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on Agricultural Economics |
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Issue of 2019‒02‒11
seventeen papers chosen by |
| By: | Hai Ho; Lien Pham; Tien Du; Xuan Quach |
| Abstract: | Traditionally, agricultural cooperatives in developing countries focus their support solely on agricultural production, often overlooking marketing and trading activities. In many cases, this results in a mismatch between supply and demand and increases the risk of bankruptcy among cooperatives. This is true for many cooperatives in Vietnam, including those from the rural district of Hoa Vang in Da Nang City. At present, there are 43 agricultural cooperatives in Da Nang, 18 of which are located in Hoa Vang. Their products include rice, vegetables like cucumber, fruits, mushroom, meat, fishes, eggs, sesame, and ornamentals like flowers and bonsai plants. Like many others, these cooperatives do not provide support to its farmer members for trading their produce. Farmers, thus, have to rely on their own limited capacity to sell their products, usually in the local markets or restaurants. This significantly affects their productivity, as farmers do not feel confident about increasing production. It also affects the cooperatives’ branding because consumers cannot distinguish between local and sustainably produced or clean agricultural products from others. Therefore, it is important to build the capacities of cooperatives and its farmer members in terms of marketing and trading their agricultural products. It is in this context that the project titled “Enhancing the Marketing Capacity of Agricultural Cooperatives in Hoa Vang District, Da Nang City of Vietnam†was proposed. The project aimed to increase the income of farmers and ensure food safety for local residents and tourists in Da Nang through the sustainable supply of “clean†agricultural products. Clean products, in the context of this project, pertains to the produce from farmers who practice Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and do not apply chemical fertilizers or pest control. The outcomes of this project were envisioned to solve not just the current difficulties of cooperatives in HoaVang, but also for agricultural cooperatives elsewhere. |
| Keywords: | cooperatives, marketing capacity, marketing, GAP, Vietnam |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sag:seadps:2018:425&r=all |
| By: | Rowena Ezpranza D. Cabahug; Romnick S. Baliton; Leila D. Landicho; Reynaldo A. Comia; Roselyn F. Paelmo |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights the results of a year-long research, which looked at the food security potentials of agroforestry systems in selected upland communities in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, and Quezon in the Philippines. It characterized the different agroforestry models and systems practiced by the smallholder farmers and assessed their current state in terms of social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Data gathered through transect mapping and farm visits revealed that majority of smallholder farmers in the research sites practiced agroforestry, but with varied components. Alley cropping and contour planting are the dominant agroforestry systems in Nueva Vizcaya; vegetable-based and coffee-based multistorey system are more common in Benguet; and vegetable-based multistorey systems are widely practiced in Quezon. Meanwhile, the agrobiodiversity assessment indicated that the diversity of agroforestry systems in the three study sites are low to moderate. This implies the need to improve the present agroforestry practices into more diverse systems. The analysis revealed that farmers in the three study sites have moderate to high levels of food security. However, smallholder farmers engaged in agroforestry and multiple cropping have higher levels of food security, compared with those engaged in monocropping and relay cropping. This shows that agroforestry systems help ensure food security by making multiple food products and farm components available throughout the year, at the same time, providing income for purchasing other food items. Agroforestry systems also contribute to ecological stability as it promotes biodiversity and carbon sequestration, which can significantly contribute toward climate change mitigation. The ecological and socioeconomic contributions of agroforestry provide firm basis to continuously promote agroforestry in any upland development program implemented by the government and non-government sectors. |
| Keywords: | agroforestry, sustainable development, food security, upland farms, food accessibility, food utilization, Philippines |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sag:seadps:2018:410&r=all |
| By: | Uduji, Joseph; Okolo-Obasi, Elda; Asongu, Simplice |
| Abstract: | Transforming agriculture from a largely subsistence enterprise to a profitable commercial venture is both a prerequisite and a driving force for accelerated development and sustainable growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this investigation is to assess the impact of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) e-wallet programme on informal farm entrepreneurship development in rural Nigeria. Informal sector farmers are those that are not legally registered at the national level though could be connected to a registered association. The research is motivated by the absence of literature focusing on the problem statement or objective of study. One thousand, one hundred and fifty-two rural farmers were sampled across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Results from the use of a bivariate probit model indicate that the mobile phone-based technology via the e-wallet programme is a critical factor that has enhanced farm entrepreneurship in rural Nigeria. However, results also show that the impact of mobile phones (as a channel to accessing and using modern agricultural inputs) is contingent on how mobile networks are able to link farmers who live in rural areas and work mainly in farming. The results suggest that increasing mobile phone services in rural Nigeria enhances farmers’ knowledge, information and adoption of improved farm inputs and by extension, spurs rural informal sector economic activities in sub-Saharan Africa. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Informal sector’s adoption, electronic wallet technologies, rural farmers’ entrepreneurship, Nigeria, developing countries |
