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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2022‒02‒07
thirty-two papers chosen by |
| By: | Amewu, Sena; Arhin, Eunice; Pauw, Karl |
| Abstract: | Ghana has a long history of intervening in food markets to balance consumers’ expectations of low and stable food prices, farmers’ demands for high farmgate prices, and traders’ demand for predictability in seasonal price patterns. However, government interventions may also alter the behavior of markets and alter incentives or risks for all market actors. The Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative, launched in 2017, signaled a renewed commitment from government to agriculture and is Ghana’s flagship strategy for boosting smallholder production, strengthening market linkages, and developing value chains. Given this significant policy shift, we examine agricultural commodity price patterns before and after 2017 to identify potential structural shifts in price behavior in maize, tomato, and onion markets, three key sectors targeted by PFJ. Results show maize and tomato prices drop below their long-term trend under PFJ, but not onion prices. Tomato and onion prices exhibit smaller seasonal price variations. These results are indicative of a structural shift in food markets, although further analysis is required to conclusively attribute these changes to PFJ. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; farm inputs; subsidies; agricultural products; market prices; food prices; value chains; maize; onions; tomatoes |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:60&r= |
| By: | Asante, Seth; Simons, Andrew M.; Andam, Kwaw S.; Ansah Amprofi, Felicia; Osei-Assibey, Ernest; Iddrisu, Adisatu |
| Abstract: | Fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below recommended rates, contributing to low yields, and increasing poverty. Poor quality fertilizer – whether perceived or real – is often cited as a reason for low adoption rates. In Ghana, for example, there are widespread but often unsubstantiated claims of substandard fertilizers. This is a concern for farmers with limited purchasing power and without the means to independently substantiate the quality of agricultural inputs. This paper describes the agricultural input sector in Ghana, compares farmers’ perception of fertilizer quality with those of input dealers, and analyses chemical tests of fertilizers performed in a laboratory. The fertilizers were sampled from selected districts participating in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, a large-scale farm input subsidy program. We find that input dealers and farmers are somewhat suspicious of the quality of commercially supplied and government subsidized fertilizers. However, the true quality measures based on laboratory testing of fertilizers sold in agricultural input shops were found to largely meet the labeled chemical composition. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; fertilizers; quality; farmers' attitudes; subsidies; agricultural production; farm inputs; surveys |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:61&r= |
| By: | Maruyama, Eduardo; Scollard, Phoebe |
| Abstract: | Through the Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the project “Advisory Services – Program Management for Development and Implementation within the Agricultural Sector†(DCO-PR-18-0293) issued a to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) described a series of information needs and how IFPRI could provide research and analysis that would help the MCC maximize the effectiveness of their agricultural interventions. This report focuses on how agricultural investment should be prioritized across territories within countries to maximize economic returns. With this purpose in mind, we develop a spatial and economic tool for strategic analysis and visioning to help understand where the best opportunities for investments in agriculture, with specific examples for investments in irrigation and roads in Ethiopia and Malawi. For such investments to be effective for poverty alleviation, it is necessary that they lead to farm-level increases in productivity and are translated into higher incomes and better livelihoods for rural households. Our proposed approach utilizes stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) to estimate smallholders’ agricultural potential under optimal conditions and compare it with their current performance to assess their efficiency levels. SFA allows the econometric exploration of the notion that, given fixed local agroecological and economic conditions in a region and the occurrence of random shocks that affect agricultural production, the decisions farmers and policymakers make translate into higher or lower production and profits. Inefficiency is then defined as the loss incurred by operating away from an ideal production frontier, and by estimating where this frontier lies, and how far each producer is from it, SFA helps to identify local potential and efficiency levels to construct the typology. For this report, we show how this approach can allow us to compare estimated agricultural potential and efficiency levels under current conditions and hypothetical investment scenarios and calculate what are the agricultural profit gains linked to each case. We can then extrapolate these results at the regional level for the whole country and combine them with GIS data on local agroecological conditions, water availability, topography, and road infrastructure to construct our typology. In particular, we use our typology results to assess where investments in agriculture would be more effective in bringing rural households out of poverty (closing the poverty gap), and how two different types of investments can increase rural households’ incomes through an increase in the profitability of smallholder agriculture. The first scenario looks at the impact of an increase in access to irrigation through