The Economics of Soil Erosion: A Model of Farm Decision-Making

Soil erosion is widely considered to be a serious threat to the long-term viability of agriculture in many parts of the world. The problem is particularly serious in certain developing countries. This paper examines key factors affecting smallholder farmers, decisions about soil depletion and conservation. The analysis focuses exclusively on the on-site productivity losses due to soil erosion in an attempt to understand farmer behaviour, thus ignoring any externality effects or off-site costs. The physical processes of soil erosion are described and its economic effects are reviewed, drawing on theoretical and empirical studies to date. Contrary to arguments that farmers are not aware of the extent and effects of erosion, an economic rationale for them to deplete their soil may be found in relatively simple conceptual models. While much of the research focuses on the North American context, this paper emphasises the relevance of economic models for analysing the situation in developing countries. A simulation model is presented and used to describe the economic consequences of soil erosion for smallholder agriculture in Malawi. Simulation analysis indicates that few conservation measures will be attractive to smallholder farmers due primarily to the low productivity of this sector. The results highlight how incentives to invest in alternative cropping systems are influenced by a number of factors, including the initial and ongoing costs, the sensitivity of yields to erosion and the farmer's discount rate. The study also compares alternative measures of the benefit of different cropping systems to the farmer and explores the implications of the results for agricultural pricing policy.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Should Europe Further Strengthen Intellectual Property for Plant Breeders? An Analysis of Seed Industry Proposals

This paper illustrates the potential negative effects of increasing the scope of plant breeders' rights (PBR) protection, as has been proposed for Europe by leading plant breeding firms. Such a policy could increase the costs for varietal development for breeding companies, particularly if their access to varieties of the market leader is constrained. This is represented as an asymmetrical increase in breeders' cost functions in a simple model of endogenous quality choice under price competition. Increased scope of IPR protection leads to increased profits for the leading breeding company but decreases in varietal quality and both farm and overall profits.intellectual property rights, product differentiation, plant breeding, genetic diversity, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, L13, O34, Q16,

The Effects of Strengthened IPR Regimes on the Plant Breeding Sector in Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the effect of intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes on the plant breeding sector in developing countries. Most of these countries have implemented a system of plant variety protection (PVP), or are in the process of doing so, generally as part of their obligations under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This paper presents the results of research on the initial effects of IPRs on the plant breeding sector in five case study countries (China, Colombia, India, Kenya and Uganda). Three of the countries have PVP systems in place and the other two are in the process of either developing or implementing legislation. But the ease of implementing PVP seems to have been overestimated. Opportunities to minimize the transaction costs of acquiring and enforcing rights are being missed. Detailed interviews with both domestic and international seed companies suggest that PVP can not be expected to initiate the development of a commercial seed sector. But a well functioning system can play a role in stimulating further development of the sector, although a measured approach to increasing the scope of protection will probably better balance interests than rapid adoption standards of industrialized countries. The results also highlight the particular challenges facing national agricultural research institutes in determining how to best make use of IPRs, such as PVP, particularly given broader changes in publicly-financed agricultural research.Crop Production/Industries, L3, O3, Q16,

Product differentiation under the WTO; An analysis of labelling and tariff or tax measures concerning farm animal welfare

This report examines the possibility of giving preferential treatment to imports of meat products that meet improved standards in terms of animal welfare in production. Three specific forms of preferential treatment are considered here as possible measures for increasing levels of animal welfare in meat production in the EU and its exporting partners: labelling of products (either voluntary or compulsory), differentiated import tariffs and differentiated consumer taxes. The likely admissibility of such measures under WTO rules is assessed by means of an analysis of previous decisions by WTO dispute settlement panels. It is concluded that all of the measures analysed have a possibility of being upheld, based on a defence relying on Article XX of the GATT and perhaps also the TBT Agreement. While the incentives offered by labelling could be reinforced with differentiated tariffs or taxes, these financial instruments involve various additional complications. They could best be considered after the possibilities of regulated labelling schemes have been exhausted.International Relations/Trade,

Rural Livelihoods: Interplay Between Farm Activities, Non-farm Activities and the Resource Base

A concentration of poor in rural areas has resulted in a research and policy focus on agricultural technologies and (poor) households impact on soil productivity. But farm households do not live of farming alone, non-farm activities play a principal role even in remote areas. With a unique household-level dataset covering seven regions in Africa and two in Asia we analyze (1) the importance of non-farm income in different geographical zones; (2) the role of geographical factors in determining access to non-farm employment; (3) the role of non-farm income in external input use and soil nitrogen balances. Distinguishing geographical zones based on the distance to urban areas we find the share of non-farm income increasing from 12 percent in the remote areas to 35 percent in peri-urban areas. Geographical location is found to explain a major part of the variation in individual non-farm participation, besides characteristics like education and gender. At household level we find non-farm income not playing a role of significance in explaining external input use, inorganic fertilizer use nor changes in the nitrogen balance. Households thus appear not to invest non-farm income in agriculture. This limits the contribution of non-farm income to reducing widespread soil nutrient depletion witnessed in Africa.off-farm income, rural development, micro-economics, Labor and Human Capital, Q12, D1, J43, Q24,

