A hedonic approach to estimating the supply of variety attributes of a subsistence crop:

"The paper extends the household hedonic model, as a non-market valuation tool, by estimating a supply function for variety attributes of a subsistence crop in a developing country. The model is applied to bananas in Uganda, making use of disaggregated data on variety-specific farm-gate banana bunch prices and attributes. The hedonic analysis is applied at the farm-gate, the first link in the market chain, while accounting for the semi-subsistence nature of banana producing households. Within the framework of the agricultural household, where consumption and production decisions are non-separable, prices reflect the implicit marginal valuation of both consumption and production attributes jointly. The paper is motivated by the need to quantify the value of banana attributes in light of targeted efforts for variety improvement. Whether variety improvement will pay-off at the market level requires a more detailed examination of the relative worth of banana attributes within the structure of consumer preferences and production technologies related to bananas in Uganda. By revealing important price-attribute relationships, the findings provide guidance for future crop improvement efforts and diversification choices, while taking into account implicit market signals for output characteristics." Author's Abstractsmall farms, Households Models, agricultural sector, Crops Economic aspects, Crop diversification, Variety attributes, Decision-making,

Gender, social capital and information exchange in rural Uganda:

"Changing agricultural research and extension systems mean that informal mechanisms of information diffusion are often the primary source of information about improved seed and practices for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper investigates the interactions between gender, social capital and information exchange in rural Uganda. Within the framework of farmer-to-farmer models, we conceptualize the informal information diffusion process to comprise social capital accumulation and information exchange. We assume that each agent participates in information exchange with a fixed (predetermined) level of social capital and examine how endowments of social capital influence information exchange, paying close attention to gender differences. A multinomial logit model is used to analyze multiple participation choices of information exchange facing the farmer. Findings demonstrate that social capital is an important factor in information exchange, with men generally having better access to social capital than women. We also find strong evidence in support of group-based technology dissemination systems. " Authors' AbstractGender, Social capital, information exchange, Informal mechanisms, Agricultural research, Seed systems, Agricultural technology, Collective action,

Food insecurity and public agricultural spending in Bolivia : putting money where your mouth is ?

This paper explores the reduction of food insecurity in Bolivia, adopting a supply side approach that analyzes the role of agricultural spending on vulnerability. Vulnerability to food insecurity is captured by a municipal level composite -- developed locally within the framework of World Food Program food security analysis -- that combines welfare outcomes, weather conditions and agricultural potential for all 327 municipalities in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Our econometric results indicate that levels of public agricultural spending are positively associated with high or very high vulnerability. The authors interpret this to indicate that agricultural spending allocation decisions are driven by high or very high vulnerability levels. In other words, more agricultural spending appears to be destined to where it is more needed in line with previous findings in other sectors in Bolivia. This is confirmed through a number of specifications, including contemporaneous and lagged relationships between spending and vulnerability. They also find evidence of public spending on infrastructure and research and extension services having a significant (but very small) effect towards reducing high vulnerability. This indicates the importance of the composition of public agricultural spending in shaping its relationship with vulnerability to food insecurity.Food&Beverage Industry,Rural Poverty Reduction,Public Sector Economics,Population Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems

Variety demand within the framework of an agricultural household model with attributes: the case of bananas in Uganda

Ugandan smallholder farmers produce the nation's major food crop using numerous banana varieties with distinctive attributes, while coping with important biotic constraints and imperfect markets. This empirical context motivates a trait-based model of the agricultural household that establishes the economic association between household preferences for specific variety attributes (yield, disease and pest resistance, and taste), among other exogenous factors, and variety demand, or the extent of cultivation. Six variety demands are estimated in reduced form, each in terms of both plant counts (“absolute” or levels demand) and plant shares (“relative” demand). Two salient findings emerge from the analysis: 1) the determinants of both absolute and relative demands are variety-specific and cannot be generalized across groups of cultivars; and 2) the determinants of absolute and relative demand are not the same in sign or significance. These findings raise questions about commonly used econometric specifications in the adoption literature. Grouping varieties together masks individual differences, and differences may be important for predicting the adoption of new technologies such as genetically transformed, endemic or local varieties. The development of methods to estimate a complete variety demand system might permit resolution of cross-variety relationships. The purpose of this research is to contribute information of use in identifying suitable local host varieties for the insertion of resistance traits through genetic transformation, and the factors affecting their potential adoption.Households Models, Variety demand, Variety attributes,

