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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2020‒08‒17
forty-one papers chosen by |
| By: | Sinha,Rishabh |
| Abstract: | Bihar, India's poorest state, witnessed impressive yield growth in each of its three principal crops over 2005-17. This paper examines whether a convergence in district yields accompanied the improvement in yields at the state level, thereby reducing regional inequalities in land productivity. The convergence test allows the idiosyncratic element of productivity to be time-varying, thus allowing yields to diverge in some interim phases. Rice yields across districts appear to be converging to a common level, while maize yields have diverged over the same period. However, the sub-period analysis shows a trend of divergence for both crops going forward. In contrast, wheat yields seem to be converging to a common level recently, although the convergence for the entire period is weak. The analysis also identifies district clubs, which are converging to similar steady states. The club classification transcends agro-climatic boundaries, indicating a need for policy action to aid yield growth in lagging districts. Finally, there is no evidence that the divergence in yields was driven by a divergence in credit allocation, highlighting the limitations of a macro credit-driven policy. Credit supply might not be enough when there are structural snags in the availability of direct agricultural inputs. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change and Agriculture,Crops and Crop Management Systems,Agricultural Economics,Food Security,Fertilizers,Financial Sector Policy |
| Date: | 2020–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9339&r=all |
| By: | Goeb, Joseph; Boughton, Duncan; Maredia, Mywish K.; Zu, A. Myint; Synt, Nang Lun Kham |
| Abstract: | Crop traders comprise the mid-stream of Myanmar’s food supply chain. They form important links between farms and food processors, exporters, and other downstream actors. Because they are close to the farmgate on the supply chain – many purchase agricultural commodities directly from farmers – any additional challenges to traders presented by the COVID-19 crisis and corresponding policy responses have important implications for the crop marketing channels farmers use and for the prices they receive for their crops. Further, challenges or changes to crop trading will have effects on the food system downstream and, ultimately, on consumers. Traders either carry out or facilitate the sales, transport, and purchases of raw agricultural commodities. Thus, they may be negatively affected by the travel and transport restrictions imposed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 as well as other policy measures that restrict exports or affect food retail channels to consumers. This research note seeks to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI) of the Government of Myanmar and agricultural sector stakeholders understand the effects of recent COVID-19 shocks on Myanmar’s agri-food marketing system through the perspective of crop traders. We conducted a phone survey with 154 crop traders to understand the challenges of COVID-19 shocks to both their upstream and downstream operations, (ii) learn about adaptations and changes they are making in response to those challenges, and (iii) track recent (two weeks) and longer-term (last year) changes in the buying and selling prices of the commodities they trade. |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR, BURMA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, ASIA, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, trade, supply chain, commodities, marketing, agricultural prices, prices, movement restrictions, agricultural products, Covid-19, crop marketing, traders |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:myanpn:10&r=all |
| By: | Fang, Peixun; Belton, Ben; Ei Win, Hnin; Win, Khin Zin; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | Between 2010 and 2015, consumption in Myanmar of chicken and eggs increased by 72 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Whereas consumption of most other meats fell during this period, chicken had become the most common meat consumed in Myanmar by 2015. An important reason for this growth is that chicken and eggs were the only major animal-source foods for which real retail prices decreased in recent years. In addition, chicken and egg production is of growing importance to human nutrition in Myanmar - chicken and chicken eggs, together with fresh milk, were the only animal-source foods for which consumption by low income households increased substantially between 2010 and 2015. However, demand for chicken suffered a double hit in 2020 - first from a salmonella outbreak in January that reduced consumer demand, followed immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic. To shed light on the impact of these shocks to this critical sector, a series of phone surveys were conducted. This research note seeks to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of the Government of Myanmar and agricultural sector stakeholders to (1) understand the challenges that poultry farms have faced since the outbreak of COVID-19; (2) learn about adaptations and changes poultry farms are making in response to those challenges; and (3) track input procurement and marketing activities, including quantities and prices. |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR, BURMA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, ASIA, farmers, poultry, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, food prices, food consumption, poultry farming, urban farmers, broiler chickens, cash flow, livestock products, economic recovery, Covid-19 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:myanpn:11&r=all |
| By: | Sedano,Fernando; Molini,Vasco; Azad,M Abul Kalam |
| Abstract: | This study developed a land cover and land use mapping framework specifically designed for agricultural systems in the Sudan-Sahel region. The mapping approach extracts information from inter- and intra-annual vegetation dynamics from dense stacks of Landsat 8 images. The framework was applied to create a 30-meter spatial resolution land use map focusing on the 2015 agricultural landscapes in northern Nigeria. The map provides up-to-date information with a high level of spatial and thematic detail, resulting in a more precise characterization of agriculture in the region. The map reveals that agriculture is the main land use in the region. Arable land represents on average 52.5 percent of the area, which is higher than the reported national average for Nigeria (38.4 percent). Irrigated agriculture covers nearly 2.2 percent of the total area, reaching nearly 20 percent of the cultivated land when traditional floodplain agriculture systems are included, which is above the reported national average (0.63 percent). There is significant variability in land use in the region. This study demonstrates the feasibility of multitemporal medium-resolution remote sensing data to provide detailed, up-to-date information on agricultural systems in the arid and sub-arid landscapes of the Sahel region. |
| Keywords: | Food Security,Inequality,Hydrology,Climate Change and Agriculture,Water and Food Supply,Irrigation and Drainage,Agricultural Irrigation and Drainage |
| Date: | 2020–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9335&r=all |
| By: | Sandrine Brèteau-Amores; Rasoul Yousefpour; Marc Hanewinkel; Mathieu Fortin |
| Abstract: | Forests provide ecosystem services such as timber production and carbon sequestration. However, forests are sensitive to climate change, and financial and amenity losses are expected for forest owners and society, respectively. The forests in the Grand-Est region, France, are dominated by European beech, for which a decline is anticipated due to repeated drought events induced by climate change. These forest ecosystems are also threatened by windstorm events. Beech forests need to adapt and diversification can decrease drought and windstorm risks. In this context, the objective of the paper was to compare different forest adaptation strategies from an economic perspective with the objective of reducing drought- and windstorm-induced risks of dieback. For this purpose, we studied two types of diversification that we analysed separately and jointly: Mixing beech with oak and diversifying stand structure (i.e. from an even-aged to an uneven-aged forest). We also considered two types of loss (financial, and in terms of carbon sequestration) under different recurrences of drought and windstorm risks. We combined a forest growth simulator with a forest economic approach through the computation of land expectation value (LEV). Maximizing the LEV criterion made it possible to identify the best adaptation strategies in economic terms. The results show that diversification increases timber production and LEV, but reduces carbon storage. The two risks as well as the adaptation strategies show some synergies. Finally, trade-offs between the financial balance and the carbon balance (i.e. adaptation vs. mitigation) are possible. |
