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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2020‒09‒28
sixty-four papers chosen by |
| By: | Pal, Barun Deb; Kapoor, Shreya; Saroj, Sunil; Jat, M. L.; Kumar, Yogesh; Anantha, K. H. |
| Abstract: | Climate change has brought large instabilities in agricultural systems, in terms of both crop yield and net farm income. Climate smart agriculture is one of the innovative methods that tries to build resilience in agricultural systems. A study is conducted in Raichur district of Karnataka state in India to assess the impact of adoption of laser land levelling (LLL), a climate smart agriculture technology, on crop yield and farmers’ income. A primary survey was conducted in 2018 among 604 paddy growing farmers in Raichur district. The study provides results based on both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data. The study examines farmers’ perceptions about climate change and effectiveness of LLL. Statistically, the results are evaluated using econometric methods like propensity score matching, coarsened exact matching, and endogenous switching regression. Advanced econometric methods are adopted to check for the problem of unobserved endogeneity. Adoption of laser land levelers increased crop yield by 0.5 tonnes/hectare and net farm income by Rs. 5000 per annum. Further, farmers observed drought as the most extreme climatic event which resulted in heavy crop loss to them. Lastly, farmers revealed that adoption of LLL reduced cost of cultivation and limits crop loss due to climate variability. |
| Keywords: | INDIA; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; climate change; farming systems; agricultural systems; climate-smart agriculture; innovation; technology; climate change adaptation; impact assessment; sustainable development; econometric models; regression analysis; livelihoods; farm income; farmers; food production; drought; laser land levelling (LLL); innovative technologies; econometric modeling; agricultural technology |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1960&r=all |
| By: | Fang, Peixun; Belton, Ben |
| 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 from the literature on Myanmar empirically, and identify implications for development policy and programming. 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. Numbers of maize growers in southern Shan more than tripled between 2007 and 2017. Households with larger landholdings are more likely to farm maize. Many farmers grew local maize varieties before growing hybrids. Farming maize does not reduce crop diversity. Most food eaten by rural households in southern Shan is purchased. There is little difference in the value or composition of foods eaten by maize and non-maize farming households, but maize growers obtain a larger share of their food from own production than non-maize growing farm households. Maize is by far the most important crop grown the areas surveyed in terms of contribution to cash incomes. Hybrid maize seed has been adopted widely in southern Shan. Adoption of hybrid maize has been accompanied by big increases in fertilizer use. Fertilizer application and maize yields have climbed over the past decade. Maize yields vary little with farm size, but small farms apply inputs to maize more intensively than large farms. Average maize yields are lower than in other countries in the region. Women contribute 55% of all labor inputs for maize farming. Chemical inputs make up the largest share of production costs. Interest on loans amounts to just 4% of total maize production costs for households who avail credit for maize cultivation. Average gross margins for maize during 2017 were modest, but only 5% of maize growers made losses. Farms made a profit or broke even on >80% of maize harvests within the past 10 years. Returns to family labor exceed the average agricultural wage. The maize price received by farmers corresponds closely to timing of sale. Larger farms earn higher gross margins per acre on average. Most farms do not use credit to obtain maize seed and fertilizer. Most trader credit is advanced to large farms. Output-tied loans are less common than believed and taken mainly by larger farms. Taking credit does not affect the sales price obtained by maize growers. |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR; BURMA; SOUTHEAST ASIA; ASIA; maize; seeds; diversification; farming systems; food security; land use change; pigeon peas; food prices; yields; profitability; food production; crop production; farm size; hybrid maize seed; crop diversity; maize farming; crop marketing; maize price; maize yield; tied credit |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1961&r=all |
| By: | Lines, Jo; Bett, Bernard; Fèvre, Eric; Moodley, Arshnee; Waage, Jeff |
| Abstract: | Human health is a fundamental feature of sustainable agricultural intensification. Agricultural intensification that increases the burden of human disease, however environmentally benign, is not sustainable. Conversely, sustainable agricultural methods provide specific opportunities for improving human health. The intensification of food systems in low- and middle income countries (LMIC), as they transition from subsistence to market-oriented production, is typically associated with human health risks. Some health risks are associated with the initial stages of intensification, for example, concentration of livestock production and animal waste in peri-urban areas. Inputs associated with this intensification, including fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics, can have negative effects on farmers’ health, clean water, and resistance in pathogens and vectors. In rapidly intensifying agricultural systems, regulatory processes that limit the use of harmful products and their residues in water and food may not be in place. Therefore, LMIC face a particular challenge to “de-risk†agricultural intensification, through technical and policy-related interventions that reduce health risks in transitioning agricultural systems. |
