We investigate natural resource-based poverty traps using a simulation model of smallholder farms in highland Kenya. Simulation modeling allows for detailed examination of the complex interactions and feedback between farm-household economic decision-making and long-term soil dynamics, which may...

The concept of a livelihood strategy has become central to development practice in recent years. Nonetheless, precise identification of livelihoods in quantitative data has remained methodologically elusive. This paper uses cluster analysis methods to operationalize the concept of livelihood...

We investigate the interactions between natural resource-based poverty traps and food security for smallholder farms in highland Kenya using a recently developed system dynamics bio-economic model. This approach permits examination of the complex interactions and feedback between farm-household...

We investigate natural resource-based poverty traps using a system dynamics model of smallholder farms in highland Kenya. System dynamics modeling is well-suited to examining the complex interactions and feedback between farm-household economic decision making and long-term soil dynamics which...

In this paper we introduce a switching error correction model (SECM) estimator that allows for the possibility that price transmission between markets might vary during periods with and without physical trade flows. Applying this new approach to semi-weekly data on tomato markets in Zimbabwe, we...

In this paper we introduce a switching error correction model (SECM) estimator that allows for the possibility that price transmission between markets might vary during periods with and without physical trade flows. Applying this new approach to semi-weekly data on tomato markets in Zimbabwe, we...

For most countries in southern Africa, food security has been addressed through self-sufficiency, traditionally attained through widespread government involvement in the input and output markets for major food commodities. Food policies through the 1980’s have been characterized by input...

The overall goal of decentralizing seed services is to increase the availability and accessibility of quality seed to farmers. The governments of Uganda and Tanzania have endeavoured to enhance access to improved seed for smallholder farmers. These efforts have achieved results and encountered...

The objectives of this paper are to estimate cost efficiency and investigate factors influencing the cost efficiency of maize-growing smallholders in Mozambique. The data used in this study came from a national random sample of 4,908 smallholder farmers conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture...