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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2021‒07‒12
forty-five papers chosen by |
| By: | Benson, Todd |
| Keywords: | MALAWI; SOUTHERN AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; food security; agriculture; subsistence farming; smallholders; markets; rural areas; hunger; structural change; agricultural markets |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:synops:9780896294073&r= |
| By: | Schmidt, Emily; Fang, Peixun |
| Abstract: | The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique challenge to governments across the globe, reinforcing the need to improve understanding of domestic and international trade trends to provide more informed options for policy response. During the last several months, IFPRI has been analyzing a variety of Papua New Guinea (PNG) national and global datasets with the goal of expanding analytical tools to evaluate potential production shortfalls and food price shocks, and their associated impacts on household food security and livelihoods. This research note focuses on agri-food import and export trends during the last two decades to better evaluate potential changes in related import demand and export potential in PNG. In doing so, this research note informs an upcoming economy-wide multi market model analysis that will model a variety of potential shocks to household welfare to identify policies to manage potential ensuing food security threats. PNG’s growth in international agri-food trade (both export and import) will continue to be important to overall food security outcomes among rural and urban households. Rural households that produce key export cash-crops (e.g., coffee, cocoa, palm oil) depend on the cash economy to supplement overall food consumption, while urban households depend on rice and other agri-food imports (as well as domestic goods) for consumption. Agri-food imports are also contributing to important increases in the availability of protein-dense foods, with the value of poultry imports growing, on average, 30 percent per capita per year from 2001 – 2016. Although PNG’s agri-food import data suggest a greater demand for higher value food items such as animal-sourced foods, the total import value of ultra-processed foods, such as sugary drinks, are also increasing rapidly within PNG. The profitability and growth of agricultural exports and imports are driven by several factors, including levels of public investment in infrastructure, weather and climate shocks, security and political stability, and conditions in the world market. Government economic policies, including exchange rate, trade and price policies, also heavily influence agricultural trade. Policy to promote and facilitate domestic movement of goods, as well as macro-economic policies that influence the relative price of tradable to non-tradable goods (the real exchange rate) should be managed appropriately to support and incentivize greater agri-food production and trade. These policies could also be paired with an expanded set of education programs that integrate nutrition-sensitive information to address current increases in demand and consumption of high-saturated and sugary processed goods, of which total import values are rapidly increasing in PNG. Finally, a greater portfolio of organized databases, analytical tools and policy resources are warranted to facilitate real-time policy analysis that can inform key development investments and initiatives. |
| Keywords: | PAPUA NEW GUINEA; OCEANIA; agrifood systems; trade; trends; dietary diversity; obesity; nutrition; overweight; international trade; agrifood trade |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2028&r= |
| By: | Sulser, Timothy; Wiebe, Keith D.; Dunston, Shahnila; Cenacchi, Nicola; Nin-Pratt, Alejandro; Mason-D’Croz, Daniel; Robertson, Richard D.; Willenbockel, Dirk; Rosegrant, Mark W. |
| Abstract: | This report assesses the cost of adaptation to climate change across a range of future climate scenarios and investment options. We focus on offsetting climate change impacts on hunger through investment in agricultural research, water management, and rural infrastructure in developing countries. We link climate, crop, water, and economic models to (1) analyze scenarios of future change in the agriculture sector to 2050 and (2) assess trade-offs for these investments across key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for poverty, hunger, and water. Our reference projections show that climate change slows progress toward eliminating hunger, with an additional 78 million people facing chronic hunger in 2050 relative to a no-climate-change future, over half of them in Africa south of the Sahara. Increased investments can offset these impacts. Achieving this would require that annual investment in international agricultural research increase from US$1.62 billion to US$2.77 billion per year between 2015 and 2050. Additional water and infrastructure investments are estimated to be more expensive than agricultural R&D at about US$12.7 billion and US$10.8 billion per year, respectively, but these address key gaps to support transformation toward food system resiliency. Findings on ranges of costs and trade-offs and complementarities across SDGs will help policymakers make better-informed choices between alternative investment strategies. |
| Keywords: | WORLD; agrifood systems; climate change; agriculture; food systems; investment; costs; hunger; food security |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:fprepo:9780896294165&r= |
| By: | Allen, Summer L.; Kassie, Girma T.; Majeed, Fahd; Tokgoz, Simla |
| Abstract: | The performance of agrifood value chains of vital importance for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Measuring and understanding how government policies, such taxes, subsidies, minimum support prices, and government procurement, impact particular value chains is essential to minimize unintended consequences for value chain actors. This analysis of distortions in value chains in Ethiopia (sheep and goats) and Nigeria (cacao and palm oil) uses nominal rates of protection (NRPs) to measure the impact of policies on domestic prices for producers and consumers. Using the NRP methodology is effective for highlighting the significant impact of agricultural policies on prices from the local to the country level and along entire agrifood value chains. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; NIGERIA; WEST AFRICA; policies; markets; value chains; agriculture; agricultural value chains; prices; agrifood systems |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:polbrf:1252792898&r= |
| By: | Ragasa, Catherine; Amewu, Sena; Asante, Seth |
| Abstract: | Ghana’s aquaculture sector is among the recent success stories of fast-growing agricultural value chains in Africa south of the Sahara. The sector has also shown its vulnerability, with the infectious spleen and kidney necrosis virus spreading through tilapia farms in Lake Volta in late 2018. The global COVID-19 human pandemic reached Ghana in early 2020, affecting the sector directly and indirectly. Using a value chain approach, phone interviews were conducted with 369 small-scale fish farmers in six major producing regions, with 12 other value chain actors, and with 423 consumers in the capital, Accra, to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. All value chain actors interviewed reported being affected directly by COVID-19 related restrictions on movement and indirectly by reduced demand for tilapia because of closures in the tourism and hospitality industries, important consumers of fresh tilapia. The crisis has reduced incomes for most actors along the aquaculture value chain and is anticipated to reduce future production. Most fish farmers surveyed were affected by disruptions in input and output markets. Two-thirds of the sample farmers were growing fish and 6 percent were harvesting when the COVID-19 crisis hit. Fifty-four percent of those growing fish experienced difficulties in accessing inputs – mainly fish feeds. Of those harvesting during the crisis, most experienced difficulty in selling their fish mainly because of low demand from buyers, lower tilapia prices, and higher transportation costs than before COVID-19. Income losses among fish farmers, including from other sources, such as crop farming, wage employment, and other own businesses, limits the funds that they have available to finance fish farming operations or to invest in future production capacity. Likewise, reduced incomes and purchasing power of consumers is causing a sharp decline in demand for fish. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; Coronavirus; coronavirus disease; Coronavirinae; COVID-19; aquaculture; value chains; food systems; impact; tilapia; fish farms; fish culture; farms; crops; farmers; crop farming |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:54&r= |