river diversion methods, while the second scenario looks at the impact of an increase in market access, which we simulate by analyzing what would be the impact of reducing travel time to the nearest market (city of least 25,000 inhabitants) from any farm in the country by 50%. For Ethiopia, we find pockets of considerable unattained farm profits located throughout the central and western parts of the country, where opportunities for investments to close efficiency gaps in agricultural production and marketing can yield high returns. Low potential in the eastern lowlands limit opportunities for gains from efficiency-oriented investments, and development efforts in these regions should be focused in long-term, large scale interventions that shift the agricultural frontier. With respect to poverty alleviation, our results show that for many regions in the country, especially in the high central plateau, investing in increasing the efficiency of smallholders would be enough to close the poverty gap. In contrast, many areas in the Somali, Tigray, Afar, Oromia, and SNNP regions would require unrealistically high shifts in their agricultural potential due to its current low level combined in many cases with higher than average poverty gaps. The results from the improved irrigation access scenario are heavily constrained by the surface water availability constraint and show that the largest impacts would be observed in Somali and Afar, while in the case of the improved market access scenario, these benefits would extend to Tigray as well. For Malawi, our maps show higher agricultural potential in the Northern and Central regions of the country, consistent with the higher precipitation levels and the agroecological suitability for horticulture in the Kasungu Lilongwe Plain (central), and the staple crop producing areas in the north (such as Chipita). The southern region suffers from lower potential due to poorer general weather conditions and lower rainfall levels. The unattained potential map shows that despite high levels of efficiency, potential in the north is high enough for the remaining gap to be significant, and that the levels of efficiency in the southern tip of the country are low enough to offer some opportunities for efficiency enhancing investments in those areas as well. The poverty analysis shows that the incidence and depth of poverty are higher in the Southern Region of Malawi, but that the poverty gap in all districts of the country could be closed by investing in efficiency enhancing interventions in agriculture without depending on investments that shift the agricultural profit frontier. The results from the improved irrigation access scenario show a larger impact in the Central Region of the country, particularly the districts of Kasungu, Dowa, and Salima, while the improved market access scenario benefits are more evenly spread out across the country. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, models, poverty, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:5&r= |
| By: | Castro Campos, Bente; Petrick, Martin |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305583&r= |
| By: | von Hobe, Cord-Friedrich; Mußhoff, Oliver |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305592&r= |
| By: | Beatrice Maule; Wendong Zhang (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University); Qing Liu |
| Abstract: | Using 591 crop and livestock farmers' responses to the 2019 Iowa Farm Transfer Survey, we examine factors driving the gender imbalance in farm successor choices among Iowa farmers with a focus on female successors and landowners. Our data reveals a large gender gap-58% of farmers chose sons and only 8% chose daughters as main successor. We develop four conceptual hypotheses from a model linking farmer and successor characteristics with the farmer's probability of choosing a daughter as main successor. Our models reveal the probability of choosing daughters as main successor increases when the farmer is female, when the farmer only has daughters, when the daughters have farming experience or an agriculture-related job, and when the farm operation is a partnership with a wife. We find an 11.1% probability of a female farmer choosing a daughter as a successor, but only 4.6% for a male farmer. A daughter having an agriculture-related job increases the probability from 4.4% to 17.0%; whereas the same related experience increases a son's chance from 34.7% to 59.4%. With half of Iowa farmland owned by women, our paper reveals striking evidence of gender imbalance in farm succession, transfer, and inheritance decisions of U.S. farms. |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:22-wp631&r= |
| By: | Díaz González, Ana María; Morales-Opazo, Cristian |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305602&r= |
| By: | Zorn, Alexander; Zimmert, Franziska |
| Keywords: | Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305605&r= |
| By: | Čechura, Lukáš; Jamali Jaghdani, Tinoush; Samoggia, Antonella |
| Keywords: | Industrial Organization, Agribusiness |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305591&r= |
| By: | Yegbemey, Rosaine Nérice; Bensch, Gunther; Vance, Colin |
| Abstract: | Weather conditions are an important determinant of agricultural factor input, particularly labor allocation. The availability of weather forecasts can therefore lead to efficiency gains in the form of cost decreases and productivity increases. We test the practical feasibility, the uptake, and the effect of providing basic weather forecasts in the rainy season on the labor productivity of smallholder farmers. For this purpose, we conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial as a pilot with monthly data collections involving 331 farmers across six villages in north Benin. We find that most farmers subscribe to the intervention and report satisfaction with the service. The impact estimates indicate positive and economically significant intention-to-treat and local average treatment effects on labor productivity for maize and cotton cultivation. These findings suggest that weather-related information and mobile phone outreach help smallholder farmers to better adapt to changing weather. |
