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on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2015‒07‒18
forty-two papers chosen by |
| By: | Nin-Pratt, Alejandro |
| Abstract: | This study assesses the patterns of agricultural intensification in 40 African countries looking at the role fertilizer plays in the process. We propose a set of indicators that uses information on available agricultural land and land suitability to measure intensity of land use in agricultural production. Results show that half of the countries in our sample, those with low population density, have followed a land-abundant intensification path with growth driven by new land incorporated to crop production and increased cropping intensity through the reduction of fallow periods and increased double cropping. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural growth, Agricultural development, Green Revolution, Land use, farm inputs, Intensification, Intensive farming, Fertilizers, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1433&r=agr |
| By: | Ward, Patrick S.; Bell, Andrew R.; Parkhurst, Gregory M.; Droppelmann, Klaus; Mapemba, Lawrence |
| Abstract: | Malawi faces significant challenges in meeting its future food security needs because there is little scope for increasing production by simply expanding the area under cultivation. One potential alternative for sustainably intensifying agricultural production is by means of conservation agriculture (CA), which improves soil quality through a suite of farming practices that reduce soil disturbance, increase soil cover via retained crop residues, and increase crop diversification. We use discrete choice experiments to study farmers’ preferences for these different CA practices and assess willingness to adopt CA. Our results indicate that, despite many benefits, some farmers are not willing to adopt CA without receiving subsidies, and current farm-level practices significantly influence willingness to adopt the full CA package. Providing subsidies, however, can create perverse incentives. Subsidies may increase the adoption of intercropping and residue mulching, but adoption of these practices may crowd out adoption of zero tillage, leading to partial compliance. Further, exposure to various risks such as flooding and insect infestations often constrains adoption. Rather than designing subsidies or voucher programs to increase CA adoption, it may be important to tailor insurance policies to address the new risks brought about by CA adoption. |
| Keywords: | zero tillage, food security, food production, sustainability, technology adoption, subsidies, discrete choice experiments, conservation agriculture, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1440&r=agr |
| By: | Müller, Anna K.; Theuvsen, Ludwig |
| Abstract: | The transformation of the global agrifood system is characterized by the increasing importance of food safety and quality standards. This trend is challenging farmers in countries like Guatemala, who often lack necessary skills and assets. We contribute to the ongoing discussion about the impact of standards on smallholder farmers by considering impact heterogeneity. By using propensity score matching techniques, we show that farmers with a higher level of financial literacy seem to benefit more from standard adoption than those with lower levels of financial literacy. Our results hold important practical implications for exporters, standard setters and development organizations. |
| Keywords: | Food safety standards, financial literacy, developing countries, impact analysis, propensity score matching, impact heterogeneity, Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, International Development, Labor and Human Capital, Q14, Q12, Q16, O33, C31, I26, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:199383&r=agr |
| By: | Delavallade, Clara; Dizon, Felipe; Hill, Ruth Vargas; Petraud, Jean Paul |
| Abstract: | While there is a fast-growing policy interest in offering financial products to help rural households manage risk, the literature is still scant as to which products are the most effective. In order to inform gender targeting of rural finance policy, this paper investigates which financial products best improve farmers’ productivity, resilience, and welfare, and whether benefits affect men and women equally. Using a randomized field experiment in Senegal and Burkina Faso, we compare male and female farmers who are offered index-based agricultural insurance with those who are offered a variety of savings instruments. We found that female farm managers were less likely to purchase agricultural insurance and more likely to invest in savings for emergencies, even when we controlled for access to informal insurance and differences in crop choice. We hypothesize that this difference results from the fact that although men and women are equally exposed to yield risk, women face additional sources of life cycle risk—particularly health risks associated with fertility and childcare—that men do not. In essence, the basis risk associated with agricultural insurance products is higher for women. Insurance was more effective than savings at increasing input spending and use. Those who purchased more insurance realized higher average yields and were better able to manage food insecurity and shocks. This suggests that gender differences in demand for financial products can have an impact on productivity, resilience, and welfare. |
| Keywords: | Risk, Insurance, Gender, Women, Finance, savings, economic shocks, resilience, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1426&r=agr |
| By: | Birthal, Pratap Singh; Roy, Devesh; Negi, Digvijay S. |
| Abstract: | As stress on Indian agriculture increases because of several reasons, such as continuous fragmentation of landholdings and climate change, there is a serious threat to livelihood based on farming. This is particularly true for small farmers. Growing rural populations and constrained employment opportunities in the nonfarm sector have caused subdivision of landholdings in India to the extent that these cannot provide an adequate livelihood to a majority of farm households. With this view, this study was undertaken to explore options for improving the outcomes of the farmers. In this context, crop diversification into high-value crops (HVCs) can be a possible strategy to improve livelihood. Using data from a nationally representative survey, we establish that households diversifying toward HVCs are less likely to be poor, the biggest impact being for smallholders. Furthermore, using continuous treatment matching, we establish the relationship between degree of diversification (share of area dedicated to HVC) and economic well-being of the farmers. Growers of HVCs need to allocate at least 50 percent of their area to these crops to escape poverty. Although the diversification effect on poverty is in general positive, it seems to wither after a threshold probably because of some operational constraints, such as capital on smaller farms and labor on larger ones. |
| Keywords: | poverty, livelihoods, smallholders, land ownership, off farm employment, high value agriculture, high-value products, continuous treatment, binary treatment, unobserved factors, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1446&r=agr |
| By: | Yu, Xiaohua; Abler, David G. |
