In the context of increasing competition for water, knowledge of the marginal productivity of water is crucial in determining its optimal allocation between users. Using primary, plot level panel data, this paper estimates the marginal productivity of water from supple- mentary irrigation in...

Marketing boards and strategic reserves have re-emerged over the last decade as significant actors in grain markets in eastern and southern Africa, yet there is little empirical research regarding how their activities affect smallholder behavior. This paper uses panel survey data from 1997-2007...

This paper examines changes in the allocation of public funds between production related public goods (PRPGs) and labour augmenting public goods (LAPGs) once elected village leaders replaced an appointment system. We derive a two-period theoretical model in which the interest of appointed...

This study is primarily intended to examine the dynamics and determinants of rural household poverty and vulnerability in Northern Highlands of Ethiopia. The data for this research is mainly based on the Ethiopian Household Survey (ERHS). Results from disaggregation of the poor indicate that...

More than one third of the population in Africa is still facing undernourishment and malnutrition. While poor and food-insecure people are most often living in unfavourable agricultural zones, such as semi-arid areas, only few studies have assessed the potential of well adapted dryland cereals...

This paper intends to contribute to the on-going debate about whether and how restructured agri-food markets can provide viable market opportunities for small-scale farmers in South Africa. It aims at analyzing contract farming from the small-scale farmer perspective and at better understanding...

This paper assesses the impact of chicken vaccination on farmers’ income. A dynamic simulation model, VIPOSIM, combined with benefit-cost techniques, was used ensuring that both, the dynamic aspects of village poultry production system and selection bias are addressed. The findings of this...

The potential contributions of new biotechnologies to sustainable food and income security have been the subject of widespread discussions around the turn of the twenty-first century. But distributional issues of which segments of GMO adopters benefit the most have not been given ample...