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NEP: New Economics Papers
Agricultural Economics
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Edited by: Angelo Zago
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pza49.html
Universita degli Studi di Verona
Date: 2006-03-25
Papers: 27
This document is in the public domain, feel free to circulate it.
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In this issue we have:
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1. The family farm in a globalizing world
Lipton, Michael
2. Livelihood diversification and rural-urban linkages in
Vietnam's Red River Delta
Thanh, Hoang Xuan; Anh, Dang Nguyen; Tacoli, Cecilia
3. Commercializing Small Farms: Reducing Transaction Costs
Prabhu Pingali; Yasmeen Khwaja; Madelon Meijer
4. Farmers' rights and protection of traditional agricultural
knowledge
Brush, Stephen B.
5. Transaction Costs, Institutions and Smallholder Market
Integration: Potato Producers in Peru
Irini Maltsoglou; Aysen Tanyeri-Abur
6. The Changing Structure of Pork Trade, Production, and
Processing in Mexico
Bruce A. Babcock; Chad E. Hart
7. From the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution: How will
the Poor Fare?
Prabhu Pingali; Terri Raney
8. Institutional innovations towards gender equity in
agrobiodiversity management
Padmanabhan, Martina Aruna
9. Measuring Technical Efficiency of Wheat Farmers in Egypt
Andr? Croppenstedt
10. Household Income Structure and Determinants in Rural Egypt
Andr? Croppenstedt
11. THE PRICE IMPACT OF ADOPTING THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY
IN ESTONIA: ESTIMATED VERSUS ACTUAL EFFECTS
Kristina Toming
12. Collective action for the conservation of on-farm genetic
diversity in a center of crop diversity
Badstue, Lone B.; Bellon, Mauricio R.; Berthaud, Julien;
Ram?rez, Alejandro; Flores, Dagoberto; Ju?rez, X?chitl;
Ram?rez, Fabiola
13. Non-Parametric Analysis of Technical Efficiency: Factors
Affecting Efficiency of West Java Rice Farms
Frantisek Brazdik
14. Water pricing and valuation in Indonesia
Rodgers, Charles; Hellegers, Petra J.G.J.
15. Farmer willingness to pay for seed-related information
Horna, J. Daniela; Smale, Melinda; von Oppen, Matthias
16. On farm conservation of rice biodiversity in Nepal
Gauchan, D.; Van Dusen, M. E.; Smale, Melinda
17. The Collective-Quality Promotion in the Agribusiness Sector:
An Overview
Stephan Marette
18. Trade liberalization and food security in Nepal
Pyakuryal, Bishwambher; Thapa, Y. B.; Roy, Devesh
19. Rural non-farm development in China and India
Mukherjee, Anit; Zhang, Xiaobo
20. Security analysis for agroterrorism
Linacre, Nicholas A.; Koo, Bonwoo; Rosegrant, Mark W.;
Msangi, Siwa; Falck-Zepeda, Jose; Gaskell, Joanne; Komen,
John; Cohen, Marc J.; Birner, Regina
21. The Regulatory Choice between a Label and a Minimum-Quality
Standard
Stephan Marette
22. Localizing demand and supply of environmental services
Swallow, Brent; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; van Noordwijk, Meine
23. Measuring Food Security Using Respondents? Perception of
Food Consumption Adequacy
Mauro Migotto; Benjamin Davis; Gero Carletto; Kathleen
Beegle
24. Food Aid: A Primer
Sarah Lowder; Terri Raney
25. Market institutions: Enhancing the Value of Rural-Urban Links
Chowdhury, Shyamal; Negassa, Asfaw; Torero, Maximo
26. Tecnhnology estimation for quality pricing in supply-chain
relationships
Angelo Zago
27. Initiatives for rural development through collective action
Kariuki, Gatarwa; Place, Frank
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1. The family farm in a globalizing world
Lipton, Michael
"The topic of family farms has been gaining prominence in the
academic, policy, and donor communities in recent years. Small
farms dominate the agricultural landscape in the developing world,
providing the largest source of employment and income to the
rural poor, yet smallholders remain highly susceptible to poverty
and hunger. With the advance of globalization and greater
integration of agricultural markets, the need for increases in
agricultural productivity for family farms is particularly
pressing. Raising productivity and output of small farmers would
not only increase their incomes and food security, but also
stimulate the rest of the economy and contribute to broad-based
food security and poverty alleviation. In this paper, Michael
Lipton builds an argument for greater focus on pro-smallholder
crop science as a key solution to generate increases in
productivity and income. Increasing the levels of investment into
agricultural technology, improving water and land use and
distribution, and creating positive incentives for developing-
country farmers come to the forefront of the paper as critical
steps that must be taken to ensure massive reduction in global
poverty. Favorable demographic trends over the next few decades
provide a window of opportunity for reforms and action that must
not be squandered." From Foreword by Joachim von Braun
Keywords: Globalization ,Poverty alleviation Developing
countries ,Rural poor ,Agricultural productivity ,
Agricultural technology ,Small farmers ,Crop science ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:2020dp:40&r=agr
2. Livelihood diversification and rural-urban linkages in
Vietnam's Red River Delta
Thanh, Hoang Xuan
Anh, Dang Nguyen
Tacoli, Cecilia
"With high population density and limited land availability,
Vietnam's Red River Delta is undergoing a major transformation as
its economic base moves away from subsistence farming towards
intensive, high-value food production for export and local urban
markets, and nonfarm employment. This paper describes the
changing livelihoods of the residents of two villages that
represent two different pathways to local economic development.