| Abstract: | This study provides an alternative explanation for the unusual apparent decline in food consumption in rural China after 2000. We find that it is mainly attributable to significant measurement errors in the Chinese Rural Household Survey and the calculation of per capita food consumption. In a household survey, total consumption for a household in a certain period is often well recorded, and per capita consumption is obtained by dividing total consumption by household size. Such a calculation of per capita food consumption is vulnerable to a mismatch between food and mouths. Total consumption may be subject to measurement errors caused primarily by food away from home (FAFH). Also, the household size recorded in the survey is not necessarily the same as the number of mouths (consumption household size), who consume the food recorded in the survey. Our results indicate that food consumption in rural China is currently being underestimated by about 30%. Our results also indicate that income elasticities of food consumption are greater than measured elasticities based on the Rural Household Survey data. |
| Keywords: | Food demand, underreporting, rural China, food away from home, off-farm migration, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Q11, C81, O13, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:198717&r=agr |
| By: | von Saurma-Jeltsch, Ann-Kristin; von Meyer-Höfer, Marie |
| Abstract: | Numerous studies have examined the consumption of organic products in various European countries and found a higher consumption of organic products in the northern European countries as opposed to the southern countries. While Germany is taking a pioneering position in Europe with the largest European market, Norway is falling out of this pattern. Based on a model determining organic consumption from a cross-national perspective developed by Thøgersen (2010) this study analyses, why significant differences in organic consumption of organic milk occur between Germany and Norway. Furthermore, it is discussed whether organic farming is a viable option for Norway since conventional farming in Norway is already considered as very environmentally friendly. The results of this study point to the weaknesses of the Norwegian organic market and give policy suggestions to resolve this. They contradict the widespread opinion among Norwegian consumers that Norwegian agriculture is almost organic. Norwegian agriculture is of no degree less industrialized than German agriculture; their problems are simply perceived to be of a lesser extent by consumers. |
| Keywords: | organic milk consumption, cross-national comparison, Germany, Norway, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Q 13, Q18, Q19, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:198716&r=agr |
| By: | Perez, Nicostrato D.; Rosegrant, Mark W. |
| Abstract: | This study was conducted to determine the impact on world prices, agricultural commodities production, and food security and nutrition of raising the annual growth in agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) from the current estimate of 1.6 percent to 2 percent by 2030 through investment in agricultural research and development (R&D). The study also compared three R&D investment strategies: (1) gradual TFP increase, (2) accelerated TFP increase, and (3) developing-countries-only TFP increase. Results show that compared with the baseline scenario of business as usual, R&D investment strategies to increase TFP to 2 percent can lower world prices of cereals and meat by as much as 17 and 15 percent, respectively, as well as increase area planted in crops by 2.4 percent and crop yields by 8.5 percent by 2030. World cereal and meat production can also be increased by 12.5 and 3.9 percent, respectively, and consumption by 4.5 and 3.9 percent, respectively. The number of malnourished children can be reduced by 7 million (5.4 percent), and the population at risk of hunger can be reduced by 160 million (23.2 percent). |
| Keywords: | agricultural research, productivity, children, malnutrition, nutrition, hunger, risk, investment, prices, yields, agricultural products, total factor productivity, research and development, IMPACT model, undernourishment, malnourishment, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1447&r=agr |
| By: | Herforth, Nico; Theuvsen, Ludwig; Vásquez, Wilson; Wollni, Meike |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use semi-structured interviews with firm representatives and original survey data to study the factors influencing farmers’ participation in modern supply chains in the Ecuadorian blackberry sector. Previous research has emphasized the important role of farm size and non-farm assets enabling participation in these chains. Going beyond this scope of analysis, we argue that farmers’ social networks can be an important avenue to facilitate inclusion. Using different probit model specifications, we find that individual farmers’ social networks are important determinants for participation in modern supply chains in an environment characterized by a homogenous farm sector. Further research is needed to explore the specific pathways through which social networks exert their influence. |
| Keywords: | supply chains, social networks, blackberries, food markets, transaction costs, Ecuador, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, D23, D80, Q13, Z13, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:197709&r=agr |
| By: | Müller, Anna K.; Theuvsen, Ludwig |
| Abstract: | The transformation of the global agrifood system is characterized by the increasing importance of food safety and quality standards. This trend is challenging farmers in countries like Guatemala as they lack necessary skills and assets. This study analyzes the determinants of Globalgap adoption with a special focus on financial literacy. The concept has not been considered yet in technology adoption studies. Our results indicate that financial literacy indeed has a significant impact on the probability to adopt the standard. Our results hold practical implications for development interventions targeting technology and standard adoption and smallholder market integration. |
| Keywords: | Technology adoption, food safety standards, financial literacy, developing countries, market integration, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q14, Q12, Q16, O33, C38, C31, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:205289&r=agr |
| By: | Domènech, Laia |
| Abstract: | Interventions aimed at increasing water availability for livelihood and domestic activities have great potential to improve various determinants of undernutrition, such as the quantity and diversity of foods consumed within the household, income generation, and women’s empowerment. However, current evidence on the topic is diluted across many different publications. This paper aims to connect the dots and review the literature available on the linkages between irrigation and food security, improved nutrition, and health. We conclude that the evidence remains insufficient to draw broad conclusions due to the low number of rigorous studies that can be used to assess the linkages. Based on the limited evidence, six factors that should be taken into account in irrigation development to address nutrition and gender gaps with a focus on Africa south of the Sahara are identified: (1) food security and nutrition gains should be stated goals of irrigation programs; (2) training programs and awareness campaigns should accompany irrigation interventions to promote nutrient-dense food production and consumption as well as minimization of health risks; (3) multiple uses of irrigation water should be recognized in order to improve access to water supply and sanitation and livestock and aquatic production; (4) women’s empowerment and women’s participation in irrigation programs should be promoted; (5) homestead food production should be encouraged; and (6) policy synergies between different sectors (agriculture, nutrition, health, water supply and sanitation, education) should be sought. |
