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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2015‒01‒19
57 papers chosen by |
| By: | Hirvonen, Kalle; Hoddinott, John F. |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between pre-school children’s food consumption and household agricultural production. Using a large household survey from rural Ethiopia, we find that increasing household production diversity leads to considerable improvements in children’s diet diversity. However, we also document how this non-separability of consumption and production does not hold for households that have access to food markets. These findings imply that nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions that push for market-integration are likely to be more effective in reducing undernutrition than those promoting production diversity. |
| Keywords: | households, Nutrition, Children, Diet, Markets, food consumption, Agricultural policies, child dietary diversity, agricultural household model, count data, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:69&r=agr |
| By: | Houssou, Nazaire; Chapoto, Antony |
| Abstract: | This study assesses whether the recent public and private efforts to improve farmers’ access to mechanical power in Ghana have had the intended effects on the country’s agricultural sector. Using panel survey data, this paper analyses the drivers of farm mechanization and its net impacts on cropland expansion and farming system intensification in northern Ghana. Several factors explain the use and use intensity of agricultural mechanization, including landholding size, total labor and fertilizer use per hectare, chemical use, and amount of land left fallow. More importantly, the results suggest that farm mechanization did have a positive impact on cropland expansion during the survey period. The results presented here support the existence of a labor substitution effect resulting from tractor use. |
| Keywords: | mechanization, animal power, Intensification, Agricultural policies, Tractors, Draught animals, farmland, Land use, farm inputs, cropland expansion, draft animals, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1392&r=agr |
| By: | Morvarid Bagherzadeh; Mitsuhiro Inamura; Hyunchul Jeong |
| Abstract: | Reducing food losses and food waste is attracting growing public attention at the international, regional, and national levels, and is widely acknowledged to contribute to abating interlinked sustainability challenges such as food security, climate change, and water shortage. However, the pattern and scale of food waste throughout the supply chain remains poorly understood, despite growing media coverage and public concerns in recent years. This paper takes stock of available data on food waste and explores policies related to food waste in OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | agricultural losses, food loss, food waste, data, policy information, food waste reduction, municipal solid waste, grain storage, food value chain |
| JEL: | Q18 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:71-en&r=agr |
| By: | Zulauf, Carl; Orden, David |
| Abstract: | This paper summarizes the evolutionary trends in US farm policy that have culminated in the 2014 farm bill, describes the new farm bill programs in depth, and highlights the key policy issues that arise and will play out over its planned five-year duration. This new US farm bill eliminates fixed direct payments made to farmers since 1996. In place of those payments, the 2014 farm bill strengthens protections against downside price and revenue risks. Crop insurance is enhanced as a pillar of the US farm safety net. In addition, new programs are enacted to address two types of loss: shallow losses that coincide with the deductible on individual farm insurance and losses resulting from multiple years of low prices or declining revenue that are not covered by insurance. Because of the lack of consensus on the design of assistance programs for such risks, farmers are given choices among several program options. The strengthened safety net will result in less certain annual support payments to farmers, with spending that could prove lower or higher than had the 2014 farm bill not been enacted. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural policies, subsidies, World Trade Organization, conservation agriculture, crop insurance, Agricultural insurance, Agricultural Act of 2014, shallow losses, WTO agreement on agriculture, social protection, social safety nets, conservation programs, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1393&r=agr |
| By: | Kragt, Marit Ellen; Blackmore, Louise; Capon, Tim; Robinson, Cathy J.; Torabi, Nooshin; Wilson, Kerrie A. |
| Abstract: | In many environmental and conservation policy contexts, gaps are observed between policy objectives and implementation outcomes. Carbon farming policies are designed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but policy success depends on the participation of land managers and their adoption of alternative land management practices. We surveyed Western Australian farmers to gauge their knowledge of carbon farming, their current adoption of carbon farming practices, and identified the drivers and barriers to adoption. Drivers for adoption included knowledge and perception of co-benefits (for yield, productivity, and the environment); beliefs and attitudes about climate change and its causes. Key barriers to the adopting carbon farming practices included policy and political uncertainty, and on-farm characteristics. We conclude that, to increase participation, the productivity benefits of carbon farming practices must be actively promoted and practices must be easy to integrate into existing farming systems. |
| Keywords: | Land management, Policy adoption, Climate change mitigation, Farmer surveys, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q16, Q18, Q58, |
| Date: | 2014–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:195776&r=agr |
| By: | Nicolas Depetris-Chauvin; Guido Porto |
| Abstract: | We study the interplay between market structure and other domestic factors that affect the production and consumption decisions of agricultural families in Africa. We are interested in modeling the production allocation of factors of production to various cash and food crops and in how this allocation depends on competition along the supply chain and on the constraints faced by different types of farmers. The model describes the behavior of farms, exporters and importers in a simple partial equilibrium setting. In particular, we build three different versions of the model to deal with the three basic scenarios that we face in our empirical work. That is, we build a model to explore the case of cash crop production (mostly for exports). We then adapt this model to deal with the case of a country that is a net exporter of a food crop. Finally, we develop a different version of the model for the case of a country that is a net importer of a food crop. We study changes in market structure and in key parameters of the model that capture various household constraints and institutional access. We analyze the changes in real income of household caused by the hypothetical price changes of cash and food crops predicted by the models’ simulations in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. |
| Keywords: | Supply chains;Food crops;Cash crops;Market Structure |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2014-20&r=agr |
| By: | Andersen, Lykke E.; Breisinger, Clemens; Mason d'Croz, Daniel; Jemio, Luis Carlos; Ringler, Claudia; Robertson, Richard D.; Verner, Dorte; Wiebelt, Manfred |
| Abstract: | This report has been prepared in response to growing concerns about the impacts of climate change on Latin American economies, agriculture, and people. Findings suggest that because of the climate change impacts on agricultural production (yield change) and international food prices, unless proper mitigation measures are implemented, by 2050 Brazil and Mexico may face accumulated economic loses between US$ 272.7 billion and US$ 550.6 billion and between US$ 91.0 billion and US$ 194.7, respectively. Peru, with a different productive structure, may face both economic gain and loss (a gain of US$11.0 billion against a loss of US$ 43.3 billion). |