| Keywords: | health; intervention; public health; agriculture; rice; malaria; zoonoses; developing countries; agricultural intensification; human health; cross-sectoral collaboration; antimicrobial resistant infection; zoonotic diseases; low- and middle income countries (LMIC) |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:othbrf:133953&r=all |
| By: | Balié, Jean; Minot, Nicholas; Valera, Harold Glenn |
| Abstract: | In March 2019, the government of the Philippines promulgated a bill called the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL). It has dramatically changed the policy landscape in the rice sector and generated heated debates on how it would affect food security and poverty. This study explores the welfare effects of this reform across different types of households. We rely on the IRRI Global Rice Model to simulate the domestic price effects of the reform (Balié and Valera, 2020) and the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) to study the welfare impact of these price changes. Our results show that the RTL reduces consumer and producer rice prices, which affects households on the production and the consumption sides. Because a large majority of households are net buyers of rice and the policy reform reduces rice prices, most households benefit from the reform. Overall, the effects of the reform on poverty are beneficial. The poorest quintiles are positively affected, while the richest quintiles are unaffected or slightly worse-off. Spatially, the poorest regions also benefit the most. However, the rice growers who are net sellers are negatively impacted. The government should seek to mitigate the negative effects on non-competitive rice growers. Investments in public goods and services are a promising option to ease the emergence of on-farm and off-farm businesses as more profitable alternatives to rice production. |
| Keywords: | PHILIPPINES; SOUTH EAST ASIA; ASIA; welfare; rice; policies; food prices; agricultural policies; poverty; food security; governance; households; tariffs; Rice Tariffication Law (RTL); rice price; price change; regional analysis; welfare effects; rice policy; rice tariffication |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1962&r=all |
| By: | Leroy, Jef L.; Ruel, Marie T.; Olney, Deanna K. |
| Abstract: | Agriculture holds tremendous potential to improve nutrition. Traditionally, agriculture investments focused on producing enough food to allow people to meet their caloric needs and on generating employment and income. In the last decade, the understanding of how agriculture can contribute to nutrition has shifted from the implicit assumption that increased productivity and income would automatically improve nutrition to the acknowledgement that explicit nutrition goals and actions are needed to improve nutritional outcomes (1–4). This has led to increased commitments and investments in nutrition-sensitive agriculture programs and accompanying research to study these programs’ impact on nutrition outcomes. Guidance on how to make agriculture more nutrition-sensitive was also developed and included recommendations to target the first 1,000 days of a child’s life (from conception to 2 years of age) and to focus on reducing stunting (5–7). These developments coincided with the global commitment to achieve the World Health Assembly target of reducing child stunting by 40 percent by 2025 (8). |
| Keywords: | agriculture; nutrition; diet; anaemia; trace elements; overweight; obesity; biofortification; research; impact assessment; agriculture programs; dietary intake; Dietary diversity (DD) |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:othbrf:133954&r=all |
| By: | Fatima Ezzahra Mengoub |
| Abstract: | Food insecurity is not a new concern. Many people around the world are already undernourished because of several factors, including climatic, economic, and political factors. Unfortunately, in times of crisis, as currently with COVID-19, food insecurity becomes more acute and requires urgent intervention to mitigate the negative impact on people's access to food. Aware of this, many governments have implemented different short-term measures to tackle this issue. However, it is important to remember that food insecurity is the result of poorly-managed past food policies, and governments should take this into account while rethinking their food policies for the future. |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb20-26&r=all |
| By: | Isabelle Tsakok |
| Abstract: | South Africa shows that being food self-sufficient is a far cry from being food secure when poverty is extensive, the majority of people suffer from the “quadruple burden of disease”1, the economy is highly unequal, and when improving the quality of the public health infrastructure remains a major challenge despite successive governments’ efforts. The major factors that undermine food security and health in South Africa are directly or indirectly due to the long history of social exclusion of black South Africans, the hallmark of the apartheid system for decades. Under apartheid, the dualistic agricultural system favored the minority, white farmers, who owned 86% of farmland, and who, by the 1990s, produced more than 90% of agriculture value added. Already by the late 1980s, South African agriculture produced more basic food commodities than all other countries of Southern African Development Community (SADC)2combined: e.g., maize, wheat, sunflower, and sugar (World Bank, 1994). In contrast, the Homelands into which the blacks were crowded, are poverty-stricken: the subsistence-oriented farmers earn less than 5% of the national wage rate (Hérault et al, 2009). The legacy of apartheid still largely shapes economic opportunities in South Africa, despite successive ANC governments’ efforts to reverse the discrimination. Add to this the daunting challenge of climate change and a bimodal health system which condemns the majority to sub-standard health care, and you have close to a ‘perfect storm’.Once again, South Africa, like the rest of the world, is being taught an old lesson. According to Snowden (2019), the wisdom that saved human societies in the past has to be brought to the front and center of government. As the ancients put it: “salus populi, suprema lex esto”, that is: public health must be the highest law, and all else follows from it (Adams, 2020). Realizing that pandemic preparedness is essential for survival and resilience makes achieving food security even more complex. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:ppaper:pb20-72&r=all |