| Keywords: | Drought; Windstorm; Adaptation; Climate change; Mixture; Economics; Multi-risks; Carbon. |
| JEL: | Q23 Q54 Q57 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2020-31&r=all |
| By: | Goeb, Joseph; Boughton, Duncan; Maredia, Mywish K.; Zu, A. Myint; Synt, Nang Lun Kham |
| Abstract: | Agricultural input retailers play a key role in Myanmar’s agri-food system by supplying farmers with fertilizer, seed, pesticides, and other inputs necessary for successful harvests. Because farm-level input use is an important driver of yields for all major food crops, shocks to the input retail sector have major implications for the welfare of rural households, as well as for their food security. This policy note presents results from round two of a five-round phone survey of agricultural input retailers. Our purpose is to provide data and insights to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Irrigation (MOALI) and other agricultural sector stakeholders to assist them in better understanding COVID-19 related shocks to Myanmar’s agricultural input retailers. The round one results emphasized (i) widespread disruptions from the COVID-19 to both input supply and demand, (ii) higher transportation costs leading to higher input prices, and (iii) dramatically lower revenue expectations for retailers in 2020 compared to 2019.1 This note builds on the round one results by (i) exploring the effects of the COVID-19 crisis since the first-round interviews, (ii) tracking sales changes since the first round of the survey, and (iii) providing more detailed information on retailer credit and transportation. |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR, BURMA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, ASIA, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, farm inputs, retail markets, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, Covid-19 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:myanpn:15&r=all |
| By: | Thurlow, James; Holtemeyer, Brian; Kassim, Yumna; Kurdi, Sikandra; Randriamamonjy, Josée; Raouf, Mariam; Elsabbagh, Dalia; Wiebelt, Manfred; Breisinger, Clemens |
| Abstract: | This note presents the results of an evaluation of public investment options for Egypt’s agri-food system. Nine agriculture-related public investments are considered, including targeting public spending to expand farm production, e.g., irrigation improvements, input subsidies, agricultural research, and extension, and to promote downstream agro-processing and marketing. The outcome indicators considered are economic (GDP) growth, incomes of the poor, job creation, and dietary diversity. IFPRI’s Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) economywide model is used for the evaluation because it captures linkages between sectors, households, and rural-urban economies and measures changes within and beyond the agri-food system. RIAPA is linked to the Agricultural Investment and Data Analysis (AIDA) module that tracks investment impacts and costs over time. The ranked results of the public investment options considered, summarized in the table here, can help prioritize agri-food system investments for post-COVID-19 recovery. |
| Keywords: | EGYPT, ARAB COUNTRIES, MIDDLE EAST, SOUTHWESTERN ASIA, ASIA, coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, agrifood systems, public investment, public expenditure, irrigation, poverty, employment, diet, agriculture, greenhouses, policies, research, agricultural extension, horticulture, subsidies, models, gross national product, crops, livestock, food systems, Covid-19, diet diversification, input subsidies, Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA), Agricultural Investment and Data Analysis (AIDA) |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:menapn:7&r=all |
| By: | Nathan DeMaagd (University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics); Michael J. Roberts (University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The effect that climate change will have on water resource sustainability is gaining international interest, particularly in regions where stocks are strained due to changing climate and increasing populations. Past studies focus mainly on how water availability will be affected by climate change, with little attention paid to how consumer behavior is likely to react. How a changing climate affects water demand could be equally or more important to management solutions as its influence on water supply. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between residential water use and climate on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and apply downscaled climate projections to estimate end-of-century water use. The island is serviced by only one water utility yet has a wide range of consumers and microclimates, which make it an ideal location for studying these relationships. We find that climate is strongly associated with residential water use in a manner that is likely causal. If the association is causal, it implies that demand will increase by 20-37 island-wide by the end of the century, holding all else the same, depending on the climate model projection. Strategies for offsetting the projected increase in demand are also considered, along with the study's place in literature examining watershed management and consumer welfare. |
| Keywords: | water demand; climate change |
| JEL: | Q25 Q54 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:202020&r=all |
| By: | Taherzadeh, Oliver |
| Abstract: | Measures which address the degradation and over-exploitation of natural resources are urgently needed, in individual countries and globally. However, the extraction and use of natural resources is highly interconnected, spatially and sectorally, within a complex web of interactions and feedbacks. Conventional resource footprinting does not reveal how pressures on natural resources are distributed across country and sector supply networks. Within this study pressures across the global water, energy and land (WEL) system are located within the supply networks of 189 countries and 24 global sectors. Pathways of water, energy and land use are found to be mainly indirect, arising from country and sector resource dependencies on immediate (Scope 2) and upstream (Scope 3) producers in their supply network. However, the distribution of these pressures is found to exhibit a high level of variation within and between national and sectoral supply networks and resource systems. Such differences in the resource pressure profile of countries and sectors is scarcely recognised by existing modelling approaches or supplier reporting guidelines, but is of major consequence for the study and management of pressures across the WEL system. If measures are not taken to extend accountability for the indirect pressures imposed across the WEL system, the resource burden of consumption will be greatly mismanaged. |
| Date: | 2020–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ue45p&r=all |
| By: | Rodrigo Garcia-Verdu; Alexis Meyer-Cirkel; Akira Sasahara; Hans Weisfeld |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) in 162 countries between 1991 and 2015 and aims to understand sources of cross-country variations in agricultural TFP levels and its growth rates. Two factors affecting agricultural TFP are analyzed in detail – imported intermediate inputs and climate. We first show that these two factors are independently important in explaining agricultural TFP – imported inputs raise agricultural TFP; and higher temperatures and rainfall shortages impede TFP growth, particularly in low-income countries (LICs). We also provide a new evidence that, within LICs, those with a higher import component of intermediate inputs seem to be more shielded from the negative impacts of weather shocks. |
| Keywords: | Price indexes;Economic growth;Real effective exchange rates;Total factor productivity;Capital stocks;Agricultural Productivity,TFP,Imported Inputs,Weather Shocks,Climate Change Mitigation,LICs.,high-income country,low share,value-added,middle-income country |
| Date: | 2019–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2019/026&r=all |
| By: | Marivoet, Wim; Ulimwengu, John M.; Sall, Leysa Maty |
| Abstract: | This report is the final outcome of various knowledge products and training material, usually labelled as “printed eAtlas†, which have been developed and shared with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme. |
| Keywords: | KENYA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; nutrition; food security; resilience; policies; milk consumption; food consumption; livestock; diet; trace elements; spatial data; policy atlas; nutrition sensitive; nutrient adequacy |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resrep:1159990234&r=all |