One village relies primarily on agricultural intensification and
diversification, although in combination with nonfarm activities.
These nonfarm activities are either supplementary (such as
handicraft production and seasonal migration) or related to
farming, such as provision of agricultural services, transport
and trade of agricultural produce. To a large extent, it is this
nonfarm income that allows investment in agriculture at the
household level. Residents of the second village, although
nominally still owning rice farms, have effectively moved out of
agriculture and engage almost exclusively in handicraft
production. Despite these major differences, there are also
important similarities between the two villages. First, much of
their recent economic development is linked to access to markets
? including proximity to local urban centers and to Hanoi (
where demand from urban consumers and from exporting enterprises
has increased substantially), a vastly improved road and
transport system, and an excellent communications infrastructure.
Second, each village has developed forward and backward linkages
with their main production sector. Last but not least, local
authorities have played an important role in supporting local
economic development, providing infrastructure, training for
handicraft production, and inputs for farmers. The long-term
sustainability of economic growth and poverty reduction in the
Red River Delta will largely depend on strengthening rural-urban
linkages. This includes adopting regulations on land use that
allow farmers to better respond to growing urban demand for high-
value produce; incorporate more explicitly the needs of the
handicraft micro-enterprises in existing and future policies and
plans for rural industrialization; recognize and support the role
of seasonal migration in rural local economic development; and
address the changing planning and natural resource management
needs of these urbanizing villages." Authors' Abstract
Keywords: south east asia ,East and Southeast Asia ,
Microenterprises Vietnam ,Migration, Internal ,Rural-
urban linkages ,Livelihoods ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:193&r=agr
3. Commercializing Small Farms: Reducing Transaction Costs
Prabhu Pingali (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Yasmeen Khwaja
Madelon Meijer (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Broad changes are taking place in agrifood systems worldwide.
These changes are driven by economic development, increase in per
caput incomes, changing technology and urbanization. Consumers
are changing their dietary preferences and shopping habits,
resulting in substantial organizational and institutional changes
throughout the food marketing chain. Growing concentration at all
levels is taking place, particularly in the retail sector, and
private sector standards for food quality and safety are
proliferating. Increasingly exchange is arranged through the use
of contracts. These changes have significant implications for
growth, poverty and food security. For the small farmer in
particular there are difficulties to meet the standards and
contractual requirements. They are faced with a new set of
transaction costs that emerge from dealing with a food system
characterized by different rules, regulations and players.
Increased transactions costs deter entry of small farmers into
the market. This paper looks at required interventions aimed at
reducing transaction costs to encourage increased farmer
participation in competitive markets.
Keywords: Food systems, Agricultural commercialization,
Transaction costs, Small farmers, Policy.
JEL: Q13 Q18 D23
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0508&r=agr
4. Farmers' rights and protection of traditional agricultural
knowledge
Brush, Stephen B.
"Although achieving in situ conservation is possible without
changing farmers' customary management of crops as common pool
resources, an alternative approach is to negotiate a
bioprospecting contract with providers of the resource that
involves direct payment and royalties. This bioprospecting
mechanism implies a change in the customary treatment of crop
genetic resources as common pool goods and is in line with
national ownership mandated by the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD). This paper questions the value of bioprospecting
for protecting traditional agricultural knowledge and argues for
a common pool approach. It examines the nature of crop genetic
resources and farmers' knowledge about them, and it analyzes the
nature of the ?common heritage' regime that was partly
dismantled by the Convention on Biological Diversity. The paper
reviews the implementation of access and benefit sharing schemes
under the CBD and discusses programs to recognize Farmers' Rights
that have arisen since the establishment of the CBD. It concludes
with recommendations for meeting the Farmers' Rights mandate of
the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture." Author's Abstract
Keywords: East Africa ,africa south of sahara ,Biological
diversity conservation ,Collective action ,
Bioprospecting ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:worpps:36&r=agr
5. Transaction Costs, Institutions and Smallholder Market
Integration: Potato Producers in Peru
Irini Maltsoglou
Aysen Tanyeri-Abur
The paper analyses the impacts of transaction costs on the
degree of household market integration using survey data
collected from smallholder potato farmers located in the Peruvian
Andes. The analysis focuses on the impacts of transaction costs
differentiated as information, negotiation and monitoring costs.