| Keywords: | Economics, Macroeconomics, Agriculture, Climate change, Food prices, Gender, Women, productivity, income, households, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1390&r=agr |
| By: | Van Campenhout, Bjorn |
| Abstract: | Human fertility is likely to affect agricultural production through its effect on the supply of agricultural labor. Using the fact that in traditional, patriarchal societies sons are often preferred to daughters, we isolated exogenous variation in the number of children born to a mother and related it to agricultural labor supply and production outcomes in Uganda—a country that combines a dominant agricultural sector with one of the highest fertility rates in the world. We found that fertility has a sizable negative effect on household labor allocation to subsistence agriculture. Households with lower fertility devote significantly more time to land preparation and weeding, while larger households grow less matooke and sweet potatoes. We found no significant effect on agricultural productivity as measured in terms of yield per land area. |
| Keywords: | Gender, households, Labor supply, Population growth, Sociology, fertility, instrumental variables, boy preference, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1406&r=agr |
| By: | Kishore, Avinash; Joshi, Pramod Kumar; Pandey, Divya |
| Abstract: | This study was undertaken to assess if various drought-proofing and drought-relief programs are effective in mitigating the impact of droughts on crop production and household consumption in rural Bihar, India. This study is relevant as Bihar has experienced four drought years since 2009. The drought in 2009 led to an increase in the number of poor people in the state from 2004-2005 to 2009-2010, in spite of rapid growth of gross domestic product in this period. The government of Bihar runs a number of drought-proofing and drought-relief programs to mitigate the impact of drought, but with little effect. The two largest social safety net programs-the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)-provide little relief to drought-affected families in rural Bihar. Additional subsidy on diesel to irrigate Kharif crops in drought-affected areas does not reach many farmers. Delays, uncertainties, and high transaction costs in its disbursal to farmers further reduce the subsidy’s effectiveness. Public tubewells and subsidy on private wells and pump-sets fail to provide wide-scale relief for the drought-stricken area. The results of our year-long study of 160 farmers with access to cheap irrigation from solar powered pump-sets in Bihar showed that these farmers grew paddy in all their land in Kharif in 2013, in spite of low rainfall. |
| Keywords: | Droughts, Water use, Climate change, rural areas, Irrigation, social safety nets, social protection, public tubewells, solar pumps, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee, Targeted Public Distribution System, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1398&r=agr |
| By: | DÃaz-Bonilla, Eugenio |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses potential solutions to the current impasse related to food security stocks, including a concrete proposal by the author on language to be included in the Agreement on Agriculture that may help comply with the mandate of the Bali Ministerial to find a solution in the next four years. The paper begins with an explanation of the background to the debate of the links between food security and WTO agricultural and trade negotiations and the interim solution (the peace clause) agreed upon at Bali. Then it discusses some economic issues that frame the discussion about food security stocks, noting the new context of higher (in nominal terms) and perhaps more volatile food prices, in part associated with expanding links among energy markets and food production, supply and prices, and greater weather variability associated with climate change. The paper analyzes potential approaches to solving the problems related to the use of public stocks for food security reasons and suggests specific language that may solve the current debate. The paper also notes the more complex political economy of the future negotiations, which, among other things, will require greater flexibility among WTO Member s and deeper awareness of the evolving negotiating landscape. |
| Keywords: | food security, trade, Trade negotiations, Developing countries, Food supply, Food reserves, World Trade Organization, Food aid, public food stocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1388&r=agr |
| By: | Tsiry ANDRIANAMPIARIVO |
| Abstract: | We discuss and test the relevance of the adaptation of the controversial sociological concept of “Middle Class” to African rural areas. We propose the concept of Moderate Prosperity and apply it to the Malagasy rural area, particularly in the Itasy region. This paper aims to emphasize the rural dynamics and to understand the ongoing socioeconomic changes in Madagascar as an agriculture-based country. Adopting a case study, we use detailed data on 510 households from the 2008 Itasy Observatory. We first define Moderate Prosperity households as being those in the top three quintiles of the income distribution. Then we classify the households thus identified using, simultaneously, the household head’s education level, the household’s income structure and its rice land tenure. We describe five different Moderate Prosperity clusters that reflect the agro-economic diversity of Itasy : (i) the large, vulnerable group of uneducated, non-farming and livestock farming households with formal land title, (ii) the traditional group of uneducated rice farmers with large holdings, (iii) the emerging group of skilled, polyculture farmers with traditional land ownership, (iv) the upper moderate group of educated non-agricultural workers and (v) the lower moderate cluster of skilled smallholders in independent and non-farm activities without any land tenure. |
| Keywords: | social stratification, middle class, moderate prosperity, rural Madagascar, farm households, clustering methods. |
| JEL: | C38 O55 P46 Q12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2014-20&r=agr |
| By: | Capitanio, Fabian; Adinolfi, Felice; Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano |
| Abstract: | The changing environment affects agriculture introducing sources of uncertainty. On the other hand, policies to cope with risks may have strong impacts on the environment. We evaluate the effects of public risk management programmes, such as subsidised crop insurance, fertilizer use and land allocation to crops. We implement a mathematical programming model of a representative wheat-tomato farm in Puglia, a southern Italy region. The results show that under the current crop insurance programmes, tomato productions are expected to expand and to require larger amount of fertilizer, whereas the opposite is true for wheat productions. Policy and environmental implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | uncertainty, risk, insurance, externalities, multifunctionality, environment |
| JEL: | C60 D81 Q51 R58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60971&r=agr |
| By: | Fofana, Ismaël; Goundan, Anatole; Magne Domgho, Léa Vicky |
| Abstract: | Rice is a strategic commodity for food security in West Africa. Its consumption has grown rapidly over time as a result of population growth, urbanization, and increasing purchasing power. Dependency on imported rice exposes the region to external shocks stemming from the global market. Given its economic and social importance, most countries in West Africa have developed a national strategy for rice development alongside their agricultural sector-wide policy. In addition, the Economic Community of West African States is actively supportive of national strategies under a regional offensive to boost rice production and meet the challenge of rice self-sufficiency in the region by 2025. Our analysis uses economic models to forecast rice consumption, and then simulates the economywide impacts of achieving rice self-sufficiency in West Africa. Results show that per capita consumption of rice is expected to increase from 44 to 53 kilograms on average between 2011 and 2025. |
