Does agricultural trade affect productivity? Evidence from Chilean farms

This paper analyzes the relationship between trade and agricultural productivity in Chile, a middle-income country with a recent noticeable history of agricultural trade. This study uses an agricultural commodity trade exposure index in a cross-sectional analysis of more than 70,000 farms to study the relationship between the trade exposure of agricultural commodities and the yields reported by these farms in the 1997 Chilean agricultural census. In order to capture both import and export exposure we subdivide farms in two groups, according to the Chilean case: farms producing only importables such as grains (traditional crops), and farms producing both traditional crops and non-traditional agricultural commodities (products more related to export markets). We exclude from our analysis farms producing only non-traditional products because the census only reports yields for traditional crops. We employ a switching regression model to analyze the effects of trade exposure on traditional crop yields for both groups of farms. Results show that the trade exposure index is positively related to farm yields for both groups, but with a larger effect on farmers producing both traditional and non-traditional commodities. These results are important because they suggest that spillovers from both importables and exportables produce gains in the productivity of traditional crops.     

Impacts of sustainability certification on farm income: Evidence from small-scale specialty green tea farmers in Vietnam

Sustainability certification for small-scale farms has gained considerable momentum in developing countries. However, evidence on the economic benefits of certification schemes in the context of domestically consumed foods and beverages is scarce. This paper addresses this gap by evaluating the impacts of sustainability standards on the selling prices, sales, costs and net income of small-scale specialty green tea farming in Vietnam. We analyze original survey data on 401 smallholder green tea farmers and employ propensity score matching to mitigate self-selection bias. Our estimates reveal that certified green tea producers are able to obtain a higher average selling price and sales value. In addition, although certification leads to a dramatic increase in the costs of hired labor, net farm income is still significantly improved.     

Exploring the relationship between farm size and productivity: Evidence from the Australian grains industry

The effect of farm size on productivity remains to be one of the longest standing debates in the agricultural development literature. In this paper, we use farm level data for the Australian grains industry from 1989 to 2004 to investigate the relationship between farm size and total factor productivity and its potential determinants. We show that a positive farm-size productivity relationship could be linked to farmer capital choice. In particular, the productivity advantage of larger farms is likely to diminish as farms use contract services to replace self–owned capital, suggesting that the hire of capital services (hereafter ‘capital outsourcing’) may lift the productivity level of small farms compared to their larger counterparts.     

农业经营组织演化的经济学解释

对农业经营组织演化的经济学机理进行了系统梳理和分析。研究表明：农业生产特性使得公司化和集体化模式面临高监督和组织协调成本,中国农村土地安排的社会保障功能,使得农业家庭经营具有一定的合理性。然而,农业家庭经营本身难以克服农业资本和技术服务约束、市场准入困难和市场风险威胁,农业经营正在经历一个组织化的过程。“公司＋农户”在克服市场进入障碍和降低市场风险的同时,面临着由于合同不完全性、不公平性和机会主义导致的合约不稳定窘境;农户合作社通过农户之间的合作,能够克服农户资本和技术服务农业生产约束,通过组织化农户与企业签定合约,提升了契约稳定性,但传统的农户合作存在“搭便车”等内在缺陷,限制了服务的规模,必须进行内部制度创新,向新一代合作社演化。农业经营的外部环境和内在技术变化,必然会引起农业组织本身的变化,农业经营组织演化的经济因素和演化方向,是值得进一步关注的问题。     

Privatization of agricultural extension services in the EU: Towards a lack of adequate knowledge for small-scale farms?

Small-scale farming involves millions of households in the EU and plays an important role in the rural economy. A significant percentage of these farms produce commodities for the market. This productive dimension is often overlooked, however, as is the technical support needed by these farms. The privatization of national farm advisory systems (NFAS) has an impact on small-scale farming that should be better assessed. This paper, which looks at the characteristics of intangible services, helps demonstrate how the privatization of advisory services may have unexpected adverse effects on small farms. The dismantling of coordinating authorities has made these farms less visible as a target client. Less direct interaction with advisors makes it more difficult to co-produce knowledge that is relevant to their needs. In addition, back office activities such as scientific monitoring, building and updating databases and scientific experiments have been restructured in a way which does not support their interests.     