Two proxies are used to measure the degree of market integration
of households, namely quantity sold in the market and sales in
large markets. The results show that, in addition to transport
costs and market prices, information, negotiation and monitoring
costs affect market integration. The study reinforces previous
results and sheds light on possible policy options to support
smallholders in improving their access to national and global
markets.
Keywords: Household behavior, family economics, Organizational
behavior, Transaction costs, Property rights, Micro
analysis of farm firms, Farm households, and Farm input
markets, Agricultural markets, marketing.
JEL: D1 D23 O12 O13
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0504&r=agr
6. The Changing Structure of Pork Trade, Production, and
Processing in Mexico
Bruce A. Babcock
Chad E. Hart (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (
CARD))
Critics of the U.S. proposal to the World Trade Organization (
WTO) made in October 2005 are correct when they argue that
adoption of the proposal would significantly reduce available
support under the current farm program structure. Using
historical prices and yields from 1980 to 2004, we estimate that
loan rates would have to drop by 9 percent and target prices
would have to drop by 10 percent in order to meet the proposed
aggregate Amber Box and Blue Box limits. While this finding
should cheer those who think that reform of U.S. farm programs is
long overdue, it alarms those who want to maintain a strong
safety net for U.S. agriculture. The dilemma of needing to reform
farm programs while maintaining a strong safety net could be
resolved by redesigning programs so that they target revenue
rather than price. Building on a base of 70 percent Green Box
income insurance, a program that provides a crop-specific revenue
guarantee equal to 98 percent of the product of the current
effective target price and expected county yield would fit into
the proposed aggregate Amber and Blue Box limits. Payments would
be triggered whenever the product of the season-average price and
county average yield fell below this 98 percent revenue guarantee.
Adding the proposed crop-specific constraints lowers the
coverage level to 95 percent. Moving from programs that target
price to ones that target revenue would eliminate the rationale
for ad hoc disaster payments. Program payments would
automatically arrive whenever significant crop losses or economic
losses caused by low prices occurred. Also, much of the need for
the complicated mechanism (the Standard Reinsurance Agreement)
that transfers most risk of the U.S. crop insurance to the
federal government would be eliminated because the federal
government would directly assume the risk through farm programs.
Changing the focus of federal farm programs from price targeting
to revenue targeting would not be easy. Farmers have long relied
on price supports and the knowledge that crop losses are often
adequately covered by heavily subsidized crop insurance or by ad
hoc disaster payments. Farmers and their leaders would only be
willing to support a change to revenue targeting if they see that
the current system is untenable in an era of tight federal
budgets and WTO limits.
Keywords: farm safety net; revenue targeting; U.S. farm programs;
WTO
Date: 2005-11
URL: http://d.repec.
org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:05-bp48&r=agr
7. From the Green Revolution to the Gene Revolution: How will
the Poor Fare?
Prabhu Pingali (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Terri Raney (Agricultural and Development Economics Division,
Food and Agriculture Organization)
The past four decades have seen two waves of agricultural
technology development and diffusion to developing countries. The
first wave was initiated by the Green Revolution in which an
explicit strategy for technology development and diffusion
targeting poor farmers in poor countries made improved germplasm
freely available as a public good. The second wave was generated
by the Gene Revolution in which a global and largely private
agricultural research system is creating improved agricultural
technologies that flow to developing countries primarily through
market transactions. The Green Revolution strategy for food crop
productivity growth was based on the premise that, given
appropriate institutional mechanisms, technology spillovers
across political and agro-climatic boundaries can be captured. A
number of significant asymmetries exist between developed and
developing, e.g.: agricultural systems, market institutions and
research and regulatory capacity. These asymmetries raise doubts
as to whether the Gene Revolution has the same capacity to
generate spillover benefits for the poor. A strong public sector
? working cooperatively with the private sector ? is
essential to ensure that the poor benefit from the Gene
Revolution.
Keywords: Agricultural Biotechnology, Agricultural Research,
Technological Change, Economic Development.