| Keywords: | Irrigation, Nutrition, Health, Gender, Women, food security, Water use, Water supply, Sanitation, Women's empowerment, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1428&r=agr |
| By: | Chandra, Raj; Munasib, Abdul; Roy, Devesh; Sonkar, Vinay Kumar |
| Abstract: | Food safety is an integral part of food security. One of the ways of ensuring food safety is through demand pull by consumers, which depends on the information available to them. One of the possible ways in which information is available to consumers is through their social networks. Focusing on dairy consumers in India, we present evidence of peer effects in consumers’ attitudes toward various food safety attributes as well as food safety practices. Unobserved individual heterogeneities are crucial confounders in the identification of social (endogenous) effects. Our identification is based on exploiting within-consumer variation across different aspects of attitude (or practices) related to food safety. |
| Keywords: | food safety, health, food consumption, milk, dairy, peer effects, individual unobserved heterogeneity, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1445&r=agr |
| By: | Oded Galor; Omer Ozak |
| Abstract: | This paper establishes that the Caloric Suitability Index (CSI) dominates the commonly used measure of agricultural suitability in the examination of the effect of land productivity on comparative economic development. The analysis demonstrates that the agricultural suitability index does not capture the large variation in the potential caloric yield across equally suitable land, reflecting the fact that land suitable for agriculture is not necessarily suitable for the most caloric-intensive crops. Hence, in light of the instrumental role played by caloric yield in sustaining and supporting population growth, and given importance of pre-industrial population density for the subsequent course of economic development, the Caloric Suitability Index dominates the conventional measure in capturing the effect of land productivity on pre-colonial population density and the subsequent course of economic development. |
| Keywords: | Caloric Suitability, Agricultural Suitability, Agricultural Productivity, Land Productivity, Economic Development, Population Density |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bro:econwp:2015-5&r=agr |
| By: | Lange, Simon; Reimers, Malte |
| Abstract: | Livestock holdings in rural areas of the West African Semi-arid Tropics (WASAT) are often substantial yet there is little evidence for precautionary saving in the form of livestock. This paper re-visits farm households' ability to smooth consumption ex post via savings in the form of livestock. Based on data covering Burkina Faso's 2004 drought, we find that livestock sales increase significantly in response to drought with households citing the need to finance food consumption. Some consumption smoothing is achieved via adjustments to grain stocks, but households apparently fail to smooth consumption by adjusting livestock holdings. We argue that this seemingly contradictory finding is largely due to a decrease in relative livestock prices during droughts. This renders selling livestock a costly coping strategy and underlines the need for market integration. |
| Keywords: | precautionary saving, livestock, coping strategies, price risk, Africa, WASAT, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Risk and Uncertainty, D14, D91, O16, Q12, |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:200327&r=agr |
| By: | Ward, Patrick S.; Spielman, David J.; Ortega, David L.; Kumar, Neha; Minocha, Sumedha |
| Abstract: | Weather-related production risks remain one of the most serious constraints to agricultural production in much of the developing world. Financial and technological innovations that mitigate these risks have the potential to greatly benefit farmers in areas prone to such risks. In this study we examine farmers’ preferences for two distinct tools that allow them to manage drought risk: weather index insurance and a recently released drought-tolerant rice variety. We illustrate how these tools can independently address drought risk and demonstrate the potential for these tools to be combined in a complementary risk management product. Using a discrete choice experiment, we assess farmers’ preferences for these two tools independently and in a bundled package. Findings indicate that farmers are generally unwilling to pay for drought-tolerant rice independent of insurance, largely due to the yield penalty under normal conditions. When bundled with insurance, however, farmers’ valuation of the rice increases. Farmers value insurance on its own, but even more so when bundled with the drought-tolerant rice variety. The results provide evidence that farmers value the complementarities inherent in a well-calibrated bundle of risk management tools. |
| Keywords: | Insurance, Risk, finance, rice, Drought tolerance, Risk management, Weather, Farmers, discrete choice experiments, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1430&r=agr |
| By: | Rischke, Ramona |
| Abstract: | Following the 2007/09 and subsequent world food price shocks, a growing number of simulation studies predicted their implications on food security. Studies that only require pre-price-hike data and the specification of relevant price or income changes have been advocated as a potential tool to guide the planning and targeting of mitigation programs. A critical research gap remains with comparing simulation outcomes across studies that use different, established methods on the same subject. In this paper we examine the extent to which different simulation methods drive differences in similar outcome variables and in potential targeting efforts. For this we build on three simulation studies set in Malawi, using 2004/05 LSMS data. We harmonize simulation scenarios and systematically adjust relevant parameters for the methodological comparison. We find overlaps in simulation outcomes to depend on scenarios and time horizons under consideration and to be driven by the study context. In case of Malawi, for a reasonable set of price changes, mean outcomes on district levels are fairly robust to underlying methodologies. |
| Keywords: | Food security, food price shock, income shock, simulation studies, predicting welfare effects, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, International Development, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, C4, D6, I3, |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:201855&r=agr |
| By: | Bhattacharya, Rudrani (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Sen Gupta, Abhijit (Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | Average food inflation in India during the period 2006-2013 was one of the highest among emerging market economies, and nearly double the inflation witnessed in India during the previous decade. In this paper, we analyse the behaviour and determinants of food inflation in India. We find that both demand and supply factors have contributed to the recent surge in food inflation in India. On the demand side, we test the often-cited hypothesis that rising per capita income and diversification of Indian diets has raised the demand for high-value food products and thereby added to inflationary pressures. We find that rise in demand, relative to the supply of a commodity, results in upward pressure in commodity prices. Moreover, rise in prices of key inputs, minimum support prices and fiscal deficits have also impacted the prices of various commodities. Agricultural wage inflation is found to be a universal driver of food commodities inflation, as well as the aggregate food inflation. The contribution of agricultural wages has increased significantly in the post-NREGA era. Our analysis indicates limited role of fuel and international prices. Finally, results suggest significant pass-through effects from food to non-food and to the headline inflation. |
