bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Household Food Demand in Burkina Faso: Implications for Food Policy
Authors: Savadogo Kimseyinga , Brandt Jon A. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractChronic food production deficits since the early 1970s have prompted policymakers of Burkina Faso to emphasize technological research with the goal of increasing the production of the most‐consumed locally‐grown cereals: sorghum, millet and maize. Meanwhile, urban consumers have been developing preferences for rice and wheat, cereals that are primarily imported. This study estimates demand relationships among food items in Ouagadougou, Burkina. The results of the estimation suggest that prices, income, household composition, education, marital status and urbanization were jointly important in explaining household expenditure allocations. Both local and imported cereal consumption responded positively to an income increase. However, incremental income changes would lead to relatively greater consumption of locally produced cereals by low‐income households whereas high‐income households would consume relatively more wheat and rice. The household model is then used to demonstrate its relevance in addressing food policy issues, by forecasting the levels of urban grain demand under alternative income and demographic scenarios. With increased production due to advances in technology, the urban demand levels do not exhaust the rural surplus of local cereals, but deficits persist in the rice‐wheat sector. The results underscore the importance of technological research since Burkina could become self‐sufficient in at least the production of sorghum, millet and maize.
Fertilizer in Indonesian Agriculture: the Subsidy Issue
Authors: Hedley Douglas D. , Tabor Steven R. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIndonesia began subsidizing fertilizer in 1971 to encourage its use as a complement to the new, high‐yielding rice varieties that were becoming available. While providing considerable assistance to encouraging farmers to utilize these new HYVs and the associated package of inputs, the subsidy for fertilizer has attracted considerable attention in the light of the increasing budget limitations in Indonesia. The high levels of fertilizer and HYV use, the rapidly changing elasticities and cross elasticities among the major food crops, and the growing intersectoral linkages in the Indonesian economy suggest reasons for re‐assessment of the subsidy for fertilizer. The operation of the subsidy is explained, followed by a discussion of changes in the relevant elasticities for demand and supply of commodities and fertilizer. A static welfare analysis of the fertilizer subsidy is presented, showing that the economic subsidy is worth only 42% of the financial subsidy and that farmers are receiving only 7% of the financial subsidy. A simulation of the effects on the food crop sector of removing the subsidy follows the welfare analysis. The paper concludes with an exploration of the policy issues stemming from the results.
Agricultural Trade Liberalization in a Multi‐sector World Model
Authors: Krissoff Barry , Ballenger Nicole 
Published: January 2020

AbstractImpacts of agricultural and nonagricultural trade liberalization on agriculture are assessed in a multi‐commodity, multi‐country framework. By modeling simultaneously all goods sectors of the economy, we evaluate the importance of: (a) relative price changes between sectors, and (b) income and exchange‐rate adjustments that follow trade liberalization in a world of floating rates.Specifically, we compare two cases using a static world policy simulation (SWOPSIM) model: agricultural multilateral liberalization and complete multilateral liberalization with floating exchange rates for all countries/regions. In both cases agricultural commodity prices tend to increase, an effect which is more pronounced when currency values adjust. The developing countries, in particular Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, have the most significant advances in agricultural and total production when exchange rates vary. Moreover, the gains from international trade are extended to all countries/regions explicitly specified in the model.
Wheat Policy Options in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Case of Zimbabwe
Authors: Morris Michael L. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractLike many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, Zimbabwe is experiencing rapid growth in wheat consumption and imports. Policy makers in Zimbabwe and elsewhere must decide whether increased domestic wheat production might reduce dependency on imports and at the same time contribute to economic efficiency and food security goals. The domestic resource cost framework was used to assess Zimbabwe's comparative advantage among six major irrigated crops and to measure the effects of current government policies on producer incentives. The results indicate that irrigated wheat production represents an efficient use of Zimbabwe's resources during times of abundant rainfall, but the nation enjoys a comparative advantage in tobacco, maize, and cotton production during times of water scarcity. Existing agricultural policies provide disincentives for commercial farmers, because private profitability is less than social profitability for the major irrigated crops. However, this tax occurs across all commodities with similar incidence, so that the private incentives among crops are not greatly distorted from their social pattern. Sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of these findings under a range of possible future economic and political developments. The domestic resource cost approach used in this study provides an operational method for measuring comparative advantage and should be of interest to policy analysts throughout sub‐Saharan Africa.