| Keywords: | Pilot field experiment,climate and weather information,labor productivity,smallholder farming,information technology,impact evaluation |
| JEL: | D13 O12 Q12 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:930&r= |
| By: | Staudigel, Matthias |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305617&r= |
| By: | Minot, Nicholas; Martin, Will |
| Abstract: | Some agricultural investments are commodity-specific, meaning that they increase the productivity of production, processing, or marketing of a single agricultural commodity or a set of closely-related commodities. Examples include investment in cassava breeding, expanding cotton ginning capacity, irrigation for rice production, expansion of cold storage capacity for horticultural exports, or road investment to a region whose main product is maize. Traditional cost-benefit analysis estimates the effect of in-vestments on net income assuming that the investment is not large enough to influence market prices. However, a different approach is needed when the investment affects market prices and/or there is an interest in other outcomes such as poverty reduction. This report describes an approach to estimating the impact of commodity-specific agricultural investments on income, poverty, and other measures of welfare. This approach can be extended to identify the optimal allocation of an investment budget across commodities subject to a given objective function. For example, it could be used to allocate agricultural research funds across commodities to maximize income, poverty reduction, or a weighted average of the two. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, agriculture, investment, models, poverty, income, welfare, economic growth, commodities, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:3&r= |
| By: | Chiwuzie Augustina; Daniel Ibrahim Dabara; Adebayo Olusegun Ogunba; Olusegun Joseph Omotehinshe |
| Abstract: | Purpose: This study examined the nexus between land tenure security (LTS) and food security (FS) in female-led households of Tula agrarian settlements.Design/Methodology: The study used a qualitative research design, which was based on the constructivist paradigm. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with female household heads cutting across the three 'yaati' (villages) of Tula Baule. Analysis of data collected from the interviews was done employing transcriptions, creation of semantic networks and employing thematic content analysis.Findings: The study revealed that all but few respondents believed that they had LTS based on “Feloh’s” (ancestral gods) supremacy without recourse to documentary evidence of ownership. Similarly, all but few participants do not have access to three square meal per day throughout the study period. The study also found a strong relationship between LTS and FS in the study area.Practical Implication: It provides an empirical base to equip policymakers with valuable information for making policies relating to female's access to land and food in agrarian settlements.Originality/Value: This study is one of the first to empirically analyse in an eclectic context land and food security in female-led agrarian households of Tula, Nigeria. |
| Keywords: | Access to land; female-led household; food sustainability; gender equality; land tenure; Tula. |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2021–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afr:wpaper:2021-020&r= |
| By: | Laborde Debucquet, David; Parent, Marie; Piñeiro, Valeria |
| Abstract: | This report answers the question: “What guidelines can be used to identify the types of agricultural investments that have the highest economic return, where “agriculture†is broadly defined to include primary production, handling, storage, transportation, distribution, processing, and retailing?†Using the literature and MCC’s ERR analyses, we explain how agricultural investments fit in a wider development context, identify information useful to MCC’s decision making that is not provided by the ERR analyses, and suggest IFPRI tools for exploratory and ex-ante evaluative analysis that MCC can use in their decision-making process. |
| Keywords: | ETHIOPIA, EAST AFRICA, MALAWI, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, models, poverty, income, policies, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:4&r= |
| By: | Martin, Will |
| Abstract: | Agricultural development is crucial in developing countries, and particularly in the poorest countries where it accounts for large shares of employment and income and whose poverty is due simply to having a large share of the workforce in low-productivity agriculture. Raising productivity in agriculture is critically important for development, as is smoothly moving workers out of agriculture into more productive employment in other sectors. Raising agricultural productivity helps both to raise incomes and to reduce poverty-both by raising the incomes of poor people working in agriculture and by lowering the prices of foods that make up a disproportionately large share of the expenditures of poor people. In small and open economies, the in-crease in profitability of agriculture following improvements in productivity might tend to retain or even attract workers into agriculture. By contrast, at a global level, or at national level when policy focusses on self-sufficiency, improvements in agricultural productivity will free up labor for employment in other sectors. Incomes are generally much higher in non-agricultural work in developing countries-more than double those in agriculture after careful adjustment for key differences. This raises the possibility of a double dividend from structural transformation as workers move into