Previous studies have identified regulatory preemption and differentiation as two main motives for participation in voluntary environmental programs (VEPs). This research examines the motivations of livestock farmers to participate in the Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program...

The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farming model made its first appearance in the US in the 1980s, arriving from Europe and with clear social, economic and environmental goals. From less than a dozen CSA farms in the early 1990s, the movement has now expanded to over 3,000 farms. The...

The advancement of South America’s agro-pastoral frontier has been widely linked to losses in biodiversity and tropical forests, with particular impacts on the Brazilian cerrado, the Atlantic Forest, and the Amazon. Here I consider an important, yet largely overlooked, driver of South...

The Bean/Cowpea CRSP has been funding the Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) since 1982 with the goal of developing improved varieties of cowpea. Cowpea is well suited to Senegalese production zones, and is a relatively inexpensive protein source. It can be eaten as both green...

Smallholder farmers in many areas of the semiarid tropics are planting exotic tree species that provide alternative income sources, fuel, and building materials. While providing other benefits, these trees often occupy land that could produce annual food crops. This study uses a polyperiod,...

Over the past 20 years the agribusiness industry has been subject to a number of transformations and shocks that have altered its business environment and management practices. This thesis sets out to try to understand how the Michigan industry has changed in this period, and to understand if...

School feeding program as a social safety net has been popular in developing countries as an instrument for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. These programs are frequently targeted towards populations that are food insecure and reside in areas with high concentrations of families from...

This paper looks at the experiences of agricultural input retailers in Malawi as a result of the Agricultural Input Subsidy Program. In particular, it focuses on the impact of excluding private sector retailers from participation in the subsidy program. Using a difference-in-difference approach...

The potential of using carbon offset credits from agroforestry projects for farmers in developing areas has become more prevalent in both Clean Development Mechanism and voluntary carbon markets. Since the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, many international development organizations have...

Food legumes in Sub-Saharan Africa play a vital role by being a source of livelihood for millions of people; and offer tremendous potential to contribute to the alleviation of malnutrition among resource-poor farmers. They contribute to the sustainability of cropping systems and soil fertility....