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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2018‒12‒10
eighty-two papers chosen by |
| By: | Wang, Y.; Huang, J. |
| Abstract: | Although the importance of forests in climate change mitigation has been widely recognized, there has been a lack of empirical research regarding the role of forests in agricultural adaptation to climate change. This paper uses a careful designed household survey in South China that considers an exogenous shock of drought, to determine whether the presence of natural and planted forests near rice-producing villages can reduce the adverse effects of drought on rice yield. After controlling for local climate and water infrastructure, we find robust evidence that natural forests and not planted forests have significant positive effects on rice yield, due to their influence on the availability of water for irrigation. Although drought hinders farmers access to irrigation, which negatively affects rice yield, forests near villages provide protection for rice against drought. These findings support the adoption of forest ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) to cope with climate change and enhance food security. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276959&r=agr |
| By: | Takayama, T.; Hashizume, N.; Nakatani, T. |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of direct payments in less favored areas (LFAs) on agricultural land use and farm numbers in Japan, using large panel data at the community level from the Census of Agriculture in 2000 and 2005. These direct payments, which take a unique form in Japan, are made to rural communities with specific natural handicaps and that are designated as less favored, as compensation for the additional costs of agricultural production in LFAs. This study uses the location of a community (whether a community with specific natural handicaps is located in LFA) as an instrument for the community s receipt of direct payments. Our instrumental variable estimates indicate that from 2000 to 2005, LFA payments fostered continued land use and prevented farmland abandonment through the maintenance of farm households. In other words, LFA payments helped make farming in these areas viable. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277294&r=agr |
| By: | Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Sanou, Awa; Tambo, Justice A. |
| Abstract: | Most climate change adaptation studies in agriculture focus on staple food crops. Few studies have examined livestock farmers in Africa and even fewer have considered small animals such as poultry. Heat stress associated with climate change is a challenge to poultry farmers due to its negative effect on chicken growth and productivity. As the poultry subsector across Africa expands to meet changing consumption patterns, understanding how farmers deal with the realities of poultry production due to climate change is critical. This study explores the level and determinants of the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies among poultry farmers in Nigeria. A multivariate probit analysis reveals that poultry farmers practice climate change adaptation strategies with a clear heterogeneity of strategies at different production scales. Small farms tend to invest in traditional strategies such as the stocking of local breeds while medium and large farms adopt modern technologies such as air and water ventilation and the use of bulbs that emit less heat. Our study finds that farmers who have experienced heat related losses are more likely to adopt modern practices and more likely to adopt multiple adaptation strategies at a time. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:279861&r=agr |
| By: | Attavanich, Witsanu |
| Abstract: | Agriculture in developing countries is the most sensitive economic sector when it comes to climate change. Thailand is one of the developing countries where agriculture plays a significant role and is likely vulnerable to the changing climate. Past studies investigated the impacts of climate change on Thailand’s agricultural sector, but they are fragmented, lack of synthetic results linking to national climate change policies. The objectives of this article are to review and synthesize recent studies investigating the climate change impacts on Thailand’s agricultural sector and update the current state of climate change policies in the sector. Several policies implications can be extracted from the study. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, Thailand, Agriculture, Impact, Climate Change Policy, Literature Review, Economics, |
| JEL: | Q18 Q54 R14 |
| Date: | 2018–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:90255&r=agr |
| By: | Souza, G.; Gurgel, A.; Feres, J.G. |
| Abstract: | Brazil is considered a world leader in the production of ethanol derived from sugarcane. It is questioned the existence of agricultural land that can shelter the expansion of the culture, without causing greater damages for the environment and for the society. Thus, the main objective of this research was to project the impact of an increase in the demand for sugarcane destined for ethanol on land use and on food production in Brazil. The methodology used was computable general equilibrium, with the incorporation of a land use module and a conversion cost among the different soil types. The results suggest that in Brazil sugarcane expansion will occur at the expense of crop and pasture areas. The impact on deforestation and the impact on food prices would be relatively small. And such changes could be softened by productivity gains on land. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277303&r=agr |
| By: | Shilpa Aggarwal; Brian Giera; Dahyeon Jeong; Jonathan Robinson; Alan Spearot |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we quantify market access in rural Tanzania, and the extent to which it constrains agricultural productivity. We collect granular data on farmer input and sales decisions, input and output prices, and travel costs in all 1,183 villages in two regions of Tanzania. We find that a village in the 90th percentile of the travel-cost adjusted price distribution faces input and output prices 40-55% less favorable than a village at the 10th percentile. In reduced form, an additional standard deviation of travel time is associated with 20-25% lower input adoption and output sales. We develop and quantify a spatial model of input adoption and conservatively estimate that farmers behave as if they face travel costs of 6% ad-valorem per kilometer of travel, which is equivalent to 40% when traveling to the closest retailer. Holding exogenous local factors fixed, we estimate that reducing travel costs by 50% (approximately the effect of paving rural roads) doubles adoption and reduces the adoption-remoteness gradient by 18%. |
| JEL: | F14 O12 O13 O18 Q12 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25253&r=agr |
| By: | Naik, D. |
| Abstract: | The size class-I, size class-II and size class-III category of dairy farmers get profit over cost B recording Rs.4.10, Rs.4.05 and Rs.4.00 per litre respectively. However the return per litre of milk over actual cost (cost C ) is highest in the size class-I categories of dairy farm owners recording Rs.2.85 as profit followed by size class-II with Rs.2.80 per litre) and size class-III with Rs.2.70 per litre) .Increase in price will not alone able to increase production, the factors like feeding, infrastructural facilities and timely market support may be crucial for raising the level of production The return per liter of milk over variable costs are highest in size class-I (Rs.6.75 per liter) followed by size class-II (Rs.6.70 per liter) and size class-III (Rs.6.55 per lite The production curve can be shifted upwards with improved production and market management practices. It is also important to reduce proportion of none descripts milch animals which drain the resources without contributing to production satisfactorily. Acknowledgement : I am thankful to international society of Agricultural Economics which encouraged me to write such paper. |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277157&r=agr |
| By: | Shakra, R. |
| Abstract: | Recent literature in development and welfare economics tackles the interaction between aspirations and investment and their role in sustaining poverty. Our paper investigates this relationship by exploring income aspirations of emerging farmers and their investments in agriculture inputs in South Africa. It follows the theoretical approach introduced by Appadurai (2004) and Ray (2006) and employs a simplified version of the empirical model introduced by Janzen et al. (2017). We find no significant evidence of aspirations failure or the inverse-U shaped relationship that is predicted by the theory. Our analysis does not show any effects nor does it predict different hypothesis. We provide possible attributes for these outcomes, mainly on the design of the survey, type of investments, and motives behind engaging in small-scale agribusiness. Acknowledgement : We express our sincere gratitude to the Department of Agriculture Economics at the University of Stellenbosch, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), and the great team of enumerators for their dedication, for providing valuable insights and for assisting with the survey in the field. |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277177&r=agr |
| By: | Ahmad Sadiddin; Donato Romano; Raffaella Zucaro; Veronica Manganiello |
| Abstract: | The paper presents an introductory analysis of agro-food frauds (AFF) in Italy and aims to get some preliminary insights for the improvement of AFF monitoring system. To pursue this objective, we used explorative statistical analysis looking at AFF from various perspectives, analysing them over time, geographically and at the value chain level. The data used are taken exclusively from the Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression in Agro-Food Products (Ispettorato Centrale per la Qualità e la Repressioni delle Frodi, ICQRF) of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, which is the major public body specialised in fraud repression in agro-food sector. The analysis shows that the inspection activities carried out by ICQRF have significantly improved from 2007 to 2015 both in terms of sampling and fraud detection. However, there is still room for further improvement. The analysis shows that the ICQRF may consider further investments in Lazio and Lombardy, two regions that are under-covered by inspection activities as compared to the other regions. In addition, a reallocation of the inspection resources from smaller regions (generally featuring with low intensities of irregularity) to larger ones (with higher intensities of irregularity) is expected to further improve the inspection efficiency. The analysis at subsector level shows that wine and olive oil production are the most inspected agro-food activities, given their larger economic sizes and their higher exposure to frauds. Differentiating products by their quality characteristics (organic, designation of origin, and conventional) do not show significant differences across regions, but they did show noticeable relevance across subsectors. Designation of origin products are extremely important for the wine subsector accounting for 66% of the total inspected products, while organic products are relatively more important than those of designation of origin for subsector mostly based on fresh/unprocessed products such as vegetables and cereals. In conclusion, the importance of quality products is dictated by the technical characteristics of each value chain, and these characteristics should be considered in designing inspection sampling. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2018_22.rdf&r=agr |
| By: | Mellor, J. |
| Abstract: | Rapid agricultural growth causes substantial increase in the rural non-farm expenditure on the rural non-farm sector that eventually increases the rate of growth of market towns and hence a dispersing of urbanization away from the small number of large urban centers. That effect is greater for low income countries than middle income countries. Thus, the effect in low income countries sets the stage for longer term dispersion of urbanization. Rapid agricultural growth is the major cause of poverty decline in both low and middle income countries. The impact is greatest when it starts as a low income country and continues in middle income status. One of the down sides to modernization of agriculture is the common exclusion of women, including farmer s wife s, from reedy access to the new information require to take advantage of income increasing technological change in agriculture. The problem is easily solved by making extension demonstration the core of information spread and ensuring participation of farmer s wife s ae well as female headed farm households. That inclusion then facilitates women playing a major leadership role on the institutions of modernization such as rural cooperatives. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276971&r=agr |
| By: | Silva, F.D.F.; Fulginiti, L.; Perrin, R. |
