Agricultural Economics最新文献

This study assesses farmers' preferences for the adoption of grass strips as cropland conservation measures and explores the effects of information on their preferences. We further analyze these preferences for plots with varying levels of tenure security and erosion vulnerability. Using survey data from Southern Ethiopia, a plot-level discrete choice experiment in two rounds that includes a video-based information treatment in a within-subject design is conducted. The findings show that farmers prefer to adopt grass strips with a high conservation potential, that can be used as feedstock and that help to stabilize physical structures or delineate plot boundaries. In addition, information transfer increases preferences for adopting grass strips with not only a high conservation potential but also a medium conservation potential. The effects of the information transfer on preferences are found to be heterogeneous and vary with plot characteristics. Under well-defined property rights, farmers prefer to adopt the grass strips for stabilizing physical structures, conserving their cropland against environmental risk or boundary delineation. However, under weak tenure security, they prefer to plant grass strips only for boundary delineation to reduce the institutional risk of losing cropland, but this preference was only observed after information provision. These findings highlight the importance of designing and implementing context-specific agricultural information dissemination systems and that well-defined land rights increase the adoption of land conservation technology in the global south.

Place-based policies (PBPs) associated with China's “reform and opening-up” have played a significant role in the country's rapid economic development. However, the relationship between PBPs and residents’ nutrient intake remains unexplored. To fill this research gap, this study uses longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991–2011), applies a difference-in-differences approach to analyze the association between PBPs and residents’ nutrient intake, and sheds light on the potential mechanisms. The findings reveal that PBPs are positively associated with increased intake of total energy, fat, and protein. This relationship is facilitated through mechanisms such as promoting local employment opportunities, increasing household income, optimizing the food environment, and increasing residents’ dietary knowledge. The findings also show that the increase in nutrient intake associated with PBPs is more pronounced among men, high-income groups, individuals with higher education, urban residents, and following China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Additionally, PBPs are linked to improved self-assessed health and a decreased likelihood of insufficient fat intake. Meanwhile, insufficient evidence supports the hypothesis that these policies are associated with overnutrition or non-communicable diseases.

The relationship between food prices and life expectancy in emerging countries has significant implications for public health and socioeconomic development in these regions. This study examines this relationship using a dataset of 120 emerging economies over the period 2000–2021, employing the dynamic panel threshold and system generalized method of moments (GMM) models. Our findings reveal a nonlinear inverted U-shaped relationship where beyond a specific threshold, higher food prices tend to shorten life expectancy. We also reveal the disproportionate burden placed on low-income countries when food prices rise, in comparison to middle-income countries and highlight the profound impact of economic disparities on public health. Moreover, we identify several channels through which food prices affect life expectancy. Specifically, we reveal that income, undernutrition, and mental health disorders represent potential mediating factors affecting food prices–life expectancy nexus. We also shed light on the severe implications of economic crises on public health, emphasizing the close connection between economic events and indicators of human health. These insights have direct implications for policymakers, offering valuable guidance in the context of fluctuating food prices.

This study investigates the effectiveness of an education intervention that targets low-income farmers regarding the consequences of agricultural burning. Agricultural burning is a major contributor to carbon emissions, second only to those from the energy sector. Using three treatment arms and a control group, I provided rural farmers in Nigeria with information on the social (health impacts, wildfire spread, biodiversity loss) and economic (income implications) consequences of agricultural burning. The third group received information that combined aspects from the first and second treatments, offering a comprehensive view of the effects of agricultural burning. The analysis suggests that exposure to this information prompts farmers to view agricultural burning as unacceptable, reducing their likelihood of engaging in this practice during the upcoming planting season. In addition, exposed farmers demonstrate a higher willingness to pay nominal fees for government services, such as weed disposal. This outcome demonstrates their support for sustainable farming practices, rather than resorting to burning. The influence of economic information is particularly noteworthy; farmers exposed to it demonstrate a higher willingness to pay such fees. Furthermore, the interventions led to a shift in farmers’ perceptions regarding the primary drivers of climate change, with increased recognition of human activity as the dominant factor. The study highlights how the gender of the farmer and their religious beliefs influence attitudes towards environmental protection. Specifically, male and less religious farmers tend to be more responsive to the interventions. These findings provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of “low-cost” educational interventions in promoting sustainable agricultural practices among low-income communities.

Farmers’ adoption of novel technologies is influenced by other farmers’ behavior, a phenomenon known as peer effects. Although such effects have been studied intensively, the literature does not clearly distinguish between those that result (1) from verbal exchanges with other farmers and (2) from field observations, including the application of technology, its outcomes, and field conditions. We extend existing theoretical concepts and hypothesize that verbal information exchanges and field observations are two types of peer effects. Using data from an online survey of German sugar beet farmers’ application of mechanical weeding from early 2022, we find that the likelihood of adopting mechanical weeding increases across all model specifications by around 26%–28% if at least one adopter is known and by approximately 30%–32% if at least one field is observed. The two types of peer effects complement and reinforce each other in explaining adoption decisions. The effects increase with the number of adopters known and fields observed but decrease with larger distances to the observed fields. The findings can support designing extension services and future peer effects research that should consider the distinction between peer effects arising from verbal exchanges and field observations.

We evaluate the impact of a producer organization avocado contract farming intervention in Kenya that included (1) an agreement to sell to an avocado exporting company, (2) access to training, and (3) support to gain group-level Global Good Agricultural Practices (GLOBALG.A.P.) certification as main activities. Using a (nonexperimental) doubly robust difference-in-differences design with farm-level panel data from 2015 and 2017, we show that farmers began selling to the contracted company, were recently trained and received the GLOBALG.A.P. certification. However, the intervention's uptake was less than perfect, especially concerning the procurement aspect of the contract, suggesting widespread side selling. In terms of outcomes, contract farming nevertheless significantly improved sales prices and reported quality, increased direct sales to companies, and led to more planted trees, but also increased total production costs. The effects are driven by the Hass avocado variety, which is in higher demand in export markets and the contracted avocado variety. No significant income and other welfare effects were found.

Biofortified maize offers a potential solution to combat micronutrient deficiencies in households, yet its adoption remains low. Realizing biofortification's benefits necessitates a shift in smallholder farmers' production and consumption behavior. Social norms can significantly influence societal behaviors and have the potential to trigger substantial changes. However, their role in promoting biofortification adoption remains underexplored. This study investigates the influence of nutrition information and social norm messaging on smallholder farmers' adoption of biofortified maize seeds in Ethiopia's highlands. We conducted an experiment with 2022 randomly selected households to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition messages and social norm messaging on farmers' willingness to pay for biofortified maize seeds. Our results reveal that nutrition information alone significantly increases farmers' interest in purchasing biofortified maize seeds, highlighting the positive influence of information-based interventions on biofortified crop adoption. Conversely, social norm messaging on its own has a limited effect on demand. However, a combined approach demonstrates a stronger positive influence, suggesting a synergistic relationship between these interventions. These results underscore the critical role of disseminating clear information about the nutritional benefits of biofortified crops in fostering their adoption among smallholder farmers. Additionally, our study suggests that integrating social norm messaging with information-based interventions could be a highly effective strategy for promoting biofortified maize and similar nutrition-focused initiatives. This research offers valuable insights for policymakers and organizations aiming to improve nutritional outcomes through food-based approaches to agricultural development among smallholder farming communities.

The increase in market concentration and market power in the food supply chain is an issue of concern globally. This study focuses on an analysis of market imperfections in the Italian processed tomato food supply chain by considering changes in its supply chain governance from 2006–2018. The identification of the degree of non-competitive behavior is based on the derived mark-down and mark-up models using the latest developments in stochastic frontier methodology. The estimated models reveal some degree of non-competitive behavior in the input as well as in the output processing market. However, in consideration of the results on the supply chain governance during the study period, we argue that the establishment of an Interbranch Organization (IBO) could create fairly stable long-term food supply chain relationships benefitting all IBO members and in particular farmers despite the significant change in concentration levels in the Italian tomato processing sector after 2015.

Pesticides are used to reduce yield losses and to enhance the visual quality of products. However, pesticide use raises concerns due to negative health and environmental effects, hence ambitious policy goals for their reduction have been established. Reducing pesticides which mainly focus on visual quality of products could be an efficient strategy to contribute to these goals, without reducing food production. However, the role of “cosmetic” pesticide use is so far not well documented and understood. Here, we quantify cosmetic pesticide use and the influence of supply chain characteristics on their use. We focus on table apple production, where the visual quality of products is a key aspect. Using a sample of 196 apple growers in Switzerland, we find that 23.5%–59.2% of growers use cosmetic pesticides for the apples’ visual appearance. Farms mainly marketing via intermediaries are 23.9-29.6% more likely to spray cosmetic pesticides for visual purposes compared to farms mainly direct marketing. Our findings highlight the role of supply chains in farmer decision-making, recommending a decrease in the focus on visual product quality, especially in retail environments, thus minimizing unnecessary and irreversible risks of pesticide exposure by farmers without compromising food security.

The establishment of secured and easily transferable land use rights is a key component of rural development and poverty reduction pathways in many underdeveloped countries. In this study, we use balanced panel data collected from 407 farm households between 2009/10 and 2014/15 production seasons and apply difference-in-difference approach to examine impact of second-stage land certification on tenure security, participation and extent of participation in the land rental market. Our finding shows that second-stage land certification has helped to boost tenure security of smallholder farmers. However, the differences in difference results show that the second stage land certification has not yet started to influence farm households’ participation in the land rental market. This could probably be due to the fact that the program is at its early stage of implementation and may warrant further scrutiny with additional time.