first of all they show that riskinduced vulnerability is relevant and significant even in absence of expost shocks second they demonstrate that the liberalization process needs to be accompanied by additional support to households engaged in those farm activities more exposed to international competition since trade openness can magnify risk this is because liberalization changes the riskiness of existing activities altering the weight of foreign relative to domestic shocks faced by the economy and as a consequence the households optimal economic activities this is especially true for the smallholder because of their poor ability to take advantage of the positive opportunities created by trade reforms their weak capabilities to insure themselves against adverse impacts and possibly the lack of information about the risks associated with the new activities induced by openness interventions to address these issues should primarily target tradeinduced vulnerable households