higher-productivity activities. A key question for development policy is whether it is enough to simply evaluate the gains from higher productivity within agriculture, or whether potential benefits from structural change be included as well. This paper examines the arguments on this question. It concludes that these dividends may be substantial-but whether they are or not depends on the source of the initial differences in productivity and on the direction of movement when agricultural productivity rises. If it results from policy barriers such as restrictions on the transfer of farmland or requirements for residence permits in urban areas, there are likely to be substantial welfare gains when labor moves out of agriculture. They may also be substantial if urban wages are artificially high and attract substantial numbers of job-waiters into unemployment. However, these gains may be illusory if the income gaps arise primarily from differences in skills or from reluctance to move created by asset fixity. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, agriculture, investment, models, poverty, agricultural productivity, economic growth, income, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:1&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Azzarri, Carlo; Ahn, Hee Eun |
| Abstract: | This document summarizes published and grey literature on conceptual framework on the link between child nutrition and economic growth, determinants of child undernutrition, types of investments to enhance maternal and child nutrition, and linkages between urbanization and child nutrition. Several in-sights emerge from the review. First, and despite progresses over the last several decades, maternal and child malnutrition is still prevalent in developing countries and the progress has been uneven. While the percentage of chronically malnourished (stunted) children declined across the developing world, the number of stunted children in Africa increased due to slower reduction in stunting prevalence and population growth. Many developing countries are experiencing the coexistence of different forms of malnutrition including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition. Second, child undernutrition, especially stunting during the first 1,000 days of life, has several short- and long-term effects on individuals and economies that include impaired cognitive and non-cognitive development, poor educational performance, low productivity and earnings, and higher healthcare costs. Third, the determinants of child undernutrition are broadly classified as the immediate determinants including dietary intake and diseases; the underlying determinants that include household food security, quality of care and household living environment, and access to healthcare; and the basic determinants that include access to productive resources, stock of capital, as well as socioeconomic, political and cultural factors. Investments to enhance child nutrition can target either the immediate determinants (known as nutrition-specific investments) or the underlying determinants (known as nutrition-sensitive investments). Fourth, the effect of urbanization on child nutrition is mostly determined by the extent to which urban settlements offer their residents with better economic opportunities (e.g., better paying jobs and markets for nutritious food) and services (e.g., healthier living environments). Fifth, given the multilayer causes of child undernutrition, a multi-sectoral approach is needed to address the various determinants of undernutrition to improve maternal nutrition, promote optimal infant and young child feeding practices, enhance household food security, as well as improve healthy living environment and access to quality health care. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, investment, poverty, income, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, stunting, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:6&r= |
| By: | Martin, Will |
| Abstract: | A first step in evaluating the effects of agricultural investments in developing countries to recognize that policy makers will almost certainly have multiple objectives. Even policy makers like those at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, with a strong focus on ensuring that interventions contribute to growth, also have a keen interest in poverty reduction and other goals such as enhancing gender equity. This presence of multiple goals has profound impacts on the choice of policies and mean it is likely that more than one policy instrument will be needed to best achieve those goals. Once the goals of policy have been identified, the next step is to identify possible policy instruments to help in achieving these goals. These potential policy instruments will likely include some policy reforms like adjustments to trade policies that are relatively easy to implement, whose impacts are relatively easy to analyze and whose implications for fiscal revenues may be slight. They may also include re-forms to the ways that policies are identified and implemented, such as moves from centralized policy making to community driven development, designed to align policies more strongly with needs in the communities affected. They are also likely to include investment projects with substantial revenue requirements that seek to rectify market failures in areas such as the provision of public goods or the internalization of externalities. Constraints Analyses are an important part of the MCC approach to identifying and evaluating interventions using the Hausmann, Rodrik and Velasco growth diagnostic approach (HRV). This seeks to identify areas in which substantial progress can be made at limited cost by identifying key omissions in cur-rent policies. Their famous, and useful, analogy to a barrel with a short stave whose lengthening can increase the water level in the barrel at minimum cost helps grasp the essence of this approach. It deals with situations where inefficiencies in past policy making, and/or changes in circumstances mean that disproportionately large benefits are obtainable at low cost. |