| Abstract: | In recent decades, the northern states of Brazil have experienced high rates of agricultural productivity change and also high rates of deforestation. In this article we examine the impact of the former on the latter. We pose the question whether technical change has been biased toward or against forest preservation decreasing or increasing the amount of agricultural commodities that must be given up to preserve a unit of forest. Here we estimate the rate and biases of technical change for municipalities in the arc of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Forest, 2003 to 2015. We represent the production possibility frontier between agriculture and deforestation with a directional distance function with deforestation as an undesirable output. Our results differ by municipality, showing an average annual rate of technical change of 4.9%, and an average bias toward agricultural outputs relative to deforestation, thus reflecting increasing opportunity costs for marginal reductions in deforestation. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277167&r=agr |
| By: | Herrmann, R.; Bissinger, K.; Krandick, L. |
| Abstract: | Sustainability characteristics play an increasing role in food markets. At least some consumers are willing to pay a price for organic or regional production, animal welfare or fairtrade. In order to analyze implicit prices of sustainability characteristics, it is important to go beyond consumer studies as such characteristics do affect marginal costs as well. We employ a hedonic price analysis in order to compare price premia of very different sustainability characteristics on the German online market for honey. Honey is particularly interesting as it is perceived as a natural product and regional and organic production competes, e.g., with fairtrade products from developing countries. It is striking that consumer prices for honey contain positive as well as negative implicit prices for sustainability characteristics. Apparently, consumer valuation in terms of the marginal willingness to pay as well as marginal costs differ strongly across the sustainability characteristics. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277079&r=agr |
| By: | Ghinoi, S.; Piras, S.; Wesz, V.J.J. |
| Abstract: | The literature on rural development focuses on the socio-economic effects of agricultural financing, while the process of policy design is devoted less attention. Identifying policy coalitions may help understand the motivations behind a given financing system. Using Discourse Network Analysis, this paper studies the debates preceding the approval of the National Program for Strengthening Family Agriculture (Pronaf) in Brazil in the nineties. This represented a relevant overturn of the previous policy framework. Two coalitions were confronting each other: large farm business associations focused on productivity, and the movements of family farmers aimed at creating credit instruments for small producers. The strong pressure of social movements was paramount for promoting Pronaf. However, findings suggest that the Workers Party, which found itself in a less conflicting position, played a key role in negotiating the introduction of particular measures. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277274&r=agr |
| By: | Krzysztof Hryszko (The Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics ? National Research Institute); Piotr Szajner (The Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics ? National Research Institute) |
| Abstract: | Pork production in Poland has a significant economic, social and environmental impact. Favourable natural conditions as well as the tradition and consumption patterns have made Poland, producing 2.5-2.8 million tonnes of pig livestock (in liveweight), one of the biggest producers in the EU. The pig sector is not only one of the most important branches of the Polish agri-food economy, but is also considered one of the most sensitive ones (Rowinski, Tereszczuk 2008). What makes it so important is its large share in commercial production and agricultural income, sales revenue and employment, as well as a high level of pork consumption and its share in consumers? food spending. Following Poland?s accession to the EU, the development of the pig sector has been more hindered than the production and processing of poultry, milk and beef. Poland has become a shortage country in pork production, the share of imports in the supply of the domestic market has increased to 40%, and the negative balance of foreign trade in pork reached in 2016 220 thousand tonnes in a meat equivalent and EUR 342 million. The article presents the changes taking place on the pork market in Poland in 2004-2016 and indicates the factors determining them. Problems relating to pork production are mainly due to: fragmented farm structure compared to those in EU-15 Member States, decreasing share of pork in agricultural commercial production und in the total meat production, low price competitiveness, problems with ASF in the eastern regions of Poland and hindered exports due to an embargo imposed by Russia. |
| Keywords: | pig livestock, structure of pig farming, industrial processing, pig market, supply chain, foreign trade, prices and profitability |
| JEL: | Q11 Q13 Q17 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7010084&r=agr |
| By: | Araya, G.B.; Holden, S.T. |
| Abstract: | Using panel data of three rounds collected from 12 districts in Tigray, this study assesses the impact of Ethiopia s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) on the probability of adoption of modern fertilizer and intensity of its use by rural farm households. We employ the control function approach to identify the impact. Results show that membership in the PSNP has a positive impact on the probability of adopting modern fertilizer but not on the amount of fertilizer that farm households use. This result may indicate that the PSNP is contributing to investments by farmers which may lead to achieving food security and enhanced productivity of poor farm households. Acknowledgement : The authors are grateful to the Norwegian Project for Capacity Development in Higher Education and Research for Development (NORHED) for funding this work through the Climate Smart Natural Resource Management and Policy (CLISNARP) project. We are also thankful to Mesfin Tilahun for the useful comments we got from him on this work. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277051&r=agr |
| By: | Belyaeva, Maria |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Russian grain production, to determine country’s production potential and its possibility to remain one of the major grain producers on the world market. On the one hand we estimate the technical efficiency during the period of transition to the market economy. By applying a novel approach to the estimation of production efficiency on a regional level, we assess the grain production potential and determine factors that influence productivity beyond the control of the farmers. On the other hand we conduct a detailed analysis of the climate change impact on grain production. We base our study on panel fixed-effect regressions of grain yields on a set of crop specific weather indicators. Furthermore, we use climate change projections for the medium and long terms to estimate the effect of global warming on grain productivity in different regions of the country. Empirical results of the production efficiency model are based on a balanced panel of Russian regions which were involved in grain production during the period 1995-2011. We rely on a production function that accounts for the effect of labour, land, capital, and variable inputs. In addition, we construct specific variables to control for factors that remain outside of the farmers’ control, i.e. the level of human and infrastructure development and climate and soil conditions. In the climate change model we use yields of three the most popular grain types – winter wheat, spring wheat, and spring barley – on a regional level to determine their relation to indicators that account for climate conditions during the vegetation period, specific for each grain type. Specifically, we approximate the distribution of daily temperatures using a trigonometric sine curve to construct measures of growing and heat degree days. The data covers the period from 1955 to 2012. In order to estimate the effect of future climate change we rely on the latest available projections, provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2014) for the medium and long terms. The analysis of technical efficiency demonstrates that an average farm in a Russian region is functioning at its full production capacity, and further development and productivity increases depend on factors that are not directly related to technical aspects of production and that remain beyond the control of farmers, namely the level of human and institutional development, access to infrastructure and climate conditions. We indicate that further exploitation of natural production possibilities has a positive impact on the process of agricultural improvement. We then conduct an examination of the climate effect to analyse the historical dependence of grain production on temperatures and precipitation levels, and project this dependence to estimate the productivity of studied grain types in the medium and long terms, given four different greenhouse gas concentration pathways. We find that altering temperatures have an equivocal effect on agriculture. The most productive zones of the southern black soil belt is projected to face considerable declines in yields, due to insufficient precipitation levels and high probability of heat waves during the summer vegetation period. The northern part, on the contrary, can experience increases in productivity as a result of milder and drier winters and warmer springs. Obtained empirical results allowed us to determine that climate plays a major role in grain production in Russia. Although northern regions will experience considerable increases in yields in the medium and long terms, projected falls in productivities in the southern part of the country cannot be compensated by production increases in the North: insufficiently developed infrastructure, low productivity of soil and lack of investments to safely reintroduce the abandoned lands into the agricultural process prevent substantial agricultural growth. Accordingly, in order to maintain sufficient production levels more efforts should be concentrated on adaptation measures to breed more drought-resistant grain varieties and to adopt soil moisture accumulating and preserving technologies. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamost:280713&r=agr |
| By: | Ken W. Clements (Business School, The University of Western Australia); Jiawei Si (Business School, The University of Western Australia); Long H. Vo (Business School, The University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates several basic characteristics of food and agricultural prices across commodities, countries and time. The first part of the paper uses consumer prices across commodities and countries from the International Comparisons Program and finds that food has a distinct tendency to be cheaper in rich countries as compared to poor ones. This possibly reflects the productivity bias effect of Balassa and Samuelson, or Engel’s law. Food prices are also less dispersed in rich countries. Cross-country and cross-commodity tests reject the law of one price (LOP) more often than not with, as might be expected with consumer prices. In the second part of the paper, data on agricultural producer prices from the Food and Agriculture Organisation are used to test if deviations from the LOP are stationary, using a panel approach. As about three-quarters of the 100+ products obey the law, there seems to be some support for the LOP in this context. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:17-04&r=agr |
| By: | Aubert, M.; Enjolras, G. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to examine how crop insurance influences pesticide use, the two decisions being strategic for risk management at the farm scale. Using data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), we consider French farms which cultivate field crops and wine-growing, the two main sectors that participate the most to crop insurance and that use intensively pesticides. The paper implements propensity score matching, difference-in-differences models and a combination of these two methods in order to compare populations of insured and non-insured farmers. The analysis is performed between 2008 and 2012 given a strategic change in the crop insurance system in 2010 that strongly incites farmers to purchase crop insurance with private companies. At the same time, pesticide use was progressively discouraged through public policies. Estimations show that while pesticide use decreases for all crops, the purchase of crop insurance policies softens this reduction for field crops and fasten it for wine-growing. These results emphasize a possible substitutability between crop insurance and pesticides as risk management tools. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277242&r=agr |