| By: | Usman Qadir (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Musleh ud Din (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Ejaz Ghani (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | In developing countries, vegetable markets are inefficient in terms of information exchanges between producers and consumers on food safety attributes. This study attempts to investigate the determinants of pesticide residues and estimate information efficiency of vegetable market, by using data collected from a representative sample of 360 farmers in Pakistani Punjab. Chromatography technique is employed to quantify pesticide residues in four common vegetables. Majority of the vegetable samples surpasses the maximum residues limits; hence, they are lemons (bad products). Results of pesticide residue model show that magnitudes of pesticide residues in vegetables vary with pesticide quantity and spray interval at the farm level. Results of information efficiency model reveal that vegetable prices are negatively but insignificantly correlated with pesticides residues, implying that vegetable market is a lemon market in Pakistan. Proper implementation of food safety standards and product labelling may help to provide safe vegetables to consumers. |
| Keywords: | Vegetables, Information Asymmetry, Lemons Market, Gas Chromatography, Pesticide Residues, Food Safety, Pakistan |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2019:168&r=all |
| By: | Tess Penne; Tim Goedemé |
| Abstract: | In Europe, food insecurity is still a serious concern for individual and public health. Although progress has been made in reducing undernourishment, other types of malnutrition such as obesity are on the rise. Policies that aim at improving healthy eating and addressing food insecurity tend to focus on public education, and financial incentives, such as a sugar tax. These policies start from the assumption that people have sufficient income to eat healthily. In contrast, food assistance through food banks is becoming more and more popular across European countries, suggesting that a significant share of the population experiences financial constraints to access a (healthy) diet. Unfortunately, indicators of food insecurity rarely focus directly on the lack of sufficient income as a driver of food insecurity and unhealthy eating. Therefore, in this paper, we try to assess the role of adequate incomes and minimum income policies in having access to a healthy diet. We make use of estimates of the minimum cost of a healthy diet in 24 European countries, in accordance with national food-based dietary guidelines. Food prices were collected in the capital city of each country during the Spring of 2015. We use these unique data to (1) estimate the proportion of people living in urban areas with insufficient income to access a healthy diet, before and after housing costs, based on representative income survey data (EU-SILC), and, (2) compare the cost of a healthy diet with the level of minimum income schemes for specific household types using microsimulation techniques. We find that in 16 out of 24 countries at least 10% of the population in (sub)urban areas is confronted with income-related food insecurity. Especially in Eastern and Southern Europe a large share of the (sub)urban population is lacking the economic resources needed to have access to a healthy diet. Our findings show that policies directed at tackling food insecurity should be embedded in a broader set of economic and social policies that facilitate the structural realisation of an adequate income. |
| Date: | 2019–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:wpaper:1910&r=all |
| By: | Madeeha Qureshi (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Ejaz Ghani (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Musleh-ud Din (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Usman Qadir (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | The notion of secure food availability aspect within a country cannot be seen only in context of domestic demand and supply gaps only. Rather to capture the totality of the process it is important to identify risks faced by a country from changes in international food markets. Against this backdrop, this paper explores two channels of impact in the context of ECO member countries; focusing on international food price variation and production and trading patterns. Our research identifies member countries that are at risk to international price shocks, as well as those that have experienced a change in food demand patterns. Furthermore, the avenues of regional cooperation that can open up and prove beneficial to all ECO member countries have been identified. |
| Keywords: | ECO Region, International Price Shocks, Agricultural Diversification, Food Independence Policy, Animal Protein Rich Food. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:wpaper:2019:171&r=all |
| By: | Marivoet, Wim; Ulimwengu, John M.; Sall, Leysa Maty |
| Abstract: | This report is the final outcome of various knowledge products and training material, usually labelled as “printed eAtlas†, which have been developed and shared with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme. |
| Keywords: | BURKINA FASO; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; nutrition; food security; resilience; policies; milk consumption; food consumption; livestock; diet; trace elements; spatial data; policy atlas; nutrition sensitive; nutrient adequacy |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resrep:1159990241&r=all |
| By: | Julie TROTTIER |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the usefulness of recognizing the commons governing irrigation water. It harnesses the commons to understand the power interactions at play in transformations over local, national and international scales. It proposes to harness the positive externalities commons generate in order to transform political and economic interactions at the national and international scales. Although it uses a Palestinian case study, this conceptual development can apply anywhere. Palestinians have long managed irrigation as commons at the local level. But the overwhelming attention paid to their national struggle has led most researchers to focus on national institutions instead. It has also favored treating water as a stock rather than a flow. All West Bank aquifers are shared with Israel. The Oslo agreements treated them as a stock and divided them quantitatively between two users: Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Recognising the existence of commons in Palestinian irrigation allows treating water as a flow. Indeed, the same water drops flow successively through several institutions, some Palestinian and others Israeli, deploying different property regimes over varying scalar levels. This paper examines the usefulness of considering water as a flow that is managed successively by such a variety of institutions. At the local level, it allows us to understand the interactions between smallholders and neighboring agribusinesses, for example. It allows us to understand the upheaval in power interactions when a merchant economy attempts to supplant a human economy. At the national level, it allows us to address the governance of the paracommons. This term designates the material gains potentially generated by the improvement of efficiency within various systems all drawing on the same source of water. Such gains are dynamic because the efficiency gain in one system often entails a loss in a neighbouring system or in a distant, yet interlinked, system. These material gains thus constitute a new commons, the appropriation of which needs to be governed. It is a paracommons because it doesn’t exist until the projects designed to improve the efficiency of different systems are implemented. Donors are funding heavily projects purporting to improve irrigation efficiency. Addressing the governance of the paracommons of Palestinian irrigation is now urgent. This paper analyses the manner the social capital developed in existing commons can contribute to this. Finally, at the international level, including the institutions emerging from the commons into an institutional structure that manages water as a flow allows us to break the deadlock of present water negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The paper details the manner this can be achieved. |
| Keywords: | Palestine |
| JEL: | Q |
| Date: | 2018–08–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:avg:wpaper:en8847&r=all |
| By: | Rosalina Palanca-Tan (Economics Department, Ateneo de Manila University) |