| Keywords: | Rice, food consumption, Agricultural policies, Mathematical models, Imports, economic growth, Economic development, Food demand, self sufficiency, forecast, policy modeling, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1405&r=agr |
| By: | Fert Imre |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the agricultural transformation in ten Central and Eastern European countries between 1990 and 2010. We provide evidence that despite of diversity of farm structure, heterogeneous preconditions in agricultural policy and economic policy reforms these countries follow the Lewis path of structural transformation. Our results indicate that beyond to macroeconomic conditions and inter-sectoral linkages, micro-level factors especially farm structure play important role in agricultural development. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural transformation, Central-Eastern European countries, convergence |
| JEL: | Q12 P27 P32 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2014-9&r=agr |
| By: | James Mabli |
| Keywords: | SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food Security, Geographic Access |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2014–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:da75fa3a960c45b08490c8f145143086&r=agr |
| By: | Charlotte Cabili; Esa Eslami; Ronette Briefel |
| Abstract: | This paper describes TEFAP, which manages and distributes food to the local emergency food assistance system and allows for scaling up distribution to those who need TEFAP foods most—particularly millions of low-income Americans who are experiencing short- or longer-term food insecurity, or food shortages due to a disaster. |
| Keywords: | TEFAP, Emergency Food Assistance Program, Nutrition |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2013–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:0ab44a5553204796a9f2f0cc69c42c98&r=agr |
| By: | Olomola, Aderbigbe; Gyimah-Brempong, Kwabena |
| Abstract: | To this end, this study seeks to (1) examine the nature of risks facing small-scale farmer-borrowers in Nigeria, (2) analyze the demand for agricultural credit by farmers and highlight the key determinants of this demand, (3) ascertain the extent to which farmers are credit rationed and the factors influencing the emerging rationing scenarios, and (4) suggest policy measures to address the problem of agricultural credit rationing and enhance the demand for credit. The study employs primary data obtained from 1,200 small-scale farmers through a survey conducted in 2013 across the six geopolitical zones of the country. Methodologically, the study extends the analysis of credit rationing beyond quantity rationing and presents explicit econometric models for analyzing the determinants of three types of credit rationing: quantity rationing, risk rationing, and price rationing. |
| Keywords: | Finance, Credit, Markets, Investment policies, trade, Smallholders, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1403&r=agr |
| By: | Dasgupta, Susmita; Hossain, Md. Moqbul; Huq, Mainul; Wheeler, David |
| Abstract: | It is a virtual certainty that sea-level rise will continue throughout the century and beyond 2100 even if greenhouse gas emissions are stabilized in the near future. Understanding the economic impacts of salinity intrusion thus is essential for planning adaptation in low-lying coastal areas around the world. This paper presents a case study in Bangladesh on how climate change leads to the spread of soil salinity and the impact on agricultural production in the coastal region. The analysis is conducted in two stages. The first stage predicts future soil salinity for 69 subdistricts, taking into account climate-induced changes in river salinity, temperature, and rainfall by 2050. The second stage uses econometric analysis to predict the impact of climate-induced increases in soil salinity on the output and price of high-yielding-variety rice. The findings indicate output declines of 15.6 percent in nine subdistricts where soil salinity will exceed 4 deciSiemens per meter before 2050. Without newly developed coping strategies, the predicted changes will produce significant income declines from high-yielding-variety rice production in many areas, including a 10.5 percent loss in Barisal region and a 7.5 percent loss in Chittagong region. |
| Keywords: | Water Resources Assessment,Water Conservation,Hydro Power,Environmental Economics&Policies,Science of Climate Change |
| Date: | 2014–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7140&r=agr |
| By: | Ghebru, Hosaena; Holden, Stein |
| Abstract: | Although theory predicts that better property rights to land can increase land productivity through tenure security effects (investment effects) and through more efficient input use due to enhanced tradability of the land (factor intensity effect), empirical studies on the size and magnitude of these effects are very scarce. Taking advantage of a unique quasiexperimental survey design, this study analyzes the productivity impacts of the Ethiopian land certification program by identifying how the investment effects (technological gains) would measure up against the benefits from any improvements in input use intensity (technical efficiency). For this purpose, we adopted a data envelopment analysis–based Malmquist-type productivity index to decompose productivity differences into (1) within-group farm efficiency differences, reflecting the technical efficiency effect, and (2) differences in the group production frontier, reflecting the long-term investment (technological) effects. |
| Keywords: | Land use, Land rights, productivity, Land tenure, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:32&r=agr |
| By: | Breisinger, Clemens; Ecker, Olivier; Maystadt, Jean-François; Trinh Tan, Jean-François; Al-Riffai, Perrihan; Bouzar, Khalida; Sma, Abdelkarim; Abdelgadir, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | This Food Policy Report explains why there is a need to place even higher priority on food security-related policies and programs in conflict-prone countries, and offers insights for policymakers regarding how to do so. To understand the relationship between conflict and food security, this report builds a new conceptual framework of food security and applies it to four case studies on Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It argues that food security-related policies and programs build resilience to conflict insofar as they are expected not only to help countries and people cope with and recover from conflict but also to contribute to preventing conflicts and support economic development more broadly: by helping countries and people become even better off. |
| Keywords: | food security, Conflict, Economic development, Prices, Natural disasters, subsidies, Poverty, Climate change, Insurance, Governance, Institutions, Nutrition, malnutrition; EGYPT, YEMEN, SOMALIA, SUDAN, NORTH AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, ARAB COUNTRIES, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fprepo:9780896295667&r=agr |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul A.; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | The development debate in Africa south of the Sahara is often cast as “agriculture versus nonagriculture.†Yet this view overlooks the heterogeneity within these broad sectors and the synergies between them. We estimate sectoral poverty–growth elasticities using economywide models for five African countries. Our detailed treatment of nonagriculture complements an expanding literature disaggregating the growth–poverty relationship in agriculture. Although our estimated elasticities are higher for agriculture given the importance of farm incomes for the poor, the extent to which this is true varies by country. In fact, elasticities for certain nonagricultural sectors are much closer to those in agriculture. Overall, elasticities are typically higher for trade and transport services and manufacturing (agroprocessing). |