| By: | Schwab, B. |
| Abstract: | The productive impacts of transfer programs have received increased attention. However, little is known about such effects in emergency and crisis settings. Even less is known about whether transfer type a food basket or cash grant influences the productive potential of such transfers. Theory suggests that while cash transfers can relieve liquidity constraints associated with investments, subsidized food provision may prevent households from retreating to conservative income generating strategies by acting as a type of insurance during volatile periods. Using a randomized field experiment in Yemen, we contrast the effects of transfer modality. The results demonstrate a modest productive impact of both modalities, and suggest a role for both liquidity and price risk channels. Cash transfer recipients invested relatively more in activities with higher liquidity requirements (livestock), while food recipients incorporated higher return crops into their agricultural portfolio. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277561&r=agr |
| By: | Steinhubel, L. |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a flexible conceptual and methodological framework to model the dynamics of agricultural transition in the increasingly complex rural-urban interfaces of large cities. Our empirical analysis is based on data of a household survey conducted in the rural-urban interface of Bangalore, India. In our analysis we follow a polycentric perspective of urbanization introducing a two-dimensional variable measuring the effect of urbanization. Furthermore, we accommodate high input and crop diversity by applying a Structured Additive Regression (STAR) model. Our results show that satellite towns and road infrastructure are the main channels of urbanization to accelerate agricultural transition. The access to satellite towns seems to be even more important for smallholders to modernize their management systems than the access to the actual main city of Bangalore. Finally, our study implies that more flexible models are necessary to understand the dynamics of agricultural transition in the surroundings of fast-growing large towns, the kind of town expected to be dominating the urbanization trend in the coming decades. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277430&r=agr |
| By: | Medagbe, F.M.Kinkingninhoun |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the gender differential impact of NERICA adoption on rice yield and farmers annual household income using data from 342 rice farmers in Benin. NERICA varieties have been developed by AfricaRice which won its creator Monty Jones the 2004 World Food Prize. The paper applies the potential outcomes framework to estimate the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE). The results show that NERICA adoption has positive and significant impact on farmers yield and household per capita income. The impacts of NERICA adoption are not homogeneous across farmers categories and are higher for female farmers than male farmers. The findings suggest the widely dissemination of NERICA varieties, mainly upland NERICA, with a focus on women, in order to increase rice productivity and consequently total production and income. Acknowledgement : The authors of this papers would like to thank IFAD, Japan Government and AfDB for the financial support to this study and Africa Rice center for its technical and financial support. |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/ Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277544&r=agr |
| By: | Vigani, M.; Berry, R. |
| Abstract: | Economic resilience is a concept used for farms facing shocks and their capacity to resist, adapt and achieve new equilibria enhancing their long term viability. Operationalizing the resilience concept is a difficult task due to its multidimensional and dynamic nature. Based on literature and risk management theory, this paper develops a composite index of economic resilience based on five dimensions, namely farm s vulnerability, intensification, biodiversity, diversification and performance. In a second step, the composite index is used to estimate the impact of climatic, environmental and telecommunications infrastructure factors on the economic resilience of farms in England and Wales, using multilevel models with mixed effects estimators. Results show that CAP subsidies, soil erosion and drought have a negative impact on the economic resilience of English and Welsh farms, but that a more diversified land use reduces farms vulnerability, by providing more opportunities for agricultural diversification. Finally, extensive telecommunications infrastructure has a particularly important role in the economic resilience of the pigs sector. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276979&r=agr |
| By: | Ogunleye, W. |
| Abstract: | As important as smallholders are to food production across in sub-Saharan Africa, smallholders face a lot of challenges in accessing market. This study examined the determinants of market participation among smallholders rice farmers in a major rice producing Local government area of Ogun State, Nigeria. The result showed that all the sampled farmers participated in the output market with the mean participation put at 89%. The fractional Probit regression showed farm size, formal education, fertilizer application, land ownership through inheritance and cost of transportation as significant determinants of level of output market participation. In order to enhance market participation, the study recommends provision of good transport facilities which is capable of reducing transport cost, removal of bottlenecks preventing access to and use fertilizer as well as provision of farm land in manners similar to inheritance which makes land available at low/zero cost and reduces land fragmentation . Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277055&r=agr |
| By: | Valdes, A. |
| Abstract: | The agrarian reform carried out between 1965 and 1973 was the result of legitimate problems in pre-reform rural society, of which slow agricultural growth was one major determinant. Ultimately the reform failed to achieve its initial objectives in terms of accelerating growth but had a profound social and political impact in rural areas. This text contributes to the literature on the objectives and outcomes of agricultural reform in Chile by raising arguments and evidence regarding various components of the process. The key lessons from this analysis are that the leaders behind the agrarian reform misinterpreted their diagnosis about the causes behind the slow growth of agriculture, attributing this slow growth to farm tenure system at the time, ignoring the adverse impact on the sector of economy-wide policies. Additionally, simply paying attention to similar agricultural reform processes worldwide may have helped the reformers avoid the Asentamientos disappointing performance. These lessons are relevant to continuing debates on the interphase between land tenure structure and agricultural policies. Acknowledgement : The authors want to thank William Foster for his valuable contribution on a previous study on the Agrarian Reform. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277144&r=agr |
| By: | Olper, A.; Falco, C.; Galeotti, M. |
| Abstract: | Migration and climate change are two of the most important challenges the world currently faces. They are connected as climate change may stimulate migration. One of the sectors most strongly affected by climate change is agriculture, where most of the world s poor are employed. Climate change may affect agricultural productivity and hence migration because of its impact on average temperatures and rainfall and because it increases the frequency and intensity of weather shocks. This paper uses data from 1960 to 2010, for more than 150 countries, to analyse the relationship between weather variation, agricultural productivity and migration. Our main findings show that, in line with theoretical predictions, negative shocks to agricultural productivity caused by weather fluctuations significantly increase migration in middle and lower income countries but not in the poorest and in the rich countries. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277488&r=agr |
| By: | Ritter, M.; Yang, X.; Odening, M. |
| Abstract: | In the last decade, many parts of the world experienced severe increases in agricultural land prices. This price surge, however, did not take place evenly in space and time. To better understand the spatial and temporal behavior of land prices, we employ a price diffusion model that combines features of market integration models and spatial econometric models. An application of this model to farmland prices in Germany shows that prices on a county-level are cointegrated. Apart from convergence towards a long-run equilibrium, we find that price transmission also proceeds through short-term adjustments caused by neighboring regions. Acknowledgement : Financial support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC NO.201406990006) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through Research Unit 2569 Agricultural Land Markets Efficiency and Regulation is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also thank Oberer Gutachterausschuss f r Grundst ckswerte in Niedersachsen (P. Ache) for providing the data used in the analysis. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277414&r=agr |
| By: | Branco, D.; Feres, J. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether rural households use labor allocation to mitigate the effect of drought shocks in the Northeaster Brazilian context. We first document that water scarcity leads to lower income derived from farm work as main, and higher income from secondary jobs. We then examine the extent to which extreme droughts affect time labor allocation. Our results indicate that an additional drought shock per year is associated with greater likelihood of have more than one job, lower share of farm activities in the total hours worked, and higher share of secondary job. The effects are higher for poorer municipalities. These findings are consistent with a mitigation response to reduced agricultural profitability due to water scarcity. Acknowledgement : This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada through Project entitled Using an Environmental Economics Perspective to Influence Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean - Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Economics Program (LACEEP). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the IDRC or its Board of Governors. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277736&r=agr |
| By: | Kanyamuka, Joseph S.; Nankhuni, Flora J.; Dzanja, Joseph K. |
| Abstract: | • Sweet potato yields have increased over the past decade partly due to introduction of improved high yielding varieties but yields still fall short of the potential. • Some of the factors constraining productivity growth include over-recycling of seed among farmers and poor agronomic practices due to limited extension services. • The release of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) varieties have contributed to decline in Vitamin A deficiency in Malawi, contributing to improved nutrition status. • Demand for sweet potato and associated products is increasing partly due to increased urbanization and vulnerability of maize to climate change impacts. • To improve Malawi’s sweet potato value chain, the following recommendations are made: significant investments in seed systems, irrigation, post-harvest, value addition and agro-processing technologies in response to identified market and industry needs; investments in research and extension on improved varieties, good agronomic practices, and pest and diseases prevention and control; and investments to link farmers, farmer organizations and processors through contract farming arrangements and scaling up of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) varieties to maintain sufficient Vitamin A intake. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–08–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:279871&r=agr |
| By: | Paul Nkegbe; Abdelkrim Araar; Benjamin Abu; Yazidu Ustarz; Hamdiyah Alhassan; Edinam Dope Setsoafia; Shamsia Abdul-Wahab |
| Abstract: | We used an endogenous switching probit and a generalized structural equation model (GSEM) to assess the effect of non-farm participation on householders’ decisions to sell and on the level of commercialization of agricultural goods in Ghana. For this study, we used the Ghana Living Standards Survey for the years 2012-2013 and found that non-farm participation consistently increased both the probability of selling crops and quantities sold. We concluded that non-farm engagement by farmers boosts market participation and commercialization in Ghana, implying that non-farm engagement and agricultural commercialization are complementary. Developing the agricultural sector requires the government to create the conditions necessary to stimulate farmers’ participation in non-farm activities. |
| Keywords: | Non-farm participation, Market participation, Commercialization, Endogeneity, Ghana, Africa |