| Keywords: | WORLD, agriculture, investment, models, poverty, income, policies, support measures, welfare, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:2&r= |
| By: | Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Vincent Chatellier (SMART-LERECO - 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); Luc Delaby (PEGASE - Physiologie, Environnement et Génétique pour l'Animal et les Systèmes d'Elevage [Rennes] - 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); Cécile Detang-Dessendre (CODIR - Collège de Direction - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jean-Louis Peyraud (CODIR - Collège de Direction - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Vincent Requillart (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Throughout the world, animal production faces huge sustainability challenges. The latter are exacerbated in the European Union (EU) by consumption issues linked, in particular, to the health and environmental impacts of meat consumption, and by the increasing societal concerns linked to animal welfare. Simultaneously, animal production may also provide benefits, notably from an economic and nutritional point of view. Some livestock systems, notably grass-based systems, may also offer positive climatic and environmental effects. Animal production is highly regulated in the EU, whereas the consumption of animal products is not (or very lightly) regulated. Many of the negative and positive effects are public goods that are not well taken into account by private actors and markets. Thus, there is legitimacy and scope for public policies aimed at reducing the damage and increasing the benefits of animal production and consumption. The last part of the paper explains how this could be achieved in the EU through a significantly revised and extended Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that more closely follows the principles of public economics. Public regulation principles that are proposed have a more general scope and can be adapted to other livestock contexts. |
| Abstract: | Dans le monde entier, les productions animales sont confrontées à d'énormes défis en matière de durabilité. Ces derniers sont exacerbés dans l'Union européenne (UE) par les problèmes de consommation liés, notamment, aux impacts sanitaires et environnementaux de la consommation de viande, et par les préoccupations sociétales croissantes liées au bien-être animal. Simultanément, les productions animales peuvent également présenter des avantages, notamment d'un point de vue économique et nutritionnel. Certains systèmes d'élevage, notamment les systèmes basés sur l'herbe, peuvent également avoir des effets positifs sur le climat et l'environnement. Les productions animales sont fortement réglementées dans l'UE, alors que la consommation de produits animaux ne l'est pas (ou très peu). Bon nombre des effets négatifs et positifs sont des biens publics qui ne sont pas bien pris en compte par les acteurs privés et les marchés. Il existe donc une légitimité et une marge de manœuvre pour les politiques publiques visant à réduire les dommages et à augmenter les avantages de la production et de la consommation de produits animaux. La dernière partie de l'article explique comment cet objectif pourrait être atteint dans l'UE par le biais d'une politique agricole commune (PAC) considérablement révisée et étendue qui suit de plus près les principes de l'économie publique. Les principes de régulation publique qui sont proposés ont une portée plus générale et peuvent être adaptés à d'autres contextes d'élevage. |
| Keywords: | Animal production,Animal consumption,European Union,Public regulation,Public economics,Productions animales,Consommation de produits animaux,Union européenne,Réglementation publique,Economie publique |
| Date: | 2021–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03215198&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Guo, Zhe; Arndt, Channing; Ahn, Hee Eun |
| Abstract: | Africa is experiencing a rapid growth in urban population with a billion more people expected to live in cities by 2050. The extent to which urbanization contributes to improvements in the welfare of households and individuals depends on whether it is accompanied by the creation of remunerative employment opportunities and investments on essential infrastructure and services. Specific to child nutrition, urbanization can improve nutrition through its effects on the immediate and underlying determinants that include dietary and nutrient intake, diseases, household food security, environmental sanitation, and access to health services. The direction and strength of the association between urbanization and child undernutrition is therefore an empirical matter that largely depends on the type of urban settlements. This study examines linkages between urbanization and child undernutrition in Burkina Faso. Nutrition data are obtained from the Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) con-ducted in 1998/99, 2003, and 2010. Nutritional outcomes of children 0-59 months old are measured using height-for-age z-score (HAZ), weight-for-height z-score (WHZ), and weight-for-age z-score (WAZ). Instead of relying on a binary urban-rural classification available in the DHS data, we construct two continuous indicators of urbanization based on remotely sensed data ‒ the size of urban area within 10 kilometers radius around the DHS cluster (urban extent) and the distance between the child’s DHS cluster and the boundary of the nearest urban settlement (remoteness). |
| Keywords: | BURKINA FASO, WEST AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, poverty, income, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, urbanization, rural urban relations, stunting, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:9&r= |
