Research Proposal Example

A properly written research proposal is crucial for major academic writing projects, such as research papers, journal papers, master’s theses, and dissertations. Proposals provide you with a roadmap to follow when completing your project.

What is a research proposal?

A research proposal is a document that provides a simplified and condensed summary of a planned project. It serves as a roadmap for the academic writer in terms of providing a layout for carrying out the project.It also provides a chance to let your supervisor know how you plan to conduct your research project.

A research proposal can be written for a range of academic projects including:

• Master’s thesis or PhD dissertation

• Research paper

• Grant project

• Research project

Since it is a condensed version of these projects, it usually has more or less the same sections or parts. Below we provide an example of a research proposal for a master's thesis.

Example of research proposal 

Abstract ‎

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Background: Agricultural bio-fortification programs promote the cultivation of ‎crop varieties that are naturally fortified with micronutrients, and they are widely ‎seen as a cost-effective method of solving the problem of micronutrient deficiency ‎or hidden hunger in developing countries. However, the sociological (political, ‎cultural, and economic) contexts of these programs are rarely examined. ‎

Objectives: In this research, we propose to study the factors that affect the success ‎of agriculture-based bio-fortification programs in The Gambia in relation to ‎biofortified sweet potato varieties. We plan to achieve the following objectives: 1) ‎determine the characteristics of the farmers most likely to adopt bio-fortified crops; ‎‎2) determine the policy approaches most effective in determining adoption; and 3) ‎determine how farmers benefit economically, if at all, from these programs. ‎

‎Methods: We plan to use a mixed methods approach to gather both qualitative and ‎quantitative data. Thirty extension officers and 200 Gambian extension officers ‎who participated in the study will be interviewed. Additionally, key individuals ‎responsible for formulating and overseeing the policy will also be interviewed.  ‎

Expected results: We expect that the results of this research will provide useful ‎information on 1) the farmer attitudes and  2) farmer characteristics that increase the ‎likelihood of participating in bio-fortification programs in The Gambia. We also ‎plan to determine 3) how these programs can be improved in terms of increased ‎adoption rates and enhancing the economic benefits derived by farmers. ‎

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Introduction ‎

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Agriculture-based bio-fortification has been promoted as a solution to the twin ‎problems of food insecurity and hidden hunger, which is prevalent throughout ‎subSaharan African countries, such as Gambia (Qaim, Stein, and Meenakshi 2007; ‎Bouis et al., 2011; Saltzman et al. 2013; Heise, 2018). Gambia within the past three ‎years has adopted and is in the process of implementing food fortification programs ‎for orange-fleshed sweet potato, cassava, and maize (Heise, 2018). In our research, ‎we propose to investigate the factors that motivate Gambian farmers to adopt or ‎participate in this strategy and how successful these strategies actually are.  ‎

In order for bio-fortification programs to be successful, proper evaluation of fruitful ‎or even failed programs need to be carried out in order to improve or learn about ‎what works or what is most effective. In this study, we seek to determine how ‎factors such as age, gender, education, and income influence the propensity of ‎farmers to adopt maize, cassava, and orange-fleshed sweet potato farming in regard ‎to Biofortification programs. In addition, we also hope to investigate how the ‎adoption of these bio-fortified staple crops have been incorporated in the current ‎farming technologies and strategies of Gambian farmers and how it affects them ‎socio-economically.  ‎

Background  ‎

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Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa continue to suffer from food insecurity and ‎hidden hunger. Food insecurity stems from the inability of a country to produce ‎enough food to satisfy local need or demand; hidden hunger refers to a situation ‎where individuals get access to food but suffer from nutrient deficiencies because ‎their food sources lack sufficient nutrition.  Biofortification has been introduced ‎throughout a number of African countries as a solution to these twin problems. ‎Biofortification refers to including missing nutrients in food products to make for ‎nutritional deficiencies that a country may suffer from. Examples of crops used for ‎biofortification programs in sub-Saharan Africa include maize, orange-fleshed ‎sweet potato, and corn; countries that have participated in these programs include ‎

Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013).

