Determinants and Welfare Impacts of Export Crop Cultivation - Empirical Evidence from Ghana

This paper investigates the determinants of farm households‟ participation in export cropping and the impact of export cropping on household welfare, using cross-sectional data obtained from the Ghanaian living standards survey 2005-6. Given the problem of selectivity bias that arise when households self-select into export cropping, we employ the full information maximum likelihood approach to analyze the participation decision, and generalized propensity matching approach to examine the welfare impacts of participation. The empirical results indicate that farmers facing lower transport costs and having better access to credit facilities are more likely to participate in export cropping. Estimates of the welfare impacts of export cropping generally reveal a positive relationship between engagement in export cropping and farm household welfare. However, a consideration of the impact of extent of export cropping shows a non-linear relationship with household welfare indicators, with per capita expenditures rising and poverty declining only at higher levels of export specialization.Export crops, Farm households, Household welfare, Poverty, Generalized propensity score, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Empirical Analysis of Price Setting and Quantity Surcharges in the German Food Sector

This study examined the incidence and determinants of quantity price discounts and quantity price surcharges in the German food sector through a bivariate probit, using recent consumer scanner survey data. Selectivity bias was corrected for in estimating the degree of quantity price surcharge and quantity price discount, using Heckman's procedure. The findings reveal that almost 10% of the investigated products attract higher unit prices for larger package sizes, although the extent of price surcharges varied among product categories. The number of package sizes, the average package size, packaging form, storage form, as well as the price image of a product, were found to be significantly related to the probability and degree of quantity price surcharges and quantity price discounts.Consumer/Household Economics,

The Adoption of Water Conservation and Intensification Technologies and Farm Income: A Propensity Score Analysis for Rice Farmers in Northern Ghana

This study uses cross-sectional data of 342 small-scale lowland rice farmers in Northern Region of Ghana to analyze the impact of the adoption decision of bund construction and seed dibbling on net returns, input demand and output supply. Matching was conducted based on Mahalanobis distance combined with propensity score. Balancing tests by checking the mean standardized absolute bias in the matched sample were conducted as well as sensitivity analysis to check for hidden bias due to unobservable selection. The empirical results of impact assessment using propensity score matching controlling for self-selection bias suggest that input demand is significantly higher for adopters of bunds, but not statistically different for adopters and non-adopters of dibbling seed. However, output supply and net returns were not found to be statistically different for adopters and non-adopters of bunds. Adopters of dibbling were found to have higher output supply while no statistically significant difference was found for net returns of adopters and non-adopters of dibbling. The results were found to be relative insensitive to hidden bias.Propensity score matching, evaluation, sensitivity analysis, Rosenbaum bounds, water conservation methods, bunds, rice production, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

Contribution of Economics to Design of Sustainable Cattle Breeding Programs in Eastern Africa: A Choice Experiment Approach

Although livestock forms a very important component of the livelihoods of rural populations of developing countries, productivity remains very low. Livestock keepers are beset by various constraints. In sub-Saharan Africa, cattle are exposed to a number of tropical diseases and other environmental stresses. Breed improvement programs provides key entry points for increasing productivity in cattle populations, especially those plagued by animal diseases. However, breed improvement programs have tended to focus on single, market-driven production traits in isolation of broader livestock system functions. This potentially leads to genotypes that are not well adapted to the environment and not suitable for performing the multiple roles of cattle in developing countries. In order to design a sustainable breed improvement program, farmer preferences for cattle traits need to be integrated into the breeding objective. To explore preferences for cattle traits by cattle keepers, data are used from a choice experiment household survey from a sample of 507 cattle keeping households in trypanosomosis challenge areas in Kenya and Ethiopia. A multinomial logit and mixed logit models are applied to estimate the economic values of preferred cattle traits. The results show existence of preference heterogeneity for cattle traits based on cattle production systems. Further, the results suggest that important traits in developing breed improvement programs should include trypanotolerance, fitness to traction, drought tolerance and fecundity, drawing implications on conservation of breeds which possess these traits.Choice experiment, Cattle production system, Trait preferences, Trypanotolerance, Livestock Production/Industries, D12, D60, C35,

An empirical investigation of short and long-run agricultural wage formation in Ghana

This paper investigates empirically the factors that influence real agricultural wage rates in Ghana, based on 1957 to 1991 data. The Johansen cointegration framework is used to examine long-run relationships among agricultural and urban wage rates, the domestic terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture, urban unemployment, capital stock in agriculture and the size of the rural population. An error correction model is then used to investigate short-run dynamic relationships among the variables. The results show that: (1) there is only one stable equilibrium relationship among agricultural wage rates and their determinants in the long-run; (2) a 1 percent change in the domestic terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture leads to a 0.48 percent change in the real agricultural wage rate in the short-run and a 0.83 percent change in the long run; (3) the analysis suggests a one-time and one way upwards structural shift of 3.6 percent in real agricultural wages during the 1980s.Income Ghana. ,Agriculture Economic aspects Ghana. ,