| Keywords: | economic growth, Agriculture, Agricultural policies, agricultural sector, Industrial sector, transportation, economic sectors, Poverty, income, poverty alleviation, economywide model, elasticity, nonagriculture, time allocation, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1391&r=agr |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policies Agriculture - Agricultural Research Rural Development Knowledge and Information Systems Finance and Financial Sector Development - Debt Markets Public Sector Expenditure Policy Environment Public Sector Development Rural Development |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:20798&r=agr |
| By: | Daniel A. Brent |
| Abstract: | The system of prior appropriation in the Western Unites States prioritizes property rights for water based on the establishment of beneficial use, creating a hierarchy where rights initiated first are more secure. I estimate the demand for security in water rights through their capitalization in agricultural property markets using spatially explicit water rights data in the Yakima River Basin, a major watershed in Washington State. The Yakima River watershed, like many Western watersheds, satisfies all water claims during an average year so the benefits of secure water rights stem from protection against water curtailment during drought years. Thus the relative value of secure property rights is a function of water supply volatility because the costs of droughts are predominantly born by those with weak rights. Bayesian model averaging and boundary discontinuity specifications of the hedonic price model indicate that the premium for more secure water rights is not statistically different from zero. |
| Keywords: | water rights; hedonic valuation; water volatility; agricultural economics, Bayesian model averaging, boundary discontinuity |
| JEL: | Q21 Q25 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2014-45&r=agr |
| By: | Olomola, Aderbigbe; Mogues, Tewodaj; Olofinbiyi, Tolulope; Nwoko, Chinedum; Udoh, Edet; Alabi, Reuben Adeolu; Onu, Justice; Woldeyohannes, Sileshi |
| Abstract: | The level of public spending on agriculture in Nigeria remains low regardless of the indicator used. Agricultural spending as a share of total federal spending averaged 4.6 percent between 2008 and 2012 and has been trending downward precipitously. In contrast, Nigeria recorded an annual average agricultural growth rate of more than 6 percent between 2003 and 2010, and agricultural gross domestic product followed an increasing trend between 2008 and 2012. Budgetary allocation to agriculture compared with other key sectors is also low despite the sector’s role in the fight against poverty, hunger, and unemployment and in the pursuit of economic development. Public investment has been stifled by the lopsided manner in which national revenue is being allocated among the three tiers of government that have responsibility for agricultural development. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, public expenditure, Agricultural policies, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1395&r=agr |
| By: | Vandercasteelen, Joachim; Dereje, Mekdim; Minten, Bart; Seyoum Taffesse, Alemayehu |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the perceptions, impacts, and rewards of farmers who adopted row planting for the production of teff as a result of being exposed to a technology promotion campaign for row planting of teff in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural research, Teff, productivity, yields, Labor, sowing methods, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:65&r=agr |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul A.; Childs, Abigail |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the recent experience with international rice reserves in Asia and re-examines the roles of national stocks and international trade in stabilizing domestic rice prices and availability in importing countries. |
| Keywords: | rice, Food prices, trade, food stocks, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1394&r=agr |
| By: | Yu, Bingxin; Chen, Kevin Z.; Zhang, Yumei; Zhang, Haisen |
| Abstract: | The Chinese economy has recently experienced a rapid and fundamental transformation, and the public expenditure on agriculture has also changed to reflect shifts in policy priorities. This paper reviewed public agricultural expenditure in a comprehensive way using detailed expenditure data at different administrative levels. The paper found that public expenditure for agriculture has increased steadily in China; however, the definition of agricultural spending might not precisely measure resources allocated to agricultural production. Some unique features of Chinese agricultural expenditure are identified, namely high decentralization and substantial intergovernmental transfer. The highly decentralized and hierarchical administrative system caused fragmentation in budget and implementation, resulting in rampant inefficiencies. Government expenditure also exhibits considerable regional disparity. This study recommends improving the fiscal system by rebalancing expenditure with revenues, prioritizing agricultural expenditure, and addressing regional disparities. |
| Keywords: | public expenditure, Agriculture, Agricultural policies, Agricultural development, Governance, Investment, decentralization, regional disparity, transfers, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1407&r=agr |
| By: | Kathryn Edin; Melody Boyd; James Mabli; Jim Ohls; Julie Worthington; Sara Greene; Nicholas Redel; Swetha Sridharan |
| Abstract: | This report presents findings from the qualitative In-Depth Interview component of the SNAP Food Security (SNAPFS) study. The main SNAPFS study was conducted for the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA from October 2011 through September 2012, and examined the effects of the program on food security for 6,436 SNAP households just entering the program and 3,275 households on SNAP for approximately six to seven months. |
| Keywords: | SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food Security, Nutrition |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2013–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:cad6b24b82bd4318b8459c8ef2cd0ff7&r=agr |
| By: | Gopakumar K.U. (Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning); V. Pandit (Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning) |
| Abstract: | Persistent increase in food prices and its impact on society and economy have been of prime concern for the government and its policy makers in India since 2005-06. Though these rates have eased to some extent in the recent months; with expected recovery of the economy and inherent supply bottle necks, the problem of inflation remains serious. This paper examines the price movements in rice and wheat, following structuralist principles emphasizing the necessity of long term solutions in combination with short and medium term management. However, unlike completely free systems, markets for these products are characterized by government interventions, calling for a slightly different approach under which interactions of demand and supply need to incorporate government interventions by way of minimum support price and procurement. The sample for this study consists of the period, 1980-81 through 2011-12 on an annual basis. Our results confirm strong impact of demand and supply factors in determining inflation for both the products. These include the role of government interventions as well as public investment in agriculture in ensuring price stability. |