| Keywords: | Food Inflation ; Engel Curves ; QUAIDS Model ; SVEC Model ; India |
| JEL: | E31 E37 Q11 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:15/151&r=agr |
| By: | Kelbore, Zerihun Getachew |
| Abstract: | This study investigates and compares oilseeds price volatilities in the world market and the Ethiopian market. It uses a monthly time series data on oilseeds from February 1999 to December 2012; and analyses price volatilities using unconditional method (standard deviation) and conditional method (GARCH). The results indicate that oilseeds prices are more volatile, but not persistent, in the domestic market than the world market. The magnitude of the influence of the news about past volatility (innovations) is higher in the domestic market for Rapeseed and in the World market for Linseed. However, in both markets there is a problem of volatility clustering. The study also identified that due to the financial crisis the world market price volatilities surpassed and/or paralleled the higher domestic oilseeds price volatilities. The higher domestic oilseeds price volatility may imply that the price risks are high in the domestic oilseeds market. As extreme price volatility influences farmers` production decision, they may opt to other less risky, low-value and less profitable crop varieties. The implications of such retreat is that it may keep the farmers in the traditional farming and impede their transformation to the high value crops, and results in lower income hindering the poverty reduction efforts of the government. This is more important to consider today than was before, because measures undertaken to reduce poverty must bring sustainable change in the lives of the rural poor. For this reason, agricultural policies that enable farmers cope with price risks and enhance their productivity are crucial. |
| Keywords: | Oilseeds; Price Volatility; GARCH; World; Ethiopia |
| JEL: | C22 Q11 Q13 Q17 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62816&r=agr |
| By: | Nin-Pratt, Alejandro |
| Abstract: | The evidence of improved performance of agriculture in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) in recent years has indeed been quite striking when compared with the past. For the first time, the sector has maintained a real growth rate of 3.4 percent per year, well above the population growth rate of 2.5 percent. Despite this improved performance, agricultural productivity growth in SSA continues to lag behind every other region of the world, growing at rates that are roughly half of the average rate of developing countries. Previous studies concluded that SSA should increase investment in agricultural research and development (R&D), highlighting the need to facilitate farmers access to technology, markets, and the necessary support services for raising agricultural productivity. This study introduces a new dimension to the puzzle of agricultural productivity growth in SSA: the role of the input mix and the need to increase capital and inputs per worker not only to boost output per worker but also to accelerate technology adoption and total factor productivity (TFP) growth. According to the appropriate technology hypothesis, advanced countries invent technologies that are compatible with their own factor mix, but these technologies are less productive with the very different factor mix of poor countries. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, productivity, farm inputs, Agricultural growth, technology, Investment, Labor, Appropriate technology, total factor productivity, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1432&r=agr |
| By: | Kareem, Fatima Olanike; Brümmer, Bernhard; Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of two important non-tariff measures presumed to simultaneously affect firms’ decisions to export to the European Union (EU). As a novelty to the literature, we analyse the impacts of EU pesticide standards on African exports alongside a complementary non-tariff measure in the form of a minimum entry price control measure which aims to protect EU growers of certain fruits and vegetables against international competition. We represent these trade costs in the context of a Melitz firm heterogeneity framework using Helpman, Melitz and Rubenstein (2008) method. Analysis was based on Africa’s exports of tomatoes to the EU from 2008 to 2013, using the gravity model of trade. Our results show that at both the extensive and intensive margins of trade, the high stringency of EU pesticide standard prevents new entry into the EU market, drives less productive firms away, and discourages existing exporters from expanding their market base. Furthermore, we find the EU entry price system acts like an export tax, inhibiting tomatoes export to the EU, but only at the intensive margin. |
| Keywords: | EU food regulations, Pesticide standards, Entry price control, African exports, Gravity model, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Development, International Relations/Trade, C13, C33, F10, F13, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:198719&r=agr |
| By: | Paris, Thelma; Pede, Valerien; Luis, Joyce; Sharma, Raman; Singh, Abha; Stipular, Jeffrey; Villanueva, Donald |
| Abstract: | This research was undertaken to understand gender issues on the distribution of, access to, and control over major assets of rice-farming households as well as the effects of technologies promoted by an Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) project in selected villages in eastern Uttar Pradesh (EUP), India. |
| Keywords: | gender, women, assets, rice, mechanization, farm equipment, households, livelihoods, decision making, agricultural development, agricultural research, technology, group-based programs, self help groups, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1437&r=agr |
| By: | von Meyer-Höfer, Marie; Juarez Tijerino, Andrea Maria; Spiller, Achim |
| Abstract: | This study examines sustainable food consumption in China and India, based on online consumer survey data. It explores which factors influence sustainable food consumption in these countries, based upon a model related to the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Structural equation modelling is used for the analysis and comparison of both countries. Among the similarities found are the significant influence of subjective norms on intention towards sustainable food consumption and the influence of perceived consumer effectiveness on sustainable food consumption behaviour. Price is identified as a barrier to sustainable food consumption. Based on these findings policy and marketing implications are given. |
| Keywords: | sustainable food consumption, consumer behaviour, partial least squares, China, India, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Marketing, Q 13, Q18, Q19, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:198718&r=agr |
| By: | Robert M'barek (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Jacques Delincé (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | Building, maintaining and applying the integrated Modelling Platform for Agro-economic Commodity and Policy Analysis (iMAP) has been a long-term project (since 2005) at the Joint Research Centre Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS), whose aim is to deliver in-house policy support to the European Commission. iMAP is the result of collaboration with and contributions from many former and present IPTS colleagues, as well as from researchers outside IPTS. The present JRC Technical Report provides an update on published model-related policy impact analysis related to baselines, the Common Agricultural Policy, Resource and energy policies, the bioeconomy, Europe and its neighbours, and Europe’s agri-food sector in the global market. |