| JEL: | D13 Q13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2018-07&r=agr |
| By: | Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano; Searle, Stephanie |
| Abstract: | The United States (US) Renewable Fuel Standard and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard support the use of soy biodiesel and renewable diesel in the transport fuel supply for climate mitigation. However, linkages between the markets for soy oil and palm oil, which is associated with very high land use change emissions, could negatively affect the climate performance of soy-based biofuels. This study estimates the own and cross-price elasticities for the supply of soy and palm oils in the US using country-level data from 1992 to 2016 under rational expectations, through a seemingly unrelated regressions system of equations. We find a positive cross-price elasticity of palm oil import with respect to soy oil price and a positive reaction of supply of soy oil to increase in prices of palm oil. These results suggest that US biofuel policies may underestimate substitution between soy and palm oils and thus overestimate the climate benefits from soy-based biofuel. |
| Keywords: | Biofuel; Price elasticity; Oils market; SURE |
| JEL: | O13 P28 Q21 Q41 Q42 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:90248&r=agr |
| By: | Lin, J.; Z.; Zhang, Z. |
| Abstract: | Transportation is important for tobacco production in the mountain area in China. Agricultural cooperatives have been established to provide transportation services. In this paper, we assess whether receiving transportation services from agricultural cooperatives affect the technical efficiency of tobacco producers, using 346 household data from Guizhou Province, China. The results show that receiving transportation services result in an increase in household income of tobacco planting by 143.7% or 291.4% or 300.6% with different estimation approaches. Moreover, we also find that inclusion of membership can enhance the impact of transportation on household income. We conclude that agricultural cooperatives should be encouraged to better transportation and rural infrastructures. Acknowledgement : We are grateful for comments from Pro. Hongdong Guo, Markus Hanisch and staff from Division of Economics of Agricultural Cooperatives of Humboldt University zu Berlin. This work was supported by Guizhou Tobacco Monopoly, China. |
| Keywords: | Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276998&r=agr |
| By: | Jean Foyer (CREDA - CREDA - Centre de Recherche Et de Documentation sur les Amériques - UMR 7227 - Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Aurore Viard-Crétat (CAK-CRHST - Centre Alexandre Koyré - Centre de Recherche en Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Valérie Boisvert (Institut de géographie et durabilité - UNIL - Université de Lausanne) |
| Abstract: | Thispaperstarts from thepremise thatat theRio+20Summit,historyhas repeateditselfand that the same expectations raised by bioprospecting 20 years ago are now attached to the market-based instruments associated with conservation policies (Payments for environmental services, REDD mechanisms, biodiversity offsets,...). The promise that market mechanisms are best suited to reach biodiversity conservation goals has been renewed. Building on Polanyian definition of fictitious commodities and on the idea of the ‘economy of promises' (developed by P.B. Joly in relation to biotechnologies and nanotechnologies), we argue that beyond their ideological foundations, market mechanisms require complex institutional arrangements that are often irrelevant and ineffective in reaching theirenvironmental objectives.Thesevariousmarket-based ormarket-like arrangements rely onthereassertedpromiseofasynergybetweenmarketandconservationratherthanonactualmarket mechanisms. They are supposedly meant as conservation tools. However, they rather foster the developmentofamarketforconsultingandeconomicexpertiseinconservationissues,thegrowthand perpetuation of which depend on the renewal of this promise, in the form of changing institutional arrangementsandmechanisms. |
| Date: | 2018–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01910751&r=agr |
| By: | Joseph I. Uduji (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Elda N. Okolo-Obasi (University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | Transforming agriculture from a largely subsistence enterprise to a profitable commercial venture is both a prerequisite and a driving force for accelerated development and sustainable growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this investigation is to assess the impact of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) e-wallet programme on informal farm entrepreneurship development in rural Nigeria. Informal sector farmers are those that are not legally registered at the national level though could be connected to a registered association. The research is motivated by the absence of literature focusing on the problem statement or objective of study. One thousand, one hundred and fifty-two rural farmers were sampled across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Results from the use of a bivariate probit model indicate that the mobile phone-based technology via the e-wallet programme is a critical factor that has enhanced farm entrepreneurship in rural Nigeria. However, results also show that the impact of mobile phones (as a channel to accessing and using modern agricultural inputs) is contingent on how mobile networks are able to link farmers who live in rural areas and work mainly in farming. The results suggest that increasing mobile phone services in rural Nigeria enhances farmers’ knowledge, information and adoption of improved farm inputs and by extension, spurs rural informal sector economic activities in sub-Saharan Africa. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Informal sector’s adoption, electronic wallet technologies |
| JEL: | Q10 Q14 L96 O40 O55 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afe:wpaper:18/040&r=agr |
| By: | Bindoumou, M. |
| Abstract: | Abstract This study aims at understanding and quantifying the link between climate and agriculture in Cameroon; and to analyze how expectations of farmers on climate change affect investment and production decisions. To achieve the first objective, the Ricardian model is estimated by the Ordinary Least Square method. The second objective is achieved by estimating a dynamic stochastic model by the nonlinear three-stage least square method. Regarding the marginal effect, we found that an increasing for 1mm of precipitations leads to an increasing for FCFA 3205 of farm income per hectare. While an increasing for 1 C of temperature leads to a decreasing for FCFA 3100.05 of farm income per hectare. As for the elasticity of farm incomes, the results suggest that an increasing of 1% in temperature leads to lower farm revenues by 41.43 % while an increasing of 1% in precipitation leads to higher farm revenues by 17.01 %. Finally, under climate change, farmers take about two and a half years to fully adjust the desired level of their crops, about 24 years for capital, one and half year for labour and about nine months for fertilizer to their optimal level. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277375&r=agr |
| By: | Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis Saweda O.; Sanou, Awa; Tambo, Justice A. |
| Abstract: | The poultry sub-sector in Nigeria is experiencing rapid growth and transformation. However, heat stress associated with climate change is a challenge to poultry farmers due to its negative effect on chicken growth and productivity Small poultry farmers tend to invest in traditional strategies such as stocking local breeds Medium and large poultry farmers adopt modern technologies such as air and water ventilation and bulbs that emit less heat Farmers who have experienced heat related losses are more likely to adopt modern practices (water ventilation, pay for litter spreading, buy medicines and vitamins or use energy efficient bulb) and more likely to adopt multiple adaptation strategies. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:279872&r=agr |
| By: | Bignebat, C. |
| Abstract: | In the last two decades, the institutional environment of European cereal markets remarkably evolved, faced to the deregulation of the agricultural common markets and the subsequent emergence of new forms of internal and external competition. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was implemented as a buffer protecting producers against price volatility on international commodity markets thanks to guaranteed floor prices. Since the reform of this regulation, we observe the development of various types of contracts aiming at managing risk and uncertainty for the different stakeholders in the chain. This article aims to contribute to the scarce empirical literature dealing with marketing contract choices. Drawing on a large original data base describing the transactions between cereal producers and a French cooperative over 10 years (2007-2016) in the Paris Basin, we describe the strategies of producers and conclude that inertial behaviors are a very important factor explaining marketing choices. However, determinants relative to quality and performance matter, in an increasingly competitive international context. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277233&r=agr |
| By: | Paul Healy |
| Abstract: | Farmers in low-income countries depend on crop prices for their livelihoods. These prices often result from transactions with more powerful intermediary buyers. Large transport projects can significantly alter the transport cost environment for both farmers and buyers, and thus reshape agricultural markets for some of the world’s most vulnerable farmers. In this paper, I investigate the effect of India’s North-South-East-West highway (NS-EW) on rice, wheat, and soyabean prices in the years 2005-2016. Estimating the impact of road projects is challenging because of fundamental endogeneity issues in road construction. However, I exploit a difference-in-differences model with an instrumental variable that allows for identification of the causal effect of highway construction on the prices received by farmers in local markets. The “treatment” of the NS-EW raised prices at rice markets closer to the corridor relative to more distant markets by approximately 4% of the median rice price. This result is robust to modifications of the “before” and “after” cut-off dates in the difference-in-differences, exclusion of markets near urban centres, and a placebo difference-in-differences (using only the “before” years). |
| Keywords: | Transport; Infrastructure; Agriculture; India |
| JEL: | O18 Q13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2018-13&r=agr |
| By: | Swinnen, J.; Meloni, G.; Haeck, C. |
| Abstract: | The concept of geographical indications or terroir refers to the special characteristics of a place that imparts unique qualities to the product (wine) produced. This paper analyses how regulations that formally establish a link between product quality and production location ( terroir ) affect the price of the product. More specifically, we study how the introduction of wine geographical indications or Appellations of Origin in early twentieth century France influenced the price of specific wines (Champagne and Bordeaux) in the years and decades following their introduction. We find very significant effects on prices of the initial Champagne zone, but no impact on other types of wines. Acknowledgement : This research was funded by the KU Leuven (Methusalem Funding) and the Cournot Center, Paris. The paper benefited from helpful conversations with and suggestions from Kym Anderson, Erik Buyst, Koen Deconinck, Eline Poelmans and Karl Storchmann. We also thank Antonio Meloni for excellent assistance throughout the construction of the dataset. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277221&r=agr |
| By: | Bertoni, D.; Curzi, D.; Iacus, S.; Olper, A. |
| Abstract: | This paper tests the effect of Agri-environmental measures (AEMs) payments in improving greener farming practices. AEMs are the main policy instrument of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to support environmentally friendly farming methods. We analyze the effect of AEMs considering their application in the Lombardy region (Northern Italy) during the 2007-2013 period. To properly account for unobserved heterogeneity and selection bias, we make use of a new matching method the Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) that has the key property, over other matching methods, to better reduce the imbalance in the covariates between the treated and the control units. Main results suggest that the compliance with AEMs provides additional effects in line with the program expectations. However, we also find significant windfall effects, which may potentially damp the cost-effectiveness of the program. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277381&r=agr |
| By: | Negi, D. |