JEL: O13 Q12 Q16
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0509&r=agr
8. Institutional innovations towards gender equity in
agrobiodiversity management
Padmanabhan, Martina Aruna
"The maintenance of crop diversity on farmers' fields in hot
spots of plant genetic diversity is considered a ?global life
insurance policy? in the Convention on Biological Diversity (
CBD 2001:1). This paper provides evidence of the importance of
the contribution of poor women farmers to the conservation and
utilization of plant genetic resources (PGR) for food and
agriculture. As a consequence, its equitable recognition and
economic reward is a key issue in the sustainable management of
agrobiodiversity. The present investigation into the institutions
governing PGR, with special emphasis on gender equity and
collective action, focuses on the identification of innovative
institutions with special focus on women's interests. The paper
considers empirical evidence from Kerala, a hot spot of
biodiversity in India, investigates properties of local
biodiversity resources, and the role of collective action in
conservation. To help understand conservation and utilization of
agrobiodiversity the investigation uses a combination of
institutional and gender analysis. Keywords: gender;
agrobiodiversity management; collective action; India;
institutional change" Author's Abstract
Keywords: South Asia ,South Asia and Central Asia ,Gender ,
Agricultural biotechnology ,Collective action ,
Institutional change ,Agrobiodiversity management ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:worpps:39&r=agr
9. Measuring Technical Efficiency of Wheat Farmers in Egypt
Andr? Croppenstedt (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Liberalization of Egyptian agricultural policy and new wheat
technology has led to significant increases in area allocated to
wheat as well as wheat yields. The wheat self-sufficiency ratio
increased from 21 percent in 1986 to about 59 percent over the
2001-03 period. However, the country still imports 4-5 million
tonnes of wheat per year. This paper addresses the issue of what
kind of output gains can be achieved from improving technical
efficiency, i.e. how much more output can be produced with the
given levels of inputs and current technology. On average wheat
farmers are found to operate 20 percent below the potential
output. Better information on irrigation management and two or
more extension visits were found to raise output by 14 and 7
percent respectively. However, neither factor was found to affect
technical efficiency. Technical efficiency was found not to vary
with farm size.
Keywords: Egypt, Wheat, Technical Efficiency, Stochastic
Production Frontier.
JEL: C21 O13 Q12
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0506&r=agr
10. Household Income Structure and Determinants in Rural Egypt
Andr? Croppenstedt (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Egypt is on track to achieve its long-term goal of reducing the
poverty rate to 6 percent by 2022. Continued progress towards
this goal will require rapid employment growth for which
agriculture growth, through its impact on demand for goods and
services in the rural non-tradable sector will be of fundamental
importance. This paper considers which agricultural policies will
be most effective at reducing rural poverty in Egypt . Using
household survey data from 1997 the study analyzes household
income structure and determinants. Results indicate that
agricultural policies that help to raise unskilled labor wages
and/or increase demand for unskilled labor as well as those that
support small animal/bird raising, in particular poultry, are
best suited to help the poor. A longer-term strategy must also
focus on enhancing formal sector employment through increased
access to education for men and in particular women.
Keywords: Egypt, household income structure, household income
determinants, income distribution, rural sector.
JEL: D30 O12
Date: 2006
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0602&r=agr
11. THE PRICE IMPACT OF ADOPTING THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY
IN ESTONIA: ESTIMATED VERSUS ACTUAL EFFECTS
Kristina Toming
With accession to the EU, Estonia gave up its liberal trade and
agricultural policies and adopted the much more protectionist
regime of the EU. Prior to accession, many studies predicted that
this would lead to price increases for agricultural products and
processed food. This article discusses the results from the
studies conducted and compares them with actual price changes
that have occurred. The article concludes that prices have
actually increased much less than predicted, with only a few
exceptions like sugar. The reason lies in the uncertainties
associated with policy modelling as well as the gradual price
convergence already in motion before accession.
Keywords: EU accession, trade policy, food prices
Date: 2006
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:45&r=agr
12. Collective action for the conservation of on-farm genetic
diversity in a center of crop diversity
Badstue, Lone B.
Bellon, Mauricio R.