| Keywords: | models, PE, CGE, agriculture, trade, bioeconomy, iMAP, economics, modelling, data |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc95468&r=agr |
| By: | Johnson, Nancy L.; Guedenet, Hannah; Saltzman, Amy |
| Abstract: | These theories of change were developed to help the HarvestPlus program deliver on its planned outcomes and impacts. HarvestPlus expects to contribute to the reduction in micronutrient deficiency among women and children in rural areas of developing countries through the breeding and dissemination of staple crop varieties with increased levels of key micronutrients. After ten years of breeding, economic, and nutrition research to develop and assess varieties and their potential impact on human nutritional outcomes, HarvestPlus is entering a third five-year phase focused on delivering micronutrient-rich varieties at scale in nine target countries. To support program design, implementation, and evaluation in the “delivery†phase of the HarvestPlus program (2014–2018), theories of change were developed for three crop-country combinations—maize in Zambia, beans in Rwanda, and cassava in Nigeria—to describe how HarvestPlus expects to contribute to the outcome of reducing inadequate micronutrient intake among women and children in different agricultural and socioeconomic contexts in which HarvestPlus works. The evidence supporting the assumptions and risks for each link in the pathway is summarized and assessed. The results show that for some parts of the impact pathway, outcomes and causal links are well defined and supported by evidence. In other areas, the program logic needs to be better articulated so that hypotheses can be formulated and evidence generated. Addressing these gaps through research, adaptations in delivery activities, and monitoring can increase the likelihood of achieving expected outcomes as well as improve the ability of HarvestPlus and other nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs to learn from current activities to inform a broader scaling up. |
| Keywords: | Biofortification, Nutrition, Agricultural policies, technology, Varieties, Hybrids, maize, Cassava, beans, Retinol, Carotenoids, Vitamin A, Micronutrients, impact pathways, improved varieties, nutrition-sensitive agriculture, theory of change, micronutrient deficiency, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1427&r=agr |
| By: | Kosec, Katrina; Haider, Hamza S.; Spielman, David J.; Zaidi, Fatima |
| Abstract: | Can more vigorous political competition significantly raise rural land values, or contribute to more robust land rental markets? Exploiting exogenous variation in the national popularity of Pakistan’s political parties during the 2008 elections, we show that provincial assembly constituencies with greater competition between political parties had significantly higher land values and more active land rental markets four years later. A standard deviation decrease in a Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) of political concentration is associated with a 36 percent increase in land values, an 8 percentage point increase in the share of landowners renting out land, and an additional 4 percentage points of each landowner’s land being rented out. Land values appear to increase most among the poorest households, suggesting that benefits are greatest for those with the fewest resources to influence policy. Exploring potential causal mechanisms, we show that political competition leads to more stable and businessfriendly governance and institutions, better amenities, and greater provision of publicly provided goods. The effect of political competition on security is ambiguous, suggesting that political competition may decrease security along some dimensions and increase it along others. |
| Keywords: | prices, land markets, rural areas, governance, agricultural policies, political competition, rural governance, government performance, public goods, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1441&r=agr |
| By: | Ebata, Ayako; Hüttel, Silke |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to understand the mechanisms by which development projects facilitate market linkage of smallholder farmers based on panel data from Nicaragua. We find that activities related to entrepreneurial practices have positive and statistically significant effect on commercialization. We also find that increased commercialization is positively correlated with total bean sales income, suggesting a positive indirect effect of the activities. Other activities demonstrate no positive and robust effect on commercialization while direct positive effects on sales income can be observed. This implies that market linkage of smallholder farmers require different sets of intervention tools than traditional farm technical assistance. |
| Keywords: | Central America, NGO project, Market linkage, Impact Assessment, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Marketing, O13, Q17, Q18, |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:204326&r=agr |
| By: | Cox, Cindy M.; Kwon, Ho Young; Koo, Jawoo |
| Abstract: | The application of nitrogen (N) fertilizers is still insufficient across cropping systems in Africa south of the Sahara, while plant uptake of nitrogen is often inefficient and wasteful even when farmers apply fertilizers. This leaves sizable room for improving the productivity of crops and managing nutrient cycles. Fertilizer deep placement is a technology designed to enhance the efficiency of nutrient delivery to crops by placing granulated fertilizer directly in the root zone. Deep placement maximizes nutrient uptake by crops while using less fertilizer than surface broadcasting, and minimizes N losses due to runoff and ammonia volatilization. Urea deep placement (UDP) technology has been widely adopted in lowland paddy rice production systems in South Asia, especially in Bangladesh. There is a growing interest to scale up UDP adoption in West African countries, such as Ghana and Senegal, but a limited number of studies have been published from the region to support developing strategies. To contribute to the evidence-base, we use a grid-based cropping systems modeling framework, combined with analyses on the characterization of UDP and its geospatial targeting, and map the extent of biophysical suitability for UDP across regions in Ghana and Senegal and estimate potential yield increases under this technology. |
| Keywords: | urea, fertilizers, farm inputs, nitrogen, rice, soil fertility, cropping systems, urea deep placement (UDP), biophysical suitability, Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT), |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1448&r=agr |
| By: | Biggs, Stephen; Justice, Scott |