| By: | Arouna, Aminou; Aboudou, Rachidi; Tyack, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic is a major international health crisis which has resulted in simultaneous economic, social and food security crises. This study aimed to provide a snapshot of the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on smallholder rice farmers in Côte d’Ivoire. Using three survey types (village-level, farmer association level, and household level), a total of 585 rice farmers were interviewed nine months after the starting of the pandemic in Cote d’Ivoire. Multivariate probit and Poisson regression models were used to analyze the determinants of the impact of the pandemic on farmers and the intensity of the impact, respectively. Results showed that all rice farmers were aware of coronavirus disease, and television and radio were the main sources of knowledge of the pandemic. After one growing season, the pandemic had negative impact on access to inputs, access to hired labor, yield, income and food security. Around 43% of farmers experienced at least one negative impact of the pandemic. About 30% of farmers perceived that the rice yield and income decreased due to the pandemic. Access to inputs and hired labor became more difficult and expensive for about 28% of farmers. Surprisingly, farmers in more remote villages were also affected by the pandemic as well. The main factors that influenced significantly and positively the intensity of the pandemic impact were the household size, being married, being producer of foundation seed, access to credit in the past, facing drought or flood as constraints. The facilitation of credit access for smallholder farmers could be one strategy to avoid food shortages and deficits among value chain actors. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Crop Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312071&r= |
| By: | Lenormand, Theo; Dwyer, Janet; Devienne, Sophie |
| Abstract: | Since 1990 South-Pembrokeshire has seen rapid changes to its once homogenous landscape dominated by dairy farms. An analysis of this differentiation was made using a system-based French method: an ‘agrarian diagnosis’ in which the current situation is perceived as being the result of both the constraints and qualities of the geographic context in which agriculture is situated, and of a history that has shaped its production methods and social structure. 92 semi-structured farm interviews were carried out in a discrete South Pembrokeshire area, formed of 3 different landscape units with a wide diversity of farm types, and combined with literature, documentary and secondary data analysis. From 1990, the relatively similar dairy farms across Pembrokeshire differentiated under sustained income pressure, linked to an output/input price squeeze and a challenging environment for business expansion. Those farms who stayed in dairying used different strategies to expand, at different times. A ruthless selection process took place, as many farms were pushed out of milk into beef and sheep. This was the first step in a trend towards renting out the land and retiring from farming altogether. The reduced pressure on land use in some farms allowed Potato farming to re-emerge in the landscape, among specialized farms and in just one landscape type. Gradually, a complex, interdependent ecosystem of farms has developed, with businesses exchanging outputs and inputs. The detailed modelling of current farming systems using functional ‘archetypes’, examining economic performance and agricultural income, allows us to understand the economic structure of land use. From this we can forecast a likely second turning point in farm evolution arising from the new support policy and emerging post-Brexit and post-Covid economic environment. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312069&r= |
| By: | Nicholas Li |
| Abstract: | I examine the effect of in-kind staple transfers on agricultural production in a setting where transactions with markets are costly for households and result in interlinked consumption and production decisions. I leverage the expansion of India’s Public Distribution system between 1993-2009 as a natural experiment generating variation in the quantity and value of staple grains transferred to households and districts. I find that larger PDS quantities are associated with modest decreases in staple production and farming and modest increases in market/ comparative advantage oriented specialization. The effects are larger for households and districts with higher market transaction costs or less market-oriented agriculture. |
| Keywords: | agriculture; production; India; food; Public Distribution System; in-kind transfers |
| JEL: | O20 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-700&r= |
| By: | Ignaciuk, Ada; Maggio, Giuseppe; Sitko, Nicholas J. |
| Abstract: | This working paper analyses the financial cost and benefit of adopting two different bundles of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices, which are tailored for the diverse conditions that prevail in southern Malawi. The results show the integration of CSA practices, including soil conservation, agroforestry, and livestock diversification, into conventional maize-legume and maize monocrop systems is profitable for farmers. Moreover, the profitability of these systems increases under extreme weather conditions that occur with increasing frequency in the region. However, the upfront costs and cost variability associated with the adoption of these CSA scenarios is high relative to conventional practices. In addition, while the Net Present Value is positive for the CSA scenarios, the monetary returns are small and are spread over a long investment period. These factors act as significant barriers to adopting CSA practices. Supporting farmers through climate financing or other mechanisms to make long-term private investment in CSA, based on the public benefits these investments generate for the environment, is critical for achieving widespread adoption. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2021–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:faoaes:312207&r= |
| By: | Spoerri, Martina; El Benni, Nadja; Mack, Gabriele; Finger, Robert |
| Abstract: | The intensity of land use is of vital importance from an agricultural policy perspective, because it determines food production, income opportunities and environmental impacts arising from agriculture. And: space matters, as the provision of ecosystem services and disservices is highly spatially dependent. For example, regional clusters of intensive land use can be a threat to unique local landscapes and ecosystems. Farmers’ decision-making regarding land use intensity and resulting spatial patterns are not well understood. This paper aims to uncover driving forces behind land use intensity strategies, especially exploiting spatial clustering and difference across space and time. We use spatially explicit census data on 2018 for Swiss agriculture and focus on extensification decisions in grassland production. This dataset allows us to account for neighbourhood effects, i.e. spillovers across farms. We use a set of variables controlling for common, measurable conditions, as well as an instrument that controls for regional habits and cultural backgrounds. Within this setup, we identify a significant neighbourhood effect among farmers. Our findings highlight the need for a socio-cultural dimension in agricultural policymaking. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312065&r= |
| By: | Lascano Galarza, Monserrath Ximena |
| Abstract: | This research aims at investigating the impact of food assistance programmes on the resilience to food insecurity levels of rural agricultural households headed by females that are beneficiaries of the project “The R4 Rural Resilience Initiative” of the World Food Programme and Oxfam America’s, implemented during the period 2015-2016. During the empirical analysis, first, resilience and food security levels are estimated using the Resilience Index Measurement and Analysis II methodology of the Food and Agriculture Organization. Second, a reflective and reflexive method are used for a descriptive performance assessment of female vs male-headed households, before and after the project implementation. Finally, matching and difference-in-difference techniques, with an emphasis on gender, are used for impact evaluation. The performance analysis shows positive and significant effects of the project participation on male and female-headed households, being these effects on male-headed larger than in their counterparts. The impact evaluation shows a negative and significant relationship between female headed households’ programme participation and the variation of the outcome variables, but a positive and significant relationship between program participation and the levels of resilience and food security of female-headed households. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312075&r= |