| Abstract: | Several studies have examined the impact of recent surge in food prices on household welfare. Some predict that an increase in food prices would lead to rise in incidence of poverty while others contradict this arguing that in the in the long run high food prices may actually increase income and reduce poverty. This lack of consensus has led to a debate around the welfare impacts of recent food price shocks. This paper contributes to this debate by analyzing the impact of food price shock on welfare of Indian households located in rural and urban areas. Using natural suitability for food cultivation as a source of exogenous variation, the study identifies the causal mechanism through which the welfare impact of food prices vary across rural and urban location. The results also demonstrate that ignoring the heterogeneity in the impact may lead to misleading conclusions about the impact of high food prices on households welfare. Acknowledgement : This paper is part of my Ph.D. dissertation. I thank Prof. Bharat Ramaswami, Prof. E Somanathan, Prof. Rohini Somanathan, Dean Spears and Diane Spears for their guidance and comments. I am also grateful to seminar participants at 3rd Annual CECFEE Workshop for helpful comments and suggestions. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277150&r=agr |
| By: | Wang, J.; Bi, S.; Lyu, K.; Zhang, C. |
| Abstract: | This study adopts econometric models to link the formal credit constraints with agricultural output and short-term investment in rural China. The empirical results show that formal credit constraint does impinge significantly on agricultural production, and credit-constrained farmers mostly depend on family endowment. In case where the formal credit demand is fully met, the average output per mu will increase by 14.6%. According to further analysis, formal credit constraints have a differential impact on short-term agricultural inputs. Demand-side credit constraint restrains the purchase to agricultural machinery service, while supply-side credit constraint has negative effects on fertilizer inputs, but not on seed, pesticide inputs and labor hiring. Acknowledgement : The paper was supported by the Programs of National Natural Science Found of China (NSFC) (71573262), China Agriculture Research System (CARS-02), as well as the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (ASTIP-IAED-2018-03). |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277536&r=agr |
| By: | Chang, T.; Takahashi, D. |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to analyze and compare the valuation of farmer participation in the farmland leasing market and the custom-farming services market. This study analyzes surveys on 301 rice farmers in Taiwan in 2014 using the contingent valuation method to analyze the willingness to pay and willingness to accept of both markets. The empirical analysis indicated that factors of greater significance causing reduced the WTA for lending farmland, which can reduce supply in the farmland-leasing market include the expectation of farmland diversion, and the existence of transaction costs in the farmland lending market. The analysis also indicates that an increase in the WTA price for lending farmland was a primary factor for the increase in the WTP for custom-farming services, which indicates that the vibrant growth of the custom-farming services market in Taiwan is affected by the WTA farmland lending. The findings show that development of the custom-farming services market cannot be expected to lead to greater farmland liquidation. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277426&r=agr |
| By: | Silva, J.D.S.; Freitas, C.O.D.; Costa, L.V. |
| Abstract: | This paper examines Brazilian rural establishments that perform agricultural and non-agricultural activities. The combination of these activities, in the same agricultural unit, characterizes and defines pluriactivity. In this way, this research aims to verify the effect of pluriactivity on the efficiency of rural establishments, in technical terms. In order to reach the proposed goal, the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to pair the sample in two groups, treated (pluriative) and untreated (non-pluriative). After the identification of these groups, a Probit model was estimated, followed by estimation of the production stochastic frontier to obtain the technical efficiency scores. The data used refer to a special tabulation based on the micro-data of the 2006 Census of Agriculture. Among the results found, establishments that carry out exclusively agricultural activities make better use of the available resources compared to the pluriactive ones, being technically more efficient. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/ Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:276969&r=agr |
| By: | Khanna, M. |
| Abstract: | The decline in acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) since 2007 while corn ethanol production increased has raised concerns about the indirect land use change effects of biofuel production in the US. However, the extent to which this decline in CRP acres can be causally attributed to increased ethanol production is yet to be determined. Using a dynamic, partial equilibrium economic model for the US agricultural sector we find that doubling of corn ethanol production over the 2007-2012 period (holding all else constant) led to the conversion of 3.2 million acres of marginal land, including 1 million acres in CRP, to crop production. While substantial in magnitude, we find that this represented 13% and 16% of the reduction in all marginal acres and in CRP acres, respectively, that would have occurred in the counterfactual baseline over the 2007-2012 period. We also find that the land use change per million gallons of corn ethanol has declined non-linearly from 453 acres to 112 acres over the 2007-2012 period. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277014&r=agr |
| By: | JUSTYNA GÓRAL (Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute); W?ODZIMIERZ REMBISZ (Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute); MARCIN KRAWCZAK (Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute) |
| Abstract: | Value-added is understood as an increase of the value of goods as a result of a specific production process. It means the difference between the retail selling price of a product and the material cost. It is calculated on the basis of financial statements. The objective of this paper is to assess the level and structure of value--added on an example of the selected branches of the food industry in Poland. The authors carry out comparative analysis of these branches and also indirectly refer to the assessment of the level of their modernity. The results show that remuneration plays a significant role in the value-added structure. Remunerations represent approx-imately 50 percent of the value. Structure of the value creation depicts the level of innovation of the sector. |
| Keywords: | value creation, value-added, food industry, food marketing chain |
| JEL: | D46 D24 Q13 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:6910102&r=agr |
| By: | Ragasa, C. |
| Abstract: | A multitude of approaches and modalities are available for delivering useful information to rural communities. However, evidence regarding the information efficiency of these modalities is limited, as is evidence identifying the mechanisms of potential information loss in the agricultural extension system. In this paper, we assess information efficiency along the knowledge transmission chain from researchers to agricultural extension agents (EAs) to lead farmers (LFs) to other farmers. By asking the same set of questions about a fairly well known technology, pit planting, we construct a measure of knowledge at each node of the knowledge transmission chain. Evidence shows that the majority of information loss happens at the researcher-to-EA link and the EA-to-LF link, and that the loss is potentially caused by teaching failures or by selective attention and learning among both the EAs and the LFs concerning all important details of the technology. Results highlight the need for greater emphasis during training and learning on key dimensions of technology packages that are commonly ignored. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277472&r=agr |
| By: | France Caillavet (ALISS - Alimentation et sciences sociales - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique); Adélaïde Fadhuile (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes, UGA UFR FEG - Université Grenoble Alpes - Faculté d'Économie de Grenoble - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes); Veronique Nichèle (ALISS - Alimentation et sciences sociales - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) |
| Abstract: | A carbon tax on food could contribute to emissions mitigation and act as a strong signal to economic actors. However, tax regressivity is a major disadvantage. This article addresses equity issues by several means. First, this article includes reallocation proposals in a revenue-neutral approach of several emission-based carbon taxation scenarios at the consumption level on food. Second, this article develops these proposals' distributional incidence, and it evaluates the role of carbon pricing in policy impacts. With a carbon-based approach, the differing emission potentials of food groups highlight the relevance of using proteins as a tax base to redirect animal to plant sources in the diet. Thus, a scenario taxing foods rich in animal proteins and subsidizing plant proteins ones is built. Scanner data on French households in 2010 are analyzed. Several GHG emissions indicators and related nutritional impacts, such as diet quality scores and the shift from animal to plant proteins, are evaluated. Using individual changes in food expenditure, distributional effects based on continuous distribution and inequality indexes are measured, allowing the discussion of the policy options of a targeted vs nontargeted tax and a revenue-neutral approach in the food sector. |
| Keywords: | carbon fiscal policy,revenue neutral,food consumption,regressivity,inequalities |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01919440&r=agr |
| By: | Ordonez, P.; Balis, K.; Ramirez, I. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors that lead to the adoption of legal harvesting of the forest by the communities in the state of Michoac n in Mexico. We construct a theoretical model, where the adoption decision is based on the expected benefits and costs of adoption versus the net benefit of expanding the agricultural frontier or of not controlling access to the forest and allow for it to harvested illegally. Using a panel data set of 1785 communities from 1993 to 2013, we estimate a probit model, where we control for the unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity by using Mundlak s device. We find that the relative distribution of land use between forest and agriculture as well as the elevation and ruggedness of the terrain, have a significant effect, together with a positive effect of the price of pinewood. Furthermore, we find evidence of spatial spillovers for the adoption decision, as a community whose neighbors have previously adopted a forest management plan, is also more likely to adopt. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277351&r=agr |
| By: | Grimm, Michael (University of Passau); Hartwig, Renate (University of Namur) |
| Abstract: | We assess the willingness to pay (WTP) for eyeglasses in an adult population in rural Burkina Faso using a variant of the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) method. We combine the BDM approach with video and deferred payment options to analyze the role of information and liquidity constraints. Furthermore, we exploit variation in reservation and transaction prices to study potential screening and sunk cost effects. Our main results show that, consistent with the over-exclusion perspective documented for essential health products, the willingness to pay for glasses is low, amounting to 20% of the current market price. Information provided through a video raises the willingness to pay for corrective glasses by 16%. In contrast, deferred payment does not affect the willingness to pay. Finally, we find no evidence of screening or sunk cost effects. Overall our results lend support to subsidization of eyeglasses in a resource poor setting. |
| Keywords: | eyeglasses, information constraint, liquidity constraint, willingness to pay, Burkina Faso |
| JEL: | D11 D12 D83 I15 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11929&r=agr |
| By: | Schmit, Todd; Tamarkin, Frederick; Severson, Roberta |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2018–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ncer18:280130&r=agr |
| By: | Colella, F.; Guerrero, I.R. Pace |