| Abstract: | Koronadal households benefit from Lake Sebu’s natural and cultural resources in terms of recreation, tourism income generation, supply of high quality tilapia, agricultural products supply, potential hydroelectric power source, cultural heritage, biodiversity, and climate change mitigation. These benefits encompass both use and non-use values which are integrated in a single estimate using the contingent valuation method. In the study, Koronadal households are asked for their willingness to pay (WTP) or contribute to natural and cultural resources rehabilitation and preservation efforts in the form of a lump-sum monthly amount collected together with their electricity bill payment. Household’s mean WTP is estimated to be between PhP52.42 (US$1.04) and PhP64.39 (US$1.27) per month. Multiplying the annualized WTP by the number of households in Koronadal, total potential annual contributions from Koronadal City would range from PhP29,244,533 (US$577,841) to PhP35,863,170 (US$708,618). Even just a fraction of this potential collection can support essential conservation efforts in Lake Sebu which up to the present have been inadequate due to financial constraints. Moreover, results of the regression analysis reveals that households are more likely to support the preservation program if the amount of required contribution is smaller and household income is higher. Older and more educated respondents are likewise more likely to support the program. |
| Keywords: | benefit valuation, contingent valuation method, cultural heritage, natural environment, willingness to pay |
| JEL: | Q26 Q51 Q56 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agy:dpaper:202010&r=all |
| By: | Deparnay-Grunenberg, Anna; Llerandi, Bianca |
| Abstract: | This paper calls for transformative science to catalyze the needed change in the agricultural sector. It sheds light on the current dysfunctional system of resource allocation of the CAP and its poor economic, ecological and social outcomes. While the disparity between the desired outcomes and the reality is undisputed within research, former reforms have resulted in little change of the CAP. However, there is now a window of opportunity for real change with the transitional phase of the CAP, the shock event of the Coronavirus pandemic as a magnifying glass for underlying systemic problems and the proclamation of the European Green Deal, in particular the Farm-to-Fork-Strategy. The current system is impoverishing our biodiversity, soils, health and rural socio-economic tissue. To break this downward spiral, the authors suggest allocating resources according to the common good that a farm produces. To design change, this article assigns a major role to transformative science and lays out starting points and missions for further research. |
| Date: | 2020–03–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:3xjgr&r=all |
| By: | Anais Lamour (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Subervie Julie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | We use primary data from a choice experiment carried out with 207 coffee farmers in Costa Rica, in order to study their willingness to adopt various agroforestry systems under various types of support. We test four adaptation strategies that are based on resistant coffee varieties introduction, timber tree species production and/or shade tree density increase. Revealed preferences suggest that most of the respondents do value the introduction of resistant varieties. They are willing to plant twice the number of trees in their plantations when these are combined with resistant varieties. Conversely, all agroforestry systems requiring timber trees to be planted are chosen significantly less often and on average, their adoption would require a compensation scheme. We moreover find that a large majority of respondents is very responsive to non-monetary rewards, namely a subsidized credit, a free trial of resistant coffee seedlings or technical assistance. We conclude that each of these incentivescould be used as an incentive to induce land use changes |
| Keywords: | Payment for Environmental Services,Non-monetary Incentives,Climate change,Choice Experiment,Coffee,Costa Rica |
| Date: | 2020–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-02892085&r=all |
| By: | Douadia Bougherara (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Margaux Lapierre (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Raphaële Préget (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Alexandre Sauquet (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Nearly all Agri-Environmental Schemes (AES) offer stable annual payments over theduration of the contract. Yet AES are often intended to be a transition tool, designed totrigger changes in farming practices rather than to support them indefinitely. A decreasingsequence of payments thus appears particularly attractive as a reward structure for AES.The standard discounted utility model supports this notion by predicting that individualsshould prefer a decreasing sequence of payments if the total sum of outcomes is con-stant. Nevertheless, the literature shows that numerous mechanisms, such as increasingproductivity, anticipatory pleasure, and loss aversion, can, by contrast, incline individualsto favor an increasing sequence of payments. To understand the preferences of farmersfor different payment sequences, we propose a review of the mechanisms highlighted bythe literature in psychology and economics. We then test farmers' preferences for stable,increasing or decreasing payments through a choice experiment (CE) survey. In this sur-vey, farmers are offered hypothetical contracts rewarding the planting of cover crops. Toreduce hypothetical bias, the choice cards were designed following repeated interactionswith local stakeholders. One hundred twenty-three French farmers, about 15% of thosecontacted, responded to the survey. Overall, farmers do not present a clear willingnessto depart from the usual stable payments. Nevertheless, 17% declare a preference for in-creasing sequences of payment. Moreover, we find a significant rejection of decreasingpayments by farmers with a lower discount rate or farmers more willing to take risks thanthe median farmer, contradicting the discounted utility model |
| Keywords: | Choice experiment,Cover crops,Farming practices,Sequences of outcomes,Agri-Environmental Schemes,Discounted utility |
| Date: | 2020–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpceem:hal-02892858&r=all |
| By: | Carl T. Kitchens; Luke P. Rodgers |
| Abstract: | Using variation in crop prices induced by large swings in demand World War I, we examine the fertility response to increases in crop revenues during the period 1910-1930. Our estimates from samples utilizing both complete count decennial census microdata and newly collected county-level data from state health reports indicate that a doubling of the agricultural price index reduced fertility by around 8 percent both immediately and in the years following the boom. We further document that this effect was more pronounced in more agrarian areas and where the labor intensity of agriculture was more intense. Extensive robustness checks and analysis of potential mechanisms indicate that the decrease in fertility was driven by increased female opportunity costs which dominated any household income effects resulting from the price boom. |
| JEL: | J12 J13 N12 N5 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27530&r=all |
| By: | Rodríguez-Cruz, Luis Alexis; Niles, Meredith |
| Abstract: | Strengthening farmers’ adaptive capacity is important for decreasing their vulnerability to natural hazards in this changing climate, and for safeguarding local food systems. One key step in strengthening adaptive capacity is understanding the relationship between farmers’ experience with natural hazards and their perceptions of climate change, and its role in farmers’ decision making around climate change adaptation. Here we explore Puerto Rican farmers’ psychological distance of climate change after experiencing category 4 Hurricane Maria, in order to intersect the roles of experience, perceptions, and motivation for farmers’ decision-making around climate change adaptation. Farmers throughout Puerto Rico were surveyed by Extension Services’ agents (n = 405, 87% response rate) in 2018, eight months after Hurricane Maria. A structural equation model was used to evaluate how reported experience with past events and direct damages by Hurricane Maria related to farmers’ psychological distance of climate change, and the association of these variables to farmers’ motivation to adapt to climate change. We found that farmers psychological distance of climate change is both near and far, since they show a broad awareness to climate change’s impacts both locally and globally in different dimensions (temporal, geographical, and social). Reported experience and direct damages by the hurricane were not linked to their psychological distance of climate change, and these did not relate to their motivation to adapt. These results suggest that using extreme events as a driver for climate belief and action may no longer be relevant, especially in a context where there is a high level of climate change belief and continued threat of extreme events. Thus, broadening analysis beyond individual perceptions as drivers of climate adaptation to how structural dynamics are linked to adaptive capacity could provide better understanding. This study is among the first to study the role of climate change experience and perceptions on farmers’ climate change adaption after an extreme weather event in an island-archipelago setting. |