| By: | Ghislain B. D. Aïhounton (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen; Laboratory of Analysis and Research on Economic and Social Dynamics, University of Parakou, Benin); Arne Henningsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Neda Trifkovic (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | Synthetic pesticides can be detrimental to the health of humans, particularly when handled inappropriately, which is often the case in developing countries. We investigate to what extent using personal protective equipment (PPE) during pesticide application can mitigate the detrimental health effects of pesticides. Our empirical analysis is based on data from smallholder cotton farmers in Benin and includes both conventional cotton farmers who extensively use synthetic pesticides and organic cotton farmers who are only allowed to use bio-pesticides. Using per-capita health expenditure as proxy for the health of the farmers, our results show that conventional cotton farmers generally have significantly poorer health than organic cotton farmers because most conventional farmers wear insufficient PPE when spraying pesticides. While PPE use vastly improves the health of conventional farmers, we do not find a statistically significant effect on the health of organic cotton farmers, which could indicate that bio-pesticides have much smaller detrimental health effects than synthetic pesticides. However, conventional farmers have a similar state of health as organic farmers when they use four or more PPE items. Hence, measures that encourage conventional cotton farmers to use more PPE during pesticide spraying or to adopt organic farming would substantially improve these farmers’ health. |
| Keywords: | pesticides, protective equipment, health, organic farming, smallholder farmers, cotton, Africa |
| JEL: | I12 I15 J28 O13 Q12 Q56 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2021_06&r= |
| By: | Guillaume Gruère; Makiko Shigemitsu |
| Abstract: | Measuring policy progress on agriculture and water policies is essential to help decision makers identify necessary policy changes and understand how further progress may be achieved to improve agricultural water management. A thorough review of existing evaluations of agriculture and water policies suggests three types of progress to be measured: policy design, policy implementation capacity and policy results. The quality and robustness of these measures of policy progress depends upon three main factors. First, assessment of policy design requires matching policy alignment with cross cutting objectives or with a reference text. Second, assessment of progress in implementation capacity requires gauging evolution towards predefined capacity needs or identified governance gaps. Third, evaluation of policy results requires clearly defined objectives, timelines and scales for assessments. Seven practical options are identified for applying these principles to agriculture and water policies, illustrated by applying them to assessing progress in the sustainable management of water for irrigation under climate change and in controlling diffuse nutrient pollution. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural policy, Policy evaluation, Reform process, Water policy, Water pollution, Water risks, Water scarcity |
| JEL: | Q18 Q25 Q28 Q58 |
| Date: | 2021–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:agraaa:162-en&r= |
| By: | Jin, Yan; Gardebroek, Cornelis; Heerink, Nico |
| Abstract: | Declining arable land and yield stagnation challenges China to feed its growing population. To increase national food security and farmers’ incomes, China has introduced various grain support policies since 2004. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of price supporting policies on the Chinese rice acreage. To investigate whether these policies were effective given that global rice prices increased after 2004, we perform our empirical analysis in two phases. First, using data on rice prices and acreages, we test whether supply responses of rice farmers have changed since 2004 because price responsiveness is required for the policy to be effective. Second, we perform Monte Carlo simulations to construct counterfactual acreages to assess the impact of the policy. The results show that acreages respond positively to farmers’ expected price for early, middle, and late indica rice. For early and late indica rice, there is a statistically significant positive change in acreage response to expected prices after the policy intervention in 2004 than before. Monte Carlo simulations show that the probability of effective policy for early, middle and late indica is 75.60%, 72.68% and 53.32%, respectively. Therefore, although there is heterogeneity in different rice varieties, the policy is in general effective in increasing rice acreages given that global rice prices increased after 2004. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312063&r= |
| By: | Tauseef, Salauddin |
| Abstract: | Nutrition-sensitive social protection that enhances household resources and nutrition knowledge can be an important avenue of addressing food security and nutrition concerns of the poor. This paper studies a cluster randomized intervention of cash and food transfers, with or without nutrition behavioral change communication (BCC), on food security and nutrition outcomes in rural Bangladesh. We find that addition of the BCC to transfers led to the greatest impact on the quantity and quality of food consumed by household members, especially women and children. Addition of BCC also had the greatest impact in reducing the incidence and intensity of deprivations measured using a nutrition-sensitive multidimensional poverty index. Evidence suggests this occurs through the BCC inducing increased consumption of flesh food, egg, dairy, fruits, and vegetables and through investments in housing, sanitation, and assets. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312064&r= |
| By: | Aberman, Noora-Lisa; Kufoalor, Doreen S.; Gilbert, Rachel |
| Abstract: | Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) is Ghana’s flagship program for agricultural transformation and employment creation. Alongside other components, the program provides subsidized fertilizer, hybrid and open-pollinated seeds and other planting materials, improved extension services, and marketing support to smallholder farmers across the country. The objective of this study was to assess the implementation process of the PFJ input subsidy program in order to identify opportunities for strengthening the process. The study focused only on fertilizer distribution as a distinct complex process of importance, although some of the lessons will be applicable to other components of the PFJ program. The study applied the Process Net-Map method, a research approach that is particularly useful for assessing the coherence between formally prescribed procedures and how those procedures are implemented in practice, enabling the identification of inefficiencies and bottlenecks in a complex process. The implementation of the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program was mapped in interviews with key informants at national level and in six districts. Interviews with national-level stakeholders yielded important insights about the complex largely administrative process involved in the implementation of PFJ, which is generally unseen by beneficiaries. These administrative processes, however, have a considerable impact on the timeliness of the program and provide an outline of the intended implementation process at the local district level. The perspectives of farmers with regards to these processes were also investigated through in-depth interviews. Across the study districts we found some ambiguity and inconsistency in following the formally prescribed procedures for implementing the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program. While we found broad agreement among key informants and farmers that the program is meeting its objectives, some areas in which the implementation process for the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program could be improved are highlighted. These improvements will enhance the efficiency and impact of the program. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; subsidies; fertilizers; employment; extension systems; smallholders; agricultural transformation; job creation |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:56&r= |
| By: | Vigani, Mauro; Curzi, Daniele |
