Road expansion and market integration in the Austrian low countries during the second half of the 18th century.

We analyse the integration of wheat markets across 18 towns in the Austrian Low Countries during the second half of the 18th century and the relationship with the rapidly expanding paved road network in this period. We use a switching regression approach (threshold cointegration) to study long-run and short-run integration of these markets, using monthly wheat prices. We find that throughout this period, markets were spatially interconnected. However, price margins adjust only slowly to long-term levels in response to local shocks. We also find that transaction costs are relatively high. The results suggest a complex market with regular trade flow reversals and periods of unprofitable trade between key markets. It is widely accepted in Belgian historiography that the construction of a paved road network caused a substantial reduction in transaction costs. Our research, however, indicates that distance, fixed costs or links by rivers and canals mainly influenced transaction costs, not the expansion of a paved road network. Two factors can account for this. First, the toll structure on paved roads discouraged bulk trade. Secondly, new private investment in inter-city grain trade that may have led to cuts in the trading costs, typically appeared to be absent in this period. However, adjustment speeds in markets are significantly affected by the existence of paved roads. Better communication and faster transport due to the road network resulted in faster arbitrageCountry; Integration; Market; Market integration;

Does crop-livestock integration lead to improved crop production in the savanna of West Africa?

Integrated crop-livestock farming in the Guinea savanna of West Africa is often assumed to lead to synergies between crop and livestock production, thereby improving the overall productivity and resilience of agricultural production. Whether these synergies actually occur remains poorly studied. On-farm trials were conducted in northern Nigeria over a period of four years to assess the agronomic and economic performance of maize-legume systems with and without the integration of livestock (goats). Groundnut-maize rotations with livestock achieved the highest carry-over of nutrients as manure from one season to the next, covering approximately one-third of the expected N, P and K uptake by maize and reducing the demand for synthetic fertilizers. However, the advantage of lower fertilizer costs in rotations with livestock was offset by higher labour costs for manure application and slightly lower values of maize grain. Overall, no clear agronomic or economic benefits for crop production were observed from the combined application of manure and synthetic fertilizer over the application of synthetic fertilizer only, probably because the amounts of manure applied were relatively small. Legume-maize rotations achieved higher cereal yields, a better response to labour and fertilizer inputs, and a higher profitability than maize-based systems with no or only a small legume component, irrespective of the presence of livestock. Livestock at or near the farm could nevertheless make legume cultivation economically more attractive by increasing the value of legume haulms. The results suggested that factors other than crop benefits, e.g. livestock providing tangible and non-tangible benefits and opportunities for animal traction, could be important drivers for the ongoing integration of crop and livestock production in the savann

Changes in Living Standards in Villages in India 1975-2004: Revisiting the ICRISAT Village Level Studies

This paper examines changes in living conditions in the six villages in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, initially surveyed during 1975-84. We link the original Village Level Survey (VLS) households to a new survey in the villages conducted during 2001-04 and further extensive survey work in 2005-06, including tracking survey of all individuals ever interviewed in the original VLS. Despite issues related to attrition and changes in the survey instruments, we find that monetary welfare indicators (such as incomes, assets, consumption and poverty), and non monetary indicators of well-being (such as basic literacy, education and health outcomes) have improved considerably. We find the considerable attrition rates observed can be linked to within-household relational variables such as gender, relationship to the head and birth order. Migrants have experienced faster welfare improvements than non-migrants, but more analysis is needed to confirm whether this is due to their initial characteristics or due to their migration. Finally, we explore the correlates of consumption and income growth, and changes in poverty. We find that consumption growth is linked to initial households characteristics, in particular the presence of high literacy in the household, and of young children, especially boys, in the baseline year (1983) is strongly correlated with growth. Other assets, such as land, have a negligible impact, suggesting that labour and human capital have been instrumental for growth. Poverty declined in all villages, but especially in the Mahbubnagar villages in Andhra Pradesh. Labour endowments and literacy appear to have been crucial. Surprisingly, lower caste groups have experienced faster poverty declines, although this effect is largely confined to Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh

Cash transfers in adolescence: a developmental perspective

Low-income and middle-income countries have increasingly relied on cash transfer programmes to expand social protection among the most poor and vulnerable people. Many of these cash transfer programmes have given cash directly to adolescents to incentivise behaviour that improve a range of health and social outcomes. The evidence for the effectiveness of these programmes has been mixed. Some studies show cash transfer to be effective in promoting desired behaviours among adolescents—such as school participation and reducing sexually transmitted infections—whereas others find no evidence for an effect. One possible reason for these mixed results is that cash transfer programmes targeting adolescents have not taken into account the many biological, cognitive, and social changes that occur during this transitional period, thus failing to incorporate a developmental perspective in the design

Challenges and solutions for enhancing agriculture value chain decision-making. A short review

© IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2017. Increasingly challenging global and environmental requirements have resulted in agricultural systems coming under increasing pressure to enhance their resilience capabilities. This in special to respond to the abrupt changes in resource quality, quantity and availability, especially during unexpected environmental circumstances, such as uncertain weather, pests and diseases, volatile market conditions and commodity prices. Therefore, integrated solutions are necessary to support the knowledge-management, collaborative ICT solution, risk management and regulation management across agriculture stakeholders. Therefore, and based on the on-going work under the H2020 RUC-APS project research network, this book chapter is oriented to contribute to agriculture value chain decision-making field to cover the current need on gathering a common understanding and appreciation of new trends in agriculture value chain, in special the multi-disciplinary challenges. For this, a short a literature review is conducted to summarise the main findings on real application and current research trends. This within the objective to propose an integrated framework based on better use of communication ways, standardised structures, development of training and awareness, regulation based initiatives and vertical Integration

Multiple Shocks, Coping and Welfare Consequences: Natural Disasters and Health Shocks in the Indian Sundarbans

Background: Based on a household survey in Indian Sundarbans hit by tropical cyclone Aila in May 2009, this study tests for evidence and argues that health and climatic shocks are essentially linked forming a continuum and with exposure to a marginal one, coping mechanisms and welfare outcomes triggered in the response is significantly affected. Data & Methods: The data for this study is based on a cross-sectional household survey carried out during June 2010. The survey was aimed to assess the impact of cyclone Aila on households and consequent coping mechanisms in three of the worst-affected blocks (a sub-district administrative unit), viz. Hingalganj, Gosaba and Patharpratima. The survey covered 809 individuals from 179 households, cross cutting age and gender. A separate module on health-seeking behaviour serves as the information source of health shocks defined as illness episodes (ambulatory or hospitalized) experienced by household members. Key findings: Finding reveals that over half of the households (54%) consider that Aila has dealt a high, damaging impact on their household assets. Result further shows deterioration of health status in the period following the incidence of Aila. Finding suggests having suffered multiple shocks increases the number of adverse welfare outcomes by 55%. Whereas, suffering either from the climatic shock (33%) or the health shock (25%) alone increases such risks by a much lesser extent. The multiple-shock households face a significantly higher degree of difficulty to finance expenses arising out of health shocks, as opposed to their counterparts facing only the health shock. Further, these households are more likely to finance the expenses through informal loans and credit from acquaintances or moneylenders. Conclusion: This paper presented empirical evidence on how natural and health shocks mutually reinforce their resultant impact, making coping increasingly difficult and present significant risks of welfare loss, having short as well as long-run development manifestations.DFI