| Date: | 2020–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:e27k4&r=all |
| By: | Jean-Marc Blazy (ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Subervie Julie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jacky Paul (ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); François Causeret (ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Loic Guinde (ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Sarah Moulla (ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Alban Thomas (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jorge Sierra (ASTRO - Agrosystèmes tropicaux - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we provide an ex-ante assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a series of innovative Agri-EnvironmentalMeasures (AEM) that subsidize the use of compost. To do so, we ran a choice experiment in the western islands of French Polynesia where the soil organic carbon content is extremely low. The 305 farmers who participated were asked to choose one of several AEM that offer financial support in exchange for using compost in their farming activities, aswell as free technical assistance, a collective financial bonus, and the possibility of combining chemical fertilizers with composts. We found that offering free technical assistance increases the participation rate by 30 percentage points and offering a collective bonus increases it by 14 percentage points. In contrast, including a requirement on the reduction of chemical fertilization would decrease the probability of participation by only two percentage points. We then estimated the amount of carbon that would be sequestered in the soil using compost as prescribed under each of the AEM proposed. We found that the most effective AES would sequester up to 25,000 teqCO2 per ha and per year and that the most cost-effective scheme would reach this target at a cost of about 500 euros per teqCO2. Finally, we find that the so-called 4 per 1000 target could be easily reached through most cost-effective measures even if only half of the farms were enrolled in the program. |
| Keywords: | climate change,compost,soil carbon,choice experiment,Guadeloupe. |
| Date: | 2020–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02748634&r=all |
| By: | Löschel, Andreas; Price, Michael; Razzolini, Laura; Werthschulte, Madeline |
| Abstract: | This study explores whether negative income shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic affect the demand for environmental policy. By running a survey in Germany in May 2020, we show that there is a large and negative correlation between the COVID-19 income shocks and the willingness to support green policies. Importantly, this relation is separate from the effect of long-run income. Building on this first evidence, our study provides directions for future valuation studies. Specifically, our results provide a proof of concept that welfare analyses based on willingness-to-pay estimates to assess the benefit of an environmental good or the cost of an environmental damage may be downward biased if temporary changes in income are not considered. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,Environmental policy,Income shock,Welfare analysis,Willingness topay |
| JEL: | Q51 Q58 D61 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:117&r=all |
| By: | Wicaksono, Hendro |
| Abstract: | The presentation introduces the technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution which rely on the concept of artificial intelligence. Data is the basis of functioning artificial intelligence technologies. The presentation also explains how data can revolutionize the business by providing global access to physical products through an industry 4.0 ecosystem. The ecosystem contains four pillars: smart product, smart process, smart resources (smart PPR), and data-driven services. Through these four pillars, the industry 4.0 can be implemented in different sectors. The presentation also provides some insights on the roles of linked data (knowledge graph) for data integration, data analytics, and machine learning in industry 4.0 ecosystem. Project examples in smart city, healthcare, and agriculture sectors are also described. Finally, the presentation discusses the implications of the introduced concepts on the Indonesian context. |
| Date: | 2020–07–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:7yvte&r=all |
| By: | Rick van der Ploeg |
| Abstract: | The social rate of discount is a crucial driver of the social cost of carbon (SCC), i.e. the expected present discounted value of marginal damages resulting from emitting one ton of carbon today. Policy makers should set carbon prices to the SCC using a carbon tax or a competitive permits market. The social discount rate is lower and the SCC higher if policy makers are more patient and if future generations are less affluent and policy makers care about intergenerational inequality. Uncertainty about the future rate of growth of the economy and emissions and the risk of macroeconomic disasters (tail risks) also depress the social discount rate and boost the SCC provided intergenerational inequality aversion is high. Various reasons (e.g. autocorrelation in the economic growth rate or the idea that a decreasing certainty-equivalent discount rate results from a discount rate with a distribution that is constant over time) are discussed for why the social discount rate is likely to decline over time. A declining social discount rate also emerges if account is taken from the relative price effects resulting from different growth rates for ecosystem services and of labour in efficiency units. The market-based asset pricing approach to carbon pricing is contrasted with a more ethical approach to policy making. Some suggestions for further research are offered. |
| Keywords: | cost-benefit analysis, climate policy, carbon pricing, social discount rate, term structure, Keynes-Ramsey rule, risk and uncertainty, disasters, expert opinions |
| JEL: | D81 D90 G12 H43 Q51 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8441&r=all |
| By: | Alicia Izquierdo–Yusta; María Gómez–Cantó; María Pilar Martínez–Ruiz; Héctor Hugo Pérez–Villarreal |
| Keywords: | Food values, consumer behaviour, satisfaction, loyalty, switching costs. |
| JEL: | M30 M31 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ovr:docfra:2001&r=all |
| By: | Nicoletta Batini |
| Abstract: | France is the top agricultural producer in the European Union (EU), and agriculture plays a prominent role in the country’s foreign trade and intermediate exchanges. Reflecting production volumes and methods, the sector, however, also generates significant negative environmental and public health externalities. Recent model simulations show that a well-designed shift in production and consumption to make the former sustainable and align the latter with recommended values can curb these considerably and generate large macroeconomic gains. I propose a policy toolkit in line with the government’s existing sectoral policies that can support this transition. |
| Keywords: | Supply and demand;Economic growth;Agricultural production;Agricultural sector;Demand elasticity;agriculture,growth,food policy,climate change,externalities,fiscal policy,diets,agri-food,GHG,externality,GHG emission,farm labor force |
| Date: | 2019–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2019/041&r=all |
| By: | Lafforgue, Gilles; Lorang, Etienne |
| Abstract: | We study the recycling opportunity of an industrial sector constrained by climate, resource and waste capacities. A final good is produced from virgin and recycled materials, and its consumption releases both waste and GHG emissions. We identify the optimal trajectories of resources use, mainly depending on the emission rates of each resource and on the relative scarcity of their stocks. Recycling is sometimes an opportunity to reduce the impact of consumption on primary resources and waste but can still affect the environment. We characterize the optimal recycling strategy and we show that, in some cases, the time pace of the recycling rate is inverted U-shaped. Last, we discuss the policy implications of our model by identifying and analyzing the set of optimal tax-subsidy schemes. |
| Keywords: | Recycling; Resource extraction; Waste; GHG emissions. |
| JEL: | Q32 Q53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:124456&r=all |
| By: | Kabeer, Naila |