| By: | Lim, Kar Ho; Hu, Wuyang; Nayga, Rodolfo |
| Keywords: | Marketing, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304421&r=all |
| By: | Konlambigue, Matieyedou; Ortega-Beltran, Alejandro; Bandyopadhyay, Ranajit; Shanks, Tracy; Landreth, Edward; Jacob, Oscar |
| Abstract: | Aflatoxin contamination of several crops is common in tropical and subtropical regions. Maize and groundnut, staples for billions of people, are among the most susceptible to contamination, primarily caused by the fungus Aspergillus flavus. Globally, an estimated 25 percent of aflatoxin-prone crops are contaminated with aflatoxins and/or other mycotoxins. Depending on the dose and exposure period, these toxins can cause severe health detriments in humans and animals. Farmers producing contaminated crops cannot sell to premium markets, including export markets. |
| Keywords: | GAMBIA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; NIGERIA; KENYA; EAST AFRICA; SENEGAL; GHANA; ZAMBIA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; TANZANIA; MOZAMBIQUE; MALAWI; BURKINA FASO; aflatoxins; maize; groundnuts; innovation; technology; private sector; commercialization; scaling; food safety; aflatoxin contamination; aflasafe; Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization (ATTC) initiative |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:othbrf:133956&r=all |
| By: | Joseph, Siny; Stephens, Greg |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304339&r=all |
| By: | Pahmeyer, Christoph; Kuhn, Till; Britz, Wolfgang |
| Abstract: | Deciding on which crop to plant on a field and how to fertilize it has become increasingly complex as volatile markets, location factors as well as policy restrictions need to be considered simultaneously. To assist farmers in this process, we develop the web-based, open source decision support system ‘Fruchtfolge’ (German for ‘crop rotation’). It provides decision makers with a crop and management recommendation for each field based on the solution of a single farm optimization model. The optimization model accounts for field specific location factors, labor endowments, field-to-farm distances and policy restrictions such as measures linked to the EU Nitrates Directives and the Greening of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. ‘Fruchtfolge’ is user-friendly by automatically including big data related to farm, location and management characteristics and providing instant feedback on alternative management choices. This way, creating a first optimal cropping plan generally requires less than five minutes. We apply the decision support system to a German case study farm which manages fields outside and inside a nitrate sensitive area. In the year 2021, revised fertilization regulations come in force in Germany, which amongst others lowers maximal allowed nitrogen applications relative to crop nutrient needs in nitrate sensitive areas. The regulations provoke profit losses of up to 15% for the former optimal crop rotation. The optimal adaptation strategy proposed by ‘Fruchfolge’ diminishes this loss to 10%. The reduction in profit loss clearly underlines the benefits of our support tool to take optimal cropping decisions in a complex environment. Future research should identify barriers of farmers to apply decision support systems and upon availability, integrate more detailed crop and field specific sensor data. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:ubfred:305287&r=all |
| By: | O'Brien, Anna |
| Abstract: | Global biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. This loss is largely attributed to human activities, in particular urban, industrial and agricultural development. Biodiversity offsetting seeks to balance the environmental impacts from development through the generation of measurable gains in biodiversity that compensate for loss. To achieve No Net Loss or a Net Gain in biodiversity, the biodiversity gains from offsetting must be at least equivalent or greater to the biodiversity losses from development. But while losses from development are typically immediate, gains from offsetting are generated over longer timeframes, often after the impact has occurred. Determining equivalence between an impact and an offset thereby requires projecting the gains that will be generated over an offset management period. As biodiversity is in decline, gains may be generated from averting further loss in biodiversity, as well as from improving the biodiversity at an offset site. To determine the gains attributable to an offset, assumptions must be made about changes in biodiversity with and without the offset. These assumptions have serious implications on achieving a No Net Loss outcome from offsetting, however they may not always be drawn from empirical data. In this thesis, I review the assumptions used to calculate gains from offsets in two loss-gain exchange case studies under Victorian offsetting policy. These gains were used to offset losses in native vegetation from permitted development impacts, and reflect the gains from projected averted loss and improvement in native vegetation over the 10-year offset management periods. The assumptions of gain vary between the case studies according to the native vegetation condition, foregone land use entitlements and proposed management activities, but the assumptions are not entirely explicit nor supported by empirical data. When compared to available data on native vegetation change without an offset, I reveal that the assumptions of gain from averted loss are significantly over-estimated. Over-estimating gains from offsetting is problematic, as it allows a larger development impact for the same offset, resulting in a net loss of native vegetation and exacerbating biodiversity decline. I conclude that a No Net Loss outcome was unlikely to have been achieved in either case study presented in this thesis, and that it is questionable whether No Net Loss is possible under the current policy framework in Victoria. Based on my analysis of the two case studies, I make eight recommendations to improve the plausibility and transparency of the assumptions of gains under Victorian offsetting policy, and to ensure that the policy is more likely to achieve its No Net Loss objective. |