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Literature Review ‎

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Hidden hunger refers to micronutrient deficiencies. These are nutrients that are only ‎required in tiny amounts but which are nevertheless vital in fundamental bodily ‎functions and the maintenance of health. Deficiencies of these nutrients leads to all ‎sorts of health conditions, such as rickets (vitamin D deficiency), anemia (iron ‎deficiency), and blindness (vitamin A deficiency). Micronutrient malnutrition ‎affects two billion people worldwide and is commonly the result of low quality ‎diets that rely too heavily on staple foods, such as rice and maize, and where ‎consumption of foods rich in micronutrients, such as fruits and vegetables is ‎severely restricted (Alloway, 2008; Asare-Marfo et al., 2013). 

Common ‎micronutrient deficiencies include vitamin A, vitamin B, iron, and Zn (Baine et al., ‎‎2013). These conditions primarily affect pregnant and lactating women and ‎children. In the particular case of the Gambia, hidden hunger has been a ‎longstanding issue (Powers & Bates, 1987). Even today, a quarter of children under ‎five and three quarters of women of child-bearing age suffer from malnourishment ‎and anemia (Heise, 2018). The government of Gambia recognizing the severity of ‎problems has undertaken a number of programs to solve it. ‎

Bio-fortification has been widely accepted as solution to hidden hunger (Paarlberg, ‎‎2012). Bio-fortification refers to the process of breeding and delivering staple food ‎crops with higher micronutrient levels. The crops chosen for bio-fortification are ‎often bio-fortified varieties of crops that already serve as staples in the target ‎country (Qaim, Stein, & Meenakshi 2007; Bouis et al. 2011; Saltzman et al. 2013). ‎Bio-fortified crops are recognized as an efficient and cost effective solution to the ‎problem of hidden hunger, and a number of studies has demonstrated its ‎effectiveness in that regard (Stein et al. 2007, 2008; Meenakshi et al. 2010; de Steur ‎et al. 2012). As a result, a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa have ‎undertaken biofortification programs via agriculture; they include countries such as ‎Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia; the target nutrients include ‎vitamin A, iron, and zinc; and the crops targeted include sweet potato, pearl millet, ‎cassava, beans, maize, rice, and wheat (Asare-Marfo et al., 2013).  ‎

A number of studies have shown that bio-fortification actually works in reducing ‎micro-nutrient deficiencies (Bouis & Saltzman, 2017); however, there are relatively ‎few studies that examine the social, cultural, political and economic characteristics ‎that influence the success of these programs. Our study provides an opportunity to ‎properly understand the sociological context within which these programs operate. ‎By doing so, we hope to determine what factors in terms of policy or farmer ‎characteristics are most likely to make biofortification programs successful and ‎how these policies can be modified to make sure farmers benefit economically as ‎well.  ‎

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Aims and Objectives ‎

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The overreaching Aims of this research include the following: ‎

1. ‎To reduce hidden hunger in Gambia using fortified purple sweet potato ‎variety ‎

2. ‎To help improve food security in Gambia using fortified purple sweet potato ‎variety  ‎

3. ‎Improve the economic well-being of smallholder farmers in Gambia  ‎

Our objectives used to determine the aims for this research include the following:

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1. ‎Determine the factors that influence the adoption of sweet potato farming in ‎

2. Gambia ‎

3. ‎Determine how farmers adopt sweet potato farming into subsistence farming ‎strategies ‎

4. ‎Determine how sweet potato farming contributes to farmers’ economic ‎wellbeing. ‎

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Research Design and Methods ‎

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To carry out our study, we will collect data from a total of 200 Gambian farmer ‎throughout the country who have participated in this program. The farmers will be ‎separated into two groups: one group that participated in the sweet potato ‎Biofortification program and one group that did not participate in the program. 

The ‎investigation will be carried out between March and November of 2020. The ‎farmers will be interviewed and made to fill in questionnaires. Information such as ‎demographic data about age, gender (or number of women in the household), ‎income, etc. will be collected. In addition, we plan to collect data about such factors ‎as the effect of government policy on and access to information on decision-making.  ‎

Our methods will seek to determine the following two hypotheses:  

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‎H1: Farmers' demographic characteristics influence their propensity to ‎participate in the sweet potato biofortification programs  ‎

‎H2: Government policy influences farmers’ propensity to participate in sweet ‎potato biofortification program ‎

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We also plan to interview key players such as policymakers, extension agents, ‎sellers, and consumers of sweet potatoes.  From interviews with these key players, ‎we hope to determine what specific or peculiar issues and challenges they are faced ‎with in their interaction of farmers who grow this particular variety of sweet ‎potatoes. 