| Abstract: | The 2019 Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to three scholars on the grounds that their pioneering use of randomized control trials (RCTs) was innovative methodologically and contributed to development policy and the emergence of a new development economics. Using a critical feminist lens, this article challenges that conclusion by interrogating the storytelling practices deployed by “randomista” economists through a critical reading of a widely cited essay by Esther Duflo, one of the 2019 Nobel recipients, on the relationship between women’s empowerment and economic development. The paper argues that the limitations of randomista economics have given rise to a particular way of thinking characterized by piecemeal analysis, ad hoc resort to theory, indifference to history and context, and methodological fundamentalism. It concludes that the randomista argument that broad-based economic development alone – without focused attention to women’s rights – will lead to gender equality has not been borne out by recent data. |
| Keywords: | empowerment; economic development; development |
| JEL: | J01 |
| Date: | 2020–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:103880&r=all |
| By: | Peixun Fang; Ben Belton |
| Abstract: | This report presents results from by far the most comprehensive survey of maize cultivators ever conducted in Myanmar. This research was designed to test characterizations of hybrid maize farming in the literature on Myanmar empirically, and identify implications for development policy and programming. A study by the World Bank (2016) suggests that returns from maize farming are very high in comparison to other major crops grown in Myanmar, whereas two studies by Woods (2015a; 2015b) list a host of negative impacts associated with hybrid maize cultivation, including reduced food security, widespread and severe indebtedness among the smallest farmers, and deepening inequality. Our survey represented the population of all maize growing village tracts in the nine major maize growing townships of southern Shan where the security situation at the time of the survey permitted access. A total 884 maize growing and 678 non-maize growing rural households were interviewed. We summarize key survey results and their implications below. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2020–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:303952&r=all |
| By: | Sterenn Lucas; Louis-Georges Soler; Xavier Irz; Didier Gascuel; Joël Aubin |
| Abstract: | In the context of climate change, the diet is a key driver of environmental impacts. Previous research emphasized the environmental benefit to increase fisheries and aquaculture products (FAPs) consumption in European diets. However, increasing the share of FAPs could lead to a transfer of environmental damage from earth to sea. It is thus important to evaluate the environmental impacts of FAPs considering marine eco-systems and global scale. We constructed an original database to map the origin of FAPs, and we matched it with environmental indicators. The exploration of the database investigates the environmental impact of FAPs in regards of French consumption. We found some heterogeneity across species, meaning that the pattern of consumption across the FAPs does influence the environmental footprint. Furthermore, the choice of methods of production largely affects the global impact. Thus, relevant public policy could decrease the environmental impact of FAPs despite a standstill level of consumption. |
| Keywords: | environmental impact, climate change, LCA, seafood consumption |
| JEL: | Q22 Q54 D10 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rae:wpaper:202007&r=all |
| By: | Melinda Smale; Amidou Assima; Véronique Thériault; Yénizié Kone |
| Abstract: | Mali’s most recent phase of fertilizer subsidies began during the global food crisis of 2008/09, but there is little evidence-based information concerning its effects. To generate information of potential use to policymakers in Mali, we implemented a survey to a random sample of 2400 extended farm family households in two major agroecological zones of Mali—the Delta du Niger and the Plateau de Koutiala. In this paper, we test the effects of the fertilizer subsidy on total fertilizer applied, yield, target cropincome and quantity of all crops sold. We find that subsidized fertilizer accounts for most of thetotal fertilizer applied by farmers, suggesting that in some instances it is displacing demand forcommercial fertilizer. Average fertilizer use rates in kgs appear to be below the recommended quantities for all target crops, despite subsidy receipts. In future research, we intend to verify these findings converting units to nitrogen nutrient kgs, which standardizes across fertilizer types and permits a more exact comparison. We compare regression results across several econometric approaches to improve their reliability. Each econometric approach provides evidence that considering all crops combined, the fertilizer subsidy has a positive effect on total fertilizer applied per ha, yields, and crop revenues of target crop, as well as on quantities of all crops sold. However, important differences are observable among crops. On average, subsidy effects on millet and sorghum outcome variable were weak or not statistically significant. Average subsidy effects on all outcome variables were strong for rice. Average subsidy effects were strong on maize yields, but not revenues or sales of other crops. For cotton, the subsidy only allowed an increase in the mean quantities of fertilizers used without improving productivity or other outcomes. The dose-response estimation suggests efficiency intervals in which the fertilizer subsidy has a positive marginal effect on fertilizer use, productivity and crop sales. These also vary from one crop to another, but are estimated only for rice, maize and cotton given that mean effects are not significant for sorghum and millet. We find no positive marginal effect of subsidized fertilizer on yields below 65 kg/ha for rice and 87 kg/ha for maize. The graphs also show peaks at high levels of subsidized fertilizer for both crops, with declining marginal returns after that point. For rice, marginal effects on rice revenues have a similar shape to that of the yield effect, and effects on quantities of all crops sold are strong through much of the range of subsidized fertilizer applied in the data. This last result is observable also for maize at higher levels of the subsidy, suggesting some spillovers from rice and maize to non-target crops. No positive effect on cotton yields, cotton revenues or quantities of all crops sold is discernible regardless of the level of subsidization. The fertilizer subsidy in Mali is currently designed to target particular crops and enhance their productivity. We conclude that the design could be made more efficient by either reconsidering target crops or targeting the subsidy according to different criteria. We consider that applying the subsidy to cotton represents a deadweight loss—that is, a public expenditure that leads to no discernible supply shift. This last finding could be season dependent, or result from factors we could not measure in this analysis—such as cottonseed quality. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2020–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:303951&r=all |
| By: | Adrián Rodríguez Miranda (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Sofía Boza (Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas. Departamento de Gestión e Innovación Rural); Aracely Núñez (Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas. Departamento de Gestión e Innovación Rural); Mariana Rodríguez Vivas (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Andrea Rengifo (Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas. Departamento de Gestión e Innovación Rural) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential of agricultural cooperatives to promote rural territorial development in Latin America, analyzing the cases of Chile and Uruguay. The origins, background and current status of the agricultural cooperative movement in these countries are reviewed, within the context of the development of the agricultural production sector and the regulatory frameworks in each country. This research assumes an endogenous development approach. Our motivation comes from the need to better understand those modes and relations of production that generate greater local appropriation of wealth and, therefore, greater local control of its use and reinvestment. The article seeks to discuss the link between economic growth and development with equity, putting at the center of the discussion how to organize production and social relations to produce, and not only focus on ex post redistributive policies. This implies promoting forms of organization of production that are competitive in the markets but, at the same time, generate territorial development with a more equitable distribution of wealth. In that sense, the document seeks to reflect on the potential of the agricultural cooperative movement to promote strategies for the populations of rural and urban regions to become protagonists of their own development process. |