| Keywords: | Food grain inflation, demand and supply management, procurement, minimum support prices, capital stock. |
| JEL: | C3 E31 Q11 Q18 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:240&r=agr |
| By: | Claire Etrillard; Michel Pech |
| Abstract: | [paper in French] Compensation measures require a developer to offset the negative effects of the project. Two types of approaches are possible. The first one is based on the compensation claim: in this case the developer looks for surfaces on which he can offset its grip. The second focuses on offering compensation: in this approach the service provider secures land through acquisition or long term contracts. We describe the game rules and procedures for the implementation of ecological compensation, and we emphasize the need for consistency of these measures with land based policies. The property aspects, the concept of expectation and the consultation with the agricultural sector are for us the main determinants of the effectiveness of such measures. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, environment, land, ecological mitigation, biodiversity offsets |
| JEL: | K11 K12 K32 Q21 Q31 Q38 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201410&r=agr |
| By: | Islam, Nurul |
| Abstract: | Evidence-based research is widely recognized as an essential input in effective economic policymaking. However, for the results of their research to influence policy, the research community must overcome a variety of challenges, including the absence of adequate and relevant data, differences of research results on the same policy issue, and deficiencies in effectively communicating policy conclusions to the policymakers. This paper stresses the need for increased investment in the generation of adequate and relevant data, and the responsibility of the researchers to seek to reach a consensus or narrow the range of and explain the reasons for their differences, thus enabling the policymakers to exercise their judgment. The direct and indirect channels through which effective interaction between the researchers and policymakers can be enhanced are examined. |
| Keywords: | data, agricultural policies, Food prices, subsidies, Poverty, Communication, Food reserves, data revolution, consensus, political feasibility, donors, grain reserves, Food crisis, food crises, public food distribution, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1378&r=agr |
| By: | Abdoul Salam Diallo; Alfred Mbairadjim Moussa |
| Abstract: | Since the recent food crisis, there has been prominent literature relating to the study of commodity prices volatility and other factors impacting on food security and resilience measures, especially in an African context. Numerous studies have shown that aside production factors, commodities prices instability and the associated price anticipation difficulties constitute a major point of preoccupation when it comes to food insecurity assessment. The multiplicity of historical price data represents one of such difficulties, as it creates uncertainty when making investment decisions. This paper assumes that risk factors based on these historical prices are observed under uncertainty with no unique observable efficient price, and are therefore modeled as intervalvalued random variables. Under such conditions, a linear portfolio of agricultural commodities characterized by a vector of their interval-valued risk factors is considered, just as extreme risk models (VaR and ES) under uncertainty as introduced by Mbairadjim Moussa et al. (2014) are applied for risk computation and portfolio selection. Moreover, our paper proposes specific portfolio selection models under uncertainty, which discriminate between producers, consumers and political decision-makers concerns, in establishing an optimally allocated portfolio. Finally some empirical examples carried out on real data set from Niger, show the effectiveness of the proposed methods in a practical decision making context. |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lam:wpaper:14-15&r=agr |
| By: | James Mabli; Jim Ohls; Lisa Dragoset; Laura Canstner; Betsy Santos |
| Keywords: | SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food Security |
| Date: | 2013–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:c2ce0c775c4f42d083b094d2760f89ce&r=agr |
| By: | Charlotte Cabili; Esa Eslami; Ronette Briefel |
| Keywords: | TEFAP, Emergency Food Assistance Program, Nutrition |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2013–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:ff31e6cd120c4aefaad03936e8ce6096&r=agr |
| By: | Semei Coronado-Ram\'irez; Pedro Celso-Arellano; Omar Rojas |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the adaptive market efficiency of the agricultural commodity futures market, using a sample of eight futures contracts. Using a battery of nonlinear tests, we uncover the nonlinear serial dependence in the returns series. We run the Hinich portmanteau bicorrelation test to uncover the moments in which the nonlinear serial dependence, and therefore adaptive market efficiency, occurs for our sample. |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1412.8017&r=agr |
| By: | Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas; Singh, K.M.; Sutradhar, Rajib |
| Abstract: | In disadvantaged districts of Bihar, one of the poorest states in India and an area where smallholders dominate, we find that there have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of modern cold storages, triggered by market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service provision and governance. Almost all potato farmers, small and large, participate in these cold storages. The availability of cold storages has seemingly led to improved efficiency in value chains because of lower wastages and some cold storages have become heavily involved in input, output, and especially credit markets. This emergence of cold storages thus leads to important changes in traditional potato value chains, with significant implications for smallholders. |
| Keywords: | Agri-Food, Value chains, Cold storages, Potato, Bihar, India |
| JEL: | O3 O32 O33 Q13 Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2012–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61107&r=agr |
| By: | Karol Pogorzelski (Instytut Badañ Strukturalnych) |
| Abstract: | The paper advocates public support for the development of agriculture as a way to facilitate structural change in developing countries. In the first chapter we describe the global transformation in agriculture that has taken place over last few decades. Despite fast population growth, the growth of productivity in agriculture has enabled the development of the industry and service sectors, which in turn have resulted in the reduction of poverty and raising of the standard of living. Structural change has not yet been completed, however, especially in the developing world. In the second chapter we investigate the drivers of and barriers to this process and discuss two policy approaches to facilitate structural change – state-driven industrialisation and support for agriculture development. Following that we outline the policy instruments to overcome the barriers in question. We have focussed on improving the effectiveness of the agriculture market (both for final goods and factors of production) as well as improving the quality of necessary public goods. |
| Keywords: | structural change, agricultural economics, agriculture, development, inter-sectoral migrations |
| JEL: | Q18 R58 O21 L16 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:ppaper:pp052014&r=agr |
| By: | Jesse Tack; Rulon Pope; Jeffrey LaFrance; Ricardo Cavazos |
