|
on Agricultural Economics |
|
Issue of 2020‒03‒09
forty-nine papers chosen by |
| By: | Thanh-Tung Nguyen; Trung Thanh Nguyen; Ulrike Grote |
| Abstract: | Enhancement of rice production efficiency in developing countries is important to improve the livelihoods of farmers and to ensure global food security for a growing population. Despite significant progress in recent decades, rice production in these countries is facing multiple challenges from climate change, land degradation, to the increasing competition for land and labour from urbanization and industrialization. Given that rice farmers in Vietnam often suffer from extreme weather events and lack of access to credit, our study aims to (i) investigate the impact of weather shocks and credit on the rice production efficiency, and to (ii) examine the role of credit in mitigating the impact of weather shocks. We find that weather shocks, land fragmentation and the migration of household members are the major sources of inefficiency. Meanwhile, livestock, farm mechanization and education level are positive factors for rice production efficiency. In addition, our results show that access to credit plays a significant role in mitigating the negative impact of weather shocks. Our studies call for more assistance and support to farmers in mitigating the severe effect of weather shocks, in particular, via the promotion of credit market. In addition, the encouragement of farm mechanization, land defragmentation, livestock farming and the improvement of rural education should be given a high priority to improve the rice production efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Weather shocks, Agricultural production efficiency, Credit |
| JEL: | Q12 Q54 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tvs:wpaper:wp-017&r=all |
| By: | Raneri, Jessica E.; Kennedy, Gina; Nguyen, Trang; Wertheim-Heck, Sigrid; Do, Ha; de Haan, Stef; Nguyen, Phuong Hong |
| Abstract: | Vietnamese food systems are undergoing rapid transformation, with important implications for human and environmental health and economic development. Poverty has decreased, and diet quality and undernutrition have improved significantly since the end of the Doi Moi reform period (1986-1993) as a result of Viet Nam opening its economy and increasing its regional and global trade. Yet poor diet quality is still contributing the triple burden of malnutrition, with 25 percent stunting among children under age 5, 26 percent and 29 percent of women and children, respectively, anemic, and 21 percent of adults overweight. Agricultural production systems have shifted from predominantly diverse smallholder systems to larger more commercialized and specialized systems, especially for crops, while the ‘meatification’ of the Vietnamese diet is generating serious trade-offs between improved nutrition and sustainability of the Vietnamese food systems. The food processing industry has developed rapidly, together with food imports, resulting in new and processed food products penetrating the food retail outlets, trending towards an increase in the Westernized consumption patterns that are shifting nutrition-related problems towards overweight and obesity and, with it, an increase of non-communicable disease-related health risks. While regulatory policies exist across the food system, these are not systematically implemented, making food safety a major concern for consumers and policy makers alike. Where data exists, it is not easy to aggregate with data from across food system dimensions, making it difficult for Viet Nam to make an informed analysis of current and potential food system trade-offs. In our research, we reviewed existing literature and data, and applied a food systems framework to develop an initial food systems profile for Viet Nam and to identify a comprehensive set a of research questions to fill current data gaps identified through the review. Insights on these would provide the comprehensive evidence needed to inform policy makers on how to develop new food systems policies for Viet Nam, and further refine and improve existing policies to achieve better quality diets and more sustainable food systems in Viet Nam. Based on these, we then engaged with stakeholders to develop research priorities in the Viet Nam context and identified 25 priority research questions. This paper aims to stimulate such reflections by clearly outlining key areas for research, government policy, and development programs on priority investment to build the evidence base around inclusive food systems interventions that aim to result in healthier diets and more sustainable food systems for Viet Nam |
| Keywords: | VIET NAM, VIETNAM, SOUTH EAST ASIA, ASIA, food systems, diet, nutrition, agriculture, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1872&r=all |
| By: | Campi, Mercedes; Dueñas, Marco; Fagiolo, Giorgio |
| Abstract: | Understanding specialization patterns of countries in food production can provide relevant insights for the evaluation and design of policies seeking to achieve food security and sustainability, which are key to reach several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this paper, we use production data from FAO for the period 1993 to 2013 to build bipartite networks of food products and food producing countries. We use methods from complex systems analysis to rank countries according to their capabilities or competitiveness and products according to their sophistication or need of capabilities. Competitiveness is quantified by the fitness of countries, which measures the quality and how diversified are their food production baskets. We observe two well-defined communities of food producing countries, one clustering countries with relatively developed agricultural systems, and theother one grouping only developing countries. We use network statistics on food production and specialization patterns, and we perform an econometric analysis to study whether and how specialization patterns affect food supply, food security, and sustainability of food systems. We show that concentrating agricultural production decreases food supply, food security, and sustainability of food systems. The competitiveness or fitness of countries as well as the coherence of diversification patterns, both increase per capita food supply and food security (SDGs: Targets 2.1 and 2.2) but might have a negative effect on sustainability (SDGs: Target 2.4). This reflects the trade-off between achieving food security while simultaneously improving sustainability, which needs to be considered when developing or implementing policies seeking to reach SDGs. Given that the position of countries in food trade dynamics also affects their decisions in food production specialization, the analysis opens the ground for trade policy considerations (SDGs: Target 2.b). |
| Keywords: | Specialization; Food supply; Food security; Sustainability; Complex networks; Bipartite networks |