Targeting agricultural research and extension for food security and poverty alleviation: A case study of fish farming in Central Cameroon

Over 5 years of participatory on-farm research, market access, profitability, farming systems productivity and economic sustainability were compared on 100 small-scale farms in Central Cameroon. Integration technology based on the use of agricultural by-products as fishpond inputs was the driver for intensification. Over all farms, fishpond productivity increased from 498 kg to 1609 kg fish/ha (2145 kg/ha/yr). During the project period, the number of active fish farmers increased from 15 to 192 (including 55 farms which participated only through information exchange). Over all farms, net returns from aquaculture increased by 5 times over pre-project levels. Productivity, intensity and profitability increased more significantly in periurban areas with good market access, compared to rural areas. Among farmers with good market access, average net income from the aquaculture enterprise rose from $118 up to $1485. Research-Extension Team (RET) support cost an average of $61,300 per year. Over 5 years, rural farmers recaptured 23% of the relevant RET investment compared to 442% by periurban farmers. Likewise, increase in production attributable to RET intervention was higher for periurban (253%) compared to rural (11.3%) fish farmers. Within 3 years of the end of extension support, rural farmers had returned to pre-project production levels, whereas periurban farms had better maintained their productivity and profitability. Findings indicate that, in areas with little or no access to markets, the number of fishponds and fish farmers can be increased and yields improved, increasing local food supplies, but sustainability in the absence of extension subsidies is questionable. To achieve either of the two principal goals for the sector, food security and/or poverty alleviation, investments need to be made in improving the availability of quality technical assistance to targeted farmers and finding means of reducing social conflict arising from perceived inequalities in the accrual of the benefits of development.     

Assessing farm performance by size in Malawi,Tanzania, and Uganda

Many Sub-Sahara African countries have long endured sluggish agricultural productivity growth and a farm structure dominated by smallholders. This prevailing structure has led to public policies focusing on access to land and its distribution as ways to boost agricultural supply. Drawing on data from the Living Standards Measurement Study–Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) for three East African countries (Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda), our purpose is to: test whether smaller farms in these countries are more productive than larger ones; examine how managerial performance varies with farm size; and assess how public policy may improve farm performance. We adopt the Random Parameters Stochastic Production Frontier model to estimate and then decompose Total Factor Productivity (TFP) across different farm size classes. In doing so, we test for possible measurement errors of farmer self-reported land area using Global Positioning System (GPS) data, and explore the imperfect factor markets hypothesis. The results show that across the three countries TFP is higher for smaller farms than for larger ones. Overall, managerial performance is low suggesting that programs designed to enhance managerial capacity would promote farm productivity across all sizes. Other policies are size specific. Access to agricultural input markets improves the productivity of the small farms, while greater spending on transportation infrastructure and extension services enhances the productivity of the large.     

Rising real wages,mechanization and growing advantage of large farms: Evidence from Indonesia

This paper examines dynamic patterns of land use, capital investments and wages in agriculture using farm panel data from Indonesia. The empirical analysis shows that with an increase in real wages that prevailed in both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in rural areas, relatively larger farmers increased the size of operational farm land by renting in land as well as used more hired-in machines through machine rental and/or service providers, which induces the substitution of labor by machines. Machines and land are complementary and, consistently, the inverse farm size-productivity relationship tends to be reversed among relatively large holders. The results support growing (diminishing) advantage of large (small) farms in the presence of rapidly rising real wages and have food security policy implications to many Asian countries where real wages are rapidly rising and small farms are predominant.     

How the performance rationales of organisations providing farm advice explain persistent difficulties in addressing societal goals in agriculture

This article posits that an economic analysis of the full diversity of organisations providing agricultural advice is needed to explore how societal issues related to environment and occupational health are addressed in the provision of such advice. Our theoretical framework draws on existing research in institutional economics applied to services, in particular to Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS). The methodology is based on a case study, the French seed potato supply chain. The results consider all the KIBS suppliers that deliver advice to farmers in the supply chain. They demonstrate the importance of organisations (linked to upstream and downstream industries) that are often neglected in studies on the pluralism of farm advisory services. Four main types of KIBS are described: client-owned advisory organisations; integrated services where service are developed primarily to accompany a commercial activity; consultancy firms; and parastatals. Each of them design both front-office and back-office service activities, according to their own profitability objectives. The analysis of the performance rationale of these different types of KIBS organisations provides an in-depth understanding of their economic strategies and the reasons why they address – or ignore – the possible adverse effects of their activity on occupational health and the environment. In such a context, public policy seems necessary to frame collective action and integrate environment and human health issues into farm advice. The conditions of efficiency of such interventions are discussed.     