Analysing the role of institutional arrangements: vegetable value chains in East Africa

Institutional innovations are increasingly seen as key to achieving not only agricultural growth, by overcoming market failures, but also to ensure that poor smallholders also benefit from this process. This paper analyses institutional arrangements for vegetable marketing in East Africa from a transaction cost perspective. Marketing of vegetables is still dominated by spot markets with some, but still limited, movement towards farmers' engaging collectively in contract farming through producers' organisations. It appears that little is understood concerning how farmers and traders have overcome transaction costs in such situations, and this area deserves increased attention. An understanding of how institutional change occurs is necessary if donor agencies wish to support this process.Agribusiness, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Trade and Intellectual Property Rights in the Agricultural Seed Sector

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has continued to be fiercely debated between North and South, particularly with respect to its provisions for the agricultural sector. Article 27.3(b) of the TRIPS Agreement requires WTO member countries to offer some form of intellectual property protection for new plant varieties, either in the form of patents (common in the U.S.) or plant breeder’s rights (PBR). This paper analyses the effects of the introduction of PBRs in almost 70 importing countries on the value of exports of agricultural seeds and planting material from 10 exporting EU countries, including all principal traditional exporters of seeds, as well as the US. A fixed effects quantile regression model, based on the general specification for the gravity model for international trade, is estimated using panel data covering 19 years (1989-2007) of export flows in order to assess the effect of International Convention on the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) membership on seed imports. Basing inference on the panel bootstrap, we find no significant effect from UPOV membership on seed imports

The Economics of Soil Erosion: A Model of Farm Decision-Making

Soil erosion is widely considered to be a serious threat to the long-term viability of agriculture in many parts of the world. The problem is particularly serious in certain developing countries. This paper examines key factors affecting smallholder farmers, decisions about soil depletion and conservation. The analysis focuses exclusively on the on-site productivity losses due to soil erosion in an attempt to understand farmer behaviour, thus ignoring any externality effects or off-site costs. The physical processes of soil erosion are described and its economic effects are reviewed, drawing on theoretical and empirical studies to date. Contrary to arguments that farmers are not aware of the extent and effects of erosion, an economic rationale for them to deplete their soil may be found in relatively simple conceptual models. While much of the research focuses on the North American context, this paper emphasises the relevance of economic models for analysing the situation in developing countries. A simulation model is presented and used to describe the economic consequences of soil erosion for smallholder agriculture in Malawi. Simulation analysis indicates that few conservation measures will be attractive to smallholder farmers due primarily to the low productivity of this sector. The results highlight how incentives to invest in alternative cropping systems are influenced by a number of factors, including the initial and ongoing costs, the sensitivity of yields to erosion and the farmer's discount rate. The study also compares alternative measures of the benefit of different cropping systems to the farmer and explores the implications of the results for agricultural pricing policy

International agreements relating to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and implications for Dutch policy

Policy issues related to plant genetic resources are socially, technically and scientifically complex. This report summarises the international agreements and relevant bodies con-cerning plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), FAO Global Plan of Action on Plant Genetic Resources (GPA), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT-PGRFA), the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the International Con-vention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). The various obligations arising from these conventions and treaties are reviewed. In so doing, this report concen-trates exclusively on implications for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture while most of the agreements concern other resources and/or issues. The relationship between the agreements is analysed with reference to the evolution of policy priorities from promoting use of genetic resources to supporting conservation, in part through the sharing of benefits arising from use. In addition, the implications for genetic resources policy in the Nether-lands are outlined and existing initiatives to fulfill these obligations are highlighted

Should Europe Further Strengthen Intellectual Property for Plant Breeders? An Analysis of Seed Industry Proposals

This paper illustrates the potential negative effects of increasing the scope of plant breeders' rights (PBR) protection, as has been proposed for Europe by leading plant breeding firms. Such a policy could increase the costs for varietal development for breeding companies, particularly if their access to varieties of the market leader is constrained. This is represented as an asymmetrical increase in breeders' cost functions in a simple model of endogenous quality choice under price competition. Increased scope of IPR protection leads to increased profits for the leading breeding company but decreases in varietal quality and both farm and overall profits