| JEL: | Q01 Q18 F63 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rie:riecdt:30&r=all |
| By: | Karimi, Abdul Matin; Delgado, Abraham García; Soliman, Ashrakat El-Amir; Sánchez Ramos, Karen Melissa |
| Abstract: | In many of the developing countries, dependency on natural resources is significantly high. From peasants to fishermen and farmers, all of them earn their living from the utility of renewable natural resources such as water, air, farming land, forest, plants, animals and grazing areas (Heltberg, 2002). Given the importance of natural resources for many of the developing countries, it is important to address the issues like the tragedy of the commons, climatic change, pollution, and unsustainable usage of natural resources which might lead to rural poverty, food insecurity, and high rural-urban migration (Heltberg, 2002). Among the major factors mentioned above, this essay will focus on tragedy of the commons, property rights, and natural resource management in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Property Rights, Tragedy of the Commons, Ostrom’s Principles, Managing the Commons |
| JEL: | D23 H82 H87 K11 P14 P26 P48 |
| Date: | 2020–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:98642&r=all |
| By: | Woodhill, Jim |
| Abstract: | Rising populations, rapid urbanisation, industrial expansion and economic growth are projected to significantly increase the demand for water, energy and food in South Asia over the next two decades. Energy demand alone is projected to more than double by 2040. Water availability per capita is expected to continue its long-term decline, particularly in Pakistan and parts of India where, within 20 years, it could reach crisis levels in some subregions. Arable land per capita will also continue to shrink and increases in food supply will need to come from intensified agricultural production systems and/or increased food imports. Climate change is expected to exacerbate these emerging issues of resource scarcity. Rising temperatures, changes to water resource availability – resulting from melting glaciers and changed precipitation regimes – and increases in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events (droughts, floods and heat waves) are all projected to adversely impact on economic activity, especially in the agriculture and energy sectors. Maintaining water, energy and food security will be a significant challenge for South Asian countries. Competition for land and water resources is set to intensify, driven by increased demand from agriculture, the energy sector and industry. Emerging resource constraints may involve difficult resource allocation trade-off decisions across sectors. Balancing the competing demands will be essential to sustaining future economic growth, poverty alleviation (especially achieving Sustainable Development Goals) and in maintaining national and regional political security. The extent to which South Asian countries can effectively manage these emerging issues will largely determine the region’s future economic development trajectory. Adopting a more integrated ‘nexus’-based approach to natural resource management and development planning offers much potential for improved water, energy and food (WEF) security and enhanced climate change resilience. Australia, through the Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio (SDIP), is supporting countries to better manage these emerging WEF security constraints, through targeted aid program investments and public/economic diplomacy. This paper highlights some of the innovative approaches that have been supported through SDIP and how they are contributing to improved development outcomes in the agriculture and energy sectors in South Asia. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp19:301978&r=all |
| By: | Abate, Gashaw T.; Bernard, Tanguy; Makhija, Simrin; Spielman, David J. |
| Abstract: | Despite a rapidly growing enthusiasm around applications of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to smallholder agriculture in developing countries, there are still many questions on the effectiveness of ICT-based approaches. This study assesses the effects of videomediated agricultural extension service provision on farmers’ knowledge and adoption of improved agricultural technologies and practices in Ethiopia. The study focuses on a program piloted by the Government of Ethiopia and Digital Green and poses three questions. First, to what extent does video-mediated extension lead to increased uptake of improved agricultural technologies and practices by smallholder farmers? Second, is video-mediated extension targeted at both spouses of the household more effective than when only targeted at the (typically male) household head? Third, how cost-effective is a video-mediated approach to extension provision? The study explores these questions with a randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the video-mediated approach as applied to three priority crops (teff, wheat, maize) and three technologies (row planting, precise seeding rates, and urea dressing). The trial was implemented in 347 kebeles (village clusters) during the 2017 meher (rainy) season in Ethiopia’s four most agriculturally important regional states. Analysis of data from our surveys of 2,422 households and 896 extension agents indicates that the video-mediated approach is more effective than the conventional approach in achieving several key outcomes. Specifically, we find that videomediated extension reaches a wider audience than the conventional approach and leads to higher levels of agricultural knowledge and uptake of technologies in those kebeles randomly assigned to the program. While our results do point to greater participation and greater knowledge of female spouses in kebeles where both male and female spouses were targeted by the program, we do not find clear evidence that the more inclusive approach translated into higher uptake of the subject technologies and practices. Finally, we find that the video-mediated approach becomes less costly as the scale of operation increases. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agricultural extension, information and communication technologies (icts), crop management, smallholders, farmers, video-based extension, knowledge transfer, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1851&r=all |
| By: | Kilic,Talip; Moylan,Heather G.; Koolwal,Gayatri B. |
| Abstract: | Foundational to the monitoring of international goals on land ownership and rights are the household survey respondents who provide the required individual-disaggregated data. Leveraging two national surveys in Malawi that differed in their approach to respondent selection, this study shows that, compared with the international best practice of privately interviewing adults about their personal asset ownership and rights, the business-as-usual approach of interviewing the most knowledgeable household member(s) on adult household members'ownership of and rights to assets leads to (i) higher rates of exclusive reported and economic ownership of agricultural land among men, and (ii) lower rates of joint reported and economic ownership among women. Further, substantial agreement exists on agricultural landowners and rights holders, as reported by the privately-interviewed spouses. When discrepancies emerge, proxies for greater household status for women are positively associated with the scenarios where women attribute at least some land ownership to themselves. |