| By: | Thube, Sneha; Peterson, Sonja; Nachtigall, Daniel; Ellis, Jane |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews quantitative estimates of the economic and environmental benefits from different forms of international co-ordination on carbon pricing based on economic modelling studies. Forms of international co-ordination include: harmonising carbon prices (e.g. through linking carbon markets), extending the coverage of pricing schemes, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, developing international sectoral agreements, and establishing co-ordination mechanisms to mitigate carbon leakage. All forms of international co-operation on carbon pricing could deliver benefits, both economic (e.g. lower mitigation costs) and environmental (e.g. reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon leakage). There is scope to considerably increase the coverage of carbon pricing, since until 2021 only around 40% of energy-related CO2 emissions in 44 OECD and G20 countries face a carbon price. There is also significant scope to improve international co-ordination on carbon pricing: moving from unilateral carbon prices to a globally harmonized carbon price to reach the 1st round of NDC targets for 2030 can reduce global mitigation cost on average by two thirds or $229 billion. Benefits tend to be higher with broader participation of countries, broader coverage of emissions and sectors and, more ambitious policy goals. Extending carbon pricing to non-CO2 GHG could reduce global mitigation costs by up to 48%. Absolute cost savings from harmonized carbon prices increase by almost 70% in 2030 for reductions in line with the 2 °C target. Most, but not all, countries gain economic benefits from international co-operation, and these benefits vary significantly across countries and regions. Complementary measures outside co-operation on carbon pricing (e.g. technology transfers) could potentially ensure that co-operation provides economic benefits for all countries. |
| Keywords: | climate change mitigation,harmonizing carbon pricing,fossil fuel subsidy reforms,border carbon adjustment,greenhouse gas mitigation,sectoral agreements,climate-economy-modelling |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:248648&r= |
| By: | Douadia Bougherara (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UMR 5211 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Pierre Courtois (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UMR 5211 - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Maia David (ECO-PUB - Economie Publique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech); Joakim Weill (UC Davis - University of California [Davis] - University of California) |
| Abstract: | If individuals have spatially dierentiated preferences for sites or areas im- 8 pacted by an invasive alien species, eective management must take this 9 heterogeneity into account and target sites or areas accordingly. In this 10 paper, we estimate spatially dierentiated preferences for the management 11 of primrose willow (Ludwigia grandiora), an invasive weed spreading in a 12 French regional park. We use an original spatially explicit discrete choice 13 experiment to evaluate individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) to control the 14 invasion in dierent areas of the regional park. Our results indicate that 15 WTP for management highly depends on the area considered, with areas 16 where it is three times higher than others. We analyze the main factors 17 explaining the heterogeneity of preferences and show that the closer respo n-18 dents live to the park, the more they visit and/or practice activities in it, the 19 higher their WTP and spatial preferences. Park residents and regular users 20 have highWTP and unambiguous preferences for targeting control to specic 21 areas. Non-residents and occasional users have much lower WTP and more 22 homogeneous spatial preferences. These results suggest that implementing 23 management strategies that spatially target invasion control according to 24 public preferences is likely to produce signicant utility gains. These gains 25 are all the more important as the preferences taken into account are those of the stakeholders directly concerned by the invasion, the residents and reg-27 ular park users. Ignoring these spatial preferences will lead to sub-optimal 28 invasion management. |
| Keywords: | Public preferences.,Discrete choice experiments,Spatial heterogeneity,Cost assess- 30 ment,Primrose willow,Invasive weed |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03476692&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Ru, Yating; Ahn, Hee Eun |
| Abstract: | Despite progresses made over the last several decades, the prevalence of child malnutrition re-mains alarmingly high. About 149 million children under the age of five years old were stunted (too short for their age) in 2018, of which 55% and 39% lived in Asia and Africa, respectively. Malnourished children, especially stunted ones, may never achieve their full cognitive and non-cognitive potential with implications for their educational and labor market performance among other things. Malnutrition results from several interlinked factors operating at child, parental, household, and landscape level such as inadequate maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy and at the time of lactation, suboptimal breastfeeding practices, lack of nutritious complementary foods, and unhealthy living environments. This study analyzes the correlates of child undernutrition in rural Africa South of the Sahara (SSA) – a region with the least progress in tackling undernutrition. |
| Keywords: | AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, income, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, stunting, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:8&r= |
| By: | Julia M. Puaschunder (The New School, Department of Economics, Eugene Lang College, New York, NY 10003, USA) |