VARIETY DEMAND IN AN INTEGRATED AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLD MODEL WITH ATTRIBUTES: IMPLICATIONS FOR EMERGING CROP BIOTECHNOLOGIES

In this paper we consider the role of variety attributes in an agricultural household model of variety planting decisions. In an application to banana production in Uganda we derive a system of derived demands for a set of available banana varieties. Our empirical model uses a hudle/count data framework to examine simaltaneously the likelihood a household has experience with a given variety, and the amount of the variety that is planted. We find that production, consumption, and pest resistance attributes significantly influence planting decisions. These findings have implications for emerging crop biotechnologies.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Climate-Smart Agriculture in Grenada

The climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. It aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (GHGs), and require planning to address tradeoffs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation [1]. The priorities of different countries and stakeholders are reflected to achieve more efficient, effective, and equitable food systems that address challenges in environmental, social, and economic dimensions across productive landscapes. While the concept is new, and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are used by farmers to cope with various production risks. Mainstreaming CSA requires critical stocktaking of ongoing and promising practices for the future, and of institutional and financial enablers for CSA adoption. This country profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSA at scale

the case of bananas in Uganda

Ugandan smallholder farmers produce the nation’s major food crop using numerous banana varieties with distinctive attributes, while coping with important biotic constraints and imperfect markets. This empirical context motivates a trait-based model of the agricultural household that establishes the economic association between household preferences for specific variety attributes (yield, disease and pest resistance, and taste), among other exogenous factors, and variety demand, or the extent of cultivation. Six variety demands are estimated in reduced form, each in terms of both plant counts (“absolute” or levels demand) and plant shares (“relative” demand). Two salient findings emerge from the analysis: 1) the determinants of both absolute and relative demands are variety-specific and cannot be generalized across groups of cultivars; and 2) the determinants of absolute and relative demand are not the same in sign or significance. These findings raise questions about commonly used econometric specifications in the adoption literature. Grouping varieties together masks individual differences, and differences may be important for predicting the adoption of new technologies such as genetically transformed, endemic or local varieties. The development of methods to estimate a complete variety demand system might permit resolution of cross-variety relationships. The purpose of this research is to contribute information of use in identifying suitable local host varieties for the insertion of resistance traits through genetic transformation, and the factors affecting their potential adoption.Non-PRIFPRI1EPT

A Hedonic Perspective to Estimating a Marginal Value Function for a Subsistence Crop

A hedonic price model is used to estimate the marginal value function for output characteristics of a subsistence crop in a developing economy. Within the framework of the agricultural household, with non-separable consumption and production decisions, prices reflect the implicit marginal valuation of both consumption and production attributes jointly. Variety-specific crop product farm-gate prices are used in the hedonic analysis. The findings provide guidance for future crop improvement efforts, while revealing those attributes most likely to capture premiums at the market place. Implicit premiums for attribute scarcity are also revealed. Improvements in infrastructure could partially reduce the implicit costs of transportation, leading to higher farm-gate prices and price premiums for size and quality

Predicting farmer demand for transgenic cooking bananas in Uganda

In contrast to cross-breeding, genetic transformation allows for enhancement of one trait in a variety while retaining other desirable traits or attributes. Host varieties can be hybrids bred by scientists or endemic types maintained by farmers. Varieties that are popular among farmers are those whose traits or attributes are appreciated by farmers. Inserting a gene into a host variety that is already popular among farmers will increase the transgenic variety’s chances of being successful.Non-PRIFPRI1; Science and TechnologyEPT

Demand for cultivar attributes and the biodiversity of bananas on farms in Uganda

PRIFPRI4; GRP1; Theme 10; Subtheme 10.1; Pro-poor science and technology policies; DCAEPT