| Date: | 2020–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:nv4za&r=all |
| By: | Béné, Christophe; Lundy, Mark; de Brauw, Alan; Brouwer, Inge D. |
| Abstract: | Food systems, which are essential sources of food, but also of income and employment, especially for resource-poor populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are undergoing dramatic transformations. Driven by changes in diets, urbanization, longer supply chains, and new ways of purchasing and consuming foods, these transformations pose serious challenges to achieving healthy, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive food systems for all. Rates of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are still stubbornly high, while overweight, obesity, and accompanying noncommunicable diseases are rising — with these multiple forms of malnutrition increasingly found within the same communities, households, or even individuals. |
| Keywords: | food systems; research; diet; nutrition; innovation; health foods; policies; governance; food systems research; low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:othbrf:133960&r=all |
| By: | Masias, Ian; Goeb, Joseph; Lambrecht, Isabel; Maredia, Mywish K.; Win, Khin Zin |
| Keywords: | MYANMAR, BURMA, SOUTHEAST ASIA, ASIA, retail markets, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, urban areas, surveys, policies, restrictions, food retailers, Covid-19, food retail shops, lockdown, phone survey, retail shop, |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:myansn:3&r=all |
| By: | Alderman, Harold; Gilligan, Daniel; Hidrobo, Melissa; Leight, Jessica; Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum; Tambet, Heleene |
| Abstract: | In Ethiopia, as in much of sub-Saharan Africa, the first known case of coronavirus arrived in mid-March (on March 13, 2020), weeks after the pandemic had spread rapidly in parts of Europe and the United States. The government swiftly imposed restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, closing schools (on March 16, 2020), limiting travel and encouraging people to remain at home. Such restrictions were needed to keep the pandemic from overwhelming a healthcare system with limited capacity to respond to an infectious disease outbreak. Only limited information is available about the effect of these restrictions on economic activity, food security and livelihoods in Ethiopia. A survey of residents of Addis Ababa conducted in May 2020 found that more than half of households reported lower-than-expected incomes and more than one third were extremely stressed about the situation. These results further showed that poorer households were more severely affected, although the food security situation in Addis, while declining, was not yet dire. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, wellness, rural areas, surveys, livelihoods, household income, food security, social welfare, social safety nets, wellbeing |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:spirlb:4&r=all |
| By: | Chakravarty, Shourish; Villoria, Nelson B. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304446&r=all |
| By: | Mensah, Edouard R.; Kostandini, Genti |
| Keywords: | International Development, Risk and Uncertainty, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304477&r=all |
| By: | Liang, Yuanning; Rudik, Ivan (Cornell University); Zou, Eric; Johnston, Alison; Rodewald, Amanda; Kling, Catherine |
| Abstract: | Massive wildlife losses over the past 50 years have brought new urgency to identifying both the drivers of population decline and potential solutions. We provide the first large-scale evidence that air pollution, specifically ozone, is associated with declines in bird abundance in the United States. We show that an air pollution regulation limiting ozone precursors emissions has delivered substantial benefits to bird conservation. Our results imply that air quality improvements over the past four decades have stemmed the decline in bird populations, averting the loss of 1.5 billion birds, approximately 20 percent of current totals. Our results highlight that in addition to protecting human health, air pollution regulations have previously unrecognized and unquantified conservation co-benefits. |
| Date: | 2020–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:74ujt&r=all |
| By: | Li, Man; Guo, Zhe; Zhang, Wei |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, International Development |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304530&r=all |
| By: | Robinson, Sarah |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an overview of the livestock sector in Central Asia using national statistics and field survey data. Growing consumer demand and underused pasture reserves suggest significant potential for growth. But production is fragmented between many small household producers with poor access to land, family farms and very large (but often inefficient) enterprises. Few producers can supply quality livestock products at high volumes, leading some meat and milk processors to favour imported produce. Peri-urban milk suppliers may participate in value chains through wholesalers, but in remoter areas farms specialise in meat production, reliant on long chains of intermediaries. Only in Kazakhstan do international agreements, slaughter and animal health arrangements favour export prospects in the near future. Since the 1990s, winter fodder deficits have limited livestock productivity. Domestic fodder production is increasing in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but is hindered by state order policies in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Dairy producers close to markets often provide high quality fodder, whilst need for supplements is lower amongst mobile meat producers with winter pasture. Amongst the latter, a class of large commercial operations is emerging, whilst smaller farms lacking access to grazing resources find it harder to grow. Government policy often magnifies differences between small and large producers, for example through conditions for subsidies or land access procedures. Subsidised credit is available in most republics but uptake is limited by effective demand. Improved public services, better support for service cooperatives and decentralised processing and slaughter facilities would help producers increase value from their livestock. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iamodp:305468&r=all |