| Date: | 2020–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9151&r=all |
| By: | Piñeiro, Valeria; Elverdin, Pablo; Laborde Debucquet, David; Diaz-Bonilla, Eugenio |
| Abstract: | Export taxes have been used in many countries. The 2007–2008 food price crisis shed light on export policies’ dangerous consequences for food security during periods of price spikes. Some countries, and Argentina in particular, implemented export taxes for almost all tariff lines in those years. During the past 15 years, several papers have been written on the impact of export duties and other barriers to exports in Argentina. The area of analysis (poverty, employment, public revenues, and so on) and the methodology have varied in each case. However, most of the literature is based on partial equilibrium frameworks or does not consider dynamic effects for projections of the most important economic variables (such as gross domestic product, or GDP; exports; agricultural production; and employment). Additionally, most of those studies were done in the first decade of the new millennium, when food prices and the evolution of trade and global growth were different from their current context. In December 2015, the new Argentine government repealed taxes on exports of agro-industrial goods, except for soybeans (and their by-products), on which an initial reduction of 5 percentage points was established. Likewise, the government also eliminated the quantitative restrictions that existed for some products until that moment. Based on these changes in legislation, this study aims to analyze the impact of changes in export duties and export restrictions on Argentina’s economy, measuring their impact on different economic variables. The scenario also includes the elimination of other nontariff barriers to export. The paper finds that export taxes and restrictions in Argentina do affect world prices and the country’s terms of trade, and that their removal leads to declines in the world prices of the products involved (negatively affecting producers of similar products in other countries but benefiting consumers). Second, the removal of export taxes and restrictions leads to some increases in GDP and welfare in Argentina, but with a variety of effects on productive sectors: those benefiting from the policy reduction increase, but the rest tend to contract. Third, the reduction in export taxes increases the government’s deficit and negatively affects investment, through a crowding-out effect. To avoid the latter effect, another simulation considers the level of a compensatory increase in the consumption tax. Fourth—and contrary to the idea that the elimination of the export tax differential in the oilseeds value chain would lead to a decline in the production of the processed products (such as soybean oil)—the simulations show that when the elimination of the differential is combined with an overall reduction of export taxes, both primary and processed products of the same item expand. In September 2018, in the midst of financial needs, the Argentine government once again imposed export duties on all goods and services. However, given the scope of this work, the implications of that action were not included in this paper and will be included in a new version of it. |
| Keywords: | ARGENTINA, LATIN AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, export control, export policies, trade barriers, trade policies, trade, agricultural trade, trade liberalization, food prices, prices, WTO, export taxes, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1892&r=all |
| By: | Kennett, Jonathon; Westbrooke, Victoria |
| Abstract: | Full season, once a day (OAD) milking systems have increased in popularity. A high proportion of farmers in Northland (24%) use the system. This study investigated the reasons behind this level of adoption. Four OAD case study farmers were interviewed followed by a thematic data analysis. Farmers reported an OAD system was more resilient to climatic and topographical challenges. This was reflected in higher herd reproductive rates overall, with a 6- week in-calf rate of 84% compared to the Northland average of 63%. Milk production overall was lower (7%) than the Northland average. However, time milking decreased, and flexibility in time management increased. OAD milking could be used to adapt dairy farming to challenging climatic conditions. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar19:302419&r=all |
| By: | Campi, Mercedes; Dueñas, Marco; Fagiolo, Giorgio |
| Abstract: | In the last years, there has been a growing interest in studying the global food system as a complex evolving network. Much of the literature has been focusing on the way countries are interconnected in the food system through international-trade linkages, and what consequences this may have in terms of food security and sustainability. Little attention has been instead devoted to understanding how countries, given their capabilities, specialize in agricultural production and to the determinants of country specialization patterns. In this paper, we start addressing this issue using FAO production data for the period 1993-2013. We characterize the food production space as a time-sequence of bipartite networks, connecting countries to the agricultural products they produce, and we identify properties and determinants underlying their evolution. We find that the agricultural product space is a very dense network, which however displays well-defined and stable communities of countries and products, despite the unprecedented pressure that food systems have been undergoing in recent years. We also find that the observed community structures are not only shaped by agro-ecological conditions but also by economic, socio-political, and technological factors. Finally, we discuss the implications that such findings may have on our understanding of the complex relationships involving country production capabilities, their specialization patterns, food security, and the nutrition content of the domestic part of their food supply. |
| Keywords: | Food systems; Food production; Specialization; Bipartite networks; Community structure detection; Hypergeometric filtering |
| JEL: | Q18 E23 N50 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rie:riecdt:29&r=all |
| By: | Zhang, Wei; Walker, Dominic; Hernandez, Carlos Calvo; Elias, Marlène; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Nkonya, Ephraim M. |