Berthaud, Julien
Ram?rez, Alejandro
Flores, Dagoberto
Ju?rez, X?chitl
Ram?rez, Fabiola
"This project explored the possible role of collective action
among small-scale farmers in managing and maintaining genetic
resources in a center of crop diversity. It focused on the local
institutions that ensure the supply of seed of diverse maize
landraces to small-scale farmers in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca,
Mexico. The key hypothesis was that the medium-to-long-term
supply of a diverse set of varieties to any individual small-
scale maize farmer depends on an agreement among a group of
farmers to manage and supply the seed of these landraces to each
other, if the need arises, and that this constitutes a form of
collective action. Six communities were studied, three of them in-
depth. Methodologies used included in-depth semi-structured
interviews with key informants, focus group discussions, and a
tracer study?following the flows of seed among different
farmers. The results show that, while there is a well-developed
local seed supply system based on sets of social relationships
and involving multiple types of transactions, there is no
evidence of collective action. Most farmers rely on and prefer to
select and save seed from their own harvests. There are seed
flows, however, and most seed transactions take place among
people with social links, but not within a well-defined group.
There are no specialized suppliers of seed, either individuals or
groups. Most transactions are bilateral and while the most common
transaction is the sale and purchase of seed, this is not done
for profit but out of a sense of moral obligation. The system is
based on the creation of trust, which is needed because seed is
not transparent?that is, it is not possible to fully predict
the plant phenotype that may result from a given seed simply by
looking at the seed. Farmers demand different types of maize and
they believe that there is a strong genotype-by-environment
interaction, hence ?foreign? maize types may not be
appropriate for them. At the same time, farmers also find
occasional experimentation beneficial and believe that they can
slowly modify the characteristics of ?foreign? landraces. In
this system, there are strong incentives to be conservative, but
also to try new landraces and experiment. The local seed system
of these farmers is resilient but able to innovate as well.
Interventions to support the conservation of landraces on farm,
based on specialized networks for seed that rely on collective
action, may not work.." Author's Abstract
Keywords: Central America ,Europe and North America ,Small
farmers ,Collective action ,Informal seed systems ,Crop
diversification ,Seed supply ,Trust ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:worpps:38&r=agr
13. Non-Parametric Analysis of Technical Efficiency: Factors
Affecting Efficiency of West Java Rice Farms
Frantisek Brazdik
The objectives of this analysis are to evaluate the technical
and scale efficiency of rice farms in West Java and to identify
determinants affecting farms? efficiency. Further, the farm
size?productivity relation is investigated. Data Envelopment
Analysis is used to estimate technical efficiency scores.
Additionally, Tobit regression is used to explain the variation
in the efficiency scores related to farm-specific factors. I
conclude that farm size is one of the most important factors of
farm?s technical efficiency and that high land fragmentation
was the main source of the technical inefficiency during the
final period of the intensification era, known as the Green
Revolution.
Keywords: Rice farms, data envelopment analysis.
JEL: C23 C50 N55 O38 Q11 Q15
Date: 2006-01
URL: http://d.repec.or
g/n?u=RePEc:cer:papers:wp286&r=agr
14. Water pricing and valuation in Indonesia
Rodgers, Charles
Hellegers, Petra J.G.J.
"The increasing demand for water and limited degree of cost
recovery for irrigation water delivery are important challenges
for policymakers in Indonesia. To meet the increasing demand for
water, it is important to reduce water use in irrigated paddy
cultivation, long the dominant consumptive user, and to divert
water away from agriculture to domestic and industrial sectors.
Reducing water use in irrigated agriculture can be achieved
through various means, including rationing, improved user
management, and water markets. The appropriate method depends on
the situation specific to each basin. In the Brantas Basin in
East Java, rationing is already practiced, but often leaves the
non-licensed, (non-paying) irrigators with insufficient supplies.
Moreover, very low irrigation service fee recovery rates hamper
ongoing water sector reforms, which seek to strengthen the
capacity of local institutions to co-manage water resources. In
the Brantas Basin the average value of water in the production of
important irrigated crops substantially exceeds estimated water
supply costs and current ISF. However, increased water use fees
would impose a substantial burden on farm economic welfare, while
water savings would be relatively modest. Therefore, to conserve
water and enhance the financial autonomy of irrigators
alternative management systems are proposed, including
?Integrated Crop and Resource Management' and a water brokerage
mechanism." Authors' Abstract
Keywords: Institutions ,Irrigation Economic aspects ,Prices ,
Cost recovery ,Water Prices ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:fpr:eptddp:141&r=agr
15. Farmer willingness to pay for seed-related information
Horna, J. Daniela
Smale, Melinda
von Oppen, Matthias
"A typical private good is defined by its excludability and
rivalry characteristics. Information embodied in a technology
might not generate rivalry among its users. By contrast,
excludability is certainly a characteristic of this kind of
information and its delivery can generate incentives for private
participation. This study examines farmers' preferences for seed
of new rice varieties and their willingness to pay for seed-
related information in villages of Nigeria and Benin. Conjoint
analysis is used to estimate the structure of farmers'
preferences for rice seed given a set of alternatives. Farmers
are considered to be consumers of seed as a production input,
preferring one variety over another based on the utility they
obtain from its attributes, which depends on their own social and
economic characteristics, including whether or not they sell rice.