| Abstract: | A recent class of factor demand models is discussed and used to analyze U.S. state-level production data. The approach accommodates output risk, heterogeneous technologies, technological change, endogenous variables, aggregation across agents, and more general flexible functional forms than previous models. We find the approach to flexibility found in the consumer literature empirically useful in the analysis of producer behavior as our results suggest that standard flexible models that have been ubiquitous in agricultural and industrial research are strongly rejected here in favor of a more general and flexible specification. Further, there is substantial heterogeneity of conditional own-price elasticities across states. |
| Keywords: | Aggregation, production, ex ante cost, serial correlation, spatial correlation |
| JEL: | C3 D2 D8 Q1 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2014-23&r=agr |
| By: | Minten, Bart; Reardon, Thomas; Singh, K.M.; Sutradhar, Rajib |
| Abstract: | There have been dramatic increases and rapid up-scaling of modern cold storages in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India and an area where smallholders dominate. These investments have been triggered by market reform, investment subsidies, and better overall public service provision and governance. Almost all potato farmers, small and large, participate in cold storages, the availability of cold storages is associated with improved efficiency in value chains because of lower wastages, and a number of these cold storages have become involved in input, output, and especially credit markets. The increasing availability of modern cold storages has therefore led to important changes in potato value chains, with significant implications for smallholders. |
| Keywords: | Agri-food, Value chains, Cold storages, Bihar, India |
| JEL: | O1 O13 O33 O38 Q13 Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2012–08–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61109&r=agr |
| By: | Federico Ciani; Joseph Huggard; Thomas Zervas |
| Abstract: | Bergamot is a citrus fruit with more than 90% of the global production coming from the Reggio Calabria province. It is used almost exclusively as an essential, high-quality fragrance ingredient. A study was carried out to examine the impact of the stability that has occurred in the bergamot sector after the reform of the bergamot value chain in 2007. The objectives of this paper are (i) to measure the resilience of bergamot producers, (ii) to highlight the structure of their resilience building strategy, (iii) to assess the relevance of the bergamot production and the reform of the bergamot value chain. Interviews with representatives of 326 households who produce bergamot and are registered at the Consortium of Bergamot of Reggio Calabria were carried out in three interview centres across the province in March and April 2014, using a CAPI-adapted technique. The measurement of bergamot producers’ resilience was based on the application of multivariate analysis techniques and on the existing body of knowledge regarding social and ecological resilience. The study demonstrated that almost 70% of interviewees have seen their income increase by between 32% and 35% in the seven years to 2014. Bergamot was identified as both being more profitable than other crops and contributing to farmers’ resilience by increasing their access to networks. Using a simulation scenario approach, analyses showed that if the cultivation of bergamot were no longer carried out it would induce a decrease in producers’ resilience by 21%. |
| Keywords: | bergamot, resilience, socio-economic impact, essential oil |
| JEL: | Q12 I32 O13 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2014_25.rdf&r=agr |
| By: | Federico Tadei |
| Abstract: | A common explanation for African current underdevelopment is the extractive character of institutions established during the colonial period. Yet, since colonial extraction is hard to quantify, its precise mecha- nisms and magnitude are still unclear. In this paper, I tackle these issues by focusing on colonial trade in French Africa. By using new data on export prices, I show that the colonizers used trade monopsonies and coercive labor institutions to reduce prices to African agricultural producers way below world market prices. As a consequence, during the colonial period, extractive institutions cut African gains from trade by at least one-half. JEL Classification: N17; O43 Keywords: Africa, Development, Institutions, Colonization, Trade, Labor Markets |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:igi:igierp:536&r=agr |
| By: | Skurray, James H. |
| Abstract: | The success of any groundwater management plan depends on user compliance. There is an intimate relationship between regulatory regimes and pumper perceptions. As well as its enforcement powers, an agency's behavior sends information to users. While enforcement power need not always be used to be effective, it must be seen as credible as well as legitimate. Perceived legitimacy has different sources – or may be lacking – depending on the origins, and implementation, of the regulatory apparatus. This paper examines a number of California groundwater basins, employing variables from Ostrom's analytical frameworks. In comparison with a West Australian regulated basin - where compliance is low, monitoring weak, and enforcement ineffective - we examine the effect on compliance of the adjudicated basin approach. We focus on the role of enforcement provisions, and their origins and implementation, in shaping appropriator attitudes towards compliance. Key attributes of effective systems include perceived legitimacy among users, mutual visibility of actions, and the credible threat of enforcement or sanction. We examine the extent to which 'administrative adjudications' may more cost-effectively provide the benefits of court adjudications. The paper illustrates that monitoring and enforcement are more effective and less costly when institutions encourage cooperation than when they promote competition. While norms, social capital, and trust must bear upon and inform the types of rules chosen at the collective-choice level, they also arise from the operation of those rules – i.e., from users' iterative reactions to the arrangements chosen. Groundwater management plans should incorporate design elements encouraging collaborative attitudes among users. |
| Keywords: | Institutions, governance, common-pool resources, commons, collective action, institutional analysis, sustainability, coercion, institutional design, groundwater management, voluntary compliance, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Land Economics/Use, Political Economy, Public Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, D02, D03, D23, D71, D78, D83, Q25, Q28, Q38, Q56, Q57, Q58, R52, H11, H23, H41, |
| Date: | 2014–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwauwp:195719&r=agr |
| By: | Jacqueline Kauff; Lisa Dragoset; Elizabeth Clary; Elizabeth Laird; Libby Makowsky; Emily Samaa-Miller |
| Abstract: | A study conducted for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service evaluated pilot demonstrations designed to facilitate access by the elderly or working poor to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Among other key findings, two demonstrations targeting the elderly significantly increased access to nutritional assistance through SNAP. |
| Keywords: | SNAP, Access, Elderly, Working poor, outreach, application assistance, participation |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2014–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:2e4b50e5a70140ab9507b1296aa8844d&r=agr |
| By: | Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Effort; Food Nutrition Board; Institute of Medicine; of which Ronette Briefel is a member |
| Abstract: | This IOM committee developed a concise and actionable plan for measuring the nation’s progress in obesity prevention efforts. |
| Keywords: | Obesity Prevention , IOM , Nutrition |
| JEL: | I0 I1 |
| Date: | 2013–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:094b9a584a2340c08ae1f9b1ae0c76cc&r=agr |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Rural Development - Common Property Resource Development Communities and Human Settlements - Urban Slums Upgrading Public Sector Management and Reform Urban Development - Urban Housing Public Sector Economics Public Sector Development Environment - Sustainable Land Management |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:20767&r=agr |