| Abstract: | The past 50 years witnessed a remarkable spread of smaller-scale rural mechanization in some regions of South Asia, mostly characterized by the spread of single-cylinder diesel engines. These engines have been used for multiple purposes, such as providing power for shallow tubewell pumps, riverboats, two-wheel tractors, road and track transport vehicles, harvesters, threshers, grain mills, timber mills, and processing equipment. Diverse local market institutions for the buying and selling of water, tillage, transport, and many other services have been associated with the spread of smaller-scale rural equipment. Alongside these smaller-scale patterns of rural mechanization there have been significant increases in the intensity of agricultural production and in broader-based rural development. Despite this evidence, international and local policy debates do not reflect the significance of these patterns of rural mechanization for agricultural and rural development. We begin this paper with a discussion of three main generalizations arising from the spread of smaller-scale technology. We then take up policy issues and start by identifying four themes that explain why this smaller-scale mechanization transformation remained below the horizon in policy debates outside the regions where these changes have been taking place. We end the paper by discussing five ways forward in policy analysis. |
| Keywords: | mechanization, rural areas, agricultural development, intensification, irrigation, pumping, technology transfer, well construction, industrial sector, tractors, rural mechanization, custom service markets, two-wheel tractors, pumpsets, shallow tubewells, backward and forward linkages, rural industries, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1443&r=agr |
| By: | Anne Célia Disdier; Charlotte Emlinger; Jean Fouré |
| Abstract: | Trade liberalization of the agri-food sector is a sensitive topic in both TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) discussions. This paper first provides an overview of the current flows and trade barriers. Using a general equilibrium model of international trade (the MIRAGE model), it then assesses the potential impact of these two agreements on agri-food trade and value added. Results suggest that the US would gain from both agreements for their agri-food sectors, while almost all their partners and third countries would benefit less and even register losses in some sectors. The two agreements however do not compete much one with the other, since all defensive and offensive interests of contracting parties are complementary. Finally, the Atlantic trade may be impacted by the inclusion of standards harmonization within the Pacific Agreement but not by its extension to additional members (e.g. China or India). |
| Keywords: | Mega-trade deals;Agri-food;CGE model;Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership;Trans-Pacific Partnership |
| JEL: | F13 F15 Q17 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2015-10&r=agr |
| By: | Johnson, Nancy L.; Kovarik, Chiara; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Njuki, Jemimah; Quisumbing, Agnes R. |
| Abstract: | Ownership of assets is important for poverty alleviation, and women’s control of assets is associated with positive development outcomes at the household and individual levels. This research was undertaken to provide guidance for agricultural development programs on how to incorporate gender and assets in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions. This paper synthesizes the findings of eight mixed-method evaluations of the impacts of agricultural development projects on individual and household assets in seven countries in Africa and South Asia. The results show that assets both affect and are affected by projects, indicating that it is both feasible and important to consider assets in the design, implementation, and evaluation of agricultural development projects. All projects were associated with increases in asset levels and other benefits at the household level; however, only four projects documented significant, positive impacts in women’s ownership or control of assets relative to a control group, and of those only one project provided evidence of a reduction in the gender asset gap. The quantitative and qualitative findings suggest ways that greater attention to gender and assets by researchers and development implementers could improve outcomes for women in future projects. |
| Keywords: | gender, women, property rights, agriculture, ownership, assets, evaluation, households, poverty alleviation, impact evaluation, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1436&r=agr |
| By: | Takeshima, Hiroyuki |
| Abstract: | In order to distinguish the impacts of technology adoption at the extensive margin from those at the intensive margin, in the empirical analyses we tested these hypotheses focusing on the differences among marginal adopters of tractor hiring services and nonadopters of similar characteristics. The results are two-fold: (1) adoptions patterns of tractor services are partly explained by basic factor endowments, suggesting that the market for custom hiring is in some way functioning efficiently in response to economic conditions; (2) adoptions are, however, affected by supply-side factors including the presence of large farm households (and thus potential tractor owners) within the district, and (3) per capita household expenditure level differs significantly between the marginal adopters and nonadopters of similar characteristics. This difference seems to arise from the adoption per se, rather than the intensity of adoption, which is consistent with the hypothesis of the imperfection of the custom hiring market. |
| Keywords: | mechanization, Markets, productivity, Agricultural development, Mathematical models, generalized propensity score, double-hurdle model, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1424&r=agr |
| By: | Mwabutwa, Chance |
| Abstract: | This paper is one of the four diagnostic studies initiated to better understand the black box of public expenditure statistics and how it varies across countries. Particularly, this paper analyzes how government expenditures in agriculture are captured in Malawi’s public financial accounts. It is anticipated that by providing a clear exposition of the manner in which public agriculture expenditures are identified and aggregated using the existing coding structure, this paper would facilitate easy understanding of the levels and composition of the public agricultural expenditures. Such an understanding would ultimately be necessary for determining the link between such allocations and their impact on agricultural growth and hence economic growth. The report starts with a brief background on reforms in the public financial accounts starting with the adoption of the structural adjustment in the 1980s. This is followed by an analysis of the budget and expenditure classification and coding system and a description of the public agriculture expenditure in Malawi. The consolidation and aggregation of data are based on the administrative, program, economic, and functional classification. One of the main findings show that overtime reforms to classification and coding system ensured compliance to international standards as provided in the 2001 Government Finance Statistics of International Monetary Fund and better linkages of expenditure items to the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy. |
| Keywords: | public expenditure, agricultural sector, investment, classification, coding system, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1442&r=agr |
