Efficient information exchanges between sellers and buyers are essential if prices are to act as a signal for resource allocation in an economy. In the case of seed and planting materials, information on quality traits are often difficult for consumers (farmers) to obtain prior to purchase,...

This paper investigates the presence of career incentives in arm's-length contracts between wine-grape farmers and wineries in Chile. We observe explicit incentives in pay-for-performance provisions that depend on measurable characteristics of grape quality, and we test for the presence of...

High poverty rate persists in rural Kenya, where farming households continue to depend on agriculture for food and income, despite economic growth. Maize is the most widely grown crop, with the maize-growing smallholder population quite heterogeneous and diversified.However, less than half the...

Contract farming has frequently been shown to increase the income of participating households. Whether contract farming increases other aspects of household welfare, however, remains unclear. Using a 1,200-household data set from Madagascar and the results of a contingent valuation experiment...

This study evaluates the impact of Heifer International’s livestock donation program in the Copperbelt Province in Zambia. Using a panel data of 300 households and 4 survey rounds, this analysis assesses the impact of dairy cow, meat goat, and draft cattle donation programs on poverty and food...

In addition to multilateral trade agreements under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the world has seen a remarkable proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the last two decades. This study investigates the impacts of these multilateral and regional trade institutions on food...

The purpose of the research presented in this poster is to investigate factors impacting farmers’ decisions to engage in multifunctional activities, which are hypothesized to enhance the sustainability and prosperity of farms and their communities. To achieve this research goal, we break it up...

The purpose of this paper is to understand how farm-level factors are associated with a farmer’s perceived success of Multifunctional Activities (MFAs) and desire to continue participating in MFAs. Using the responses from a survey of farmers in New England, we use logistic and ordered...

Climate change will directly affect food availability and security. Because food production is fundamentally a biological process that is a function, in part, of temperature and moisture, the agricultural sector’s potential vulnerability is particularly large. While there is ongoing scientific...

During the Global Food Price Crisis of 2007-2011, millions of people suffered from hunger because food had become expensive. To cope with this problem, the governments of several countries decided to establish public food reserves in order to stabilize domestic prices. In this paper we develop a...