| Abstract: | The progressive reduction of CAP intervention and the abolition of milk quotas in 2015 is provoking a shift in the governance of milk supplies giving a greater role to supply chain arrangements. However, the unbalanced power within the supply chain reduces the negotiating power of individual farmers, exposing them to market risks and unfair trade practices. Collective organizations are considered a viable solution for increasing farmers protection within the supply chain. This paper analyses the impact of supply agreements between dairy farmers and collective organizations on milk prices, production costs and mark-up in England using survey data from 200 dairy farmers in Devon and Somerset. We use a coarsened exact matching model to estimate average treatment effects and logistic regressions to explain the differences in costs, prices and mark-up. Results show that UK farmers selling milk to collective organizations receive 4.4% lower prices and have 17% higher production costs. Farmers selling to collective organizations seek stable market access and protection and at this end they are willing to accept price volatility, higher costs and financial exposure which can be faced through higher predisposition in taking financial risks. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Production Economics |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312055&r= |
| By: | Dakpo, Hervé; Mohring, Niklas; Finger, Robert |
| Abstract: | In this study, we empirically estimate the extent of pesticide spillovers on agricultural productivity on a farm-level. As a basis for our empirical analysis, we develop a dynamic damage control specification model of pesticides, where spillovers are associated with the previous period's consumption. We then analytically derive potential spillovers of pesticides on agricultural productivity through effects on the production area, nitrogen fertilizer, and work-machinery productivities and estimate the extent of these effects empirically. To this end, we use a rich farm panel data set on Swiss wheat producers over the period 2009-2015. To account for both pesticide volume and toxicity, a load index is used. Our preliminary results indicate positive short-term spillover effects of the fate toxicity index while the ecotoxicity has a negative spillovers. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312059&r= |
| By: | Bryan, Elizabeth; Lefore, Nicole |
| Abstract: | Small-scale irrigation is expanding rapidly in parts of the world, especially sub-Saharan Africa, offering smallholder farmers an opportunity to improve their livelihoods, diets, and resilience to climate change among other benefits. Growing research focuses on the potential for small-scale irrigation to offer a pathway for women’s empowerment, yet the factors conditioning the relationship between small-scale irrigation and women’s empowerment are not well understood. The evidence tends to be scattered across context-specific case studies that focus on targeted outcomes, without distinguishing between technology types, scales, or approaches to irrigation systems or technologies. This paper synthesizes the issues related to gender and small-scale irrigation using a conceptual framework that highlights the linkages between elements of women’s empowerment and small-scale irrigation. Because gendered dynamics with small-scale irrigation play out differently depending on the scale of irrigation and the technologies used, this paper applies the framework to examine case studies across a typology of small-scale irrigation systems. The case studies cover a range of farming and livelihood systems in which women’s roles and gender relations vary, highlighting the importance of the opportunity structure or context in which irrigation takes place. This paper then draws lessons on the various ways in which small-scale irrigation, gender relations, and women’s empowerment interact and highlights areas where research gaps remain. |
| Keywords: | AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; women; gender; irrigation; smallholders; women's empowerment; small-scale irrigation |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2025&r= |
| By: | Nirmal, Rajalakshmi; Babu, Suresh Chandra |
| Abstract: | Based on experiments to bring about comprehensive crop insurance coverage over the last 50 years, the Indian government introduced a new crop insurance program, called Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), in April 2016. Coming after two successive years of drought, the scheme aimed at reducing the burden of smallholders who borrow at high rates of interest but remain at the mercy of the “weather god†to reap optimal returns. Although this new program filled many gaps in the previous crop insurance interventions, it still could not attract smallholder and marginal farmers to fully subscribe to it. It also faced its own set of challenges. It earned farmers’ wrath because of lack of transparency in crop loss assessments and delayed settlement of claims. The government of India had to make the program voluntary under pressure from farmers’ associations, although it was designed as mandatory for famers seeking institutional credit. This paper’s focus is identifying the reasons for failure of PMFBY in most of the states despite its improved features, and comparing these states with a state where it has been relatively successful. It does this through evidence collected from a field study in Marathwada—a drought-prone region in western India, with the nation’s highest rate of farmer suicides. It takes learnings from stakeholder interviews in Marathwada to design implementation strategies for PMFBY’s success and win back the confidence of farmers. The state of Karnataka, in contrast to Marathwada, is an outlier among states in India, with a record of successful implementation of the PMFBY program. This paper studies PMFBY program implementation in Karnataka through a positive deviance case study approach. Though Karnataka hasn’t yet seen full success in terms of penetration achieved in crop insurance, its model can help develop best practices for implementation of PMFBY. The paper argues that getting buy-in from all stakeholders, adopting remote sensing technologies, strengthening infrastructure and institutional capacity, conducting outcome evaluation, and putting in place a monitoring system could be effective mechanisms to mainstream the program among smallholder farmers. |
| Keywords: | INDIA; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; crop insurance; crops; insurance; risk management; agriculture; remote sensing; technology; mobile telephones; adaptation; sustainability; agricultural risk management; implementation science |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2012&r= |
| By: | Eder, Andreas |
| Abstract: | This article provides a generalization of the materials balance-based production model introduced by Coelli et al. (2007). Based on this, some new environmental efficiency (EE) measures are presented. The Coelli et al. (2007) EE measure and its extension by Rødseth (2016) produce biased efficiency estimates if the material flow coefficients (MFCs) are heterogeneous across decision-making units and non-discretionary. Furthermore, the Coelli et al. (2007) measure fails to reward emission reductions by emission control. To overcome these shortcomings, this paper proposes production models which allow for heterogeneous MFCs reflecting differences of external environmental factors or non-controllable heterogeneities in inputs and outputs, and which properly take into account emission abatement activities. Based on this, we provide new EE measures and decompose them into i) a part reflecting emission control efficiency (ECE), ii) a part measuring material input efficiency (MIE), and iii) a part reflecting the efficient allocation between material and non-material inputs (environmental allocative efficiency, EAE). The approach is illustrated by an empirical application to arable farming in Austria utilizing data from 90 farms for the year 2011. Soil erosion is considered an undesirable output and land a material input. The average EE, ECE, MIE, and EAE are 0.53, 0.96, 0.69, and 0.79, respectively. The results indicate that actual output can be potentially achieved with 47% less soil loss. Most of the potential to improve EE is due to differences in MIE and EAE. Removing inefficiencies in the implementation of existing, subsidized erosion controls allows soil loss to be reduced by 4%. |
| Keywords: | Emission-generating technologies,Materials balance condition,Weak-G disposability,Data envelopment analysis,Non-discretionary factors,Soil erosion,Crop farms |
| JEL: | C61 D24 Q12 Q15 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:inwedp:dp752021&r= |