| By: | Dominic, Theresia; Theuvsen, Ludwig |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relationship between firm resources, strategic management practices and firm performance of small agribusiness firms. Looking at level of managerial expertise and access to market information as primary resources, this research presents various arguments about their contribution to firm performance. The objective is to demonstrate the role of strategic management practices in facilitating the effective use of these resources to achieve agribusiness firm performance. Results from a structural equation model using a sample of 229 agribusiness firms from Tanzania indicate that the investigated resources alone do not directly contribute to firm performance unless there is application of strategic management as a potential mediator. Further investigation based on multigroup analysis shows contingency effects in the resources-performance relationship but significant influence of application of strategic management practices on performance across all groups of firms. The results imply that managers ought to identify a fit between their resources and strategic actions in order to enhance firm performance. The study provides manifold managerial implications for small firms that seek to improve firm performance. |
| Keywords: | Structural modelling, firm resources, strategic management practices, small firm performance, mediation analysis, Tanzania, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Q13, Q18, M31, J24, |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:200324&r=agr |
| By: | Romero, Christina; Wollni, Meike |
| Abstract: | Linking small farmers to global markets through contract farming has become an important policy recommendation aiming to increase farmers’ income and foster rural development. Nevertheless, some of the arrangements involving small farmers have been reported to loose participants or collapse over time. Trust is an informal institution that can discourage opportunism and facilitate the compliance of contracts in a setting with an expensive and weak legal system. Nevertheless, the study of trust has been addressed mostly in lab experiments, but in the agribusiness context it has been addressed only by a few authors in a rather descriptive way. We use a framed field experiment with prior signaling on a sample of 180 small broccoli farmers in the highlands of Ecuador to explore the effect of opportunistic behavior on small farmers´ trust. The results reveal that this group of farmers has lower than average trust towards unknown people. Furthermore, we use a signal that mimics the payment of a loan by the B partner as treatment in the predesigned trust game. Results show that a positive signal increases trust, but a negative signal has no effect on it. Reacting slowly to external negative signs can threaten individuals who will not protect themselves towards opportunism. If farmers do not react quickly enough, they might face larger losses and will not be able to stay in business. In addition, if informal norms include weak sanctions, contract farming will be less likely and individuals will prefer the spot market were only one-time exchanges take place. |
| Keywords: | small farmers, trust, experiments, signaling, delay on payment, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, D02, Q13, |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:206382&r=agr |
| By: | Berthoumieu, Julien; Bouët, Antoine |
| Abstract: | This research paper is aimed at understanding why border trade policies are today complemented with behind-the-border policies like output subsidies, R&D subsidies, and public R&D investments. This is a new type of protectionism that becomes prominent since the 2006-2008 economic crisis. In this paper we analyze the impact of various policies on domestic cost-reducing research and development (R&D) expenditures using an international duopolistic model with uncertainty regarding the result of the R&D process. We examine the impact of “at-the-border†policies (import tariffs, import quotas, voluntary export restraints, and minimum price agreements) as well as “behind-the-border†policies (output subsidies, R&D subsidies, and public R&D investments). We demonstrate new theoretical findings, in particular the increasing then decreasing impact of quotas on R&D, as well as the impact of production subsidies, public R&D investments, and minimum price agreements on private R&D. We conclude that R&D subsidies are appealing policy instruments because they support not only domestic R&D expenditures but also domestic production and profits without reducing consumers’ surplus. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural research, trade, trade policies, tariffs, subsidies, Agricultural policies, Prices, tariff on imports, output subsidy, R&, D subsidy, research and development, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1425&r=agr |
| By: | Mueller, Valerie; Billings, Lucy; Mogues, Tewodaj; Peterman, Amber; Wineman, Ayala |
| Abstract: | Gender disparities continue to exist in women’s control, inheritance, and ownership of land in spite of legislation directing improvements in women’s land access. Women are often excluded from traditional patrilineal inheritance systems, often lack the legal know-how or enforcement mechanisms to ensure their property rights are maintained, and often lack initial capital or asset bases to purchase land through market mechanisms. Community-based legal aid programs have been promoted as one way to expand access to justice for marginalized populations, through provision of free legal aid and education. Despite promising programmatic experiences, few rigorous evaluations have studied their impacts in developing countries. We evaluate the effect of a one-year community-based legal aid program in the Kagera Region of northwestern Tanzania using a randomized controlled trial design with specific attention to gender. We measure impacts of access to legal aid on a range of land-related knowledge, attitude, and practice outcomes using individual questionnaires administered to male and female household members separately. Effects were limited in the short term to settings with minimal transaction costs to the paralegal. Treatment women in smaller villages attend legal seminars and are more knowledgeable and positive regarding their legal access to land. Cost-effectiveness analysis shows that the costs of bringing about these changes are moderate. The difference between the impact of the intervention on men and on women is narrowed when taking into account the gender-differentiated paralegal effort, and thus costs, allocated to women and men. |
| Keywords: | Land rights, Land ownership, Gender, Women, assets, Community organizations, inheritance of property, legal aid, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1434&r=agr |
| By: | Von Arnim, Rudi; Tröster, Bernhard; Staritz, Cornelia; Raza, Werner |
| Abstract: | Many least developed countries (LDCs) face commodity dependence on the export and import side. This paper develops a structuralist computable general equilibrium model for commodity-dependent LDCs and simulates global commodity price shocks for Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mozambique. Results show important macroeconomic and distributional effects. Although increasing export commodity prices are beneficial, the high correlation with import commodity prices causes low or even negative combined effects. The magnitude of effects depends on the economic structure, the degree of import and export dependence, the production structure of the key commodity sectors and the distribution of windfall profits. |
| Keywords: | Commodity Dependence,Price Volatility,Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:oefsew:52&r=agr |
