Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics最新文献

The aim of this research is to examine what antecedents of supply chain financing (SCF) should be overcome to ensure that the agricultural supply chain from preplanting to postharvesting generates enough food to achieve sustainable food security in developing countries. Drawing from complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory, we develop and test a model of how a prospective and challenging financing scheme navigates complex social and repayment systems to achieve sustainable SCF. The results of the study show that a challenging financing scheme must navigate complex social and repayment systems to achieve sustainable SCF, while a prospective financing scheme even though it shows a positive influence on sustainable SCF, its effect is higher when it is able to navigate these. The study hence concludes that for agricultural SCF schemes to lead to sustainable food security, they must be accessible and appropriate to the needs of the community, overcome default risk and cumbersome financial arrangements and be able to navigate the complex social and repayment systems. The study recommends that financing schemes should establish proximity to farming communities and engage farmers to determine appropriate funds for different stages among others.

The emergence of high-value supply chains, led by supermarket buyers, has transformed traditional avenues for marketing fruits and vegetables in India. Our study explores the evolving relationships between Indian farmers and supermarket buyers in the horticultural market. The investigation centres on understanding farmer satisfaction in this dynamic marketing landscape and its impact on their commitment to supermarket buyers. We identified critical factors such as price offer, reduced marketing cost and convenience as pivotal to farmers' satisfaction using the survey administered to 242 respondents. Results highlight the positive impact of price offer, reduced marketing cost and convenience on farmers' satisfaction, while underscoring that market assurance hampers satisfaction levels among farmers. In practical terms, our findings emphasise the importance of addressing farmers' needs for a more fruitful and mutually enriching partnership with the supermarkets. The study contributes depth to discussions on the evolving face of horticulture, accentuating the impact of modern supply chains on farmer welfare and economic growth.

Food safety is an issue of growing concern in many developing countries. Threats to food safety in Vietnam include contamination with toxic chemicals, microbiological hazards and adulterated food. To determine Vietnamese consumers' willingness to pay for food safety of pork and vegetables, a discrete choice experiment was employed in the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. Principal factor analysis and mixed logit models reveal that urban consumers are, on average, willing to pay considerable price premiums for food safety attributes. On average, consumers are willing to pay a price premium of 244% for vegetables produced with the safe application of pesticides, 70% premium for pork processed in certified abattoirs that assure pork safety and 67% price premium for pork if the convenience attribute is satisfied. Regarding vegetables, there is considerable heterogeneity in the extent to which consumers are willing to pay for growth-hormone-free vegetables, depending on their education, and in perceptions towards food safety risks resulting from chemical hazards and foodborne illness in Vietnam. For pork, if consumers believe that contaminated food could cause life-threatening risks for people, they are willing to pay up to 102% more than the current market price for hormone-free and drug-free pork. The factor representing consumers' trust in food safety influences their WTP for traceability and clean water attributes. Moreover, consumer's self-health evaluation influenced their WTP for pork traceability. Almost all consumers prefer the convenience of being able to purchase vegetables and pork nearby.

Is there a link between meat production and infectious diseases? Researchers, policymakers and pundits argue that the growth of demand for meat in Asia can increase the risk of zoonotic diseases, pathogens that originate in animals and can be transmitted to humans. Using original data on zoonotic disease outbreaks in 22 Asian countries between 1996 and 2019, this study examines the impact of beef, chicken and pork production on zoonotic outbreaks—focussing on all diseases and disaggregated subcategories. Because such outbreaks lead to culling animals, data on inorganic chemical fertiliser use are used to identify the plausibly exogenous relationship flowing from meat production to outbreaks. Results indicate that in these countries, intensive meat production may have contributed to a 16%–300% rise (for a one-million-tonne increase in output) in zoonotic outbreak incidence. Findings also suggest this relationship is primarily driven by flu pathogens' higher sensitivity to meat production, with a one-million-tonne increase in output being associated with a 48%–530% rise in the number of predicted flu outbreaks. These results are consistent across numerous sensitivity analyses accounting for modelling, operationalisation, and data selection choices.

