Lowland farming system inefficiency in Benin (West Africa):

This paper uses a directional distance function and a single truncated bootstrap approach to investigate inefficiency of lowland farming systems in the Benin Republic. First, we employed a dual approach to estimate and decompose short-run profit inefficiency of each farming system into pure technical, allocative and scale inefficiency and also into input and output inefficiency. Second, an econometric analysis of factors affecting the inefficiency was generated using a single truncated bootstrap procedure to improve inefficiency analysis statistically and obtain consistent estimates. In the short run, scale, allocative and output inefficiency were found to be the main sources of inefficiency. Based on inefficiency results, the inefficiency of lowland farming systems is the most diverse. Compared to a vegetable farming system, technical inefficiency is significantly higher if farmers switch to a rice farming system. Scale, allocative, output, and input inefficiency are significantly lower with an integrated ricevegetable farming system and there was high prevalence of increasing returns to scale in the integrated rice-vegetable farming system. Water control and lowland farming systems are complements and play a significant role in the level of inefficiency. Input inefficiency shows the difficulty that the producers face in adjusting the quality and quantity of seeds and fertilizers. The paper provides empirical support for efforts to promote an integrated rice-vegetable farming system in West Africa lowlands to increase food security. Keywords Lowlands . Inefficiency . Bootstrap . Beni

Creating a typology of tobacco farms according to determinants of diversification in Valle de Lerma (Salta-Argentina)

The objective of this article is to identify typical tobacco farms according to determinants of diversification that can be used to explore possibilities of diversification in the province of Salta (Northwest of Argentina). National Agriculture Census data of 278 farms in the main tobacco production area of Salta were used for the analysis. The variables selected concerning determinants of diversification were: land area, irrigation, general capital goods and specific capital goods, ownership of land, education, off-farm work, and labour availability. The analysis of the principal components applied to 16 selected variables allowed to reduce the dimensionality of the data to four components. Those components were used to apply K-means cluster approach to classify the farms. Four clusters were determined. Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 are the largest clusters. These concern highly specialized tobacco farms. They differ regarding determinants for diversification due to different levels of education of the farmer and different levels of off-farm work. Both clusters are interesting for further analysis regarding diversification alternatives to maintain or improve income and to reduce soil degradation. Cluster 3 concerns large tobacco farms being somewhat less specialized than the farms in Clusters 1 and 2. Intensive tobacco production makes this group interesting for exploring diversification alternatives to improve soil conditions. Farms in Cluster 4 already have a high level of diversification with substantial livestock production. The presence of perennial pastures suggests a better soil management than the other clusters. This cluster looks appealing to investigate what can be done regarding diversification

Resilience of food companies to calamities - perceptions in the Netherlands

Calamities such as extreme droughts and trade or infrastructure breakdowns potentially hamper the continuity of individual food companies, as well as the continuity of food supply in Europe at large. There is a lack of insight into food companies’ resilience in case of cumulative calamities or calamities that did not happen before in recent history. In this context, an expert elicitation study among feed and food companies in the Netherlands was undertaken. Results show that lengthy or structural unavailability of electricity and a lengthy crisis of road transport are perceived as the most threatening calamities.Outcomes also show a relatively limited implementation of BCM (business continuity management) at company level. Complete BCM programs for top-3 calamities perceived to threaten the continuity of food supply in Europe are reported by 0% to 30% of the companies. For calamities perceived to be important for business continuity this is between 20% and 40%. In the field of risk management a leading role is attributed to the public sector for improving international governance and setting up a so-called masterplan with measures such as larger raw-materials stocks and broad sourcing. Findings suggest that further actions are needed, starting with prioritised calamities and the design of a masterplan. Yet, stakeholders are also urged to pro-actively “think the unthinkable

Farm firm micro-econometric modelling : empirical evidence from Russian dairy farming

This study develops a micro econometric model of specialised dairy farms in Moscow Region using panel data over the period 1995-1998. The model is used to analyse the role of input and output subsidies in the on-farm decision making. Theoretical conditions for short term profit maximization and the fixed effect specification are not rejected by the data. Estimates of the parameters related to input and output subsidies are found to be highly significant. The effect of output subsidies on milk output supply is larger then the price effect. Output subsidies are allocated efficiently in the period 1996-1998 and inefficiently in 1995; input subsi-dies are allocated efficiently in 1995 and inefficiently in 1996-199