| JEL: | L96 O40 O55 Q10 Q14 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:91999&r=all |
| By: | Esther Boere (IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis); Aline Mosnier (IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis); Géraldine Bocqueho (BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Alessandra Garbero (FIDA - Fonds International de Développement Agricole); Tamás Krisztin (IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis); Petr Havlik (IIASA - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis); Thomas Elhaut (FIDA - Fonds International de Développement Agricole) |
| Abstract: | Smallholder farms are often the focus of strategies to reduce poverty, inequality and hunger. They are also a very diverse group, leading to calls for more context-specific strategies to support smallholder farms. Until recently, a lack of both household and macro-level data prevented policymaking tailored to the context of smallholder farms, i.e. what types of farms at what locations may benefit most from, for example, better irrigation infrastructures, intensification or improved access to markets? Increased effort to collect more information at different scales and scopes enables us to systematically establish the context in which smallholder farms operate. The objective of this study is to combine household survey, agricultural census and land cover data to analyse food security and poverty at the micro (farm) and macro (regional and country) levels. To do so, the study developed a novel methodology that combines different data sources to establish country-wide farm typologies that enable an analysis of poverty and food security that is both farm-system specific and spatially explicit. To test our methodology, we analysed the poverty and food security situation of Ethiopian smallholder farms. Our results show that the combination of activities and agroecological zone largely determined the food security situation of the farm. In terms of poverty, all farms were below the poverty line; in particular, pure livestock farms operating in poor biophysical conditions exhibited low market interactions and high incidence of poverty. The farming-system- and location-specific poverty and food security indicators developed in this study provide guidance for better targeting of policy strategies. |
| Keywords: | economic analysis,analyse économique,sécurité alimentaire,typologie d'exploitation |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01982728&r=all |
| By: | Xyrus Godfrey Capiña; Shun-Nan Chiang |
| Abstract: | International development is undergoing a paradigm shift from a focus on hunger to an increased focus on the coexistence of multiple forms of malnutrition. The comparison between the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) embodies this paradigm shift. Published in 2000, MDG set the first goal as "eradicate extreme poverty and hunger." Under this goal, one of the main targets is to reduce half of the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. In contrast, when UN published SDG in 2015, the issue of hunger is separated with poverty and put under the second goal—"end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture." |
| Keywords: | food access, food supply, diversity, nutrition security, food security, food system, Global |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sag:sepoln:2018:419&r=all |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | The federal crop insurance program helps protect agricultural producers from losses by offering insurance for their crops—principally corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton. Federal spending on the program has averaged about $9 billion annually over the past five years. That spending has mostly gone toward premium subsidies for agricultural producers; a smaller portion reimburses private insurance companies for the administrative and operating costs of providing crop insurance. The government also shares in those companies’ losses and gains from the policies. |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2017–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:53375&r=all |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) offers flood insurance and promotes floodplain management. CBO’s analysis of 5 million policies in effect in August 2016 showed that the NFIP’s expected one-year costs exceeded annual premiums (including fees and assessments paid by policyholders) by $1.4 billion. That shortfall stemmed primarily from premiums’ falling short of expected costs in coastal counties, which account for three-quarters of all NFIP policies nationwide. |
| JEL: | Q54 Q58 H42 G22 |
| Date: | 2017–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:53028&r=all |
| By: | Nova A. Ramos; Maria Monina Cecilia A. Villena; Mariliza V. Ticsay; Maria Celeste H. Cadiz |
| Abstract: | The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture’s (SEARCA) current five-year plan, its tenth, focuses on inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development (ISARD), described as a scheme and approach of engaging multiple stakeholders toward improving the well-being of the rural poor through their improved natural resource-based livelihoods along with supportive systems and institutions that contribute to food and nutrition security of the wider population beyond present generations. Along ISARD emphases on environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and institutions and governance, SEARCA as a knowledge managing institution with a capacity building mandate, promotes adaptive and social learning, knowledge sharing and use, and knowledge creation with a deliberate effort to capture, store, and make explicit the tangible knowledges generated by its scholars, researchers, and partners. |