| Keywords: | cooperativism, agricultural cooperatives, endogenous development, territorial development, agriculture, Chile, Uruguay |
| JEL: | O13 O18 Q13 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-02-20&r=all |
| By: | Alvarez, Antonio; Couce, Lorena; Trujillo, Lourdes |
| Abstract: | We use a stochastic frontier approach to estimate the technology and the technical efficiency of a sample of small-scale fishing boats in the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. Using a model that allows for the determinants of inefficiency, we find that boat efficiency increases with boat size while it is inversely related to the age of the vessel. We pay special attention to the specialization of the fishing boats. For this purpose, we include two variables: one that measures the specialization in few species and another one that reflects technological specialization, which is measured as number of gears used. We find that both variables reduce the efficiency of fishing boats. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oeg:wpaper:2019/03&r=all |
| By: | Ben Belton; Ame Cho; Ellen Payongayong; Kristi Mahrt; Eric Abaidoo |
| Abstract: | This report presents results from a comprehensive structured survey of medium and large-scale pig and poultry farms conducted in the peri-urban zone surrounding Yangon. The survey represented pig farms raising five or more breeding sows or 20 or more swine, and all broiler, semi-broiler, and layer farms raising 500 or more birds, in randomly selected villages from 83 village tracts with high concentrations of pig and chicken farms, in Ayeyarwady, Bago (East) and Yangon regions. Owners of 90 pig farms, and 423 poultry farms (290 broiler, 38 semi-broiler, 95 layer) were interviewed. The survey was supported by analysis of nationally representative data on poultry, meat, egg and dairy consumption for 2010 and 2015, poultry, meat, and egg retail prices from 2008 to 2017, and satellite images of peri-urban Yangon for 2014 and 2018. Together, these data sources allow us to characterize the economic and technical dimensions of medium and large-scale pig and poultry farming in Myanmar and recent trends in sectoral growth, to identify implications for policy and development programming. We summarize key findings and discuss their implications below. Consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy grew from 2010 to 2015. Combined consumption per capita of meat, eggs, and dairy increased 13% at the union level. Almost all this increase occurred in urban areas, where consumption jumped 41%, to 28 kg/capita. Consumption in rural areas remained almost unchanged, at 18.7kg/capita. The total quantity of meat, eggs, and dairy consumed by the poorest 20% of households fell by 1.8 kg over this period, while the quantity consumed by the wealthiest 20% increased by 9.8 kg. Increases in animal source food consumption were driven by chicken and eggs. Chicken consumption increased 72% from 2010-2015, to become the number one meat consumed (average 6.8 kg/capita). Consumption of chicken eggs increased 40%, to 4.0 kg/capita. These increases were partially offset by reduced consumption of pork, beef and mutton. Pork was the number one meat consumed in 2010, but consumption fell 22% to 4.3 kg in 2015. Beef consumption halved and mutton consumption fell by one-third over this period. The real price of chicken meat and eggs has fallen, as the price of other meats as risen. The inflation adjusted price of chicken meat and eggs fell 29% and 36%, respectively, between 2008 and 2017. The real price of pork, beef, and mutton increased 10%, 34%, and 34%, respectively over the same period. In 2008, chicken meat was 15% more expensive than beef. By the end of 2017, it was 35% cheaper. The number of integrated chicken-fish farms around Yangon doubled between 2014 and 2018. Integrated farms have animal houses built above or beside ponds to enable utilization of waste nutrients as inputs for fish culture. Analysis of satellite images shows the number of chicken houses integrated with fishponds in peri-urban Yangon grew from 1898 to 3868 from 2014-2018. The number of village tracts with integrated farms doubled from 121 to 230. Two-thirds of poultry farms surveyed are integrated with fishponds. Integrating livestock and fish production has several advantages. (1) Much of the nutrients consumed by fish in integrated farms are obtained from algal blooms, fertilized by manure from animal houses above or beside the pond. This allows production of fish using limited or no feed, substantially reducing costs compared to non-integrated fish farms. (2) Integration means that manure does not accumulate on site, so farms are free of unpleasant odors and flies, and there is no need organize manure disposal. (3) Land use productivity is maximized as farms simultaneously produce two high value crops from a single parcel of land. (4) Producing fish at low cost helps farms to reduce the risks of poultry production, for which margins are often slim and prices volatile. More than half of farms in our sample were established within the past five years. Average broiler and layer flock sizes per farm remained fairly constant since 2016, suggesting that increases in chicken and egg production among the strata of farms surveyed have been driven more by proliferation of new farms than by scale expansion. Most land use in pig and poultry farming contravenes Myanmar’s agricultural land use classification system. Most parcels of land used for livestock production (91%) have some form of land use document associated with them, of which 69% are formal land use rights certificates. However, among parcels with formal land use rights, only 17% have a document (La Ya 30/La Na 39) that allows the land to be utilized for livestock production. Obstacles to obtaining the correct land use classification documents prevent farms from using land as collateral for formal loans, can necessitate payment of bribes, and may make tenure security vulnerable to changes in the enforcement of land use regulations. Few farmers have received any formal training on pig or poultry farming. Only 11% of farms have received any formal training. Private companies are the main providers of extension services. Most information on farming is obtained from informal sources, with fellow farmers (mentioned by 63% of respondents) and relatives (30%) are most common. Social media plays an important role in the distribution of farming information (28%), as do staff of feed companies (32%). Formal government information sources were mentioned by 12% of respondents, and NGOs not at all. Knowledge about animal diseases is limited. An outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) - a severe viral disease – was occurring in Southeast Asia at the time of the survey. Half of pig farmers had no knowledge of the cause of ASF infections. Around 40% were not familiar with any ASF symptoms or means of prevention. Less than half of farms maintain records. Pig farming is undergoing rapid technological change. Improved breeds of boar and sow are much more common than local breeds. Improved ‘CP’ breed pigs account for half of the swine, with ‘local’ breeds accounting for about one-quarter. Local breeds have a longer production cycle and attract a lower price than improved breeds, but can be raised wholly or partly on a diet containing items such as kitchen scraps, whereas improved pig breeds must be raised using formulated feeds (commercially manufactured feeds that are formulated to meet the complete nutritional requirements of the animal farmed) for optimum performance. Until 2010, most farms used non-formulated feeds. The share of farms using formulated feeds overtook the share using non-formulated feeds around 2015, indicating a recent shift toward intensification and commoditization of production. Eighty-nine percent of pig farms use formulated feeds. The market for animal feed is diversifying and becoming more competitive. Thailand’s CP company dominates pig feed supply, with 48% of farms using their products. South Korea’s Sunjin company (16%) and China’s New Hope company (11%) are the two next largest suppliers. All broiler and semi-broiler farms use formulated feeds. The poultry feed market is more diverse than the pig feed market. One quarter of broiler farms use CP feed, with the same share using feed from Dutch company De Heus. Twenty percent of broiler farms use feed from Maykha (a Myanmar company that produces in partnership with Indonesian firm Japfa). A mix of Myanmar and foreign owned companies account for the remainder of the poultry feed market, with Myanmar companies among the top three suppliers of layer feed and semi-broiler feed. Five feed companies supply pelleted fish feeds, taking between 11% and 27% of market share each. A major change has occurred in Myanmar’s fish feed market structure since 2016, when a single Myanmar company dominated