| By: | Babu, Suresh Chandra; Looden, Jamshed; Ajmal, Mehnaz; Rana, Abdul Wajid; Omar, Jawid; Srivastava, Nandita |
| Abstract: | The food systems approach can contribute to food security and reduced malnutrition levels by identifying key investments and policies throughout the food system, including production, processing, marketing, and consumption of food. However, in countries facing fragility and conflict, it has proven difficult to implement such an approach and achieve the desired results. This has been the case in Afghanistan, where high levels of malnutrition stem in part from an undersupply of nutritious food. Multi-sectoral approaches to promote nutrition sensitivity and achieve diet-based solutions have also had only limited impact. This paper reports on an analysis of the nutrition sensitivity of food systems in Afghanistan using multi-sector consultations and gap analyses to examine two key food and nutrition policies, the National Comprehensive Agriculture Development Priority Program and the Afghanistan Food Security and Nutrition Agenda. It highlights gaps in the policies and identifies investment priorities to make food systems more nutrition sensitive. The results show that instilling nutrition sensitivity into the operation of Afghanistan’s food systems can only be accomplished if certain key measures are incorporated into the food system. These include addressing the absence of knowledge in the population regarding healthy diets, the lack of sufficient food for vulnerable populations, weak irrigation systems, capacity constraints at individual and institutional levels, data challenges, and weak natural resource management. In addition, the above weaknesses are compounded by the continued violence and conflict-induced insecurity, weak government, and inadequate investments. Given the role of different sectors in contributing to improved nutrition, appropriate and effective multi-stakeholder coordination and collaboration is paramount to such efforts. |
| Keywords: | AFGHANISTAN; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; nutrition; food systems; conflicts; investment; capacity development; nutrition sensitive; investment framework; gap analysis |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2007&r= |
| By: | Ike, Chinweoke Uzoamaka; Tranter, Richard; Gadanakis, Yiorgos |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312067&r= |
| By: | Warren, Frances; Arneth, Almut; Henry, Roslyn; Maire, Juliette; Rabin, Sam; Rounsevell, Mark; Alexander, Peter |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312056&r= |
| By: | Babu, Suresh Chandra; Franzel, Steven; Davis, Kristin E.; Srivastava, Nandita |
| Abstract: | Engaging burgeoning youth populations in developing country agriculture is seen as an important strategy toward effective, efficient, and sustainable food system transformation. Yet the policy, institutional, technological, and capability barriers and ways to overcome them for successful participation of youth in agriculture are not fully understood. We use a conceptual framework that identifies key pathways to prosperity for youth and classifies contextual and driving factors that contribute to the success of youth engagement in agriculture. The framework comprises four broad categories of strategic interventions: policy and socioeconomic environment; institutional; technological/business infrastructure; and individual skills and capacities. In the context of this framework, we then present insights from cases of youth participation in agriculture in five countries: Guatemala, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda. The countries and cases were purposively selected as part of ongoing research on youth engagement in agriculture. Policies and strategies play an important role in creating an enabling environment for youth engagement in agriculture, including by fostering transparency and accountability in the policy system and promoting youth engagement in the private sector through agricultural extension and other services. Institutions and intermediaries provide financial support, training, and access to market for youth entrepreneurs. Support in these areas should be strengthened. Systems approaches, such as multi-stakeholder platforms, provide holistic support to young agripreneurs (entrepreneurs in agriculture), but require effective coordination. Similarly, information and communication technologies can play a facilitating role by providing platforms to network and receive updated market information but need to be significantly scaled up. Individual capacities can drive youth engagement in agriculture and agripreneurship but must continue to be built up through expanded education and training on technical and functional skills. As policymakers and program managers search for interventions that can promote youth involvement in agriculture in their own countries, the insights from the five countries examined that are presented in this paper may be useful for identifying context-specific challenges and pathways to successful youth engagement in agriculture in their own countries. The framework presented here can be applied to study youth engagement issues in any country or in sub-national, decentralized contexts to generate evidence to guide the design of youth-in-agriculture development programs. There is a need to support, strengthen, and implement the driving factors identified in this paper for expanding youth engagement in agriculture. |
| Keywords: | GUATEMALA; LATIN AMERICA; CENTRAL AMERICA; NORTH AMERICA; NIGER; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; RWANDA; CENTRAL AFRICA; UGANDA; EAST AFRICA; NIGERIA; youth; agriculture; agricultural extension; capacity development; intervention; policies; farmers; rural areas; stakeholders; agripreneurship; engagement; youth engagement |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2010&r= |
| By: | Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Lecoutere, Els; Spielman, David J. |
| Abstract: | To gain a better understanding of intrahousehold bargaining processes, surveys increasingly collect data from co-heads individually. Answers provided by spouses on the same set of questions often differ substantially, alternately attributed to measurement error, poor framing within the cultural context that leads to systematic biases, or other common challenges associated with surveys. However, recent studies suggest that differences in responses from co-heads may also be caused by spouses strategically hiding information from each other. Using detailed data on a large sample of monogamous smallholder maize-farming households in eastern Uganda, we document response patterns from household co-heads related to decision-making, labor time, and sales of farm output. We ask each spouse questions about themselves, but also about their spouse, and compare responses. We also implement two interventions to test if such spousal disagreement in reporting can be reduced by increasing cooperation between spouses and reducing information asymmetries. |
| Keywords: | UGANDA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; farmers; maize; households; gender; women; men; decision making; intervention; surveys; capacity development; income; spousal disagreement; income hiding; shirking |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2019&r= |
| By: | Wang, Yanbing |
| Abstract: | Contractors will play a vital role in providing farms access to new precision farming technologies, especially in small scale farming systems. We investigate the role of spatial competition among contractors in the uptake of precision farming, the distribution of farmer surplus, and the realization of policy interventions, accounting for alternative spatial pricing schedules. Conceptual analyses and case study show that a lack of spatial competition among contractors hinders uptake of precision farming technology and farmer surplus. The effectiveness of policy interventions to support precision farming among small farms is also contingent on the market structure and pricing schedules of contractors. |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312070&r= |
| By: | Jens-Uwe Franck |