| Abstract: | The climate change crisis has gained unprecedented urgency in the most recent decade. Overall, climate change has already led to and will continuously lead to environmental tipping points and irreversible lock-ins that will decrease the overall productivity and common welfare. When taking a closer look at the macroeconomic growth prospects as measured in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per country, a changing climate will affect countries differently, when considering different mean temperatures but also differences in the GDP sector composition per country and a differing peak temperature at which a GDP sector can be most productive. In the first economic ‘classic’ theories of Adam Smith, Thomas Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, Karl Marx and Joseph Schumpeter land productivity was considered as an underlying growth driver. In the evolution of Modern Growth Theory (MGT), these theories and insights got abandoned. With climate change pressuring economic productivity and the rising impact of global warming expected to determine economic output more and more so in the future, this paper calls for a reintegration of climate and temperature into standard growth theory. In light of the enormous effect of temperature and climate on economic productivity that is likely to rise in the years to come but also with reference to the highly unequally distributed economic winning and losing prospects in-between countries and over time, this article argues for an integration of temperature and climate in contemporary Growth Theory, called Climate Growth Theory. Micro- and macroeconomic attempts to integrate productivity differences between countries based on energy supply, climate and overall favorable working conditions will be presented alongside most recent models to integrate temperature and climate into macroeconomic growth models and sustainable consumption patterns. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Economics of the Environment, Endogenous Growth Theory, Energy, Environmental Governance, Environmental Justice, Exogenous Growth Theory, Green New Deal, Intergenerational Equity, Monetary Policy, Multiplier, Non-renewable energy, Renewable energy, Sustainability |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:lpaper:0084&r= |
| By: | Tanya Suhoy (Bank of Israel); Maayan Tropper-Wachtel (Bank of Israel) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we attempt to quantify the impact of climate change on future electricity demand in Israel, based on CORDEX-AFRICA high-resolution climate simulations made under two Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios (hereinafter: RCP 4.5 and 8.5), and further downscaled by the Israeli Meteorological Service (hereinafter: IMS) with regard to location of Israeli meteorological stations. We provide first estimates of this impact by comparing load forecasts based on RCP 4.5 and 8.5 with their counterparts based on historically observed temperatures, properly bootstrapped under an assumption of no warming trend. We employ two methodological approaches: the first is based on dose-response functions and allows us to estimate the relationship between daily peak loads and daily maximum temperatures in a form comparable across countries. This provides evidence of a higher sensitivity of Israeli peak loads to rising temperatures compared to hot areas in other developed countries, such as Texas or the Australian states. The second approach employs an hourly-load econometric model for Israel. With the present sensitivity level, we predict an increment of 2.5%/4.1% in Israeli summer daily peak loads toward 2050, and 5.3%/11.6% by the end of century under RCP 4.5/8.5 relative to the baseline scenario, which does not assume global warming. According to the hourly model, the expected effect on summer daily peak loads is more significant than on average daily loads. For winter months, we predict a negative effect on daily peak loads, gradually reaching 3.0%/5.0% by the end of century under RCP 4.5/8.5. We also show that future annual maximum loads are likely to come from the summer months. Using temperature simulations downscaled by different IMS stations, we evaluate regional patterns of climate change impact and map spacial effects relative to the country mean. |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boi:wpaper:2021.17&r= |
| By: | Hirvonen, Kalle; Rosenbach, Gracie; Spielman, David J. |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic and the economic policy measures taken to prevent its spread led to a global recession in 2020 that was expected to cause significant increases in poverty and food insecurity in many countries. Households were expected to experience a “double whammy†of decreased incomes and rising food prices. This policy note examines whether food prices rose in Rwanda since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020. The main findings from this price analysis suggest the following. • Food prices did not significantly rise (or fall) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda. • Prices of staple foods (cereals and other starches) declined following the pandemic’s onset in March 2020, while the prices of pulses (the second largest food consumption group in Rwanda after staple foods) experienced a seasonal spike at the end of 2021, but returned to below pre-pandemic levels throughout 2021. • For most food groups, price trends in each province generally followed the national price trends during the pandemic, with the exception of poultry and eggs. • Nationally, prices of poultry and eggs declined after the beginning of the pandemic, but these prices vary significantly by province, with prices in the Northern Province remaining above pre-pandemic levels and prices in all other provinces falling since the pandemic, with prices in Kigali City falling the most. Overall, these results suggest that households in Rwanda were not hit by the “double whammy†of decreased incomes and rising food prices, since food prices remained stable Rather, they may instead have only suffered from decreased incomes. These findings suggest that continued efforts to expand Rwanda’s social protection programs are needed to boost household purchasing power and ensure that households are able to consume more – and more nutritious – foods. |