The COVID-19 lockdown precipitated a fundamental shift in consumer food-related behaviours. Owing to adherence to stay-at-home directives and concerns over potential exposure to the coronavirus, consumers engaged in less frequent in-person shopping, opting for larger quantities of food purchased per trip, a trend with the potential to exacerbate food wastage patterns among bulk food purchasers. Nevertheless, recent empirical data obtained from the United Kingdom have revealed a 34% reduction in household food waste during the nationwide lockdown in April 2020. To gain deeper insights into the underlying mechanisms governing household food waste behaviours, we employ an infinite horizon dynamic stochastic model that operates on a daily cycle, focusing specifically on household food inventory management. Our analysis demonstrates that absent any improvements in food management practices, panic-stricken consumers who stockpiled food at home during the early phase of the pandemic generated significantly higher levels of food waste. Conversely, consumers who embraced effective food management techniques and transitioned to online grocery shopping managed to reduce household food waste by about 50% during the pandemic. Additionally, we conduct simulations to envision potential post-pandemic scenarios and conclude the study with a set of recommendations aimed at curbing household food waste in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Looking at the role of solar photovoltaics in the energy transition is reminiscent of the paradox arising from the clash of an irresistible force and an immovable object. In this note, it will be argued that the irresistible force of low-cost solar generation will win out over the apparently immovable obstacles.

Fiordland National Park is a UNESCO site located in the remote, southwest of New Zealand's South Island, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. One of its leading attractions is Milford Sound. An oil spill in this area could not only impact the industries that operate in Milford Sound but also impact all of the park. To improve the knowledge base about this area in regard to oil spills and policies regarding ship visitation, this study aimed to estimate the costs of clean-up, impacts to fisheries, tourism, recreation and the wildlife/environment under three oil spill scenarios in Milford Sound. Minimum costs are estimated at NZD 140–154 million. These results demonstrate the need for proper planning and response measures, and appropriate domestic and international policies to help minimise the potential damages that may occur in the event of an oil spill in a remote and pristine area of New Zealand.

This paper investigates the volatility connectedness and dynamic time–frequency relationship between Bitcoin (BTC) and 15 major agricultural commodity markets during the COVID-19 and 2022 Russia–Ukraine war periods. We employ the TVP-VAR-based extended joint connectedness method, minimum connectedness investment portfolio, and wavelet coherence (WC) method. The results indicate that the sudden outbreaks of the two crises brought about increased volatility connectedness between BTC and agricultural commodity markets. Throughout the entire sample period, BTC remained a net transmitter of volatility. Moreover, in terms of the total connectedness index (TCI), the overall volatility correlation surged rapidly after the outbreak of COVID-19 and the 2022 Russia–Ukraine war. The portfolio results demonstrated that BTC exhibited a low correlation with the agricultural commodity markets, suggesting diversification potential. Additionally, only Feeder Cattle served as an effective hedging asset for BTC throughout all periods. The WC analysis confirmed that during the COVID-19 period and the 2022 Russia–Ukraine war, most of the linkages were primarily concentrated at medium- to long-term frequencies. Our analysis will contribute to a deeper understanding of the interconnection between these markets, enabling market participants to consider risk mitigation measures and support portfolio diversification when formulating policies and regulations involving relevant markets in the future.

Generative artificial intelligence tools have been shown to substantially increase productivity in a range of different contexts. I discuss the potential and limitations of the current models, and the evidence on how economic researchers can best make use of generative artificial intelligence in their work. To illustrate these points, I show how the data analysis tools of ChatGPT can be used to address a specific question: the accuracy of agricultural forecasts—and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of artificial intelligence in data cleaning, data analysis and producing graphs and illustrations.

Farm businesses often use debt to finance the purchase inputs and meet operational costs. Selected studies have investigated the impact of debt use on farm performance as measured using technical efficiency. However, no prior studies in agriculture have considered treating the debt repayment obligation created as a by-product of production when benchmarking farm performance. This study employs nonparametric directional distance function models to quantify the impact of debt repayment as a by-product of input use purchased on credit on farm-level partial inefficiency using a panel data of 54 mixed enterprise broadacre farms in Western Australia from 2002 to 2011. The study finds that omitting repayment obligations created in the production process in analysis results in underestimating partial inefficiency scores. Farm size, production diversification and rainfall zone are significant drivers of partial inefficiency. The implication of the study's findings is that failure to account for repayment obligations created in the production process may result in erroneous policy suggestions that undermine the efforts of farm businesses to minimise or avoid financial stress.