| Abstract: | Healthy soils play a critical role in supporting agricultural productivity, climate change mitigation and resilience, and a range of ecosystem services. Degraded and poorly responsive soils cover large areas of Africa and represent the majority of poor farmers’ fields in certain regions. While there are hundreds of technical options for improving the sustainability of land management and preventing or reversing degradation, there are many sociocultural, institutional, economic, and policy barriers hindering their adoption at large scale. At the same time, there is an emerging consensus within the international development community that gender equality and women’s empowerment are both an end in themselves and an important means for achieving a range of economic and social development objectives such as improved food security, child nutrition and education, and women’s health. Yet, gender inequality remains a wicked problem, whose deep-seated socio-economic and ideological causes are difficult to recognize and address, and which require context- and culture-specific understandings and approaches, involving multiple stakeholders with different and sometimes conflicting interests and different positions within power hierarchies. There is an urgent need to make more rapid progress on restoring and sustaining soil productivity and ecosystem functions and also to leverage soil health management for progress on gender equality. While there are important interconnections between soil health and gender equality and empowerment, these are seldom recognized, and have not been addressed in a coherent or concerted manner. In this study, we have reviewed relevant gender literature and proposed a conceptual framework to help illuminate important gender considerations for soil health and land management. These considerations are essential for identifying gender-based constraints, opportunities, and unintended consequences in promoting soil management technologies. Moreover, the application of the framework can help guide in priority setting with respect to where gender-responsive interventions are essential. We make several recommendations for setting priorities for gender-soil health research. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, suistanable land management, agricultural productivity, agriculture, gender, soil, empowerment, soil properties, women, soil health, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1822&r=all |
| By: | Lecoutere, Els; Spielman, David J.; Van Campenhout, Bjorn |
| Abstract: | In many developing countries, agricultural extension services are generally biased towards men, with information targeted mainly to male members of a farming household and in formats that are rarely tailored to female members. Nevertheless, female farmers may also benefit from such services as this may affect their ability to make informed decisions, resulting in increased farm productivity, household income, and welfare. We conduct a gendered field experiment among maize-farming households in eastern Uganda to test whether video-enabled extension messaging affects outcomes related to maize cultivation. In this experiment, men, women, and couples are shown randomly assigned videos about improved maize management practices in which male, female, or both male and female actors are featured. We first vary exposure to the videos by gender to test the effects of changes in intra-household information asymmetries, investigating whether involving women as recipients of information increases their ability to participate in household decision-making, and thus their involvement in household production choices. We then vary exposure to the gender of the actors in the videos to test for role-model effects, exploring whether involving women as information messengers challenges the idea that decision-making is a predominantly male domain, in turn affecting women’s outcomes. Results show that targeting women with information increases their knowledge about improved maize management practices, their role in agricultural decision-making, the adoption of recommended practices and inputs, production-related outcomes, and the quantity of maize women sell to the market. Results for the role-model effects are mixed, and are evident more in joint household outcomes than individual women’s outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that in the context of our study, extension efforts aimed at directly addressing intra-household information asymmetries may be a first-best means of empowering women in agriculture. Other, more subtle means that seek to influence perceptions and norms about gendered roles in the household may not generate expected effects or work via expected impact pathways, though they remain worth further exploration. |
| Keywords: | UGANDA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, empowerment, gender, women, technology, Information and Communication Technologies (icts), maize, agricultural extension, digital technology, video-based extension, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1889&r=all |
| By: | Hallegatte,Stephane; Rozenberg,Julie; Maruyama Rentschler,Jun Erik; Nicolas,Claire Marion; Fox,Charles James Edward |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the benefits and the costs of strengthening infrastructure assets to make them more resilient, reducing the repair costs and infrastructure disruptions caused by natural hazards. Strengthening infrastructure assets in low- and middle-income countries would increase investment needs in power, transport, and water and sanitation by between $11 billion and $65 billion a year, i.e. 3 percent of baseline infrastructure investment needs. The uncertainty pertaining to the costs and benefits of infrastructure resilience makes it difficult to provide a single estimate for the benefit-cost ratio of strengthening exposed infrastructure assets. To manage this uncertainty, this paper explores the benefit-cost ratio in 3,000 scenarios, combining uncertainties in all parameters of the analysis. The benefit-cost ratio is higher than 1 in 96 percent of the scenarios, larger than 2 in 77 percent of them, and higher than 4 in half of them. The net present value of these investments over the lifetime of new infrastructure assets -- or, equivalently, the cost of inaction -- exceeds $2 trillion in 75 percent of the scenarios and $4.2 trillion in half of them. Moreover, climate change makes the strengthening of infrastructure assets even more important, doubling the median benefit-cost ratio. |
| Keywords: | Transport Services,Science of Climate Change,Climate Change and Health,Climate Change and Environment,Hydrology,Sanitary Environmental Engineering,Environmental Engineering,Health and Sanitation,Water Supply and Sanitation Economics,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Small Private Water Supply Providers,Engineering,Sanitation and Sewerage,Water and Human Health,Infrastructure Regulation |