| By: | Bahalou Horeh, Marziyeh; Elbakidze, Levan |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304637&r=all |
| By: | Kurosaki, Takashi (Hitotsubashi University); Paul, Saumik (Newcastle University); Witoelar, Firman (Australian National University) |
| Abstract: | Tanah bengkok (bengkok land) in Java, Indonesia boasts a unique institution where elected village leaders receive usufruct rights to a parcel of land owned by the village, in lieu of salary. Despite its relevance to the political economy of land distribution in Java, unavailability of systematic data has so far constrained in-depth empirical research on bengkok land. In 2018, we conducted a survey covering 130 villages and more than 1,800 households in Java. We found substantial heterogeneity in the incidence and use patterns of bengkok land across villages. Fixed rental tenancy appeared more prevalent than sharecropping on bengkok land and bengkok landlords seldom got involved in tenants' farming decisions, which made bengkok land management look more 'business-like'. Finally, evidence is consistent with political cycles as the village heads with reelection motives offered sharecropping contracts to non-relatives to garner a larger pool of supporters. |
| Keywords: | Tanah bengkok, land tenancy, village administration, political cycle, Java, Indonesia |
| JEL: | H77 H83 O13 P14 O53 Q15 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13597&r=all |
| By: | Liverpool-Tasie, Saweda; Parkhi, Charuta M. |
| Keywords: | International Development, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304507&r=all |
| By: | Codjo, Ogoudele Simon; Khachatryan, Hayk |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304632&r=all |
| By: | Beintema, Nienke M. |
| Abstract: | This year marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of ASTI. During this time, governments, donors, and international organizations have used ASTI’s evidence to guide agricultural research investment and policy decisions, to assess areas of underinvestment, to identify capacity gaps and training needs, and to demonstrate the returns to agricultural research investment. This series of notes marks this important milestone by focusing on—and updating—some of the key advancements and insights ASTI data have enabled in the past 20 years. This note focuses on the prevalence of underinvestment in agricultural research among developing countries, especially those with small- to medium-size research systems. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, research support, agricultural research, funding, investment |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:astiir:4&r=all |
| By: | Regassa, Mekdim D.; Melesse, Mequanint B. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Risk and Uncertainty, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304499&r=all |
| By: | Nwanakwere, Justine; Ogwumike, Fidelis |
| Abstract: | This study estimates non-food poverty in Nigeria by evaluating non-food poverty incidence, severity and intensity at the urban/rural areas, geo-political zone and national level. It also evaluates the concentration of the non-food poor in principal sectors of employment in the country. Probit regression model, Foster-Greer-Throbecke (FGT), and Location index were used for the analysis. Data for the study was obtained from the Nigeria General Household Survey (GHS) for 201/11 and 2015/16 periods, with 4246 and 4582 households, respectively. Findings from the study reveal that non-food poverty incidence in the country is high and increasing. Non-food poverty is more in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Also, non-food poverty is highest in the Northern zones compared to the South; more among females than males in the two periods. In addition, the study shows that non-food poverty rate is lowest (28.6%) among population with tertiary education in 2010/11, but increases drastically (60.2%) in 2015/16. Non-food poverty gap and severity increase in the country in 2015/16; with the South recording higher rate than the North. The regression result shows that households headed by female experience more non-food poverty compared to household headed by male. Finally, the study reveals that non-food poor are concentrated in the agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors of the economy. Hence, the study recommends that pro-poor policies targeted at the non-food poor and directed to the sectors where they are concentrated should be designed and conscientiously implemented. |
| Keywords: | FGT, non-food poverty, GHS, severity, poverty gap |
| JEL: | O1 O11 O18 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101457&r=all |
| By: | Stefano Carattini (Georgia State University); Marcella Veronesi (Department of Economics (University of Verona)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between generalized trust, temperature fluctuations during the maize growing season, and international migration by asylum seekers. A priori generalized trust can be expected to have an ambiguous effect on migration. On the one hand, countries with higher trust may exhibit higher adaptive capacity to temperature fluctuations and so lower climate-induced migration. On the other hand, trust may also facilitate migration by increasing the likelihood that communities invest in risk sharing through migration and enjoy reliable networks supporting migrants. Hence, it is an empirical question whether trust mitigates or increases the impact of climate change on migration. Our findings are consistent with an ambivalent effect of trust on migration. We find that for moderate temperature fluctuations, trust mitigates the impact of weather on migration. This effect is driven by the role of trust in increasing adaptive capacity. However, for severe temperature fluctuations, communities with higher trust experience more migration. Overall, the former effect dominates the latter, so that the net effect is that trust mitigates migration. Our findings point to important policy implications concerning the role of trust in fostering adaptation by facilitating collective action, and the need for targeted interventions to support adaptation and increase resilience in low-trust societies in which collective action may be harder to achieve. |