| Abstract: | The Directive on Unfair Trading Practices in the Agri-food Supply Chain is characterized by its objective to increase agricultural producers’ income by redistributing the gains from trade along the supply chain. In this article, arguments are advanced that make it doubtful whether this goal can be achieved: the Directive’s restrictions will (at best) only slightly increase the suppliers’ relative bargaining power. Neither the attempt to limit the Directive’s scope to cases of unequal bargaining power nor the ban of only those practices that are regarded as particularly “egregious” will ensure that the Directive’s restrictions do not also preclude efficiency-enhancing practices. Nonetheless, given the legislature’s wide discretionary power, the Directive could legally be adopted on the basis of Article 43(2) TFEU. While the Directive’s focus is entirely on public enforcement, there are sound reasons to believe that the Directive assigns implicit rights to those parties that are within the Directive’s protective scope and that are (potentially) aggrieved by infringements. The consequences of the incorporation of prohibited contract terms are analysed and potential legal bases for private rights of action are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Directive (EU) 2019/633, European Union, Common Agricultural Policy, Unfair Trading Practices, Agri-food Supply Chain, Distribution, Retailing, Buyer Power, Contracts |
| JEL: | K12 L14 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2021_304&r= |
| By: | Rizwan, Noormah; Shikoh, Sania Haider; Davies, Stephen; Moeen, Muhammad Saad; Rana, Abdul Wajid; Haider, Zeeshan |
| Abstract: | Prolonged droughts and depleting groundwater resources have been a serious challenge to the economy of province of Balochistan, Pakistan. Proliferation of tube-wells incentivized by government policy interventions and continued subsidy for electric tube-wells for agriculture and choice for high-water consumption crops have led to steep decline in water tables. This paper uses Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) Multiplier model approach to simulate impact of declining water tables on the provincial economy, a first ever effort. To capture the impact of declining water tables, increase in shadow prices of groundwater are calculated and the effects are traced on agricultural production. Using these effects, simulations are designed to reflect the impact of water tables’ decline on macroeconomic variables including GDP, government’s revenues/expenditures, households’ income, and net exports. Agricultural policy options are also introduced in the model to explore their effectiveness in mitigating the effects of groundwater exploitation. Effects of non-agricultural policy options such as the debated removal of tube-well subsidy, shifting to non-agricultural sectors and investment in recharge mechanisms are also estimated on the overall provincial economy. Findings from the paper indicate that depleting water tables have adversely affected the provincial economy and the impact of widely recommended agricultural policy is moderate in mitigating these effects. Subsidy rationalization is observed to have substantial impact on GDP, households, and trade balance. However, investment in recharge mechanisms and expansion in processing, manufacturing and services sector can be crucial for the development of the province. |
| Keywords: | PAKISTAN; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; groundwater; household income; models; gross national product; trade; exports; agricultural production; irrigation; Social Accounting Matrix (SAM); SAM multipliers; water tables |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2013&r= |
| By: | Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Bernard, Tanguy; Regassa, Mekdim D.; Minten, Bart |
| Abstract: | Coffee is Ethiopia’s most important export commodity, cultivated by over 6 million smallholder farmers in the country, and accounting for about one-third of the country’s commodity exports. While coffee production has increased over the last decade, coffee yields are low and several constraints to improved productivity remain. With two-three decades old and low-yielding coffee trees in particular, the sector cannot attain its full potential. In this paper, we assess the short-term impact of a coffee tree rejuvenation training program in Sidama on adoption rate and intensity of stumping – currently the best practice to revitalize ageing coffee trees and substantially improve their productivity. Using baseline and follow-up data and a difference-in-difference approach, we find that the adoption rate and intensity of stumping has increased by about threefold during the first year of the rejuvenation training intervention. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA; EAST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; coffee; agricultural productivity; coffee industry; commodities; plant rejuvenation; stumping; coffee farm college |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2023&r= |
| By: | Tabe-Ojong, Martin Paul Jr; Smale, Melinda; Jamora, Nelissa |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312060&r= |
| By: | Ilicic, Joanna; Crespi, Maria Giulia; Bertolini, Tommaso; Ignaciuk, Ada |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a methodology for public expenditure review and analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector. It outlines the basic methodological concepts, including the classification of public expenditures in the context of their links to climate change adaptation and mitigation. It also illustrates how such analysis can usefully contribute to policy decision making to better achieve the climate change adaptation and mitigation goals using the case study of Uganda. The proposed classification allows for analysing the level and the composition of public expenditures that influence adaptation capacity of the sector to climate change, and actions that increase or decrease greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in agriculture. This, in turn, allows for assessing whether the sector is stimulated in a way that allows achieving a country’s climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives and form a basis for further evaluation of the effectiveness of individual measures in reaching these objectives. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2021–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:faoaes:312206&r= |
| By: | Adenaeuer, Lucie; Breen, James; Hayden, Anne |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312061&r= |
| By: | Simpson, Katherine; Hanley, Nick; Armsworth, Paul; de Vries, Frans; Dallimer, Martin |
| Abstract: | Most programmes which incentivise the supply of public goods such as biodiversity conservation on private land in Europe are financed through the public purse. However, new ideas for how to fund biodiversity conservation are urgently needed, given recent reviews of the poor state of global biodiversity. In this paper, we investigate the use of private funding for biodiversity conservation through an offset market. The environmental objective is to increase some measure of biodiversity in a region (“net gain”) despite the loss of land for new housing. Farmers create biodiversity credits by changing their land management, then sell these credits to housebuilders who are required to more-than offset the impacts of new house building on a specific indicator of biodiversity. Combining an economic model of market operation with an ecological model linking land management to bird populations, we examine the operation, costs and biodiversity impacts of such a (hypothetical) market as the target level of net gain is increased. A general result is established for the impacts on price and quantity in the offset market as the net gain target is make more ambitious. For a case study site in Scotland, we find that as the net gain target is increased, the number of offsets traded in equilibrium falls, as does the market clearing offset price. Changes in the spatial pattern of gains and losses in our biodiversity index also occur as the net gain target is raised. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312052&r= |
| By: | Fanny Le Gloux (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - 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); Marie Laporte (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - 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); Sabine Duvaleix (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - 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); Pierre Dupraz (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - 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); Elodie Letort (SMART - Structures et Marché Agricoles, Ressources et Territoires - AGROCAMPUS OUEST - 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: | Introducing fodder with high omega 3 content such as grass or linseed in the feed ration of dairy cows both improves the milk nutritional profile and reduces enteric methane emissions per litre. This lever is interesting to contribute to climate change mitigation but can also generate additional farm costs. Payment for Environmental Services, such as the Eco-Methane programme implemented by the association Bleu-Blanc-Coeur in France, can support a change of cows' diet in dairy farms through the valorisation of methane emissions reduction. The effectiveness of such a scheme depends on (i) the definition of a precise indicator of enteric methane emissions capturing the feeding effect, (ii) a payment level that would be sufficiently attractive to compensate for the additional costs faced by farmers. This study compares two indicators of enteric methane emissions to show the effect of taking feeding into account. It also assesses the extra cost of milk production if the grassland areas in fodder crop rotation systems were to be increased in French dairy farms. The estimation of a variable cost function based on data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) suggests a significant increase of the marginal cost of milk production with additional hectares of grass in mountainous areas, and in plains farms for which maize silage represents less than 30% of the fodder crop rotation system. |