| Date: | 2019–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8896&r=all |
| By: | Ali,Daniel Ayalew; Deininger,Klaus W.; Hilhorst,Dorothea Huberta Maria; Kakungu,Frank; Yi,Yuanyuan |
| Abstract: | Adding a module designed to measure land tenure-related Sustainable Development Goals indicators to the 2018 round of Zambia's labor force survey shows low transferability and high levels of tenure insecurity. Having a title is associated with greater transferability and reduced insecurity. Although demand for titles, including willingness to pay, is high, current policies limit the scope for tenure regularization and reinforce rather than reduce gender discrimination. Efforts in this direction need to be preceded by (i) procedural reform to reduce costs, streamline procedures, and make them gender-sensitive; (ii) institutional change to increase the efficiency of service delivery and ensure record maintenance; and (iii) legal change to recognize customary tenure and improve land management and transferability. Adding the Sustainable Development Goals land tenure module to ongoing surveys has the potential to provide the evidence base needed to design results-based approaches for the land sector and reliably track progress. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Development,Legal Reform,Legislation,Regulatory Regimes,Social Policy,Common Property Resource Development,Legal Products,Judicial System Reform,Food Security,Agricultural Economics |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8912&r=all |
| By: | Evan Borkum; Jane Fortson; Irina Cheban; Randall Blair |
| Abstract: | This report describes the interim findings for the evaluation of the Transition to High-Value Agriculture Project in Moldova. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, irrigation, water user association, farmers, Moldova, MCC, Mathematica, THVA |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:278efb13f27e490c81bf9809fc163b91&r=all |
| By: | Adrián Rdodríguez Miranda (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Mariana Rodríguez Vivas (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this working paper is to begin to explore the relationship between agricultural cooperativism and territorial development in Uruguay. With this goal, in the first place, a theoretical presentation is made on the characteristics of the territorial development approach, highlighting the coincidences with cooperativism. In turn, it focuses on the category of endogenous development as the main link between the two concepts. Based on the above, it is argued that cooperativism has great potential to contribute to territorial development strategies that generate economic value, social development and local appropriation of wealth. Subsequently, a synthesis of the main milestones of the cooperative movement in Uruguay is presented. Then, the case of agricultural cooperativism in Uruguay is analyzed in more detail. First, the characteristics of the rural environment related to agricultural production and farmers are presented. Then, in that context, the evolution of agricultural cooperativism is analyzed, from its origins to the present moment. Special attention is given to the relationship with development processes and the challenges faced by the rural environment and small farmers. Finally, some conclusions are made about the potential of agricultural cooperativism to promote territorial development in Uruguay. |
| Keywords: | cooperativism, agricultural cooperatives, territorial development, regional development, rural territorial development, Uruguay |
| JEL: | O18 P13 Q13 R58 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-26-19&r=all |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine |
| Abstract: | The lead farmer (LF) approach has been implemented and heavily promoted nationwide in Malawi since 2009 to support government extension workers and accelerate technology dissemination. Earlier reports have shown that donor-funded projects in Malawi widely adopted the LF approach, indicating positive roles and contributions of LFs. However, national data show persistently low rates of adoption of management practices being promoted by the LFs, prompting this study to look closely at the nationwide implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach. Specifically, we model the effects of farmers’ interaction with and exposure to LFs and farmers’ access to LFs’ advice on farmers’ awareness of and adoption of several promoted technologies and management practices. We use data from 531 randomly selected LFs linked to panel data from 2,800 farming households and, using correlated random effects, model the effectiveness of the LF approach on technology awareness and adoption. This is complemented by 55 focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with agricultural extension development officers (AEDOs) and service providers. Our results point to two major conclusions. First, LFs support and assist AEDOs in their work, especially in organizing community meetings and farm demonstrations, and are also an important bridge between farmers and AEDOs. But LFs complement AEDOs’ work rather than substitute for it. In communities without strong AEDOs and community leaders to work with and monitor them, LFs were not active or performed at a substandard level. Second, results show limited coverage and weak implementation and effectiveness of the LF approach at the national level. Only 13 percent of farmers reported receiving agricultural advice from an LF in the last two years, and only 20 percent reported having interacted with an LF. Our econometric models also consistently show neither the farmers’ exposure or interaction with LFs nor farmers’ access to LFs’ advice had an effect on awareness of and adoption of the major agricultural management practices being promoted. When heterogeneity and types of LFs are unpacked, results show that quality of LFs, adoption behavior of LFs, and regular training of LFs have strong and consistent effect on the awareness and adoption of most agricultural practices promoted. |
| Keywords: | MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agricultural extension, conservation agriculture, sustainable land management, skill training, extension services, lead farmers, effectiveness analysis, technology dissemination, agricultural extension development officers, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1848&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship1_highlight1&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_focus_highlight3&r=all |
| By: | Damania,Richard; Desbureaux,Sebastien Gael; Zaveri,Esha Dilip |