| Keywords: | Migration; climate change; trust; adaptation |
| JEL: | O15 Q54 Z13 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:17/2020&r=all |
| By: | Chowdhury, Shyamal (University of Sydney); Smits, Joeri (Harvard Kennedy School); Sun, Qigang (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Do constraints to technology adoption vary by behavioral traits? We randomize 150 villages in Bangladesh into being offered standard microcredit, loans with a grace period, the choice between those two contracts, and control. No discernible average effects are detected on the adoption of mechanized irrigation, hybrid seeds, and chemical fertilizers. However, credit access enhances technology adoption among present-biased farmers, whose output and profits increase. These effects are driven by the standard contract and choice villages, as present-biased farmers select out of the grace period contract. This suggests offering commitment and screening applicants on present bias to enhance agricultural technology adoption. |
| Keywords: | microfinance, technology adoption, time inconsistency, Bangladesh |
| JEL: | O13 O33 Q14 Q16 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13590&r=all |
| By: | Hovhannisyan, Vardges; Bastian, Christopher T.; Devadoss, Stephen |
| Keywords: | Research Methods/Statistical Methods, Demand and Price Analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304425&r=all |
| By: | DeLay, Nathan D.; Thompson, Nathanael M.; Mintert, James R. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, Production Economics, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304280&r=all |
| By: | Uduji, Joseph; Okolo-Obasi, Elda; Asongu, Simplice |
| Abstract: | Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the impact of growth enhancement support scheme (GESS) on the enabling environment of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Its special focus is to investigate the GESS impact on access to rural farm credit and transport cost of smallholder farmers in the agricultural transformation agenda (ATA) in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional that describes and interprets what exist at present. A total of one thousand, two hundred farmers were sampled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Findings – Results from the use of a double-hurdle model indicate that the GESS has a significant impact on farmers’ access to credit, but does not significantly affect rural farm transport cost, which subsequently influence the price of food in the country. Practical implication – This implies that if the federal government of Nigeria is to work towards an ideal agricultural transformation agenda, transport networks should be closely aligned with the GESS priorities to provide connectivity to rural areas that provide most of the country’s agricultural output. Originality/value – This research adds to the literature on agricultural and rural development debate in developing countries. It concludes that embracing rural finance and transportation infrastructure should form the foundation of the ATA in Nigeria, which in turn would provide the enabling environment for more widespread rural economy in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural transformation agenda, Double-hurdle model, Smallholder farmers’ enabling environment, Growth enhancement support scheme, Electronic wallet technology, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | L96 O40 O55 Q10 Q15 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:101516&r=all |
| By: | Lai, Yufeng; Minegishi, Kota; Boaitey, Albert K. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agribusiness, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304375&r=all |
| By: | Kim, Jaehyun; An, Donghwan |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304434&r=all |
| By: | Lee, Gi-Eu; Chou, Chang-Erh |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304253&r=all |
| By: | Ekundayo P. Mesagan (University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria); Chidi N. Olunkwa (University of Lagos, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of energy consumption and capital investment on environmental degradation in selected African countries between 1981 and 2017 using panel cointegration approaches. The Fully Modified and the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares results affirm that energy consumption positively affects carbon emissions in Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, and in the panel. At the same time, both also confirm that capital investment positively and significantly impacts carbon emissions in the region. Again, results show that capital investment augments energy use to reduce carbon emissions in Africa significantly. This implies that capital investment can provide needed impetus to reduce environmental degradation in the continent. The study, therefore, recommends that African countries should focus on energy conservation policies to reduce the adverse effect of energy use on carbon emissions. |
| Keywords: | Electricity Consumption, Capital investment, Environmental Degradation, Africa |
| JEL: | Q40 Q42 Q43 Q54 Q57 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:abh:wpaper:20/022&r=all |
| By: | Koppenberg, Maximilian; Hirsch, Stefan |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304272&r=all |
| By: | Fernando Aragon; Diego Restuccia; Juan Pablo Rud |
