Household characteristics are commonly used to explain variation in smallholderefficiency levels. The underlying assumption is that differences in intended behaviorare well described by such variables, while there is no a priori reason that this is thecase. Moreover, heterogeneity in farmer...

Globalization and competitiveness of agricultural commodities could have significant potential benefits for food security and poverty reduction in West Africa. Participation in global trade and economy is potentially important but not enough to ensure benefits at all levels of the chains and...

In the Czech Republic, agricultural production is still dominated by corporate farms. Private farms have been established since the change of the political regime, but their role is not that relevant as originally anticipated. Among both groups, some have been economically more successful than...

Like in many fen land regions in East Germany, long-standing intensive arable farming -enabled by reclamation - has caused soil deterioration and high water runoff in the Schraden region. More than ten years of economic and political transformation that followed the breakdown of the socialist...

This work proposes a method to identify and evaluate the links between the economic and environmental management of a farm, its income, and sustainable GDP. The approach is designed to link micro and macro economic aspects and is based on certain indicators, chosen from among those obtained from...

Effects of social capital (SC hereinafter) on household welfare (rice yield, income, health) were examined in rice granary area of south peninsula Malaysia. SC is categorized into eight types by its form (structural and cognitive) and function (birding, linking, and bracing). OLS is used for...

An increasing scarcity of water for crop farming and livestock watering among agropastoralists of Mieso in Eastern Ethiopia has largely disrupted their livelihoods. Indigenous water well maintenance and government initiated rainwater harvesting are two important collective actions common among...

The world trade has been p olitically framed towards liberalism and "openness". It is evident that this openness has its own grades and interests that command it. Developing countries have been directed, and pushed towards a playing ground they fear and ignore. But some would argue that even...

In this paper, we use the experience of Kenya's failing Coffee Cooperatives to show that, under certain circumstances, membership based organizations can give rise to perverse incentives that undermine the benefits of organizing and lead to a reduction in member productivity and welfare. We...

Commercial producers, brokers, exporters and spinners dominate the wool supply chain in South Africa. Until recently smallholder farmers in the Transkei region had limited access to a profitable market outlet for their wool. In response, the South African wool industry has taken the initiative...