| By: | Kumar, Sushil; Ahmed, Shahid |
| Abstract: | The present study investigates the intra-industry trade between India and Bangladesh over the period of 1975 to 2010. GL index is used to calculate intra-industry trade at the three-digit level of SITC. The study also calculated the trade complementarity index, and revealed comparative index. The extent of intra-industry trade is high in sectors like crude materials, inedible, except fuels, food and live animals. The study also reveals mismatch between Indian imports and Bangladesh exports. The present study indicates positive effect on consumer surplus and trade using SMART model. Finally, the paper suggests that Bangladesh should diversify his export structure to reduce the bilateral trade deficit on the basis of comparative advantage. |
| Keywords: | Grubel Lloyd index, trade complementarity index, SMART model, economic regionalism |
| JEL: | F14 F15 |
| Date: | 2014–12–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61113&r=agr |
| By: | BOUCHER Steve; DELPIERRE Matthieu |
| Abstract: | Moral hazard and adverse selection impede the development of formal crop insurance markets in developing countries. Besides, the risk mitigation provided by informal risk-sharing arrangements is restricted by their inability to protect against covariate shocks. In this context, index-based insurance is seen as a promising scheme as it is immune to moral hazard and adverse selection and may offer effective protection against covariate shocks. It would thus seem that the two institutions are ideal complements. Unfortunately, this intuition ignores the potential effects on incentives and behavior generated by the interaction between both schemes. This paper explores this interaction in a model with moral hazard and shows that the formal contract may crowd out informal risk-sharing if it is offered to individuals. Second, we find that both risk-taking and welfare may be reduced by the introduction of index insurance if the premium is set too high. If the formal insurance is offered to the group instead of the individual, the impact on moral hazard is internalized and welfare increases. |
| Keywords: | Index insurance; Informal risk-sharing; Moral hazard |
| JEL: | D81 G22 O12 O13 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2014-13&r=agr |
| By: | Headey, Derek D. |
| Abstract: | This report uses two rounds of the Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS) to statistically analyze patterns and trends in undernutrition (child growth) in Ethiopia over 2000 to 2011. Ethiopia remains one of the most undernourished populations in the world. In 2000 over half of Ethiopian preschool children were stunted (height for age z-scores (HAZ) of -2 standard deviations or less) and almost a third were severely stunted (HAZ ≤ -3.0). However, progress against child undernutrition over this period has been solid, with stunting prevalence reduced by 1.4 percent points per year between 2001 and 2011, although progress slowed to 1.0 point per year between 2011 and 2014. |
| Keywords: | Children, Nutrition, malnutrition, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:esspwp:70&r=agr |
| By: | Stefano Caria; Marcel Fafchamps |
| Abstract: | We play a one-shot public good game in rural India between farmers connected by an exogenous star network. Contributions by the centre of the star reach more players and have a larger impact on aggregate payoffs than contributions by the spoke players. Yet, we find that the centre player contributes just as much as the average of the spokes. We elicit expectations about the decisions of the centre player and, in randomly selected sessions, we disclose the average expectation of the farmers in the network. Farmers match the disclosed values frequently and do so more often when the monetary cost of making a contribution is reduced. However, disclosure is not associated with higher contributions. Our results support the predictions of a model of other-regarding preferences where players care about the expectations of others. This model is helpful to understand barriers to improvement in pro-social behaviour when groups expect low pro-sociality. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2014-33&r=agr |
| By: | Lamazoshvili Beka |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of oil price fluctuations on oil-importing developing economies focusing on Armenia and Georgia as examples of a small open economy. Our analysis takes into account the underlying sources of the increase in oil prices and the structure of energy flows. Our objective is to understand the role of oil price jumps in the context of endogeneity of oil prices to global economic activity and to identify the key channels of transmission (compared to the developed countries). Using the methodology of Kilian (2009a), we decompose the oil price shocks based on the original source of the increase. We conclude that accounting for underlying reasons for the increase in oil prices in the world energy markets is important for understanding the impact of oil shocks on the small open economies under study. The identified responses of key macroeconomic variables suggest that demand channel may be an important transmission factor. Given the high share of food items in the CPI of the developing economies under study, increased world real activity is likely to translate into increased food prices directly as well as indirectly through higher oil prices. The structure of energy flows and the politics of natural gas matter for the transmission of oil shocks. |
| JEL: | C32 E32 Q43 |
| Date: | 2014–11–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eer:wpalle:14/06e&r=agr |
| By: | Azer G. Efendiev (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Pavel S. Sorokin (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Maria A. Kozlova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In the present paper we analyze transformations in the life of rural population in the Belgorod region, Russia, in the period 2000-2013 in the context of active development of large vertically integrated enterprises – agroholdings. These transformations are seen through the prism of “modernization” concept: agroholdings promote advanced agricultural technologies, professional management and modern organization of labor and thus may be considered as an important factor stimulating rural modernization in Belgorod region. The traditional understanding of “modernization” in sociology implies a progressive transition from a “pre-modern” or “traditional” to a “modern” society which means changes in many areas such as: occupational structure (including the development of entrepreneurship), material well-being (growth of living condition resulting from efficient economy), and increase in rationality and individualism. However, literature shows that the adaptation to modernization processes might be painful for the local communities and for the society in general. Hence, reflecting on both, modernization theoretical framework and literature on Russian rural development, in our analysis of transformations in Belgorod region we focus on the following aspects: firstly, material well-being and living conditions of rural population; secondly, individualism and attitudes towards achievement and economic success; thirdly, the attractiveness of private farming. Finally, we look at the general perception by the rural population of their future (from the point of view of optimism/pessimism). The research is based on the two empirical studies, conducted in the years 2000 and 2013 which utilized similar methodology in the similar 15 villages of the Belgorod region. Possibly, the most interesting empirical finding is that despite rapid growth of material well-being of the rural population, the pessimistic expectations are no less widespread in 2013 than in 2000. This illustrates the complex nature of the transformations of the rural life in Belgorod region |