| Abstract: | Argentina is the fourth highest consumer of sweetened drinks, and the first consumer of soda in the world. In this paper we estimate a quadratic almost ideal demand system (QUAIDS) to explore demand for a number of sweetened and unsweetened beverages in Argentina. We use two household surveys: the last one available, performed in 2012-2013, and the previous one, carried over in 2004-2005. We explore expenditure shares and own and cross price elasticities. These results can shed light on a discussion that was held in 2017 in Congress towards the design of a tax reform on sweet beverages that will affect consumers, farmers, and the retail and food industries. Our results support the notion that a tax applied to highly sweetened beverages will affect consumption: for every 1% increase in price there will be a 1.32% drop in quantity purchased. In addition,we find that for every 1% price increase in highly sweetened beverages there will be a 1.12% increase in the amount of dairy beverages purchased. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277505&r=agr |
| By: | Bouma, J.A. (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research); Nguyen, Binh (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research); van der Heijden, Eline (Tilburg University, Center For Economic Research); Dijk, J.J. |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of a threshold public goods game experiment with heterogeneous players. The experiment is designed in close collaboration with the Dutch association of agri-environmental farmer collectives. Subjects are recruited at a university (“the lab”) and a farm management training centre (“lab-in-the-field”). The treatments have two different distribution rules which are varied in a within-subjects manner. After subjects have experienced both, they can vote for one of the two rules: either a differentiated bonus that results in equal payoff for all, or an undifferentiated, equal share of the group bonus. In a between-subjects manner, subjects can vote for a (minimum or average) threshold or are faced with an exogenous threshold. The results indicate that exogenous thresholds perform better, possibly because the focal point they provide facilitates coordination. With regard to the two distribution rules, the results are mixed: average contributions and payoffs are higher in the lab under the ‘equal-payoff’ rule, but there is no significant difference between the two in the lab-in-the-field, possibly because contributions in the lab-in-the-field are much less efficient. Overall, our results suggest that environmental payment schemes should not only consider farmer heterogeneity in the design of group contracts, but pay explicit attention to coordination problems as well. |
| Keywords: | Threshold public good games; endogenous choice; lab-in-the-field; collective agri-envorenmental management; group contracts; distribution rules; heterogeneous subjects |
| JEL: | H41 C92 C93 D70 Q57 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tiu:tiucen:34e2dea1-dc21-4a44-b43f-28baf574c98c&r=agr |
| By: | Gollin, D.; Udry, C. |
| Abstract: | Standard measures of productivity display enormous dispersion across farms in Africa. Crop yields and input intensities appear to vary greatly, seemingly in conflict with a model of efficient allocation across farms. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework for distinguishing between measurement error, unobserved heterogeneity, and potential misallocation. Using rich panel data from farms in Tanzania and Uganda, we estimate our model using a highly flexible specification in which we allow for several kinds of measurement error and heterogeneity. We find that measurement error and heterogeneity together account for a large fraction perhaps two-thirds to three-quarters -- of the dispersion in measured productivity. We suggest that the potential for efficiency gains through reallocation may be relatively modest. Acknowledgement : We are grateful for comments from Chris Barrett, Stefano Caria, Stefan Dercon, Andrew Foster, Talip Kilic, Karen Macours, and seminar participants at Yale, Oxford CSAE, UCLA, Northwestern, Heidelberg, Exeter, CEMFI Madrid, Manchester, Tufts, Hebrew University, and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277279&r=agr |
| By: | Liverpool-Tasie, Lenis; Saha Turna, Nikita; Ademola, Oluwatoyin; Obadina, Adewale; Wu, Felicia |
| Abstract: | KEY-FINDINGS : People in Nigeria are at risk of exposure to mycotoxins (aflatoxins and fumonisins) which both have potential risk to human and animal health We find evidence that many maize products (51.7% of our samples) had total aflatoxin levels above the regulatory limits in Nigeria while 12.93% of the samples contained total fumonisin levels higher than the United States regulatory limit Aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination in maize products extend beyond production to storage and final food products Adequately addressing the mycotoxin challenge requires consideration of the entire maize value chain |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:279875&r=agr |
| By: | Gebrehiwot, D.; Holden, S.T. |
| Abstract: | We investigate the extent of variation in output sharing in land rental contracts and alternative hypotheses to explain this variation. Close to half of the rental contracts in our study in northern Ethiopia have output shares that deviate from the dominant 50-50 equal sharing. Variation in land quality, the relative bargaining power of landlords and tenants, production risks and shocks are hypothesized to influence output shares. Matched data of landlords and tenants are used. The importance of endogenous matching of landlords and tenants is investigated by assessing how endogenous tenant characteristics are correlated with landlord characteristics. We find evidence of negative assortative matching for key resource characteristics. A control function approach is used to control for endogenous matching in the output share models. The results reveal that production risks as well as relative bargaining power affect output shares in the reverse tenancy setting with tenants being relatively wealthier and influential than landlords. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277362&r=agr |
| By: | Zhu, J. |
| Abstract: | This paper presents evidence in favor of the hypothesis that agricultural legacy matters for shaping the equilibrium level of current innovations. The rice theory (Talhelm et al., 2014) provided a micro foundation for the proposition that people in rice cultivating areas are more inclined toward holistic thinking while wheat cultivating biases one toward analytical thinking. By taking advantages of homogeneity among Han Chinese, this paper proposes and tests the hypothesis that regions that grow rice (the suitability of land for rice production is used as a proxy) tend to inculcate values which promote weak innovations. Using multilevel (province, prefecture, county, and individual level) data within China, the results lend strong support to the proposed idea. Our findings are robust with alternative measures of rice cultivation, with alternative estimation strategies, and with the inclusion of various geographical, socioeconomic, and potentially confounding correlates. Acknowledgement : The authors thank Tang Zhong, Thomas Talhelm, and Ng Yew-Kwang for helpful discussions and comments, and Liu Meng and Aatishya Mohanty for providing competent research assistance. The usual disclaimers apply. |
| Keywords: | Institutional and Behavioral Economics |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277219&r=agr |
| By: | Benedetto Rocchi; Donato Romano; Ahmad Sadiddin; Gianluca Stefani |
| Abstract: | Building on the Italian input-output table, and using structural information on agro-food production sub-sectors from several sources, a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) model for the Italian economy has been developed, disaggregating the agro-food sector into agricultural production activities and ten different agro-food value chains (VCs). Then, using primary data by the Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression in Agro-Food Products (Ispettorato Centrale per la Qualità e la Repressioni delle Frodi, ICQRF) of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, we assessed the economic size of fraudulent agro-food output, estimated the size of the economy depending on fraudulent production, and simulated the impacts of agro-food frauds on the national economy in terms of GDP, employment and income distribution. The analysis shows that the wine value chain is the sub-sector most exposed to frauds accounting for 88% of the total value of seized agro-food outputs. Second ranks olive oil value chain (6% of total seizures), while the other VCs accounts for only the remaining 6% of total seizures. The shares change slightly when the values of irregular products were expanded to the population levels. The results of the SAM simulations shows that the share of economy directly and indirectly linked to supply of irregular food products accounts for 0.5% of total value of output, while in terms of value added the share of irregular food products ranges between 0.1% and 0.4% of total value added. This corresponds to a value of 1.9 billion euro (considering only seizures) to 13.9 billion euro (including all irregularities) and is able to activate a up to 156 thousand labour units in the worst-case scenario. In terms of the share relative to the agro-food sector, the total output "driven" by irregular products is much higher accounting for 3.2% of output and 5.8% of employment. Results from the counterfactual analysis shows that agro-food frauds caused a losses of 1.8 billion euro in terms of total output, corresponding to about 20 thousands of full time labour units. The net impact on GDP is positive though very small since the earnings feed rent-seeking activities instead of strengthening linkages with the rest of the economy. Household incomes are reduced by only 0.01%. However, considering that consumers build their own perceptions on the basis of a mix of quality and health considerations, the potential losses in cases of food scandals would be much more tangible. These results show that fighting agro-food frauds is justified on efficiency as well as equity ground. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2018_23.rdf&r=agr |
| By: | Cao, A.N.Q.; Grosche, S.-C. |
| Abstract: | We conceptualize the futures price of an agricultural commodity as an aggregate expectation for the spot price of a commodity. The market agents have divergent opinions about the price development and the price drivers, which initiates trading. In informationally efficient markets, the price will thus reflect expectations about its influencing variables. Using historical decompositions from an SVARX model, we analyze the contribution of financial and commodity- specific expectation shocks to changes in a trading-volume weighted price index for corn and soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) over the time period 2005- 2016. Financial expectations are instrumented with the DJ REIT Index, commodity demand expectations with the CNY/USD exchange rate and supply expectations with changes in the vapor pressure deficit. Results show that the price index was affected by cumulative shocks in the REIT index during the time of the food price crisis, but these shocks are only of small magnitude. Weather fluctuations have a minimal impact on the week-to-week fluctuation of the commodity price index. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Marketing |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277538&r=agr |
| By: | Raggi, M.; Zavalloni, M.; Viaggi, D. |
| Abstract: | Reservoirs are increasingly deemed to be important given their potential control of water availability across seasons - from wet to dry seasons, especially given the concerns on the effect of climate change. In this paper, we focus on the collective action aspect of investing in irrigation reservoirs and on the potential scope for policy intervention. We formulate a model in which farmers pool resources to construct a collective reservoir. We conceptualized the reservoir as a blue club that increases the potential water availability in dry season, thus improving water safety for the whole society. We determine the societal potential inefficiency in club size and the potential policy measures to correct it, focusing on two different club access rules (open vs closed membership). Results show that linear subsidy are ineffective in case of closed membership, and minimum participation rules are required. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277484&r=agr |
| By: | Desjeux, Y.; Latruffe, L.; Dakpo, K.H.; Hanitravelo, G. Justinia |
| Abstract: | With a sample of farms in the European Union (EU) and Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) data completed by additional data, we illustrate how the effect of farm subsidies on technical efficiency changes when environmental (good or bad) outputs are incorporated in the calculation of technical efficiency. Results indicate that the effect of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) operational subsidies on farm technical efficiency changes when environmental outputs (in this study: greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen balance and ecological focus areas) are taken into account in the efficiency calculation: some effects change significance, and more importantly, some effects change sign. Acknowledgement : Financial support from the FP7 EU project FLINT ( Farm level indicators for new topics in policy evaluation ; grant agreement no: 613800) is acknowledged. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277364&r=agr |