supply. Implications for policy and programming Chicken meat and eggs play an important role in Myanmar’s food and nutrition security, given the critical importance of animal source foods for combating undernutrition. Increasing production of chicken meat and eggs from 2010 to 2015 has made them much more affordable than in the recent past. This trend has helped to reduce, but not prevent, overall declines in animal source food consumption among poorer households. As of 2015, increases in pig production had not occurred on a sufficiently large scale make pork more affordable and avert declines in consumption, but pork prices have trended somewhat downward since then, and the steady growth and technological intensification of pig farms documented here suggests that this trend is likely to continue. From a nutrition perspective this dynamic represents a double-edged sword, as overconsumption of saturated fats from animal products is also associated with obesity and related negative health outcomes. Thus, there is a need for consumer education to promote adequate (but not excessive) levels of consumption, while encouraging healthier alternatives. Integrated livestock-fish production should be recognized as a beneficial form of food production. Integrated farming reduces economic risks to livestock producers, utilizes land efficiently, produces fish at low cost, facilitates reuse of excess nutrients from livestock production, and eliminates unpleasant odors and flies. There is no export market for the fish produced in integrated systems, so there is little risk of antibiotic residues in fish from these farms damaging Myanmar’s aquaculture export prospects. As such, policy should seek to regulate this economically and environmentally efficient practice (e.g. by managing discharge of eutrophic water from ponds and mandating antibiotic withdrawals prior to harvest) rather than to ban it, as advocated in some quarters. Land used for animal husbandry or aquaculture activities should be designated as agricultural land in the formal land classification system. This would strengthen the tenure security of the occupants, lessen opportunities for corruption, and reduce farmer vulnerability to changes in the enforcement of land use regulations. Private actors in upstream segments of the value chain and targeted social media campaigns provide entry points for training and information dissemination. These could be coordinated with carefully selected influential farmers with large networks to maximize the reach of key messages. The limited extent of government and NGO training activities suggests scope for their expansion, perhaps in coordination with, or support of, private extension agents. There are many opportunities to improve farm management and biosecurity. These include digital services such as dedicated record keeping apps, encouraging and promoting the expansion of artificial insemination services for pigs, improvements to the design of farm buildings, and instituting quarantine services for imported animals. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2020–06–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:miffrp:303953&r=all |
| By: | Gabriela Demarchi (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Subervie Julie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Thibault Catry (UMR 228 Espace-Dev, Espace pour le développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - AU - Avignon Université - UR - Université de La Réunion - UM - Université de Montpellier - UG - Université de Guyane - UA - Université des Antilles); Isabelle Tritsch (UMR 228 Espace-Dev, Espace pour le développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - UPVD - Université de Perpignan Via Domitia - AU - Avignon Université - UR - Université de La Réunion - UM - Université de Montpellier - UG - Université de Guyane - UA - Université des Antilles) |
| Abstract: | The perpetuity and improvement of REDD+ projects for curbing deforestation require rigorous impact evaluations of the effectiveness of existing on-the-ground interventions. Today, a number of global and regional remote sensing (RS) products are publicly available for detecting changes in forest cover worldwide. In this study, we assess the suitability of using these readily available products to evaluate the impact of REDD+ local projects targeting smallholders (owning plots of less than 100 ha) in the Brazilian Amazon. Firstly, we reconstruct forest loss for the period between 2008 and 2017 of 17,066 farms located in the Transamazonian region, using data derived from two landcover change datasets: Global Forest Change (GFC) and Amazon Deforestation Monitoring Project (PRODES). Secondly, we evaluate the consistency between the two sources of data. Lastly, we estimate the long-term impact of a REDDÅ project using both RS products. Results suggest that the deforestation estimates from the two data-sets are statistically different and that GFC detects systematically higher rates of deforestation than PRODES. However, we estimate that an average of about 2 ha of forest were saved on each participating farm during the first years of the program regardless the source of data. These results suggest that these products may not be suitable for accurately monitoring and measuring deforestation at the farm-level, but they can be a useful source of data on impact assessment of forest conservation projects. |
| Keywords: | remote sensing products,deforestation,impact evaluation,Brazilian Amazon.,REDD+ |
| Date: | 2020–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02898225&r=all |
| By: | Liu, Yizao; Zhou, Pei |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2020–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304168&r=all |
| By: | Catherine Decker (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow; Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology); Nick Hanley (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow); Mikołaj Czajkowski (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Thomas A. Morrison (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow); Julius Keyyu (Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute); Linus Munishi (Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology); Felix Lankester (Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Global Animal Health Tanzania); Sarah Cleaveland (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow) |
| Abstract: | Malignant Catarhal Fever (MCF), transmitted from wildebeest to cattle, threatens livestock-based livelihoods and food security in many areas of Africa. Many herd owners reduce transmission risks by moving cattle away from infection hot-spots, but this imposes considerable economic burdens on their households. The advent of a partially-protective vaccine for cattle opens up new options for disease prevention. In a study of pastoral households in northern Tanzania, we use stated preference choice modelling to investigate how pastoralists would likely respond to the availability of such a vaccine. We show a high probability of likely vaccine uptake by herd owners, declining at higher vaccine costs. Acceptance increases with more efficaceous vaccines, in situations where vaccinated cattle are ear-tagged, and where vaccine is delivered through private vets. Through analysis Normalized Density Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, we show that the reported MCF incidence over 5 years is highest in areas with greatest NDVI variability and in smaller herds. Trends towards greater rainfall variability suggest that MCF avoidance through traditional movement of cattle away from wildebeest will become more challenging and that demand for an MCF vaccine will likely increase. |
| Keywords: | vaccine, cattle, Malignant Catarhal Fever, Tanzania, stated preference, choice modelling, wilingness to pay |
| JEL: | Q12 Q51 D12 H57 I19 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2020-26&r=all |
| By: | Siedschlag, Iulia; Meneto, Stefano; Tong Koecklin, Manuel |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp643&r=all |
| By: | Jean Daniel Boyer; Magali Jaoul-Grammare; Sylvie Rivot |
| Abstract: | Labrousse’s two investigations of cereal price movements (Labrousse 1933, 1944) suggest a sort of dualism in the arguments put forward in the two works (Morineau, 1966). Using contemporary data analysis and cliometrics, we propose to test different hypotheses that emerge from our reading of Labrousse (1933 and 1944). The first set of hypotheses relates to the long-term movement of grain prices. The second type of hypothesis relates to price cycles and price volatility. The originality of our approach in part relates to the very long runs of data drawn from different sources. Results of our study of the wheat price evolution partially questions Labrousse’s analysis. |
| Keywords: | intercycle, Labrousse, volatility, wheat price. |
| JEL: | B11 N13 N33 N53 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2020-30&r=all |