| By: | Christopher Jeffords (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | Using novel panel data on constitutional environmental rights (CER) for 190 countries from 1990-2012, this paper questions if the presence/language of CER provisions provides increased access to improved sanitation facilities and drinking water sources. While implementing statutory laws/regulations derived from CER provisions is a dynamic process, the presence/language of CER provisions is temporally fixed. To capture these dynamics, the presence of a CER and a measure of its legal strength are interacted with its age as explanatory variables within a fixed effects framework yielding evidence of: (1) no association between the CER measures and access to improved sanitation facilities; (2) a positive statistically significant association between ageing CER provisions and access to improved water sources; and (3) a positive but weakly statistically significant association between the legal strength of ageing CER provisions and access to improved water sources, which is improved upon for countries with British vs. French legal origins. |
| Keywords: | Constitutional Law, Environmental Rights, Sanitation, Water, Legal Origins, Panel Data, Fixed Effects |
| JEL: | K10 K32 O13 Q50 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:ecriwp:hri24&r=agr |
| By: | Francisco J.Beltrán Tapia (University of Cambridge); Julio Martínez-Galarraga (Universitat de València) |
| Abstract: | By collecting a large dataset in mid-19th century Spain, this paper contributes to the debate on institutions and economic development by examining the historical link between land access inequality and education. This paper analyses information from the 464 districts existent in 1860 and confirms that there is a negative relationship between the fraction of farm labourers and literacy rates. This result does not disappear when a large set of potential confounding factors are included in the analysis. The use of the Reconquest as a quasi-natural experiment allows us to rule out further concerns about potential endogeneity. Likewise, by employing data on schooling enrolment rates and number of teachers, this paper explores the mechanisms behind the observed relationship in order to ascertain to which extent demand or supply factors are responsible for it. Lastly, the gender composition of the data, which enables distinguishing between female and male literacy levels, together with boys and girls schooling enrolment rates, is also examined. |
| Date: | 2015–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nuf:esohwp:_137&r=agr |
| By: | Aman Saggu (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)); Witada Anukoonwattaka (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)) |
| Abstract: | This issue of the Trade Insights series identifies Asia-Pacific LDCs and LLDCs with export-portfolios and economies which are at greatest risk from the recent collapse in global commodity prices. Asia-Pacific LDCs and LLDCs account for less than 2% of global commodity exports and just 7% of Asia-Pacific commodity exports; however many these economies have export-portfolios which are highly concentrated in one or two major commodities: mainly crude oil, natural, gas, aluminum, iron ore/steel, cotton and copper. |
| Keywords: | Commodity price, revenue, export, economies |
| JEL: | F1 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unt:esctis:tis6&r=agr |
| By: | Piotr Lis (Department of Economic and Local Government Policy, Poznan University of Economics, Poland) |
| Abstract: | Over the last decade there has been dynamic development of technical infrastructure connected with the water economy in Poland. In the years 2000-2013, the water system network expended three times. Such development was possible thanks to the subsidies granted for the realisation of infrastructural investments under the European Union pre-accession (ISPA) as well as post-accession programmes (Structural Funds, Cohesion Funds) supported by state institutions responsible for environmental protection (the Ministry of Environment, the National Fund of Environmental Protection and Water Management). The financial means obtained from bank loans constituted an insignificant part of infrastructural investments. Responsibility for the water system, including the collective supply of water and collective discharge of sewage, is held by gminas1 and it is their own task under the municipal economy. Gminas, the number of which is 2479 in Poland, commission water and sewage service enterprises to perform these tasks. Such enterprises, characterised by a very fragmented structure, play a monopolistic role in a given gmina or a collection of gminas. That is why, the process of financialisation of this sector seems to be rather slow. Political conditions in local communities constitute additional limitations to abrupt ownership transformations in the water sector. Of key importance in water sector is the process of establishing tariffs for collective water supply and collective sewage discharge. The manner of validating the tariffs by gminas is, however, rather questionable. The total price of water supply in Poland varies to a large degree, compared to the prices of electricity or gas supply. It comes as a result of geographical and geological conditions in particular gminas as well as a large scale of proecological investments. Furthermore, the prices of water constitute a crucial political factor used in the fight for votes in the local government elections. The agreement from the gmina’s authorities to increase water prices may contribute to their political defeat and a loss of influence. The sector of water and sewage services is not supervised by a central regulatory authority. The functioning of water and sewage service enterprises is supervised by individual gminas. Thus, a conflict of interests occurs, i.e. gminas establish water and sewage service enterprises which they subsequently supervise. That is why, there has been a discussion in Poland over the creation of a central regulatory authority and the consolidation of the sector. These activities could lead to an intensive privatisation of this area of the economy and a significant growth in the level of financialisation of this sector. |
| Keywords: | water, water sector, provision of water, collective water supply, water and sewage service enterprises, financialisation of the waters sector. |
| JEL: | Q56 Q59 H41 H42 G21 |
| Date: | 2015–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fes:wpaper:wpaper101&r=agr |
| By: | Pablo Martinez-Juarez; Aline Chiabai; Sonia Quiroga Gómez; Tim Taylor |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the impact that changes in natural ecosystems can have on human health. Green and blue areas promoted as adaptation measures may provide a wide range of co-benefits which should be taken into account when designing adaptation options. Otherwise sub-optimal policy may result. Here we first present an overview of some key adaptation measures, their possible impacts on the natural environment and associated health implications. Second, we discuss the benefits associated with the exposure to green and blue areas and build a theoretical framework for analysing co-benefits of adaptation to climate change, where such adaptation affects the natural environment. Third, we present an overview of the key literature addressing the relationship between health and exposure to natural environment, while classifying the studies according to the methodological approaches, and discussing main results and key issues. Results in the literature show a positive correlation between health and green areas, while blue areas have attracted less attention. The wide range of differentiated approaches in the literature highlights the need for an integrated conceptual framework to assess the health co-benefits of adaptation that interrelates with the natural environment. We provide the basis for such a conceptual framework that allows identifying the different aspects of this interaction. |
| Keywords: | Ecosystems and human health, green and blue areas, co-benefits, climate change adaptation |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcc:wpaper:2015-01&r=agr |