, ambitions and the adoption of diverse fruit trees – a case study of the livelihood effects in Kenya
Current food production systems all over the world face numerous challenges. Particularly smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa is in substantial need of sustainable solutions. Yet, the adoption of already existing sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry often remains low. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of smallholders’ decision-making processes for agroforestry adoption. Using the example of a CIFOR-ICRAF agrofor…
Linking innovations adoption with farm sustainability
We evaluate rainwater harvesting (RH) and fertilizer micro-dosing (FMD) impacts. • We assess combined RH-FMD on many dimensions of sustainability in Tanzania. • Food security can increase with combined RH-FMD in households in humid regions. • No effect found on food security in dry regions but a decrease in the economic pillar. • RH-FMD should be promoted in humid rather than dry regions of East Africa. Food insecurity and poverty are of major co…
Economics (12 works) · Agricultural Innovations and Practices (10 works) · Agriculture (10 works) · Geography (10 works) · Economic growth (7 works) · Business (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Agricultural economics (5 works) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (5 works)