Contingent methods are used to elicit preferences and
willingness to pay (WTP) for rice seed. The marginal values of
attributes, with and without information about the seed, are
estimated with an ordered probit regression. WTP for information
is derived from the analysis of WTP for rice seed. The results
have implications for the best way to finance research and
extension services in the areas of intervention, particularly for
new rice varieties. " Authors' Abstract
Keywords: Willingnes to pay (WTP) ,seed-related information ,
conjoint analysis ,rice attributes ,farmers'
preferences ,technology ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:fpr:eptddp:142&r=agr
16. On farm conservation of rice biodiversity in Nepal
Gauchan, D.
Van Dusen, M. E.
Smale, Melinda
"This paper presents an empirical case study about farmer
management of rice genetic resources in two communities of Nepal,
drawing on interdisciplinary, participatory research that
involved farmers, rice geneticists, and social scientists. The
decision-making process of farm households is modeled and
estimated in order to provide information for the design of
community-based conservation programs. A bivariate model with
sample selection treats the simultaneous process of whether
farmers decide to plant landraces or modern varieties, and
whether the landraces they choose to plant constitute genetic
diversity of interest for future crop improvement. Findings show
that the two landrace choices are affected by different social
and economic factors. The estimation procedure demonstrates that
in certain cases, however, the decision processes are
interrelated. Policies to promote the conservation of local rice
diversity will need to take both processes into account. Fitted
equations are then used to compare the likelihood that households
targeted for conservation according to one set of conservation
criteria also meet other conservation criteria. Households most
likely to plant landraces identified as important for crop
improvement also grow richer, more spatially diverse rice
varieties. In these communities, few policy trade-offs would
result from employing one set of criteria instead of the other."
Authors' Abstract
Keywords: Landraces ,Crop diversity ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:fpr:eptddp:144&r=agr
17. The Collective-Quality Promotion in the Agribusiness Sector:
An Overview
Stephan Marette (Center for Agricultural and Rural
Development (CARD))
This paper reviews the economic effects of collective-quality
promotion through a survey of the recent literature devoted to
common labeling and professional groups. Benefits and costs of
common labeling and professional groups for improving quality are
detailed. Some empirical facts are presented, mainly focusing on
some European examples, since many European countries have a long
history of producer-owned marketing programs. This paper shows
that in some cases the collective-quality promotion can be a
successful strategy for firms/farmers.
Keywords: collective-quality promotion; labeling; marketing
organization; quality signals
Date: 2005-10
URL: http://d.repec
.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:05-wp406&r=agr
18. Trade liberalization and food security in Nepal
Pyakuryal, Bishwambher
Thapa, Y. B.
Roy, Devesh
"Among South Asian countries, Nepal has liberalized most
extensively during the 1980s and 1990s on both fronts, domestic
and external. Nepal is a least developed country with a gross
national product of US $235 per capita in 2001 and second lowest
per capita wealth in the world. In South Asia, Nepal has the
lowest per capita income, highest dependence of population on
agriculture and second highest poverty rate. At the same time, on
an average, Nepal has the lowest tariffs in South Asia and has
taken several steps to downsize its public distribution system
and remove a host of agricultural subsidies. This twin scenario
where the lowest per capita income country is perhaps also the
most liberalized makes for an interesting case for policy
analysis. This paper reviews the outcomes from the liberalization
policies followed by Nepal relating to food security." from
Authors' Abstract
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:mtiddp:88&r=agr
19. Rural non-farm development in China and India
Mukherjee, Anit
Zhang, Xiaobo
The dynamic rural nonfarm sector in China has been a major
contributor to the country's remarkable growth, while in India
the growth in output and employment in this sector has been
rather stagnant. The paper argues that the observed patterns in
the rural nonfarm development are the results of institutional
differences between the two countries, especially in their
political systems, ownership structure, and credit institutions.
A review of the strengths and weaknesses of the rural nonfarm
economy in China and India highlights the potentials and
challenges of growth in the sector.
Keywords: Industrial policy ,Policy research ,Non-farm
development ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:dsgddp:24&r=agr
20. Security analysis for agroterrorism
Linacre, Nicholas A.
Koo, Bonwoo
Rosegrant, Mark W.
Msangi, Siwa
Falck-Zepeda, Jose
Gaskell, Joanne
Komen, John
Cohen, Marc J.