| By: | Rizov, M.; Davidova, S.; Bailey, A. |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of the CAP payments on the indirectly generated non-farm jobs in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are central for job creation. It examines whether there are differences in the effect according to business location - rural or urban, the agricultural supply chain, and according to CAP Pillars. A microeconomic approach is employed, based on firm data from FAME dataset combined with detailed subsidies information from DEFRA. The generalised method of moments (system GMM) is used to estimate the effect of CAP payments in both static and dynamic models of employment. The results suggest positive net spillovers of CAP payments to non-farm employment. Although the magnitude of the effect is small, it is economically significant. In general Pillar 1 has a stronger employment effect relative to Pillar 2. However, in the rural areas and within agricultural supply chain, Pillar 2 payments have a stronger positive effect per Euro spent. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277741&r=agr |
| By: | Abro, Z.A.; Debela, B.L. |
| Abstract: | The impact of technical change on land productivity has been subject to rigorous analysis. However, the implication of technical change on synergies or tradeoffs in productivity and efficiency has been rarely quantified. We contribute to the technology adoption literature by studying the joint impact of technical change-changes in crop traits obtained through continuous breeding research-on land productivity and efficiency in rural Ethiopia. We estimate an endogenous switching translog production function using two rounds of panel data. Our results reveal that technical change increases both productivity and efficiency. But the gains in efficiency are quite small indicating that technical change may need to be supported by other complementary policy instruments that improve the efficiency of new improved varieties technologies. We also find that the average farmer is 40% inefficient in inputs use given the production technology. Future research may need to focus on identifying suitable technologies that contribute towards closing the observed inefficiency. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277086&r=agr |
| By: | Le Ngoc, H. |
| Abstract: | Improving farming technical efficiency for smallholders by applying contract farming is an interesting topic nowadays. A cross sectional sample of 250 Vietnamese export-oriented rice households was employed to investigate how contract farming improves farming technical efficiency in the country. The Stochastic Frontier Analysis is applied to estimate the production frontier, the technical inefficiency determinants and Propensity Score Matching is used to control self-selection bias. The results show an average technical efficiency score is of 87.33 percent and suggests convincible opportunities for farmers to increase productivity of export-oriented rice in the country by nearly 13 percent. The expenditures on seed, land, and fertilizer are the key determinants of the technical efficiency level in this region. The results reveal the positive relationship of contract farming participation on technical efficiency improvement. Acknowledgement : The authors acknowledge financial support from the Stiftung Fiat Panis and the Vietnamese Educational and Tranning scholarship. We are also grateful to the Nha Trang University, Vietnam for their support in fieldwork coordination. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277409&r=agr |
| By: | Di Fang; Michael R. Thomsen; Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr.; Aaron M. Novotny |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on the quality of household food purchases using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) and propensity score matching. A healthy purchasing index (HPI) is used to measure nutritional quality of household food purchases. WIC foods explain the improvement in quality of food purchases, not self-selection of more nutrition-conscious households into the program. The improvement in purchase quality was driven entirely by WIC participating households who redeemed WIC foods during the interview week. There was no significant difference between WIC-participants who did not redeem WIC foods and eligible non-participants. In this sample, there is no evidence that lack of access to clinics has adverse effects on participation nor is there evidence that HPI depends on supermarket access. A supervised machine learning process supports our main conclusion on the importance of WIC foods. |
| JEL: | C21 D1 I1 I3 I38 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25291&r=agr |
| By: | Bichler, Shimshon; Nitzan, Jonathan |
| Abstract: | The LA Times called the bluff: William D. Nordhaus won the Nobel prize in economics for a climate model that minimized the cost of rising global temperatures and undermined the need for urgent action. Unfortunately, though, the article missed the nugget in the racket. |
| Keywords: | capitalization,climate change,discounting |
| JEL: | Q54 P48 Q56 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:184690&r=agr |
| By: | Tankari, M.R. |
| Abstract: | This study explores the impact of rainfall variability on farm households food insecurity and how participation in nonfarm enterprises may contribute to mitigate such effect. The ordinary least square and copula switching regressions are performed on the data of the 2014 Multi-sectoral Continuous Survey (EMC-BF). It appears that both short-term and long-term rainfall variability are important determinants of farm households food insecurity level in Burkina Faso. An increase in the rainfall average significantly reduce the level of farm households food insecurity. However, the effect of a short-term decrease in rainfall is only significant among the rural farm households indicating these latter dependences to rainfall for their livelihood compared to urban farm households. Furthermore, the study reveals nonfarm enterprises reduce farm households food insecurity. Therefore, operating a nonfarm enterprise may be a strategy to cope with rainfall variability effects among farm households in Burkina Faso. Acknowledgement : I acknowledged |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277214&r=agr |
| By: | Salami, A.; Kounagbe Lokonon, B.O. |
| Abstract: | With numerous challenges hindering farm households entrepreneurship decision, it is often argued that entrepreneurship can play an essential role in improving farm productivity. Yet assessment of the impact of entrepreneurship on farm productivity is scarce. We address this issue by analyzing the effect of non-agricultural entrepreneurship on farm profit. Using the World Bank s Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Survey on Agriculture datasets for 2011 and 2014 of Niger and applying endogenous switching regression, we find that non-agricultural entrepreneurship significantly increases farm profit. Farm profit increased by 908,504.4 CFA F for the farm households that developed non-agricultural enterprises thanks to their entrepreneurship behavior. The total value of farm profit for the farm households without non-agricultural enterprises would have increased by 808,789.2 CFA F relative to the current level with the development of non-agricultural enterprises. The findings support increasing arguments on the need to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas to improve farm profit and to transform structurally the economy Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277015&r=agr |
| By: | Anna Marie Fisker (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Aalborg); Anna Eva Utke Heilmann (Department of Civil Engineering, University of Aalborg); Nini Camilla Bagger (Deprtment of Civil Engineering, University of Aalborg) |
| Abstract: | In today?s society there is a tendency that children are increasingly more and more detached and disconnected from the food they are eating; the origins of its components, and the process ?farm to fork?. This is an issue with wide-reaching consequences to health. In this paper we will seek to answer the questions: How is it possible to create new innovative and interdisciplinary teaching approaches, that enhances the pupils? understanding of food and a healthier lifestyle? And how can we develop interdisciplinary methods and learning tools that can be implemented as hands-on activities in multiple school subjects? To answer these questions we will introduce Learn4Health, an EU Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership with the aim of creating, strengthening and sustaining health, nutrition and food literacy among pupils in primary and secondary schools in Europe. We will discuss three of the projects created within Learn4Health, and their content, structure and use, and further, analyse their innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to the issues at hand. Next, we will highlight one of these projects, the mobile Sprout Wagon as a prime example. The Sprout Wagon, with its unique mobile construction provides pupils with hands-on learning contexts in multiple school subjects, placing food, nutrition and health on the schedule, and we will discuss how this new, innovative and interdisciplinary approach, can be used as an effective tool inside the classroom to support and facilitate learning in multiple school subjects. Finally, on this background we will present the detailed instructional guides and teaching material which will be developed during the process of the Sprout Wagon and the other Learn4Health projects and which will all be included in the HOFA Handbook - an instructional handbook which will be freely available on the Learn4Health website at the end of the project period. This dissemination strategy will ensure that the insights, innovative approaches, knowledge and experiences will be shared across the borders, thereby securing sustainability of the project and creating wide-reaching impact ? and, ultimately, happier, more food literate children. |
| Keywords: | Health, children, food, food systems, nutrition, problem-based learning |
| JEL: | I00 C90 D69 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:6710200&r=agr |
| By: | Oded Galor; Ömer Özak; Assaf Sarid |
| Abstract: | This research explores the geographical origins of the coevolution of cultural and linguistic traits in the course of human history, relating the geographical roots of long-term orientation to the structure of the future tense, the agricultural determinants of gender bias to the presence of sex-based grammatical gender, and the ecological origins of hierarchical orientation to the existence of politeness distinctions. The study advances the hypothesis and establishes empirically that: (i) geographical characteristics that were conducive to higher natural return to agricultural investment contributed to the existing cross-language variations in the structure of the future tense, (ii) the agricultural determinants of gender gap in agricultural productivity fostered the existence of sex-based grammatical gender, and (iii) the ecological origins of hierarchical societies triggered the emergence of politeness distinctions. |
| JEL: | O10 Z10 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25289&r=agr |
| By: | Ferrier, P.; Zhen, C.; Bovay, J. |
| Abstract: | Implementation of the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule is ex- pected to cost about 1.1 percent of revenue for covered farms producing raw and minimally pro- cessed fruits and vegetables in the United States. To simulate the price and welfare effects of the rule, we develop an equilibrium displacement model for 18 fruits and 20 vegetable commodities, drawing on recent estimates of the rule's commodity-level cost of compliance. We nd that con- sumer and farm prices increase by 0.49 and 1.46 percent respectively for fruits and 0.14 and 0.55 percent respectively for vegetables. Costs associated with the rule's implementation across these commodities are estimated to reduce producer welfare by 0.86 percent for fruits and 0.59 percent for vegetables and these estimates would not change substantially if only individual commodity groups were to enact the rule's measures unilaterally. We also compare our estimates of the cost to producers of implementing the rules with potential benets to producers from the avoidance of outbreak costs. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277492&r=agr |
| By: | Kalamkar, S. |