| Abstract: | Much micro-econometric evidence suggests that precipitation has wide ranging impacts on vital economic indicators such as agricultural yields, human capital, and even conflict. And yet paradoxically most macro-econometric evidence (especially in the climate economy literature) finds that precipitation has no robust and significant impact on various measures of aggregate economic output. This paper argues that spatial aggregation of weather at the country level explains this result. The paper uses annual subnational gross domestic product data to show a concave relationship between precipitation and local gross domestic product growth between 1990 and 2014. It then demonstrates that when the data are aggregated at larger spatial scales, the impact decreases and eventually vanishes. The impact of precipitation on aggregate economic activity is predominantly felt in developing countries; it is insignificant in developed countries. Agriculture is found to be the dominant pathway. The results have significant consequences for measuring the economic impacts of climate change. |
| Date: | 2019–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8888&r=all |
| By: | De La Fuente,Alejandro; Jacoby,Hanan G.; Lawin,Kotchikpa Gabriel |
| Abstract: | The 2014-15 Ebola epidemic took a devastating human and economic toll on three West African countries, of which Liberia was perhaps the hardest hit. The pathways through which the crisis affected economic activity in these largely agrarian societies remain poorly understood. To study these mechanisms in the context of rural Liberia, this paper links a geographically disaggregated indicator of Ebola disease mortality to nationally representative household survey data on agricultural production and consumption. The paper finds that higher Ebola prevalence (as proxied by local mortality) led to greater disruption of group labor mobilization for planting and harvest, thereby reducing rice area planted as well as rice yields. Household welfare, measured by per capita expenditures spanning two points before and after the crisis, fell by more in Ebola prevalent areas with more intensive rice farming, precisely those areas that were more adversely affected by agricultural labor shortages. |
| Date: | 2019–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8880&r=all |
| By: | Ghebru, Hosaena; Smart, Jenny; Mogues, Tewodaj |
| Abstract: | The Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) project, which launched with its first three year phase in 2010, uses a market system development (MSD) approach towards the goal of increasing incomes of men and women small-scale farmers in northern Mozambique. InovAgro interventions promote improved agricultural productivity, participation in selected high-potential value chains and the development of inclusive and sustainable market systems, such that impacts are expected to last long beyond the termination of the project. This paper presents results from a midline quantitative impact evaluation of the second phase of the InovAgro project interventions (2014-2017). In it, we use a carefully designed and executed quasi-experimental study design to credibly attribute changes in market engagement and welfare of participating farmers to exposure to the InovAgro II project, identifying and testing in what respects the intervention was most successful, and what regard it had less impact. Although InovAgro II projects operate in 11 districts of Zambézia and Cabo Delgado provinces, this impact evaluation focuses on two districts in Zambézia province (Alto Molócue and Molumbo), and in terms of value chains, focuses on the soybean and pigeon pea high-potential value chains, while the InovAgro II project interventions focus on these in addition to maize, sesame and groundnut. A baseline survey was undertaken in 2015 covering the 2014/2015 agricultural season and a midline follow-up survey was conducted in 2017, covering the 2016/2017 agricultural season and reaching 1,749 households of the original 1,886 households interviewed in the baseline survey. Using difference-in-difference estimation and propensity score matching, we find that exposure to the InovAgro II project is associated with an increase in the proportion of households selling soybean and pigeon pea by approximately 5% and 16%, respectively (significant at the .01 level). Exposure to the InovAgro II project also results in significantly higher shares of smallholder farmers using improved seed for soybean and pigeon pea (an increase of 6% for soybean and 2% for pigeon pea). We find that the InovAgro II project is also associated with significant increases in access to agricultural output market information from formal sources (5%) and hired labor for farming activities (8%). Despite the significant impacts on short term outcome variables, exposure to the InovAgro II project had limited impact on long term outcome variables, such as on rural-urban migration as well as engagement in the non-farm sector (two proxies for assessing potential welfare implications of the project) however this finding is not surprising given the impact evaluation covers only two years-a short period of time to bring about the long-term impacts expected to eventually emanate from an MSD project. |
| Keywords: | MOZAMBIQUE, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, smallholders, farmers, agricultural extension, access to information, agricultural production, supply chain, crop production, farmers associations, impact assessment, surveys, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1877&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship2_highlight1&r=all |
| By: | Etemesi, Olumeh Dennis |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302070&r=all |
| By: | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Abstract: | IFPRI’s flagship report reviews the major food policy developments and decisions of the past year, and looks ahead to 2019. This year’s Global Food Policy Report highlights the urgency of rural revitalization to address a growing crisis in rural areas. Focusing on the needs of rural areas is one of the most promising and practical ways to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Building blocks for rural revitalization include stronger rural–urban linkages, better access to basic services such as electricity, more and better rural jobs, greater gender equality, and restoration of the rural environment, all needed to make rural areas vibrant and healthy places to live and work. This synopsis provides a brief overview of the findings of the report. |
| Keywords: | food policies; nutrition policies; agricultural development; sustainability; food security; agricultural policies; rural areas; rural development; rural development strategies; rural urban relations; globalization |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:9780896293526&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship5_highlight1&r=all |