Birner, Regina
"We examine access to, use of, and participation in decisions on
improved water supply in the Volta basin of Ghana, one of the
first countries to introduce a community-based approach to rural
water supply on a large scale. While 71 percent of the households
interviewed have access to improved water, 43 percent of these
continue to use unsafe sources as their main domestic water
source. Our results indicate that quality perceptions and
opportunity costs play an important role in households' choice of
water source. The effect of prices and income levels on this
choice differs according to the pricing system used. Given that
supply characteristics such as the location and pricing system
affect household decisions to use the improved source, households
may try to influence these characteristics in their favor during
the community decision-making process for the improved source.
However, less than 40 percent of the households interviewed
participated in decisions on location or technology. We argue
that the decision whether to participate depends on three main
factors: (i) the household's bargaining power, (ii) the potential
benefits from influencing outcomes, and (iii) the cost of
participation, (mainly opportunity cost of time). Our results
indicate that bargaining power matters In some developing
countries the potential exists for agroterrorism to cause
widespread disruption through loss of sustenance, income and
production. Defense of agriculture may also be problematic
because of the lack stability and basic biosecurity
infrastructure for the detection and prevention of diseases or
invasive species. Currently new methodological approaches for
terrorism risk assessments are being actively explored for
resource prioritization. One such methodology for risk based
allocation of resources is Threat, Vulnerability, and Consequence
TVC) Analysis. A qualitative application of the TVC framework is
used to analyze the risk of agroterrorism in developing countries
relative to industrialized countries. The analysis suggests that
evidence exists to demonstrate general terrorist threats,
vulnerability of agriculture and, depending on the country,
potentially serious consequences arising from argoterrorism.
Where specific threats emerge, action may be needed by the
international community to strengthen biosecurity systems in
developing countries through: increasing global cooperation,
capacity building in monitoring, remediation and risk analysis
technologies, and the dissemination of novel technologies for
control of pests and diseases." Authors' Abstract
Keywords: Capacity building ,Water-supply Management ,
Agroterrorism ,Biosecurity ,Risk analysis ,resource
allocation ,Terrorism ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:fpr:eptddp:138&r=agr
21. The Regulatory Choice between a Label and a Minimum-Quality
Standard
Stephan Marette (Center for Agricultural and Rural
Development (CARD))
This paper revisits the issue of the regulatory choice between a
mandatory label and a minimum-quality standard. When the cost of
regulation is relatively low, we show that the socially optimal
choice depends on the producers? cost structure for complying
with regulation and improving quality. Under a marginal cost for
improving quality, the mandatory labeling is sufficient for
reaching the socially optimal level of quality. Under a fixed
cost for improving quality, we show that each instrument or the
combination of both instruments may emerge at the equilibrium.
Keywords: cost of regulation; information; standard
Date: 2005-12
URL: http://d.repec
.org/n?u=RePEc:ias:cpaper:05-wp416&r=agr
22. Localizing demand and supply of environmental services
Swallow, Brent
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth
van Noordwijk, Meine
"Payments for environmental services (PES) are increasingly
discussed as appropriate mechanisms for matching the demand for
environmental services with the incentives of land users whose
actions modify the supply of those environmental services. While
there has been considerable discussion of the institutional
mechanisms for PES, relatively little attention has been given to
the inter-relationships between PES institutions and other rural
institutions. This paper presents and builds upon the proposition
that both the function and welfare effects of PES institutions
depend crucially on the co-institutions of collective action (CA)
and property rights (PR)... This paper presents a conceptual
framework that clarifies the inter-linkages between property
rights, collective action, payment for environmental services,
and the welfare of smallholder land users. The framework is
centered on concerns of function and welfare effects of PES. The
functional perspective clarifies the effects of collective action
and property rights institutions on the supply of environmental
services. The welfare perspective considers smallholders as one
of several potential sources of supply,sometimes directly
competing against large landowners and public sector providers.
from Author's Abstract
Keywords: Environmental services ,Poverty alleviation ,
Collective action ,Smallholders ,Property rights ,Rural
institutions ,Welfare effects ,Payment for
environmental services (PES) ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:worpps:42&r=agr
23. Measuring Food Security Using Respondents? Perception of
Food Consumption Adequacy
Mauro Migotto
Benjamin Davis (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Gero Carletto (Agricultural and Development Economics
Division, Food and Agriculture Organization)
Kathleen Beegle
Food security is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon. As
such, its measurement may entail and benefit from the combination
of both ?qualitative-subjective? and ?quantitative-
objective? indicators. Yet, the evidence on the external
validity of subjective-type information is scarce, especially
using representative household surveys. The aim of this paper is
to compare information on self-perceived food consumption
adequacy from the subjective modules of household surveys with
standard quantitative indicators, namely calorie consumption,
dietary diversity and anthropometry. Datasets from four countries
are analyzed: Albania, Madagascar, Nepal and Indonesia. Simple
descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, contingency
tables and multivariate regression show that the ?subjective?
