The Economic Viability of Cocoa Crop Insurance in Ghana

This study was motivated by the fact that Ghanaian cocoa producers face lower yields than other main cocoa producing counties which in turn increases food insecurity for smallholder producers. In addition, low yields experienced by Ghanaian producers is a driving factor for forest degradation and deforestation as cocoa producers encroach further into previously undisturbed forests in efforts to increase their incomes. There are currently production methods to achieve higher yields readily available in Ghana; however, many producers choose not to adopt these methods because they are seen as too risky, or simply cannot adopt them due to financial/credit constraints. A common rationale for producers not adopting new technologies is that smallholder producers are risk averse and find it difficult to risk the little capital they may have. Smallholder producers frequently forego opportunities because they are vulnerable to adverse shocks such as crop failure that can move them into or deeper into poverty. Crop insurance could mitigate these risks but there is currently no crop insurance available for cocoa in Ghana. The Climate-Smart Cocoa (CSC) Working Group has proposed offering crop insurance for producers who follow the practices of CSC. This study estimated the average yields and yield variation (risk) between two groups of producers: (1) those who followed CSC practices: have training for efficient agrochemical input usage, used inorganic fertilizer, and practiced shade management (appendix 5) and (2) those who did not use CSC practices: no input-use training, no shade management, but did use inorganic fertilizer. The objectives of this study were: (1) to estimate yield differences among producers who follow CSC and non-CSC practices (2) estimate the impact of CSC practices on risk (i.e. yield variation) using percent chance of indemnity payments to producers and relative standard deviation of yield as measurements, and (3) estimate potential revenue gains through following CSC practices. To investigate these objectives, a regression model was estimated to predict cocoa yields using historical yield for 19 districts in Ghana for the copping seasons of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. Regression results were then used to identify average yields at the district level, yield variance, and fair-market premiums for producers who followed CSC practices and those who did not in 19 districts of Ghana. The results of the study show that producers who followed the CSC recommended practices had higher yields, less risk, and higher gross revenue in every district of the study. Meaning, producers can obtain higher incomes by following CSC on lands that are already under cocoa cultivation as well as income stability through crop insurance. By obtaining these benefits, producers are not allowed to encroach into undisturbed forests and remain in the CSC program. Therefore, CSC can not only increase farm income but also reduce deforestation

It Seems Rational: A Contemporary Review of Decision-making Models Convergence with Addiction in the 21st Century

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Justin McKinley Flint on September 12, 2018

Economic Growth in the Philippines: A Spatial Econometrics Analysis at the Provincial Level, 1991 – 2000.

Investigating the determinants of economic growth remains a long research tradition in the economic growth literature. Most studies in this literature have tried to link economic growth and different economic factors using either neoclassical growth theories or endogenous growth approaches. These studies apply these growth theories to identify the factors responsible for the observed differences/disparities between regions or countries. While early studies focused on cross-country analyses, the recent most studies consider regions or sub-national entities as unit of analysis. This has raised the question of whether theories developed for cross-country analysis could be automatically applied for regional or sub-national analysis. Given the profound difference between nations and regions in terms of degree of openness, theories developed in cross-country analysis may not be automatically applied in regional analysis (see Mangrini, 2004). However, properly accounting for the spatial interaction effects may provide a way to use these theories in regional analysis. Regional analysis of economic growth has therefore spurned the development of specialized quantitative methods designed to account for the spatial dimensions of higher resolution, spatially referenced data. The goal of this research is to investigate the process of regional economic growth in the Philippines focusing on provincial data. Previous studies on regional growth within the Philippines have analyzed the regional growth process following neoclassical growth models or endogenous growth models without explicitly modeling spatial dependence between regions and the role of spillover effects. Traditional growth regressions with ordinary least squares may yield biased or inconsistent estimates if spatial autocorrelation is present but have been accounted for. This paper uses spatial econometrics techniques to estimate three theoretical growth models: the unconditional growth model, the Solow model and the Mankiw Romer and Weil model. Investment and human capital were found to be the main drivers of economic growth.Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Guidance and Technology: An Assessment of Project Intervention and Promoted Technologies

This study used primary data, collected as part of theCereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project tocompare net returns and cost efficiency between farmers who arebeneficiaries of the project to farmers who are not beneficiaries.Additionally, non-beneficiary farmers who use the promotedtechnologies from the project are compared to other nonbeneficiaryfarmers who do not use the promoted technologies.Propensity score matching is used to account for selection biaswhen comparing the outcomes of beneficiary and control groups.Results indicate higher return for project recipients as well asfarmers who use the CSISA promoted resource-conservingtechnologies (RCTs)

Technical Efficiency of Resource-Conserving Technologies in Rice -Wheat Systems: The Case of Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh in India

This study has evaluated the technical efficiency of farmers engaged in rice-wheat cropping systems in North-eastern India, who are using Resource-Conserving Technologies (RCTs) such as Zero Tillage (ZT) and Direct Seeded Rice (DSR). These technology promotions are being carried out under the intervention of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project, primarily funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The resource-conserving technologies are being promoted as part of conservation agriculture supported by the project. The data used in this study have been derived from the socioeconomic surveys conducted in Eastern Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar in North-eastern India during the kharif season of 2009 and rabi season of 2010. A stochastic frontier analysis was carried out to investigate and compare the determinants of technical efficiency among the farmers receiving intervention and those who are not. The study has revealed that farmers receiving CSISA intervention have realized higher levels of technical efficiency. Additionally, farmers who are receiving subsidies and farmers who are planting more diversified crops have higher levels of technical efficiency.Conservation agriculture, Direct seeded rice, India, Resource-conserving technology, Technical efficiency, Stochastic frontier, Zero tillage, Agricultural and Food Policy, O30, Q18, O22,