| By: | Rashid, Shahidur; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | A rapid increase in aquaculture production in Bangladesh has lowered fish prices, increased protein consumption, and reduced poverty. The Making of a Blue Revolution in Bangladesh offers a valuable case study of how this transformation in the fish value chain has occurred and how it has improved the lives of both fish producers and fish consumers and considers the future potential of aquaculture in Bangladesh. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH, SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, aquaculture, water, water management, supply chain, welfare, fish culture, fish farms, poverty, poverty impact, aquaculture growth, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:9780896293632&r=all |
| By: | Bassino, Jean-Pascal; Lagoarde-Segot, Thomas; Woitek, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | This paper presents evidence of the irreversible consequences of exogenous climatic shocks and economic fluctuations on human welfare. We rely on a unique data set covering the period from 1872 to 1917, corresponding to the early phase of Japanese industrialization. This data includes prefecture level average temperature, precipitation, agricultural prices, and the number of individuals by interval of height recorded in conscription reports, as well as nationwide indices of fluctuation in economic activities. We estimate the impact of yearly and monthly regional climate anomalies and yearly nationwide business cycle reversals on the average height of Japanese conscripts and its dispersion. |
| Keywords: | Business cycles, climate shocks, human stature, height cycles, Japan |
| JEL: | E32 I15 N15 N95 Q54 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hituec:704&r=all |
| By: | Mbonane, Nobuhle Duduzile |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302091&r=all |
| By: | Shear, Hannah E.; Pendell, Dustin L. |
| Abstract: | Livestock traceability has increasingly become a focus for the USDA, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, high-volume beef-exporting states, and other beef industry stakeholders. The focus on traceability within the United States began after several international animal disease outbreaks and continues to be of importance with African Swine Flu spreading across Asia. Mitigating adverse future disease outbreaks, as well as maintaining export markets through a positive international perception of U.S. beef has become a top priority. Implementing a national disease traceability program would enable the industry to track and reduce the potential losses due to an outbreak. However, such a system comes at a large cost, mainly to cow-calf producers. This study utilizes an equilibrium displacement model (EDM) to determine the impacts of a beef cattle disease traceability system in the United States. Utilizing the EDM allows us to provide a comparison of how the various beef sectors would need to respond to offset the costs of a national disease traceability program. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea20:302422&r=all |
| By: | Woldie, Desalegn Teshale |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302071&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship1_highlight3&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship5_highlight2&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship4_highlight3&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship4_highlight1&r=all |
| By: | Kinuthia, Catherine Wambui |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302080&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship4_highlight2&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship3_highlight2&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_focus_highlight1&r=all |
| By: | Mukherji, Aditi |
| Abstract: | The Water–Energy–Food (WEF) nexus concept has emerged as a powerful analytical tool for understanding the complex interactions among different sectors. In this paper, I propose that we now need to move beyond analysis to explore how the WEF nexus can be used to solve real-world water, energy and food issues. I use the example of India’s WEF nexus to show how solutions for the water sector, especially the groundwater sector, can often be found in either the energy or the food sector. I also argue that policies that use a nexus thinking framework are more likely to solve interconnected nexus problems. The agriculture, groundwater and electricity sectors in India are bound in an unsustainable nexus of mutual interdependence. Growth in the agriculture sector is often reliant on unsustainable practices in the groundwater and electricity sectors. Likewise, policies and practices in one sector affect outcomes in all three sectors. The institutions undergirding India’s WEF nexus were shaped by the imperative to make India food-secure at a time when hunger and starvation seemed imminent. While the Green Revolution led to an expansion in India’s food production, the de-metering of the agricultural electricity supply in late 1970s–early 1980s led to a WEF nexus that has become untenable in India today. While many accounts of India’s rapid groundwater decline do not differentiate across contexts, my work shows that there is wide variation across states in the functioning and outcomes of the WEF nexus that leads to distinctly different outcomes with respect to sustainable development. In this talk, through three state-level case studies, I will demonstrate that variation in the WEF nexus is caused not only by the physical characteristics of groundwater endowments and rainfall-recharge in each state, but also by variation in both institutional policies and in political exigencies. It follows that policies to improve the sustainability of the WEF nexus must take into account this inter-state variation and that a sustainability solution for one sector might as well lie in other related sectors. I make a call for using the WEF nexus concept for finding solutions to the nexus problem. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cfcp19:301981&r=all |
| By: | Khumalo, Temndeni Amnestantia |
| Keywords: | Farm Management |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302067&r=all |
| By: | CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) |
| Abstract: | International agricultural research grapples not just with ensuring food security for the poor, but also with dynamic food systems, multiple burdens of malnutrition, and equity issues. Consumers are driving change, with demand for more diverse diets, greater convenience, and food safety assurances. Yet while markets are working to meet these needs in some areas, in others, they are not. Of greatest concern are those being left behind. The CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) is a consortium of seven managing partners, led by IFPRI, working across five flagship research programs, addressing some of the most challenging nutrition and health concerns we face today. A4NH research concentrates on five focus countries, with work extending to more than two dozen others. Our research informs policymakers and stakeholders in those countries, and provides lessons adaptable to other places and contexts. This report highlights work conducted in 2018. |