| Keywords: | KM, SEARCA, Southeast Asia |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sag:seadps:2018:396&r=all |
| By: | Cohen, Jeffrey P. (University of Connecticut); Coughlin, Cletus C. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); Zabel, Jeffrey (Tufts University) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we develop and apply a new methodology for obtaining accurate and equitable property value assessments. This methodology adds a time dimension to the Geographically Weighted Regressions (GWR) framework, which we call Time-Geographically Weighted Regressions (TGWR). That is, when generating assessed values, we consider sales that are close in time and space to the designated unit. We think this is an important improvement of GWR since this increases the number of comparable sales that can be used to generate assessed values. Furthermore, it is likely that units that sold at an earlier time but are spatially near the designated unit are likely to be closer in value than units that are sold at a similar time but farther away geographically. This is because location is such an important determinant of house value. We apply this new methodology to sales data for residential properties in 50 municipalities in Connecticut for 1994-2013 and 145 municipalities in Massachusetts for 1987-2012. This allows us to compare results over a long time period and across municipalities in two states. We find that TGWR performs better than OLS with fixed effects and leads to less regressive assessed values than OLS. In many cases, TGWR performs better than GWR that ignores the time dimension. In at least one specification, several suburban and rural towns meet the IAAO Coefficient of Dispersion cutoffs for acceptable accuracy. |
| Keywords: | geographically weighted regression; assessment; property value; coefficient of dispersion; price-related differential |
| JEL: | C14 H71 R31 R51 |
| Date: | 2019–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2019-005&r=all |
| By: | Patricia I. Ritter (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Child obesity in developing countries is growing at an alarming pace. This study investigates whether expanding access to piped water at home can contribute to stopping this epidemic. It exploits experimental data from Morocco and longitudinal data from the Philippines and finds that access to piped water at home reduces childhood obesity rates. This study further shows that the effect seems to be generated by a re-duction in the consumption of food prepared outside the home. Finally, the study shows that the effect of access to piped water on healthy nu-tritional status is hidden, when access to piped water at home reduces diarrhea prevalence, since this in turn increases BMI. |
| Keywords: | Obesity, diarrhea, piped water, soft drinks, food prepared outside the home |
| JEL: | I12 I18 H41 O12 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2019-02&r=all |
| By: | Bostedt, Göran (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Zabel, Astrid (School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences); Ekvall, Hans (Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) |
| Abstract: | A tax-fund system has been proposed to advance Swedish forest conservation. We present a choice experiment with Swedish private forest owners on preferences for attributes of a tax-fund system. Focusing on three aspects: (i) freedom to choose set-asides, (ii) equity issues, and (iii) frequency of nature inventories, we find two groups of forest owners. The first is opposed to interventions that could curtail liberty and oppose frequent nature inventories, while a smaller group would derive positive utility from joint decision-making. A tax-fund system would need to be designed in a participatory manner to reconcile forest owners, forest industry, and conservationists. |
| Keywords: | Choice experiments; biodiversity; boreal forest; landscape planning; Sweden |
| JEL: | Q23 Q28 Q51 Q58 |
| Date: | 2019–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2019_001&r=all |
| By: | Uduji, Joseph; Okolo-Obasi, Elda; Asongu, Simplice |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of the federal government of Nigeria’s (FGN) growth enhancement support scheme (GESS) on responsible use of crop protection products (CPPs) in rural Nigeria. Results from the use of logistic regressions show that GESS significantly impact on farmers’ access to CPPs, but does not significantly impact on farmers’ knowledge and skill of CPP application, and in several cases the misuse has led to deterioration of soil fertility. Findings suggests that embracing information on recommended CPPs, dose rates, dilutions, timing, frequency of applications and precautions should form the foundation of GESS activity attributable to CPPs in sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Keywords: | Growth enhancement support scheme; crop protection products; Mobile technology; Smallholder farmers; Rural Nigeria |
| JEL: | L96 O40 O55 Q10 Q14 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:91985&r=all |