Hydrolysis of Cellulose and Biomass Using Blue Molybdenum

Hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass is an important and ongoing subject of research due to generating precursors for biofuel synthesis. This work involves hydrolysis of microcrystalline cellulose and Arundo donax to glucose. Methods for acid hydrolysis include the use of sulfuric acid, phosphomolybdic acid, blue molybdenum using low concentrations at 40-100 °C. For comparison purposes, enzymatic hydrolysis was also carried out using cellulase. Products were quantified by measuring total organic carbon and reducible sugars using dinitrosalicylic acid. Use of phosphomolybdic acid, blue molybdenum and sulfuric acid even at 6.0 M did not increase the amount of glucose compared to using water only. Interestingly, enzymatic hydrolysis of powdered Arundo donax without pretreatment was successful and resulted in statistically similar amounts of glucose compared to using microcrystalline cellulose. Efforts are ongoing to understand the enzyme kinetics in the hydrolysis of Arundo donax and potentially increase the yield of glucose using chemical and microbiological pretreatment

Information acquisition and the adoption of improved crop varieties

Inadequate information on the benefits of and knowledge about innovative agricultural technologies continue to be a major constraint to technology adoption among smallholder farmers in developing countries. The low adoption of new technologies is one of the causes of low productivity and high poverty incidence among smallholder farmers, particularly in Africa. In this paper, I briefly review the literature on social networks and technology diffusion, and argue that the diffusion potential of social networks is underexplored. I then present results from two empirical studies on the impact of social networks on the adoption of improved crop varieties in Ghana and Ethiopia. The results reveal that farmers' peer adoption decisions and experiences, as well as information from trained development agents positively and statistically influence their adoption decisions. I also find that network structural characteristics such as lower segmentation within networks, high credibility of the information, and high effectiveness and efficiency of the amount of information flow tend to improve information acquisition and speed up diffusion of improved crop varieties

Leveraging regional growth dynamics in African agriculture

This study focuses on public investments and policy reforms for leveraging growth spillovers at the Africa regional level. It reviews first the theory and evidence of knowledge and growth spillovers generally and second the evidence in the African context. Given the limited and scattered evidence of actual past spillovers, it reviews recent ex ante simulations using partial and general equilibrium models to stress the potential for spillovers from greater cooperation in agricultural research, and from trade liberalization, policy harmonization and investments in infrastructure. The results show that permitting greater crossborder transfers and adopting improved technologies could have large spillover multiplier effects on overall economic welfare in the region. And simply reducing African countries’ trade barriers and improving cross-border transport could increase agricultural incomes by as much as 10%. These two examples confirm that regional cooperation in agricultural research and harmonization and liberalization of regional trade systems are two important areas that have yet to be optimally harnessed to generate larger spillovers and enhance regional economic take-off.Sub-Saharan Africa, Regional cooperation, Spillovers, Agricultural development, International Development,

Achieving regional growth dynamics in African agriculture

"This study focuses on public investments and policy reforms for leveraging growth spillovers at the African regional level. A conceptual framework that is built on the endogenous growth theory and the new economic geography is presented first to gain a better understanding of the underlying theory and empirical evidence on regional integration and growth spillovers. In order to demonstrate the potential benefits from greater cross-border technology spillovers in Africa, as well as from trade liberalization and investment in infrastructure, results from ex-ante simulations using partial and general equilibrium models are then presented and discussed. Results indicate that sizeable regional spillover benefits can be obtained by permitting greater crossborder transfer and adoption of improved technologies, sometimes as large as three to four times the gain in direct benefits obtained within the innovating countries. This is especially true for commodities like mutton, groundnuts and sorghum. Moreover, reducing trade barriers between African countries in agriculture and non-agriculture can significantly increase intra-regional agricultural trade and raise economic growth rates. The simulations also demonstrate that improving transportation infrastructure generates the most encouraging results, increasing agricultural income by as much as 10%. The findings in this study confirm that greater regional cooperation in agricultural research and development, harmonization of regulatory standards for technology adaptation, and harmonization and liberalization of trade systems within the region could play a crucial role in expanding opportunities for African farmers. Therefore, strengthening linkages among African countries through infrastructure, agricultural R&D, and expansion of intraregional trade can generate large spillovers and leverage regional growth." Authors' AbstractComputable General Equilibrium Models C68 ,