indicator is at best poorly correlated with standard quantitative
indicators. The paper concludes that while subjective food
adequacy indicators may provide insight on the vulnerability
dimension of food insecurity, they are too blunt an indicator for
food insecurity targeting. An effort towards developing improved
subjective food security modules that are contextually sensitive
should go hand in hand with research into how to improve
household survey data for food security measurement along other
dimensions of the phenomenon, particularly calorie consumption.
Keywords: Food security, Qualitative indicators, Quantitative
indicators, Household surveys, Subjective perceptions
of food adequacy.
JEL: I31 I32 O57 C19 C81
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0510&r=agr
24. Food Aid: A Primer
Sarah Lowder
Terri Raney (Agricultural and Development Economics Division,
Food and Agriculture Organization)
As an introduction to food aid this paper reviews various
definitions of food aid and terminology used by practitioners and
academics. It also briefly examines the size of food aid relative
to Official Development Assistance, trade and food production in
recipient countries and recognizes that in many instances food
aid may play an important role in issues related to food security.
Lastly, it summarizes actions taken by various international
organizations to limit possible trade distortion resulting from
food aid.
Keywords: Food aid, Food security, Trade, World Food Programme,
Official Development Assistance, International
Organizations.
JEL: F35 O19 P45 Q17 Q18
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org
/n?u=RePEc:fao:wpaper:0505&r=agr
25. Market institutions: Enhancing the Value of Rural-Urban Links
Chowdhury, Shyamal
Negassa, Asfaw
Torero, Maximo
"This paper examines how market institutions can affect links
between urban and rural areas with specific emphasis on goods
market integration in the national context.Traditionally,
development researchers and practitioners have focused either on
rural market development or on urban market development without
considering the interdependencies and synergies between the two.
However, more than ever before, emerging local and global
patterns such as the modern food value-chain led by supermarkets
and food processors, rapid urbanization, changes in dietary
composition, and enhanced information and communication
technologies point to the need to pay close attention to the role
of markets both in linking rural areas with intermediate cities
and market towns and promotion of economic development and
poverty reduction. This paper begins with a presentation of a
conceptual framework of market integration and then identifies
five major factors that increase the transfer costs that
subsequently hinder market integration between rural and urban
areas: information asymmetry, transaction costs, transport and
communication costs, policy induced barriers, and social and
noneconomic factors. Five specific cases in five developing
countries are examined in this study to demonstrate the primary
sources of transfer costs and the aspects of market institutions
that are important to market integration and promotion of rural-
urban linkages." from Authors' Abstract
Keywords: Rural-urban linkages ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/
n?u=RePEc:fpr:fcnddp:195&r=agr
26. Tecnhnology estimation for quality pricing in supply-chain
relationships
Angelo Zago (Dipartimento di Scienze economiche, Universit?
di Verona)
Keywords: Quality, Procurement, Contracts, Efficienty,
Stochastic Production Frontier
JEL: C21 L15 L24
Date: 2005-09
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:27&r=agr
27. Initiatives for rural development through collective action
Kariuki, Gatarwa
Place, Frank
"Dimensions of the nature, scope, and complexity of collective
action in Kenya have evolved over many years. In studying
collective action, the aim is to understand why and how people
participate in networks of trust. The purpose of this study was
to investigate the different objectives that farmers pursue
through collective action with the aim of understanding the
patterns of people's participation in collective action, identify
factors that influence people to join groups, and identify the
costs and benefits of participating in activities of groups. The
study was carried out in four sites spread across the highlands
of central Kenya. Data was collected from a total of 442
households, focusing on whether members of those households
belonged to groups and if so, what type of groups these were and
their activities. In addition we looked at how these groups
functioned and identified some of the contributions members make
to these groups and the benefits from the same. The analysis
shows that collective action is used to accomplish a range of
activities for different socioeconomic categories and that the
majority of households in central Kenya engage in some form of
group activity.... The study suggests that where institutions and
policies that promote individual or private sector growth are
weak, collective action can help to overcome these weaknesses and
connect individuals in these institutions and policies." from
Author's Abstract
Keywords: Collective action ,Trust ,Community participation ,
cost benefit analysis ,Household surveys ,
Date: 2005
URL: http://d.repec.org/n
?u=RePEc:fpr:worpps:43&r=agr
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