| Keywords: | nutrition; health; agriculture |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:annrep:2019a4nh_flagship1_highlight2&r=all |
| By: | Obed, Muhindo |
| Keywords: | Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302079&r=all |
| By: | Bier, Tobias; Lange, Anne; Glock, C. H. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:117711&r=all |
| By: | Nitsuh, Haregitu |
| Keywords: | Marketing |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cmpart:302075&r=all |
| By: | Anna Gloria Bill\`e; Marco Rogna |
| Abstract: | Given the extreme dependence of agriculture on weather conditions, this paper analyses the effect of climatic variations on this economic sector, by considering both a huge dataset and a flexible spatio-temporal model specification. In particular, we study the response of N-fertilizer application to abnormal weather conditions, while accounting for GDP as a control variable. The dataset consists of gridded data spanning over 21 years (1993--2013), while the methodological strategy makes use of a spatial dynamic panel data (SDPD) model that accounts for both space and time fixed effects, besides dealing with both space and time dependences. Time-invariant short and long term effects, as well as time-varying marginal effects are also properly defined, revealing interesting results on the impact of both GDP and weather conditions on fertilizer utilizations. The analysis considers four macro-regions - Europe, South America, South-East Asia and Africa - to allow for comparisons among different socio-economic societies. In addition to finding a good support for the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve for fertilizer application, it shows peculiar responses of N-fertilization to deviations from normal conditions of moisture for each selected region, calling for ad hoc policy interventions. |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2002.03922&r=all |
| By: | Manh Hung Do; Trung Thanh Nguyen; Thanh-Tung Nguyen; Ulrike Grote |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the factors affecting the decision of migrants to return home in rural areas and their length of stay in cities with a focus on shocks and rural development policies. We use the unique Thailand Vietnam Socio Economic Panel (TVSEP) data. Our results reveal that the decision to return is positively associated with demographic shocks and negatively associated with social shocks during the time migrants stay in the cities. Meanwhile, economic shocks positively influence migrants’ staying period in the cities. Besides, migrants from poor communes with poverty reduction projects are more unlikely to return. This implies that current rural development policies in Vietnam with a goal of poverty reduction might not be attractive enough for migrants to return. |
| Keywords: | Two-step Heckman selection, Shocks; Rural-urban migration, Migrants’ behavior, Rural development |
| JEL: | J62 D13 O13 Q12 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tvs:wpaper:wp-018&r=all |
| By: | Carden, Fred; Beintema, Nienke M.; Admassie, Assefa; Katera, Lucas; Mboghoina,Thadeus; Onyekwena, Chukwuka |
| Abstract: | Despite Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators’ (ASTI) global and regional visibility-and the use of its data for institutional decision-making by various national agricultural research institutes-the incorporation of ASTI evidence into national policymaking remains mostly ad hoc and is often indirect. Moreover, interventions to influence the uptake of ASTI data for this purpose have been limited. Given agricultural research’s important role in increasing agricultural productivity, economic growth, and poverty reduction, ASTI initiated a pilot study in three African countries (Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania) to develop a clearer understanding of how to promote the uptake of agricultural research evidence. The study focused on how evidence in general, and ASTI evidence in particular, could be more effectively integrated at the national level, particularly to promote the allocation of sustainable resources to agricultural research. The study was conducted in two stages: (1) the mapping of each country’s agricultural research interests and issues; and (2) identifying initial activities through which those interests offered opportunities both to fill research gaps and enhance the utility of agricultural research. Findings from the pilot studies point to opportunities for improving the availability, accessibility, appropriateness, and ownership of ASTI evidence to ensure that it contributes more effectively as a valuable resource for decision-making. Strong relationships and networks are needed to increase awareness of ASTI evidence and to institute linkages with official national data systems. Outcomes indicated both interest in the evidence and recognition of its merit. Greater outreach and connectivity with local institutions may be useful next steps. These findings lead to some general recommendations for improving the use of evidence, along with specific recommendations for the ASTI network approach moving forward. Shifting ownership of the data and systems to the regional and national levels-a key objective of the network approach-is a long-term undertaking. A transition period is needed, accompanied by a strategic plan to shift responsibility and action, first to the regional level and then to the national level where feasible. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA, TANZANIA, agricultural research, indicators, sciences, technology, agricultural policies, governance, evidence use, policy influence, agricultural indicators, research evidence, |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1860&r=all |
| By: | Harry Wheeler (Research and Statistics Group); Thomas Klitgaard |
| Abstract: | Various news reports have asserted that the slowdown in China was a key factor driving down commodity prices in 2015. It is true that China?s growth eased last year and, owing to its manufacturing-intensive economy, that slackening could reasonably have had repercussions for commodity prices. Still, growth in Japan and Europe accelerated in 2015, with the net result that global growth was fairly steady last year, casting doubt on the China slowdown explanation. An alternative story relies on the strong correlation between the dollar and commodity prices over time. A simple regression shows that both global growth and the dollar track commodity prices, and in this framework, it is the rise of the dollar that captures last year?s drop in commodity prices. Thus a forecast of stable global growth and a relatively unchanged dollar suggests little change in commodity prices in 2016. |
| Keywords: | commodity prices global growth China dollar industrial supplies import prices CRB |
| JEL: | F00 E2 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:87108&r=all |