| Keywords: | RWANDA, CENTRAL AFRICA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, Coronavirus, coronavirus disease, Coronavirinae, COVID-19, income, household income, food prices, social protection, lockdown, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:rssppn:3&r= |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This report assesses the potential of zero carbon supply chains via a case study of the freight transport chain linked to the port of Hamburg. It analyses the initiatives taken by selected main stakeholders to decarbonise freight transport. In addition, it offers recommendations on how the move towards zero carbon supply chains could be accelerated. |
| Date: | 2021–06–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaab:91-en&r= |
| By: | Haile, Beliyou; Arndt, Channing; Ru, Yating; Alderman, Harold; Puett, Chloe |
| Abstract: | Childhood undernutrition manifests itself in various ways including stunting, wasting, underweight, and micronutrient deficiencies. Stunting (being too short for the child’s age) captures a state of linear growth retardation and cumulative growth impairment due to chronic nutritional deficiency and illness that deprive a fetus and child of required nutrients. Despite the global decline in stunting prevalence by over 25% since 1990, an estimated 22% of the 150 million children are currently stunted with significant regional and within region disparity. Stunting is largely an irreversible outcome that stifles individuals from fulfilling their full development and economic potential. It increases the risk of impaired brain development with implications for cognitive and non-cognitive functions, educational performance, productivity, and chronic diseases later in life. It also increases the frequency and severity of exposure to common infections with one in seven under 5 deaths linked to it. Stunting and other forms of undernutrition costs countries billions of dollars in lost revenue and healthcare outlays. This report presents results from a cost benefit analysis (CBA) of a package of nutrition-specific investments studied as part of The Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Undernutrition and Copenhagen Consensus exercise. The investments tackle the immediate causes of child undernutrition ─ inadequate intake of nutrients, diseases, and infections and include behavior change communication programs to promote breastfeeding and complementary feeding; supplementation of crucial micronutrients to pregnant women and young children; provision of complementary foods to children; and management of severe acute malnutrition. We focus on two developing regions with the highest burden of stunting globally ─ Southern Asia and Africa South of the Sahara (SSA). Economic benefits are modelled for a cohort of children born between 2015 and 2030 who will join the workforce at 18 years of age and retire when 60 years old. Two benefit streams (the value of avoided premature child mortality and lifetime earnings gains) and two costs elements (the cost of the nutrition investments and of delivering schooling) are considered. Benefit-cost (BC) ratios are estimated under alternative scenarios based on the returns to stunting reductions and cost elements considered. Besides discount rates previously used in the nutrition and economics literature (between 3% and 6%), we consider a 10% discount rate used by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) for the sake of comparability of economic returns to these nutritional investments with that of other sectoral investments by MCC. |
| Keywords: | SOUTH ASIA, ASIA, AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA, AFRICA, agriculture, investment, poverty, economic growth, nutrition, child nutrition, child health, malnutrition, stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifpmcc:7&r= |
| By: | Margarita Gáfaro; Ana María Ibáñez; Patricia Justino |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how armed groups affect the organization of local communities during armed conflict in Colombia. We estimate the effect of communities' exposure to armed groups with an econometric specification that takes into account individual and municipality-year fixed effects and an instrumental variable approach that exploits variations in the presence of armed groups in rural communities induced by the peace negotiations with members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People's Army. |
| Keywords: | Armed conflict, Institutions, Colombia |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2022-2&r= |
| By: | Derstappen, Rebecca; Efken, Josef |
| Keywords: | Marketing, Livestock Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305614&r= |
| By: | Jaeger, Lena-Christin; Höhler Julia |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305609&r= |
| By: | John M. Crespi (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University); Stéphan Marette |
| Abstract: | While there is much discussion about the need for viable carbon credit markets with well-defined credible certification, there is also a need to consider the impacts of the costs of certification on the structure of those markets. This policy brief provides background to the consideration of how certification costs might influence the industrial structure of the certification industry and how firms compete with each other. |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:22-pb37&r= |
| By: | Chen, Hsi-Chun; Knierim, Andrea |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2020–09–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi20:305593&r= |