The challenges posed by food security for populations in sub-Saharan Africa and the fact that extensive production systems are reaching their limits in food-producing agriculture imply accelerating technological innovation toward ecological intensification of agricultural production systems. A...

Thirty crawfish processors' preferences for hypothetical crawfish peeling machines are evaluated using conjoint analysis. Deveining is the most important attribute, with fat retention, individual handling of crawfish, and backstrap retention being roughly equal in importance. Whether the machine...

Investment in agriculture is necessary for ensuring rapid economic growth and poverty reduction in Zambia, as elsewhere in Africa. Yet many of the key investments required to accelerate agricultural growth – technological research, rural infrastructure and market standards, organization and...

Since the 1980s, increased concentrations across marketing channels have changed bargaining relationships between retailers and manufacturers both in North America and in Europe. At the same time contract mechanisms within the marketing channels have become more complex and private label market...

This paper shows that the observed sample adoption rate does not consistently estimate the population adoption rate even if the sample is random. It is proved that instead the sample adoption rate is a consistent estimate of the population joint exposure and adoption rate, which does not inform...

During the 2004 food crisis in Niger, the weakness of the main production system, millet, to produce enough food to sustain short term crises, has been revealed. Questions arise how the Nigerian smallholder systems can be assisted by research and development policies to intensify production and...

There has been considerable debate but little empirical analysis among academics, policy makers, and civil society about whether intellectual property rights would induce private research in developing countries. China passed its plant variety protection act (PVPA) in 1997 which allowed us to do...

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the most important development challenge of the 21st century. Poverty is higher in most African countries than elsewhere in the developing world. According to the recently published Report of the Commission for Africa, economic growth in Africa is necessary for...

This paper analyzes changes in U.S. agricultural technology during 1960-1999, emphasizing the role of immigrant workers on farm mechanization. The rates and directions of biased technological change based on the induced innovation theory are compared before and after the passage of the...

Based on a large-scale survey conducted in 11 large and small eastern cities in 2002, this study employs ordered probit models to estimate the effects of demographic and socio-economic variables on the likelihood of biotech food acceptance in China. This study also employs a dichotomous choice...