| Abstract: | L'introduction de fourrages riches en oméga 3 comme l'herbe ou le lin dans la ration alimentaire des vaches laitières permet à la fois d'améliorer le profil nutritionnel du lait et de réduire les émissions de méthane entérique par litre de lait. Ce levier est intéressant dans la lutte contre le changement climatique mais peut également engendrer des coûts supplémentaires pour les exploitations. Des Paiements pour Services Environnementaux, comme la démarche Eco-Méthane portée par l'association Bleu-Blanc-Coeur en France, peuvent encourager la modification du régime alimentaire dans les élevages laitiers en valorisant la réduction des émissions de méthane. L'efficacité d'un tel dispositif passe par la définition (i) d'un indicateur des émissions de méthane entérique suffisamment fin pour prendre en compte l'effet de l'alimentation, (ii) d'un niveau de paiement suffisamment incitatif pour compenser les éventuels surcoûts pour les éleveurs. Cette étude compare deux indicateurs d'émissions de méthane entérique permettant de mettre en évidence l'effet de la prise en compte de l'alimentation. Elle évalue également le surcoût de production laitière d'une augmentation des surfaces en herbe dans l'assolement fourrager des exploitations. L'estimation d'une fonction de coût variable à partir des données du Réseau d'Information Comptable Agricole met en évidence une augmentation significative du coût marginal de production laitière avec davantage d'hectares d'herbe dans les exploitations de montagne et dans les exploitations de plaine pour lesquelles le maïs ensilage représente moins de 30% de la surface fourragère principale. |
| Keywords: | Marginal cost,Milk production,Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,Payment for environmental services,Paiements pour services environnementaux,Réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre,Production laitière,Coût marginal |
| Date: | 2021–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03261368&r= |
| By: | Rodrigues, Maria; Hanley, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | Do consumers care about the health of farm animals? We assess the relationship between consumer preferences (N=515), herd sickness levels and farm animal health and welfare (FAHW) by analysing UK consumers purchasing decisions, in the context of two endemic livestock conditions Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in cattle and lameness in sheep. The analysis uses discrete choice experiments related to four products: beef and milk, and lamb and wool. Our study provides robust evidence that UK consumers care about farm animal health and welfare independently of the sickness level in the herd/flock, when sickness levels do not compromise the safety of the products consumed. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312057&r= |
| By: | Vigneri, Marcella; Kolavalli, Shashidhara; Agandin, John; Moyo, Qondi |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an in-depth account of the chili value chain in the Brong Ahafo area of Ghana, looking at the agronomic practices of producers, marketing choices by chili type, and practices of traders along different commercial corridors. Using original survey data of producers and traders, the paper addresses two questions: Are there opportunities to increase the productivity of chilies? Does the marketing system deliver a significant share of the consumer prices to producers? Chili yields are less than 1.0 mt/ha against a yield potential in Ghana of nearly 8 mt/ha. Long chili growers in the top 10 percentile by yields harvested nearly 18 bags compared to the average of 11 bags per acre obtained by all producers. These higher chili yields resulted primarily by applying higher levels of inorganic fertilizers. Many producers have adopted improved chili varieties – nearly 70 percent of long chili producers reported having planted Legon 18, the variety which is generally used for making chili powder. Producers also reported maintaining their crop in the field for unusually long periods to extend their production into leaner production periods. Prices vary geographically by day and by marketing channel. The margins earned by traders on the sale price of their chilis range from 20 to 100 percent under different conditions. The chili value chain is short. The bulk of chilis produced reaches consumers with only one intermediary between producer and consumer. Fresh and dry chilies are marketed differently. Nearly 80 percent of dry chili producers sell at their farm gate, where they tend to obtain prices that are higher than those received by producers who take their dry chilies to markets. The reverse is true for fresh chili producers, however. It is plausible that producers choose between producing dry long or fresh round chilies depending on their marketing ability. Social networks influence the choice by producers of what traders to engage with, suggesting that producers with stronger ties to traders obtain higher prices. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; marketing; production; chillies; value chains; consumer prices |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:55&r= |
| By: | Espoir, Delphin Kamanda; Mudiangombe, Benjamin; Bannor, Frank; Sunge, Regret; Mubenga Tshitaka, Jean-Luc |
| Abstract: | Climate change has occasioned several Earth long-term events, including extreme temperatures. In recent years, Africa was reported as part of the world's regions that experienced extreme temperatures above pre-industrial levels. Despite lower contribution to Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and global warming, Africa remains among the world regions that suffer the most from climate change. However, the impact of climatic factors of temperature and emissions on economic production in Africa has not been broadly investigated, specifically among climate regimes. In this study, we attempt for the first time to understand the heterogeneous impacts of emissions and temperature on income in Africa using panel and time-series techniques on datasets spanning the years 1995-2016. At the global level in Africa, our empirical results reveal that a 1% increase in average temperature reduces income by 1.08%, whereas a 1% rise in Co2 emissions spurs income by 0.23%. The emissions effect result implies that environmental policies specifically designed to reduce Co2 emissions in Africa as a whole may significantly impact production in the long run. Also, the result suggests that a shift from optimal temperature levels to extreme patterns deter economic growth. Despite these revelations, our extended analysis based on climate regimes indicates heterogeneous effects across countries. Considering the Paris agreement on climate, this study suggests that policymakers should emphasise country-specific policies than global climatic policies for sustained Co2 emissions reduction in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneous effects,Temperature,Climate change,Environmental sustainability,Panel data,time-series data |
| JEL: | C32 C33 Q54 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:235479&r= |
| By: | Raghunathan, Kalyani; Ramani, Gayathri; Rubin, Deborah; Pereira, Audrey; Ahmed, Akhter; Malapit, Hazel J.; Quisumbing, Agnes R. |
| Abstract: | Increased market inclusion through participation in agricultural value chains may increase employment and household incomes, but evidence on its empowerment impacts is mixed. In societies with restrictive social norms, greater market inclusion can enhance existing income and empowerment inequalities by relegating marginalized groups, including women, to low value chains or lower value nodes within those chains. We use primary data from rural Bangladesh to investigate the associations between households’ primary economic activity – agricultural wage-earning, production, or entrepreneurship – and absolute and relative levels of men’s and women’s empowerment. Women in producer households, on average, fare better on empowerment outcomes than women in wage-earner or entrepreneur households; the opposite is true for men. The gap between men’s and women’s empowerment scores is also lowest in producer households. A decomposition of these results into composite indicators yields insights into potential trade-offs, while accompanying qualitative work highlights the importance of social and cultural norms in shaping the economic roles women can adopt. With a push towards diversification of agriculture into higher value market-oriented crops, more careful programming is needed to ensure that market inclusion translates into an increase in women’s empowerment. |