Measuring Benefits to Operation and Maintenance Expenditure in the Canal Irrigation System of Pakistan: A Simulation Analysis
Authors: Chaudhry Muhammad A. , Ali Mubarik 
Published: January 2020

AbstractEstimates regarding benefits to O&M investments help rationalize financial allocation decisions. A distributed lag model is used to estimate the contribution to agricultural productivity of funds utilized for O&M of the canal system in Pakistani Punjab. Estimated parameters are used to simulate the effects of alternative O&M investment scenarios on agricultural output, farm prices and income. Marginal benefits to past and prospective O&M investments in the canal irrigation system were found to be fairly high, suggesting the need to allocate more funds for O&M of the canal system. Results indicate that O&M investments yield substantial gains to both producers and consumers, implying that funds required for O&M activities could be generated by taxing both these segments of society.
Structure of Public Support for National Agricultural Research Systems: A Political Economy Perspective
Authors: Pardey Philip G. , Kang M. Sandra , Elliott Howard 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThis paper initiates development of a set of stylized facts concerning the structure of public support for national agricultural research systems (NARS) within a neoclassical political economy framework. The aim is to place public funding of NARS in the broader context of the overall level of direct government assistance to agriculture. Using a newly constructed data set on NARS expenditures over the 1970‐85 period, we observe a growing disparity in agricultural research intensity ratios, which measure the level of public support for NARS in relation to agricultural gross domestic production (Aggdp) between low and high‐income countries. This growing disparity appears to be driven by much larger increases in support for agricultural research by high‐income countries, coupled with a significantly slower growth in the size of their agricultural sector, despite the propensity of low and middle‐income countries to increase real support to agricultural research.As per‐capita incomes rise the public agricultural expenditure ratio, which measures public expenditures on agriculture relative to the size of the agricultural sector, Aggdp, increases substantially. Public expenditures on agriculture were indexed on agricultural and non‐agricultural populations to give a rough indication of the increasing incentives for rural 'distributional coalitions' to seek a redistribution of public expenditures in their favor.A relative research expenditure (rre) ratio is developed, which measures the proportion of total public expenditure on agriculture spent on agricultural research. It provides an indication of the relative importance given to research on agriculture within the constraints imposed by overall public spending on agriculture. In contrast to the agricultural research intensity ratios, therreratios suggest that agricultural research appears to command as large a share of the public purse devoted to agriculture in low and middle‐income countries as it does in high‐income countries. Expectations derived from the neoclassical political economy literature that research may have fared relatively better in high compared with low‐income countries were not supported by the data.
Value of External Reviews of Research at the International Agricultural Research Centers
Authors: Fuglie Keith , Ruttan Vernon W. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe Consultative Groups on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) funds a decentralized system of International Agricultural Research Centers. To monitor the Centers, the CGIAR has instituted a system of program and management reviews. But there is some controversy concerning the proper role, cost, and impact of these reviews. In 1984 we conducted a survey of scientific and administrative staff at the Centers to elicit their perspectives about the benefits and costs of the reviews. We also canvassed the documentation prepared by the external review panels. In this paper we report some of the findings from this study and comment on what we feel is the proper role and scope for external reviews.In particular, we feel that the efficiency of the review process can be improved if external program reviews focus on strategic issues, leaving peer review functions aside. Greater integration should be sought between external reviews and the internal planning arid review mechanisms of the Centers. The successes achieved by this international system of research institutes should lead to considerable confidence about both the system's research and managerial capacity, though not all Centers have achieved uniformly high rates of productivity.
Adoption of New Technologies in Ethiopian Agriculture: The Case of Tegulet‐Bulga District, Shoa Province
Authors: Kebede Yohannes , Gunjal Kisan , Coffin Garth 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAdoption of agricultural production technologies in developing countries is influenced by a wide range of economic and social factors as well as physical and technical aspects of farming and the risk attitude of farmers. It is important to understand the role of these factors to ensure the development of appropriate technologies and the design of successful development projects. This study examines the impact of such factors on the adoption of single‐ox, fertilizer and pesticide technologies as part of a post‐drought recovery project in Tegulet‐Bulga district in Ethiopia.Models to evaluate the probability of adoption are specified for the respective technologies and are estimated using a logit maximum likelihood procedure, results indicate that the most significant variable affecting the probability of adoption of all three technologies is farm size; the impact is negative for single‐ox technology and positive for fertilizer and pesticide use. Economic factors such as income, wealth and debt generally exhibit statistically significant influence on the adoption of single‐ox and pesticide technologies as do family size, access to outside information, education and experience.The effect of socio‐economic factors on adoption of fertilizer and pesticide technologies is greater in the area which has more access to outside information and off‐farm activities (Ankober) than in more ‘self‐contained’ area (Seladengay). The impact of the degree of risk aversion of farmers is found to be significant and negative for single‐ox technology in both areas, and for fertilizer and pesticide technologies in only one area. The predicted probabilities of technology adoption by an average farmer are found to increase dramatically with the level of education and access or exposure to outside information.
