Economists investigating consumer demand have accumulated considerable evidence showing that consumers generally have subjective preferences for characteristics of products and that their demand for products is significantly affected by their perceptions of the product's attributes. However, the...

The efficiency of women fanners in the agricultural sector of developing countries is passionately debated. Very few studies have examined this issue in African agriculture. All previous studies were based on production functions, but have been criticised as suffering from simultaneous equation...

This paper examines the relative economic efficiency of small and large rice farms in Cote d'Ivoire using a profit function approach. No differences in the relative economic efficiency of small and large farms were found. This conclusion is robust under alternative model specifications. Agrarian...

Peasant farmers in Sahelian West Africa adjust to rainfall uncertainties in the agricultural season by making decisions sequentially as a function of the evolving rainfall patterns. Understanding such flexibilities in farmer decision-making is central to technology introduction. This paper...

The objective of this paper is to test the hypothesis that farmer perceptions of technology- specific characteristics significantly condition technology adoption decisions. Earlier adoption studies have not considered this in the analysis of the determinants of adoption decisions. The omission...

Questions have been raised about the ecological consequences and economic sustainability of exclusive reliance on chemical fertilizers for the rapidly expanding maize production across sub-Saharan Africa. Alternative agroforestry-based natural resource management technologies have been developed...