| By: | Tristan Le Cotty (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Elodie Maitre d'Hotel (UMR MOISA - Marchés, Organisations, Institutions et Stratégies d'Acteurs - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - Montpellier SupAgro - Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques - INRA Montpellier - Institut national de la recherche agronomique [Montpellier] - CIHEAM - Centre International des Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Raphaël Soubeyran (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier); Julie Subervie (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - FRE2010 - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Montpellier SupAgro - Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | In January 2013, we collected data from 653 farmers in Burkina Faso, whowere asked hypothetical questions about risk aversion and time discounting. Ten months later, these farmers were offered the opportunity to participate in an inventory credit system, also called warrantage, in which they receive a loan in exchange for storing a portion of their harvest as a physical guarantee in one of the newly-built warehouses of the program. We found that farmers who exhibit stronger hyperbolic preferences are significantly more likely to participate in the warrantage system than other, otherwise similar, farmers. We interpret this result as evidence that farmers use warrantage as a means to commit to saving a portion of their crop until the lean season, which may improve their capacity to ensure the food security of their household |
| Keywords: | inventory credit,commitment savings,hyperbolic discounting. |
| Date: | 2018–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01947421&r=all |
| By: | Treich, Nicolas |
| Abstract: | Economics is not interested in animals. The object of this paper is to stimulate research in economics about animals and about veganism. By veganism, we mean all types of behaviors which consist in modifying (and not only eliminating) the use and the consumption of animals for moral reasons. We propose a selective introduction to the topic, focused on meat consumption and on the treatment of farm animals. Meat is at the crossroads nowadays because of its health and environmental externalities, and because of the rise of vegetarianism in developed countries. The economics of veganism –or veganomics– can help better understand the behavior of consumers (omnivores, flexitarians, vegetarians) as well as its implications for the strategies of producers, animal activists and policy makers, and in turn better understand a world in which the relation between humans and animals can profoundly evolve. |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:33321&r=all |
| By: | Asche, Frank (Institute for Sustainable Food Systems and School of Forestry Resources and Conservation, University); Gaasland, Ivar (Department of Economics, BI Norwegian Business School); Straume, Hans-Martin (* Department of Economics, BI Norwegian Business School); Vårdal, Erling (University of Bergen, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | While variation in unit value most commonly has been associated with quality in the trade literature, observed differences in prices between markets might also be explained by variation in market concentration and the degree of competition. Using transaction data on Norwegian exports of salmon, we introduce a Herfindahl index as a measure of competition in a standard gravity model. We find that competition typically is weaker in small and distant markets that due to high trade costs are served by relatively few firms. We argue that the anti-competitive impact of trade costs may explain price differentiation between markets even for homogeneous products. |
| Keywords: | Gravity; Trade costs; Market concentration; Salmon |
| JEL: | C13 F14 Q22 |
| Date: | 2018–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bergec:2018_011&r=all |
| By: | Carlén, Ola (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Bostedt, Göran (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Brännlund, Runar (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Persson, Lars (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics) |
| Abstract: | Data from a unique nationwide recreational fishing survey in Sweden is used to estimate benefits of recreational fishing in Sweden, differences between regions and age groups, and how they relate to expected catch. The data targets the whole Swedish population, and as a consequence a large fraction of zero fishing days exists in the sample. To consider this, a zero-inflated Poisson model was used. Swedes fished around 16 million days in 2013, of which two-thirds was spent on inland fishing, and one third was spent on marine and costal fishing. Expected consumer surplus per fishing day vary over the season, from about SEK 23 for winter fishing, to SEK 148 for summer fishing. The highest consumer surplus values are found among the youngest and the oldest age groups that were surveyed. Expected catch is an important determinant for number of fishing days, but catch increases mainly influence summer fishing. |
| Keywords: | Consumer surplus; Recreational fishing; TCM; ZIP-model |
| JEL: | Q22 Q26 Q51 |
| Date: | 2019–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2019_002&r=all |
| By: | Bernice Anne C. Darvin; Paul S. Teng |
| Abstract: | Abstract Food availability is an important dimension of a country’s food security. At the regional level, the latter requires a balance between food production and trade. In Southeast Asia, “rice security†is generally equated to food security. Hence, rice is a good starting point for analyzing food reserve management and policies in the region. For many millennia, public stockpiling has been a popular strategy adopted for mitigating instability in the food supply. Building up of reserves has been a common component of food policies around the world. This policy paper, which draws substantially from the findings of the research project “Food Reserves: A Comparative Study on Food Reserve Management and Policies in Southeast Asia,†compares the experiences and challenges in public food stockpiling of selected Southeast Asian countries, and provides actions and recommendations on how to make food stockpiling a viable strategy toward achieving food security at the national and regional levels.  |
| Keywords: | rice security, stockpiling, food reserve, food availability, food, Southeast Asia |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sag:seappr:2018:426&r=all |