| Keywords: | rural Russia, Belgorod region, well-being of rural population, attitudes, social and economic transformations, modernization, agroholdings |
| JEL: | Z10 Z13 O18 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:56/soc/2014&r=agr |
| By: | Dang, Hai-Anh H.; Lanjouw, Peter F.; Swinkels, Rob |
| Abstract: | Poverty estimates based on cross-section data provide static snapshots of poverty rates. Although a time series of cross-section data can offer some insights into poverty trends, it does not allow for an assessment of dynamics at the household level. Such a dynamic perspective on poverty generally calls for panel data and this kind of analysis can usefully inform poverty reduction policy, notably the design of social protection interventions. Absent actual panel data for Senegal, this paper applies new statistical methods to construct synthetic panel data from two rounds of cross-section household surveys in 2005 and 2011. These data are used to study poverty transitions. The results suggest that, in marked contrast to the picture obtained from cross-section data, there exists a great deal of mobility in and out of poverty during this period. More than half the population experiences changes in its poverty status and more than two-thirds of the extreme (food) poor move up one or two welfare categories. Factors such as rural residence, disability, exposure to some kind of natural disaster, and informality in the labor market are associated with a heightened risk of falling into poverty. Belonging to certain ethnicities and factors such as migration, working in the non-agriculture sector, and having access to social capital are associated with a lower risk of falling into poverty. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Regional Economic Development,Achieving Shared Growth,Services&Transfers to Poor |
| Date: | 2014–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7141&r=agr |
| By: | Matteo Di Tullio |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to understand how traditional societies faced a period of general crises and more specifically, which behaviours were adopted to limit the increase of local socio-economic inequality. Thus, this paper focuses on a boundary area (the Geradadda) disputed by Milan and Venice that was constantly crossed and occupied by armies during the long period of the Italian Wars (1494-1559). Analysing the management of local finances, and specifically the local commons, it is possible to show the different ways in which these societies organized themselves and, generally, how economic growth occurred in the early modern period. |
| Keywords: | Commons, Inequality, Cooperation, Italian Wars, Sixteenth Century, Rural societies |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:069&r=agr |
| By: | K Hervé Dakpo; Philippe Jeanneaux; Laure Latruffe |
| Abstract: | We consider different models that assess eco-efficiency in the perspective of production frontier estimation. These models span from the ones that consider bad outputs as inputs, or as outputs under the weak disposability assumption, or under the weak G-disposability and the materials balance principles, or under the modeling of multiple sub-technologies like the by-production model, or under the natural and managerial disposability concepts. These models are confronted to livestock farming data (meat sheep) and greenhouse gas pollution in French grassland areas, to discuss their suitability in eco-efficiency measurement. A major contribution is that we propose a new version of the by-production approach by augmenting it with ‘interdependence constraints’. Although all models considered here confirm the existence of large improvement potentials, all except the by-production model converge to the same results as in the case where undesirable outputs are treated as inputs. By contrast, the by-production model with interdependence provides more realistic results than the other models. |
| Keywords: | eco-efficiency, bad outputs; materials balance principles, weak G-disposability, by-production technology, natural and managerial disposability, greenhouse gas emissions, meat sheep farming |
| JEL: | C61 Q12 Q53 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:201408&r=agr |
| By: | Minten, Bart; Tamru, Seneshaw; Kuma, Tadesse; Nyarko,Yaw |
| Abstract: | We study the structure and performance of the coffee export sector in Ethiopia, Africa’s most important coffee producer, over the period 2003 to 2013. We find an evolving policy environment that leads to structural changes in the export sector, including an elimi-nation of vertical integration for most exporters. Ethiopia’s coffee export earnings increased four-fold in real terms over this period. This increase has mostly been due to changes in international market prices. The quality of coffee improved only slightly over this time, but the quantity exported increased by 50 percent, explained by both higher domestic supplies and reduced local consumption. To further progress coffee export performance, investments to increase the quantities produced and to improve quality are needed, including an increase in washing, certification, and traceability, as these characteristics are shown to be associated with significant quality premiums in international markets. |
| Keywords: | trade, exports, coffee, Quality, Markets, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:essprn:29&r=agr |
| By: | Neuenfeldt, Sebastian; Gocht, Alexander |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the current report is to provide a guideline on how the farm accountancy data network (FADN) can be employed in mathematical programming models. The reader of this report is introduced to the FADN database to become familiar with the underlying rules and specific issues. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:jhtiwp:35&r=agr |
| By: | Tuyen, Tran Quang |
| Abstract: | Using data from our own household survey (n=477) in Hanoi's peri-urban areas, this paper attempts to answer (i) what livelihood strategies are pursued by peri-urban households, (ii) which strategies are lucrative and which are not, and (iii) whether access to farmland is the potential barrier to enter remunerative strategies. The paper uses cluster analysis techniques, based on identification of household income shares by source, to provide the first classification of five livelihood strategies pursued by households in Hanoi's peri-urban areas. Income sources and total income are compared across livelihood strategies using Bonferroni pairwise tests and first-order stochastic dominant analysis. The findings of the study show that non-farm income sources mainly contribute to total household income, strategies based on formal wage work and non-farm household businesses are the most remunerative ones and strategies based on farming and informal wage work are the most inferior ones. Factors associated with households' livelihood strategy choice are examined using a multinomial logit model. The findings reveal that farmland is negatively associated with the choice of both high and low return non-farm-based strategies. This suggests that access to farmland is not a potential barrier to enter lucrative strategies. In addition, education of working members has a positive impact on the pursuit of remunerative strategies, implying that better education might shift households away from farming activities. Age of household working members has a negative effect on the choice of wage work-based strategies, suggesting that emerging non-farm opportunities make young workers less interested in farm work. Finally, this paper proposes some policy implications that may help households obtain better livelihood outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Farmland; cluster analysis; informal wage income; formal wage income; household livelihood strategies |
| JEL: | I31 Q12 |
| Date: | 2013–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60847&r=agr |