| Abstract: | In this paper we show that the study of the farm size-productivity relationship hinges on the choice of productivity measure. Our main insight is that using yields, a partial measure of productivity, may not be informative for the size-productivity relationship because, in addition to total factor productivity, yields pick up input markets distortions and deviations from constant returns to scale. We examine the empirical relevance of this insight using detailed microdata from Uganda. We find an inverse relationship between yields and farm size. We show the relationship turns positive when accounting for market distortions and returns to scale; or when using a farm-specific component of total factor productivity. |
| Keywords: | Farm size, productivity, yields, land markets, distortions, agriculture, policy. |
| JEL: | O12 O13 Q12 Q15 |
| Date: | 2020–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-675&r=all |
| By: | Song, Siwan; Ishdorj, Ariun; Dave, Jayna |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304608&r=all |
| By: | Donatella Baiardi (Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche ed Aziendali, University of Parma, Italy; Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis); Simona Scabrosetti (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, University of Pavia, Italy; Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policies, Università Bocconi, Italy) |
| Abstract: | We empirically investigate the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) focusing on a sample of 39 countries in the period 1996-2014. Using an interaction model, we also analyze whether the effectiveness of environmental taxes in reducing CO2 emissions depends on the quality of political institutions. Our results show that the inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental stress and economic development holds independently of the quality of political institutions and environment related taxes. Moreover, an increase in the environmental tax revenue has the expected reducing effect on environmental degradation only in countries with more consolidated democratic institutions, higher civil society participation and less corrupt governments. Our findings also show that the effects on environmental stress of revenue neutral shifts to different tax sources depend not only on the quality of political institutions, but also on the kind of externality the policymaker aims at correcting. |
| Keywords: | Environmental tax revenue, Environmental tax mix, Environmental Kuznets Curve, CO2 emissions |
| JEL: | H23 P16 Q50 Q53 Q38 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:20-25&r=all |
| By: | Pongspikul, Tayatorn; McCann, Laura M. |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304332&r=all |
| By: | Luo, Hengrong; Yu, Xiaohua |
| Abstract: | Nutrition transition is driven by quantity increase and structural change in food consumption. Particularly, meat consumption plays an important role. This study proposes a simple but innovative method to empirically decompose the total income effect on nutrition improvement into direct income effect and structural change effect, mediated by meat consumption share. With the use of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data, we find that a 1% increment in income will boost per capita calorie consumption by 0.02% within a family. The calories elasticity with respect to income is very small. However, 16 to 21% of the increase is due to dietary structural change, while the rest part is attributed to the conditional income effect. In addition, the dietary structural change effect is more prominent in the rural region, which implies a rural-urban gap in the diet. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:305415&r=all |
| By: | Hassan, Md. Fuad; Kornher, Lukas |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304543&r=all |
| By: | Beintema, Nienke M. |
| Abstract: | This year marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of ASTI. During this time, governments, donors, and international organizations have used ASTI’s evidence to guide agricultural research investment and policy decisions, to assess areas of underinvestment, to identify capacity gaps and training needs, and to demonstrate the returns to agricultural research investment. This series of notes marks this important milestone by focusing on—and updating—some of the key advancements and insights ASTI data have enabled in the past 20 years. This note focuses on the evolution of women’s participation in agricultural research. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, gender, women, role of women, agricultural research, women's participation |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:astiir:1&r=all |
| By: | Lu, Qinan; Du, Xiaodong |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, Production Economics, Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304333&r=all |
| By: | Whitt, Christine; MacLachlan, Matthew J. |
| Keywords: | Production Economics, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304520&r=all |
| By: | Kim, GwanSeon; Seok, Jun Ho; Mark, Tyler B. |
| Keywords: | Productivity Analysis, Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304537&r=all |
| By: | Zhuo, Ni; Ji, Chen |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304292&r=all |
| By: | Beintema, Nienke M. |
| Abstract: | This year marks the 20th anniversary of the inception of ASTI. During this time, governments, donors, and international organizations have used ASTI’s evidence to guide agricultural research investment and policy decisions, to assess areas of underinvestment, to identify capacity gaps and training needs, and to demonstrate the returns to agricultural research investment. This series of notes marks this important milestone by focusing—and updating—on some of the key advancements and insights ASTI data have enabled in the past 20 years. This note focuses on the prevalence of volatility in long-term funding (and hence spending) trends, largely stemming from high levels of donor dependence. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, funding, grants, volatility, research support |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:astiir:2&r=all |
| By: | Boyer, Chris; Martinez, Charley; Hughes, David W. |