The dollarization paradox in Cambodia: Network externalities matter

The increased use of foreign currency as legal tender in Cambodia has been contrary to the general belief that macroeconomic and political stability help reduce dollarization. We provide so far the first explanation for this counterfactual phenomenon. In doing so, this paper develops a theoretical model based on the framework of Uribe (1997) by including a dollar pricing index to amplify the network effects of using a foreign currency (denoted dollar). The dollar pricing index, a proportion of an economy denominated by the dollar, reduces its transaction cost, thus increasing its usage in the economy. This increased use of the dollar further improves the experience of using it, resulting in higher usage of the dollar in the price quotation. The positive interaction of using the dollar as a unit of account and a means of payment causes dollarization to continue to rise, even though the economy has achieved low inflation and political stability

The decline of labour share in OECD and non-OECD since the 1980s

This paper examines the causes of falling labour share in OECD and non-OECD countries since the 1980s. The results show that export and volatility are key drivers in OECD countries, but in non-OECD countries, the significant factors are financial openness and the capital’s relative price

Exploring the kinetics of switchable polymer surfaces with dynamic tensiometry

Switchable polymer multilayer coatings consisting of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were prepared via Layer-by-Layer (LbL) assembly and post-functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether) (PEG). This resulted in a soft polar coating that reversibly and repeatedly rearranges from hydrophobic to hydrophilic (or vice versa) when contacted with water (or air). Goniometry is used to quantify the forward surface rearrangement in the form of transient measurements of the water contact angle. By examining the time evolution of the water contact angle at various temperatures, the apparent activation energy for the forward surface rearrangement (E[subscript a,f]) can be determined. Further insight can be gained into the kinetics of this surface reconstruction process by utilizing dynamic tensiometry to measure the evolution in the contact angle of a liquid meniscus at several rates and temperatures as it advances or recedes over the multilayer films. A simple first-order thermally-activated rate process is shown to describe the forward and reverse surface reconstruction and enables the shape of the measured tensiometric force curves during repeated immersion and emersion to be predicted quantitatively. Using this model we show that the character of this switchable surface coating can appear to be hydrophobic or hydrophilic depending on a single dimensionless parameter which incorporates the characteristic time-scale for temperature-dependent surface rearrangement, the speed of immersion and the capillary length of the liquid meniscus.Air Force Research Laboratory (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio). Propulsion DirectorateUnited States. Air Force Office of Scientific ResearchUnited States. Army Research Office (Contract W911NF-07-D-0004)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (Program) (Award DMR-0819762

Utilizing Dynamic Tensiometry to Quantify Contact Angle Hysteresis and Wetting State Transitions on Nonwetting Surfaces

Goniometric techniques traditionally quantify two parameters, the advancing and receding contact angles, that are useful for characterizing the wetting properties of a solid surface; however, dynamic tensiometry, which measures changes in the net force on a surface during the repeated immersion and emersion of a solid into a probe liquid, can provide further insight into the wetting properties of a surface. We detail a framework for analyzing tensiometric results that allows for the determination of wetting hysteresis, wetting state transitions, and characteristic topographical length scales on textured, nonwetting surfaces, in addition to the more traditional measurement of apparent advancing and receding contact angles. Fluorodecyl POSS, a low-surface-energy material, was blended with commercially available poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and then dip- or spray-coated onto glass substrates. These surfaces were probed with a variety of liquids to illustrate the effects of probe liquid surface tension, solid surface chemistry, and surface texture on the apparent contact angles and wetting hysteresis of nonwetting surfaces. Woven meshes were then used as model structured substrates to add a second, larger length scale for the surface texture. When immersed into a probe liquid, these spray-coated mesh surfaces can form a metastable, solid–liquid–air interface on the largest length scale of surface texture. The increasing hydrostatic pressure associated with progressively greater immersion depths disrupts this metastable, composite interface and forces penetration of the probe liquid into the mesh structure. This transition is marked by a sudden change in the wetting hysteresis, which can be systematically probed using spray-coated, woven meshes of varying wire radius and spacing. We also show that dynamic tensiometry can accurately and quantitatively characterize topographical length scales that are present on microtextured surfaces.United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (W 911NF-07-D-0004

Designing Robust Hierarchically Textured Oleophobic Fabrics

Commercially available woven fabrics (e.g., nylon- or PET-based fabrics) possess inherently re-entrant textures in the form of cylindrical yarns and fibers. We analyze the liquid repellency of woven and nanotextured oleophobic fabrics using a nested model with n levels of hierarchy that is constructed from modular units of cylindrical and spherical building blocks. At each level of hierarchy, the density of the topographical features is captured using a dimensionless textural parameter D[subscript n][superscript *]. For a plain-woven mesh comprised of chemically treated fiber bundles (n = 2), the tight packing of individual fibers in each bundle (D[subscript 2][superscript *] ≈ 1) imposes a geometric constraint on the maximum oleophobicity that can be achieved solely by modifying the surface energy of the coating. For liquid droplets contacting such tightly bundled fabrics with modified surface energies, we show that this model predicts a lower bound on the equilibrium contact angle of θE ≈ 57° below which the Cassie–Baxter to Wenzel wetting transition occurs spontaneously, and this is validated experimentally. We demonstrate how the introduction of an additional higher order micro-/nanotexture onto the fibers (n = 3) is necessary to overcome this limit and create more robustly nonwetting fabrics. Finally, we show a simple experimental realization of the enhanced oleophobicity of fabrics by depositing spherical microbeads of poly(methyl methacrylate)/fluorodecyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (fluorodecyl POSS) onto the fibers of a commercial woven nylon fabric.United States. Army Research Office (W911NF-13-D-0001