Toward farm‐based policy analysis: concepts applied in Haiti
Authors: Martinez Juan Carlos , Sain Gustavo , Yates Michael 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTMany policies – on the delivery of inputs or on marketing systems, credit, or extension – influence the potential utilization of new technologies. Through 'farm‐based policy analysis' it is possible to use data generated in on‐farm research (OFR) to identify policy constraints to the use of new technologies, and to effectively communicate that information to policy makers. This paper describes a tentative framework for farm‐based policy analysis and suggests a sequence of five steps for the analysis: (1) identify the policy‐induced constraints; (2) determine the rationale behind the policy; (3) identify the decision makers to whom the results should be communicated; (4) identify solutions or policy options; and (5) communicate results to decision makers.A case of farm‐based policy analysis from Haiti illustrates the concepts and methods described in the first part of the paper. On‐farm experiments in Les Cayes, Haiti, confirmed a response to nitrogen in maize, but adoption of the recommended practice and consequent gains in productivity and income were constrained by the scarcity of urea in the local market. An analysis of local supply and potential local demand for urea and the potential benefits of urea application was conducted, and results communicated to two target groups of decision makers: representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for fertilizer distribution policy, and representatives of private fertilizer enterprises. These groups responded by making larger supplies of urea available to local farmers. Adoption of the fertilizer recommendation and urea sales increased. The case demonstrates the potential value of farm‐based policy analysis building upon data from OFR.
Role of education and extension in the adoption of technology: a study of upland rice and soybean farmers in Central‐West Brazil
Authors: Strauss John , Barbosa Mariza , Teixeira Sonia , Thomas Duncan , Junior Raimundo Gomes 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTThis paper explores reduced form determinants of the adoption of certain technologies by upland rice and soybean farmers in the Center‐West region of Brazil. We merge community level data on the availability and quality of publicly provided infrastructure, principally extension, to the farm level data containing information on farmer human capital as well as land quantity and quality. By using community level measures of availability and quality of extension, we avoid problems of endogeneity of farm level measures of extension use. We find positive impacts of farmer education on the diffusion process, in accordance with other studies. We also isolate effects of the quality in regional extension investment as measured by the average experience of technical extension staff. These results indicate that investments in human capital of extension workers does have a payoff in terms of farmer adoption of improved cultivation practices.
Adoption and abandonment of irrigation technologies
Authors: Dinar Ariel , Yaron Dan 
Published: January 2020

AbstractAdoption and abandonment processes are analyzed for seven irrigation technologies. A procedure is developed to estimate the technology cycle and applied to data available for citrus groves in several regions of Israel, and Gaza. The technology cycle was used to estimate diffusion‐abandonment patterns for several irrigation technologies that have been abandoned. Results suggest that the technology cycle is unique to each technology and similar in length for all regions. Results predict the year of full abandonment of each technology. For modern technologies still in the diffusion phase, a logistic equation was fitted to the aggregated data. Results suggest that diffusion is significantly affected by economic variables such as water price, crop yield price, and subsidy for irrigation equipment. Use of the estimated equations for policy purposes suggest that water price and subsidy for irrigation equipment can be used to control the diffusion process (speed and ceiling) of the irrigation technologies.
Choice of utility function form: its effect on classification of risk preferences and the prediction of farmer decisions
Authors: Zuhair Sugu M.M. , Taylor Daniel B. , Kramer Randall A. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractIn applications of expected utility analysis, researchers are confronted with a choice among several utility functional forms. Subjective utility values and probability distributions for price and yield were elicited from Sri Lankan producers of minor export crops. Exponential quadratic and cubic utility functions were estimated. The choice of functional form was found to affect both the classification of risk attitudes and the prediction of harvesting strategy. The exponential function was the best predictor of harvesting strategy because it was the best predictor of mature harvesting. All three functions were equally poor predictors of premature harvesting.
Gendered impacts of fertilizer subsidy removal programs in Malawi and Cameroon
Authors: Gladwin Christina H. 
