Farmer's Agribusiness Training Course: Module 5 - Agribusiness Management for Farmer Organisations. Lesson 1: Introduction to Economics of the Firm
This Farmers' Agribusiness training course has been developed to help both farmers and farmer organisations. Its intention is to provide access to provide access to additional skills and knowledge that will allow farmers to move from a 'farm' to a 'firm'.This sub-module defines the concept of economics, provides an overview of the concept of a firm and explores the centrality of profit in... more
Farmer's Agribusiness Training Course: Module 1 Lesson 3 Supplementary Reading. Trends in Regional Agricultural Productivity in Kenya
The objectives of this paper are threefold: (1) to assess the direction and magnitude of changes in agricultural productivity in Kenya in the last 25 years for five of the most important agricultural provinces in Kenya, with particular focus on the period since the initiation of agricultural policy adjustment in the 1990s; (2) to identify the major factors affecting changes in crop... more
Farmer's Agribusiness Training Course: Module 1 Lesson 2 Supplementary Reading. Republic of Kenya: Agricultural Sector Development Strategy 2010-2020
The Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) is the overall national policy document for the sector ministries and all stakeholders in Kenya. The document outlines the characteristics, challenges, opportunities, vision, mission, strategic thrusts and the various interventions that the ministries will undertake to propel the agricultural sector to the future. more
Using Linked Household-level Datasets to Explain Consumer Response to BSE in Canada
Household-level Canadian meat purchases from 2002-2008, household-level egg purchases from 2002-2005 and Food Opinion Survey in 2008 were used to understand how consumers who have different concerns about nutrition react to BSE events and how beef consumption after BSE discoveries were shaped by consumers concerns of food safety and their trust of government and the industry decision makers... more
Agrifood Industry as Industry Intensively Based on Knowledge - Case Study of Vojvodina
During three-hundred-year history of the market economy, the main sources of wealth creation have changed from the natural resources (mainly land and relatively unskilled labor with the exception of the master craftsman), tangible material assets (buildings, machinery and equipment, funds) to intangible assets (knowledge and information of all types) that may be contained in the people,... more
Risk Classification in Animal Disease Prevention: Who Benefits from Differentiated Policy?
Risk classification of livestock farms can help stakeholders design and implement risk management measures according to the possessed risk. Our goal is to examine how differently pig farms may contribute to the societal costs of an animal disease outbreak, how valuable this information is to different stakeholders, and how it can be used to target risk management measures. We show that the... more
An Econometric Analysis of U.S. Crop Yield and Cropland Acreage: Implications for the Impact of Climate Change
The purpose of this paper is to undertake a more comprehensive analysis of the impact of climate variables, technology and crop prices on crop yield and on crop acreage in the US using county-specific, historical data for 1977-2007. Specifically, we estimate the yield responses of corn, soybeans and wheat to output prices and to changes in climate and technology over time. We use... more
Agriculture for Sustainable Economic Development: A Global R&D Initiative to Avoid a Deep and Complex Crisis
World agriculture has entered a new, unsustainable, and politically risky period. Agriculture?and the natural resources it depends on?has been overexploited ecologically, has suffered from underinvestment, has recently been exposed to ill-designed bioenergy programs, and has been politically sidelined for too long. It is now at a critical point. Appropriate responses to the food and... more
Agriculture for Development in Ghana: New Opportunities and Challenges
This paper has been prepared in support of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) roundtable in Ghana. The study also takes a fresh perspective on the role of agriculture for development in light of the global food crisis. It addresses two main questions: what are the impacts of Green-revolution type agricultural growth to reach the CAADP goal in Ghana? Given the... more
Agricultural Growth and Investment Options for Poverty Reduction in Zambia
Zambia has experienced strong economic performance since 1999. However, agriculture has not performed as well as the rest of the economy, and although the incidence of poverty has declined, it still remains high. The Zambian government, within the framework of the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP), is in the process of implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development... more