Replaced with revised version of paper 10/06/09.

This paper aims at evaluating the impact of two different cash transfer programs in rural Mexico - Procampo and Progresa - on total consumption, food consumption and other outcomes like investment, schooling and health care. Progresa is targeted to women, while Procampo goes to farmers, mostly...

Agriculture is the main user of the world’s water resources. Due to increasing concern on water quality and quantity, there is a growing interest to use the scarce water resources in the most efficient way to feed the growing world population. By employing a meta-analysis, this paper shows...

Bioenergy has been politically promoted as a means to mitigate air pollution, climate change, and scarcity of fossil energy sources. This study addresses the question whether increased agricultural incomes from bioenergy production will improve food security despite increasing food prices. We...

Food insecurity can generate nutritional problems such as iron deficiency anemia, which in countries like Honduras is a moderate public health problem. The AgroSalud project is enhancing the iron content of beans and rice in order to improve the iron intake of vulnerable groups, especially...

Concerns about future food security in the face of volatile and potentially lower yields due to climate change have been at the heart of recent discussions on adaptation strategies in the agricultural sector. While there are a variety of studies trying to quantify the impact of climate change on...

The aim of this paper is to exploit grain price data to detect the warning signs of looming food crises in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Firstly we identify which markets play a leading role at the national and regional level. The second step consists of identifying crisis periods and...

Malnutrition is a major issue in developing countries with long-term implications for economic development. Agricultural diversification has been recognized as a strategy to improve nutrition and human health, and a risk coping strategy in the face of climate change. We use the 2008-2010...

In the paper the case of cross-border area of Gorizia in Italy and Nova Gorica, Šempeter-Vrtojba in Slovenia is studied in terms of the development of an integrated market of agricultural products and the supply of services and real assets. Market research includes the analysis of the capacity...

The aim of this paper is to assess the causal impact of trade policy distortions on food security. This is an hot issue since restrictions to agricultural trade have been generally applied by national governments, especially in developing countries, as a tool to insulate domestic markets from...