| Abstract: | Historical profitability of U.S. beef cattle slaughtering facilities is not easy to accurately measure since production costs and revenue data are not publicly available. However, for decades, several groups have been interested in knowing this information for various reasons including entrepreneurial purposes. The point of this article is to present national data and discussion around profitability of U.S. beef cattle slaughter facilities. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020–09–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:utaeer:305264&r=all |
| By: | Jesús Fernández-Villaverde; Mark Koyama; Youhong Lin; Tuan-Hwee Sng |
| Abstract: | Patterns of political unification and fragmentation have crucial implications for comparative economic development. Diamond (1997) famously argued that “fractured land” was responsible for China's tendency toward political unification and Europe's protracted political fragmentation. We build a dynamic model with granular geographical information in terms of topographical features and the location of productive agricultural land to quantitatively gauge the effects of “fractured land” on state formation in Eurasia. We find that either topography or productive land alone is sufficient to account for China's recurring political unification and Europe's persistent political fragmentation. The existence of a core region of high land productivity in Northern China plays a central role in our simulations. We discuss how our results map into observed historical outcomes and assess how robust our findings are. |
| JEL: | H56 N40 P48 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27774&r=all |
| By: | Nowakowski, Adam (Bocconi University); Oswald. Andrew J (University of Warwick, CAGE, and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Economists have proposed a variety of sophisticated climate-change interventions. But do our citizens care enough about climate change to enact such policies? This paper provides evidence that suggests they do not. Two kinds of findings are presented. Using data on 40,000 Europeans from the 2016 European Social Survey, the paper shows that only 5% of people say they are extremely worried about climate change. The cooler European countries express particularly low levels of worry. Using data on 30,000 citizens from the 2019 Eurobarometer Surveys, the paper demonstrates that climate change is viewed as a less important problem than parochial issues such as (i) health and social security, (ii) inflation, (iii) unemployment, and (iv) the economic situation. Other results, from regression equations, are provided. This paper’s conclusions seem to have exceptionally serious implications for our unborn great grandchildren -- and imply that economic policy should now focus on how to alter feelings rather than upon the design of complicated theoretical interventions. An analogy with successful anti-tobacco policy is discussed. |
| Keywords: | Climate change ; global warming ; feelings ; economic policy ; welfare JEL codes: Q54 ; Q58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1303&r=all |
| By: | Tran, Lan T.; Skevas, Teo; McCann, Laura |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304654&r=all |
| By: | Feng, Jinglin; Fan, Linlin; Jaenicke, Edward C. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304282&r=all |
| By: | Adhikari, Sudip; Khanal, Aditya R. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Agricultural Finance, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304509&r=all |
| By: | Gautam, Tej K.; Watkins, Bradley |
| Keywords: | Resource/Energy Economics and Policy, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304549&r=all |
| By: | Barker, Abigail R.; Mazzucca, Stephanie |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Production Economics, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304511&r=all |
| By: | Hou, Jing; Chen, Feiyu |
| Keywords: | Marketing, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304586&r=all |
| By: | Keeler, James B.; Saitone, Tina L. |
| Keywords: | Risk and Uncertainty, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304322&r=all |
| By: | Schiff, Maurice (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Production of commodities based on open-access renewable natural resources (NR) has usually been examined under "low" congestion (LC) – where MC > AC and both increase with output. I identify two additional congestion categories, "high" (HC) and "super" (SC) congestion – where AC is backward-bending and MC |
| Keywords: | open access, natural resource, low, high and super congestion, autarky and trade |
| JEL: | D62 F18 Q22 Q27 Q56 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13652&r=all |
| By: | Scott A. Carson |
| Abstract: | Communities urbanize when the net benefits to urbanization exceed rural areas. Body mass, height, and weight are biological welfare measures that reflect the net difference between calories consumed and calories required for work and to withstand the physical environment. Across the United States, 19th century urban heights and weights were lower than their rural counterparts, while urban BMIs were higher. However, as the ratio of weight to height, higher urban BMIs reflect shorter urban statures, indicating there was a willingness-to-accept poorer cumulative urban health and net nutrition in exchange for urban economic opportunity. Over the late 19th and early 20th centuries, urban and rural BMIs, height, and weight were constant, and rural farmers had greater BMIs, taller statures, and heavier weights than urban farmers and workers in other occupations. |
| Keywords: | urbanization, stature variation, cumulative net nutrition, nativity, race |
| JEL: | C10 C40 D10 I10 N30 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8523&r=all |
| By: | Deka, Anubrata; Yiannaka, Amalia; Giannakas, Konstantinos |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Agricultural and Food Policy, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304450&r=all |
| By: | Lee, Hanbin; Goldstein, Robin; Sumner, Daniel A. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304479&r=all |
| By: | Hirsch, Stefan; Koppenberg, Maximilian |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Research Methods/Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304561&r=all |