Published: January 2020

AbstractSince the early 1980s, development experts and donor agencies have agreed on the importance of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) aimed at ‘getting prices right‘. Adoption of reforms were made preconditions for new loans or grants in many sub‐Saharan African countries. In both Malawi and Cameroon, one such required reform was government's eliminating fertilizer subsidies to the small farm sector, previously used to increase the profitability of intensive agriculture while keeping food prices artificially low. The aim of this paper is to review fertilizer subsidy removal programs for their impact on farmers, who in sub‐Saharan Africa are women. In theory, SAP programs should benefit women producers, because much emphasis is placed on renewing agricultural production and aligning farmgate prices with world prices. But in practice, will they benefit? Are SAPs gender‐neutral and affect men and women equally, or merely gender‐blind?
Trade and agricultural development in the 1980s and the challenges for the 1990s: Asia
Authors: Bautista Romeo M. 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTAsian developing countries have had varying experiences in trade and agricultural development in the 1980s, attributable in part to their differing stages of economic development and structural characteristics. Other important influences relate to the external economic environment and the policy choices made by their governments not only during the period but also in the preceding decade.The achievements of Asian developing countries under the adverse external conditions of the 1980s are discussed in terms of their macrocconomic and agricultural growth, the commodity structure of agricultural growth, their food production and trade, the expansion and diversification of their agricultural exports, and the policy and nonpolicy factors affecting them. Special attention is given to the role of policy reforms implemented in China and the South Asian countries, following similar policy developments in Northeast and Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, toward greater openness in their trade regime and increased private‐sector participation in the economy. These reforms have contributed to the observed acceleration in gup, agricultural, and export growth in the 1980s. However, macroeconomic imbalances have emerged that threaten the sustainability of economic liberalization in those countries.The major challenges for the 1990s also differ among the Asian developing countries. In the industrially advanced Northeast economies of Taiwan and South Korea, the primary need is to ease the transition of the remaining rural population as farm incomes continue to fall and workers move to industrial and service activities. This challenge has to be addressed in the context of growing external pressure to further open their domestic market for agricultural imports. Among the Southeast and South Asian countries, there is a need to reduce the existing policy biases against agriculture, particularly against export crop production. Moreover, China and the South Asian countries face the additional challenges of continuing to deregulate their trade regime and internal markets, and of promoting macroeconomic stability.Despite the external trend recently toward regionalism, Asian developing countries generally seem committed to an open trading system, on which in fact their past impressive economic performance has been predicated. An important challenge for them in the 1990s is to play an active role in arresting and reversing any protectionist tendencies arising from the formation of regional trading blocs and to support multilateral initiatives such as the Uruguay Round that promote global trade liberalization.
Role of agriculture in economic development revisited
Authors: Johnson D. Gale 
Published: January 2020

ABSTRACTWhile both Malthus and Ricardo viewed agriculture as impediments to economic progress, Mill and Marshall argued that the effects of diminishing returns to land could be offset. Mill emphasized that the progress of civilization, such as roads that reduced the cost of bringing products to market, and policy improvements, such as abolition of the corn laws, provided substitutes for farm inputs. Marshall argued that population growth could for a long time, through growth of organization and knowledge, offset the effects of diminishing returns.Had the insights of Colin Clark dominated the policies of developing countries rather than the implications drawn from the dual sector models and the pessimistic views of Prebisch, agriculture's contribution to economic development would have been enhanced. The efforts to tax agriculture to support import substitution policies reduced rather than increased economic growth. Agriculture has important contributions to make to economic development, but must receive even handed treatment if the possible contributions are to be realized. A major failure of all governments has been the unwillingness to recognize that agriculture is a declining industry and to adopt policies that would assist farm people to adjust to the decline in demand for farm labor.
A gravity model analysis of meat trade policies
Authors: Koo Won W. , Karemera David , Taylor Richard 
Published: January 2020

AbstractThe conventional gravity model is revised for a single commodity and applied to meat markets to determine factors affecting trade flows of meat. This study demonstrates that the gravity model for a single agricultural commodity can be parameterized more effectively by using time series and cross‐section data rather than cross‐section data alone. This study reveals that trade policies and subsidies used by exporting and importing countries, livestock production capacity in countries, and distances play an important role in determining trade flows of meat. Long‐term agreements achieve the highest performance toward enhancing international meat trade. Import quotas and the hoof‐and‐mouth disease on beef greatly impair meat trade.