| Abstract: | Adoption of Recommended Doses of Fertilisers on Soil Test Basis by Small and Marginal Farmers in Gujarat, India ABSTRACT The study examines the prospects and constraints in implementation of Soil Health Card (SHC) Programme in Gujarat, India, covering sample of 160 control farmers and 240 soil test farmers. It was observed that it is an important and beneficial programme, however, was not implemented in proper manner. In view to achieve the quantity targets fixed, quality norms were not given proper attention. The level of adoption of recommended doses by soil test farmers was reasonably less (around 40%). However, the adoption of recommended doses of fertiliser based on soil test has helped the farmers in increasing the agricultural productivity and income. The The due . Besides, inadequate staff strength, unavailability of required number of soil test laboratories and lack of upgradation of skills of the personnel were major bottleneck in success of program. Acknowledgement : This study is a part of all-India level coordinated project sponsored by Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277333&r=agr |
| By: | Shaibu, Ufedo M.; Ademola, Oluwatoyin M. |
| Abstract: | HIGHLIGHTS • Most agricultural data is collected annually in the USA • Data collection processes are funded by both the Federal and State governments. • Agricultural data is collected at individual farm level from different counties or Local Government Areas (LGAs) within a State. These are further aggregated at the LGA, State and national levels to produce data for the LGA, State and the Country, respectively. • Use of ICT devices and software for agricultural data collection. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession |
| Date: | 2018–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:279870&r=agr |
| By: | Li, J.; Chavas, J.-P. |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effects of pricing policy on the distribution of agricultural prices, with an application to China. It investigates the effects of China s price support programs on price enhancement and price stabilization in two key Chinese markets: rice and corn. The analysis relies on Quantile autoregression (QAR) which provides a refined and flexible way to capture the effects of pricing policy on price distributions (including mean, variance, skewness and kurtosis). Based on monthly data over the period 2000-2014, the econometric analysis documents the price effects of policy interventions and shows how such effects can vary across markets. The paper finds slow adjustments in the price distribution and important differences between short run and long run effects. The empirical evidence shows that the Chinese price support program increased the price of corn and shifted its price distribution to the right. The analysis also finds that China s price support for rice contributed to stabilizing the domestic rice market without much price enhancement for rice. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277557&r=agr |
| By: | Moehring, N.; Gaba, S.; Finger, R. |
| Abstract: | To reduce environmental and health risks caused by pesticide use, efficient and effective policies strongly demand a precise and meaningful quantification of these adverse effects. The indicators currently used in policy analysis are diverse and mainly focus on a purely quantitative dimension of used pesticides. Using a unique dataset on pesticide use of Swiss farmers, we demonstrate that the two most important quantitative indicators on average show a significant correlation with pesticide risks, but they have almost no explanatory power for applications with extreme risks for the environment and human health. Single applications and application regimes with extreme risks, have been shown to be central for potential environmental and human health impacts of pesticides. These findings render the use of common, quantitative indicators in-effective to reduce environmental and health risk - in the worst case leading to biased policy incentives and adverse outcomes of current pesticide policies. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277363&r=agr |
| By: | Freudenreich, H. |
| Abstract: | We study the process of farmer decision making, particularly the choice of productivity enhancing hybrid seed, of smallholder maize farmers in southern Mexico. Few studies regarding small-scale farming in developing countries have factored in social psychology together with economic dimensions in that context. While acknowledging the importance of risk preferences, there is still a lack of consensus on how these preferences influence the process of technology choice. We combine subjective beliefs derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior, with experimentally elicited risk and ambiguity preferences to predict the degree of farmers hybrid maize adoption in the coming season. Our results suggest that the higher farmers score on factors describing attitudes and subjective norms towards the use of hybrid seed, the higher is the degree of adoption. Farmers who are very risk averse score higher on attitudes towards the outcomes related to using hybrid seed, but intend to cultivate a smaller share of land with it. Ambiguity aversion is not significantly related to attitudes towards or the intended degree of adoption. Acknowledgement : This research was financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG). |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277410&r=agr |
| By: | Freitas, C.O.D.; Silva, F.F.; Braga, M.J. |
| Abstract: | The objective of the present research was to identify the effect of rural extension on the productive performance of Brazilian agricultural establishments, using as a measure of performance the technical efficiency of farms. The data used refers to the microdata of the 2006 Agricultural Census, accessed directly from the IBGE secrecy room. For this, an approach that combines the stochastic production frontier structure, taking into account the selection bias in the adoption of the rural extension (Heckman's approach), with the entropy balancing method was used. The results show that the rural extension contributes, in fact, to increase the efficiency in the use of the productive factors, with the producers adopting, more technically efficient than the non-adopters. When considering the differences according to the size of the establishment, an even greater effect was observed for the group of large producers. In addition, in general, public rural extension generated higher technical efficiency scores than those obtained by establishments attended by the private service. Acknowledgement : |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277271&r=agr |
| By: | Boland, Michael |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2018–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ncer18:280134&r=agr |
| By: | du Toit, Justin; Nankhuni, Flora J.; Kanyamuka, Joseph S. |
| Abstract: | KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The study found that the market for black tea is oversupplied at a global level, putting downward pressure on real tea prices in Malawi; There is no clear way for the tea industry in Malawi to improve its competitiveness. Development of the smallholder grower sector is limited by scarcity of land in the production hub (Thyolo and Mulanje). Increasing productivity of the smallholder sector is one way of expanding the tea industry. Large estates are mainly constrained by large tracts of their estates having old tea plantations that are low yielding. Uprooting of these plantations for new higher yielding plants is limited by competition from Macadamia as a more profitable substitute and heavy investment requirements. Smallholder growers in Malawi make a significantly lower margin than estates; To enable expansion and improvement in competitiveness, public investment should focus on unlocking ‘bottlenecks’ caused by issues around seedling supply, costs of and access to finance, a lack of extension services, and land tenure security for both smallholders and large estates; Opportunities for the integration of smallholders into the tea industry value chain through ownership and participation in tea processing should be identified and viable options should be pursued; To encourage increased private investment, an assessment of production suitability at country-level for all tea varieties is required to identify new areas for expansion and investment. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2018–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:279874&r=agr |
| By: | Benson, Todd; Nyirenda, Zephania; Nankhuni, Flora; Maredia, Mywish |
| Abstract: | KEY FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS A survey of 55 participants in national-level policy processes around agriculture and food security in Malawi was implemented in 2015 (baseline) and in 2017/18 (endline) to examine the quality of these processes and the institutions involved. The 2015 baseline survey analysis showed that assessments of the quality of these processes were positive, even if improvements were still needed. However, contrary to expectations, the endline survey of 2017/18 showed increased pessimism among respondents as to the quality of the processes and the institutions involved in them. This result was unexpected, as policy developments around agriculture and food security between 2015 and 2017/18 were positive—several important agricultural policy achievements had been realized. However, Malawi also experienced recurrent widespread food insecurity crises over this period. Consequently, there is a disconnect between the reasonably high quality of the policies and strategies developed through these processes and the results obtained. Respondents to the endline survey were more skeptical than anticipated of the quality of these policy processes. Better quality policy processes are not sufficient for achieving better outcomes in Malawi’s agricultural sector and food security for Malawi’s citizens. Effective implementation of the policies developed through these processes is the most important proof of their quality and value. Policy implementation remains inadequate and a continuing challenge. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–11–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffpb:279876&r=agr |
| By: | Liu, H. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to deeply analyse the changes caused by the planting structure of grain crops from the supply perspective between 1993 and 2016.First, the paper introduces the background and progress of the pricing mechanism reform of grain crops. Then, the paper establishes the supply response models of rice, wheat, corn, and soybean based on the Nerlove model. It uses data from 1993 to 2016 to analyse farmers supply responses to the changes in the main influencing factors from three levels: the whole country, the main production areas, and northeast China.Findings are that the short term and long term supply elasticities of the sown area to the prices for rice and soybeans are far less than corn and soybeans in both the main production areas and northeast China. Market price supports for rice should be quickly reformed because of the price marketization of corn and soybeans, or else the problems that happened with corn may happen with rice in northeast China. Acknowledgement : Thank you for Dr Li's advices on the models and my colleague,Zhu's endeavors in colecting data. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277504&r=agr |
| By: | Renwick, A.; Ma, W.; Nie, P.; Tang, J. |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the impact of participation in off-farm work on smartphone use, using an endogenous switching probit model and a survey of 493 rural Chinese households. The joint impacts of off-farm work participation and smartphone use on household income are also analyzed using a control function method. The results show that participation in off-farm work increases the probability of smartphone use significantly. Furthermore, we find that the household heads who engaged in off-farm activities and who were smartphone users earned 3,430 Yuan and 2,643 Yuan more per capita annual income, respectively, compared to their full-time farming and smartphone-free counterparts. Acknowledgement : The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from Lincoln University within the seed fund project (INT5056). |
| Keywords: | Research and Development/ Tech Change/Emerging Technologies |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277304&r=agr |
| By: | Jin, Y.; Jin, S. |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the heterogeneous impacts of exchange rate volatility on Chinese food exporters. Previous researches that employed country or sector-level aggregated data has yielded controversy conclusions in estimating effects of exchange rate uncertainty on agricultural trade. In this paper, we construct highly disaggregated Chinese food firm-level census data with destination-specific export data from 2000 to 2013 (215,783 sample firms), to discuss the influence based on firm-level characters. In general, this empirical research illustrates that the exchange rate fluctuation has significant negative effects on both trade prices and volumes. More importantly, we find that different firm-level characters (performance and scale) may reinforce or weaken the impact of this volatility on each firm. And this result is robust to different measures and econometric specifications. Acknowledgement : The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC-71273233, 71333011), the Major Program of the Key Research Institute of Chinese Ministry of Education (No. 15JJD790032). |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae18:277197&r=agr |