After all the data has been collected, analyses will be carried out to test ‎hypotheses and determine relationships between variables. Software such as SPSS ‎will be used to discover significant relationships through regression analyses and ‎other methods. However, in regards to interviews with key players, we plan to carry ‎out a quantitative analysis of the issues that stakeholders believe are the most ‎important.  ‎

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Conclusion ‎

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Food security and hidden hunger remain crucial challenges throughout subSaharan ‎Africa. Gambia, like many other sub-Saharan African countries before it, has ‎recently decided to address this issue using biofortified sweet potatoes. 

Our ‎research aims to provide information on the factors most likely to cause famers to ‎adopt sweet potato for Biofortification purposes and what policies actually work in ‎successfully implementing these strategies. This research will contribute positively ‎in providing a scientific basis upon which to adopt more effective strategies to ‎solve challenges of hidden hunger and food insecurity.  ‎

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References  ‎

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1. Alloway, B. J. (Ed.). (2008). Micronutrient deficiencies in global crop production. ‎Springer Science & Business Media. ‎

2. Asare-Marfo, D., Birol, E., Gonzalez, C., Moursi, M., Perez, S., Schwarz, J., & ‎Zeller, M. (2013). Prioritizing countries for biofortification Interventions ‎using country-level data. International Food Policy Research Institute ‎‎(IFPRI). ‎

3. Bain, L. E., Awah, P. K., Geraldine, N., Kindong, N. P., Siga, Y., Bernard, N., & ‎Tanjeko, A. T. (2013). Malnutrition in Sub–Saharan Africa: burden, causes ‎and prospects. Pan African Medical Journal, 15(1). ‎

4. Bouis, H. E., Hotz, C., McClafferty, B., Meenakshi, J. V., & Pfeiffer, W. H. ‎‎(2011). Biofortification: a new tool to reduce micronutrient malnutrition. ‎Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 32(1_suppl1), S31-S40. ‎

5. Bouis, H. E., & Saltzman, A. (2017). Improving nutrition through biofortification: ‎a review of evidence from HarvestPlus, 2003 through 2016. Global Food ‎Security, 12, 49-58. ‎

6. De Steur, H., Gellynck, X., Blancquaert, D., Lambert, W., Van Der Straeten, D., & ‎Qaim, M. (2012). Potential impact and cost-effectiveness of multibiofortified ‎rice in China. New Biotechnology, 29(3), 432-442. ‎

7. Heise, S. (2018). Improving Food Security and Nutrition in the Gambia through ‎Food Fortification. FAO Newsletter, [online] (2), pp.1-4. Available at: ‎http://www.fao.org/3/ca1461en/CA1461EN.pdf [Accessed 20 Jan. 2019]. ‎

8. Meenakshi, J. V., Johnson, N. L., Manyong, V. M., DeGroote, H., Javelosa, J., ‎Yanggen, D. R., ... & Meng, E. (2010). How cost-effective is biofortification ‎in combating micronutrient malnutrition? An ex ante assessment. World ‎Development, 38(1), 64-75. ‎

9. Paarlberg, R. (2012). Impact Assessment: IFPRI 2020 conference" Leveraging ‎Agriculture for Improving Nutrition and Health" (Vol. 34). Intl Food Policy ‎Res Inst.

10. Powers, H. J., & Bates, C. J. (1987). Micronutrient deficiencies in the aetiology of ‎anaemia in a rural area in The Gambia. Transactions of the Royal Society of ‎Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 81(3), 421-425. ‎

11. Qaim, M., Stein, A. J., & Meenakshi, J. V. (2007). Economics of biofortification. ‎Agricultural Economics, 37, 119-133. ‎

12. Saltzman, A., Birol, E., Bouis, H. E., Boy, E., De Moura, F. F., Islam, Y., & Pfeiffer, ‎W. H. (2013). Biofortification: progress toward a more nourishing future. ‎Global Food Security, 2(1), 9-17. ‎

13. Stein, A. J., Meenakshi, J. V., Qaim, M., Nestel, P., Sachdev, H. P. S., & Bhutta, Z. ‎A. (2005). Analyzing the Health Benefits of Biofortified Staple Crops by ‎Means of the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach: A Handbook ‎Focusing on Iron, Zinc and Vitamin A. ‎

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Cite this EminentEdit article

Antoine, M. (2024, November 12). Research Proposal Example. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/research-proposal-example