| Keywords: | BANGLADESH; SOUTH ASIA; ASIA; empowerment; gender; women; women's empowerment; agriculture; livelihoods; mixed model method; value chains; rural areas; households; market inclusion |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2008&r= |
| By: | Baptista Palazzi, Rafael; Waldemar, Marcelo |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the volatility spillovers among coffee, ethanol, soybeans, reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) futures prices, and Brazilian spot prices from 2010 to 2020. Using the Diebold and Yilmaz volatility spillover analytical framework (DY), we estimate the total volatility spillover, the gross and net directional volatility spillover. We also analyze the optimal hedge ratio applying the linear quantile regression (QR) model, comparing the optimal hedge ratios with the minimum variance (MV) and error correction model (ECM). Results show an increasing trend in the total volatility spillover index, suggesting an increase in the Brazilian market's connectedness. In addition, we identify quantile ranges where the QR hedge is economical and statistically significant, particularly for extreme spot prices, lower-and-upper quantiles. The knowledge of the volatility spillover effect in agricultural commodity markets may provide additional information for efficient resource allocation decisions about harvesting, output, storage, commercialization, and hedging. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312073&r= |
| By: | McLaughlin, Shannon |
| Abstract: | Households in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) face multiple threats that undermine their resilience, economic development, and food security. In this article, we use a comprehensive panel dataset of 1889 Malawian households for the years 2010-2017 to study the causal effects of multiple and diverse shocks on household nutrition security metrics. Among other shocks and changes that negatively affect household income we capture the effects of a changing climate. A panel data fixed effect model has been used to ascertain the effect of shocks throughout time on household welfare, controlling for household characteristics, such as gender, total income, crop income and rurality. Results show certain household types, i.e., wealthier households, those owning large livestock, borrowing on credit enable households to foster greater resilience to shocks. Conversely, households involved in agricultural activities and female headed households have greatest vulnerability when exposed to shocks. However, effects differ by shock type. Welfare outcomes have been evaluated using multiple measures of food security; per capita calorie consumption, the food consumption score (FCS) and food expenditures per capita. By determining welfare outcomes using a range of indicators, we attempt to build more precise metrics of food security than those used in previous economic studies. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Consumer/Household Economics |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc21:312062&r= |
| By: | Yukichi Mano; Timothy Njagi Njeru; Keijiro Otsuka |
| Abstract: | Countries in sub Sahara Africa (SSA) heavily rely on rice imported from Asia, partly because of rapidly increasing rice demand and partly because of consumers’ preference for high quality Asian rice. A few entrepreneurial rice millers in Kenya adopted large scale improved milling machines, including the component called destoners, around 2010, which they learned from China. Later, smaller sized improved machines were introduced and more widely adopted. These adopters successfully improved the quality of milled rice, which can compete with imported rice, and their business performance. In contrast, many other millers without adopting improved machines were forced to reduce their business or exit the industry. |
| Keywords: | rice quality, rice milling, destoner, Kenya, sub-Sahara Africa |
| Date: | 2021–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:220&r= |
| By: | Huang, Kaixing |
| Abstract: | Developing countries sharing nearly identical growth trends for centuries dramatically diverged in terms of income per capita over the last half-century. Using data from 78 developing countries, this study shows that the Green Revolution (GR) since the 1960s can explain most of the income divergence. Beyond the understanding that agriculture growth promotes economic growth, the study shows that developing countries less suitable for cultivating GR crops were substantially damaged by GR-induced grain imports, which increased fertility and retarded human and physical capital formation. A counterfactual analysis removing GR’s effect showed parallel growth trends similar to that prior to the GR. |
| Keywords: | The Green Revolution, international trade, income divergence |
| JEL: | E0 Q1 |
| Date: | 2020–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:108357&r= |
| By: | Demaria Federica (CREA - Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria); Sophie Drogue (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - 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); Pasquale Lubello (UMR MoISA - Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (Social and nutritional sciences) - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - CIHEAM-IAMM - Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier - CIHEAM - Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - 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: | In this article, we investigate how pest risk management protocols may affect trade flows of fresh apples. We apply our analysis to two major players in the international trade of fresh apples: France and Chile. These two countries have been chosen because they are among the world's leading apple exporters and although they have similar market shares, they differ in terms of destination markets, seasonality, local conditions and export strategy. In order to assess the impact of pest risk management protocols on international trade of apples from France and Chile, we introduce in a gravity equation beside the traditional variables, a score able to measure their complexity. The results are interesting in the sense that even if the score for France and Chile by main trading partners are rather close, we found that French apples exporters would be more impacted by pest risk management protocols than their Chilean counterparts. |
| Keywords: | SPS measures,International trade,Gravity Modelling,Apples,France,Chile |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03259289&r= |
| By: | Driss Ezzine de Blas (Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, UPR Forêts et Sociétés - Forêts et Sociétés - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement) |
| Abstract: | How can we design conservation and development projects that produce lasting changes? How can we increase their effectiveness and legitimacy? The classical economic incentives of environmental policies (certification, sustainable forest management, payments for environmental services, green loans, etc.) are effective in the short term, but their environmental performance is not necessarily guaranteed in the long term. However, when the intrinsic motivations of beneficiaries are activated, these beneficiaries take greater ownership of the objectives of actions: they demonstrate more lasting behavioural change. Recent research combining behavioural economics and social psychology, conducted for such projects, is opening a rich and complementary avenue to mobilise this latent human potential. Considering intrinsic motivations implies recognising the importance of the psychological dimension of any action. Research and development decision-makers and donors can and ensure their calls for projects incorporate methods to identify and activate these motivations. |
| Keywords: | Incentive,motivation,value system,psychology,human behaviour,psychological factor,payments for ecosystem services,agriculture,conservation,environment,biodiversity,forest,theory of change,development policy,Tropical zone,Southeast Asia,Latin America,Africa,Madagascar,Mediterranean |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:cirad-03261909&r= |