Dependency of organic farms on direct payments in selected EU member states: Today and tomorrow

This paper examines the development of the role of government support in the financial situation of organic farms in selected Western and Eastern European countries, contrasting dependency on direct payments with that of conventional farms and assessing the impact of foreseeable changes in the political and economic environment. The results show that direct payments play an important role in the financial viability of organic farms in both Western and Eastern European countries. The level of specific support for organic farming is put into perspective, as other support payments and market returns contribute larger shares to total farm revenue in all the countries analysed. Modelling analyses show that support payments will continue to play an important role in the profitability of organic farms in Western Europe after implementation of the 2003 reform of Common Agricultural Policy in the EU. For organic farmers in Eastern European countries, the importance of support payments increases strongly with EU accession, as first pillar payments are introduced and environmental payments are expanded significantly.     

The effect of decoupling on the decision to produce: An Irish case study

This paper assesses the impact of decoupling on farming in Ireland. The decision to engage in production post decoupling is simulated using profit maximising multi-period linear programming models. The number of farmers that would financially benefit from disengaging from production is projected. The results of the economic models suggest that significant restructuring is likely to occur at the farm level as a result of decoupling. Projections of farmers’ production decisions post decoupling are compared and contrasted to the results of a survey of farmers’ production intentions. The comparison shows that despite the significant changes in profitability that decoupling could engender, the majority of farmers intend to continue as before and are unlikely to change their production patterns. The survey of farmers’ intentions indicates that a large number of farmers still seem to consider the decoupled payment linked to production. The implications of these results for land use, agricultural production and farm numbers are discussed.     

Estimating effects of cooperative membership on farmers’ safe production behaviors: Evidence from pig sector in China

This research studies the determinants of pig farmers’ participation in farmers’ cooperatives and the effects of farmers’ cooperatives on pig farmers’ behaviors in adopting safe production practices using data from a household survey of 540 cooperative farmers and 270 non-cooperative farmers from four main pig production provinces in China. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was adopted to deal with possible self-selection bias associated with farmers’ participation in farmers’ cooperatives due to observables, which is further supplemented by a sensitivity analysis to assess the degree to which the PSM results are robust to the presence of unobservables. The PSM results show that the cooperative membership has significant and positive influence on farmers’ propensity to adopt safe production practices and the effects are heterogeneous across a number of key cooperative, farm and household attributes. Specifically, the membership effects tend to be bigger for cooperatives led by Investor-owned firms (IOFs) and farms of small production scale. And the effects tend to be greater for households (1) of medium and high level of education, (2) of less than 10 years of pig production experience, (3) of no off-farm job experience, and (4) that are specialized in pig production. The sensitivity analysis further increases our confidence in the results for the feed use and the breed use, however, the results for vaccination, drug use and waste disposable are more sensitive to the influence of unobservables, therefore should be interpreted with caution.     

Is an integrated farm more resilient against climate change? A micro-econometric analysis of portfolio diversification in African agriculture

This paper examines whether an integrated farm that owns both crops and livestock is more resilient under global warming than a specialized farm in crops. Using around 9000 farm surveys across Africa, we explore how farmers choose one of the farm types and how the net revenue of each type varies across the range of climate in Africa. The results indicate that an integrated farm increases in number while a specialized farm decreases across Africa under climate predictions for 2060. The relative profitability of each system against each other also changes. An integrated farm becomes relatively more profitable over specialized farms half a century from now. The impacts of climate change on integrated farms range from 9% loss to 27% gain depending on climate scenarios. Behavioral models can capture portfolio diversification benefits that agro-economic models cannot measure.     

The impact of CAP reform on farmers’ plans for the future: Some evidence from South West England

This paper considers farmer intentions following the implementation of the 2003 CAP reforms, identifies the extent to which these plans have been influenced by the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in 2005 and considers the implications in terms of likely structural change (i.e. changes in the deployment of land, labour and capital). The analysis uses data from a large sample survey of farmers in South West England and the results indicate that CAP reform is not stimulating rapid agricultural restructuring, rather it appears to be reinforcing many existing trends towards diversification and an increasing polarisation between the largest and smallest farms. CAP reform is impacting unevenly on the farm community and different farming situations are associated with different types of reaction. Market signals may become a more powerful driver of farmer behaviour, in which case the 2003 reforms will have proved successful in providing farmers the freedom to farm without coupled subsidies. On the basis of the results presented in this paper though, only a minority of farmers seem both well placed and well disposed to exploit such opportunities.     

Adoption of food safety and quality standards among Chilean raspberry producers – Do smallholders benefit?

The growing importance of food quality and safety standards in international markets is influencing production and marketing conditions of farmers worldwide. The effects of this development on small-scale farmers in developing countries are controversially discussed in the scientific debate. While small-scale farmers may benefit from standard compliance in terms of better market access and technology upgrading, non-compliance may lead to market exclusion and marginalization. The present study aims to identify the factors influencing a certification according to food safety and quality standards and the impact on farm management and income among exportoriented raspberry farmers in Chile. Survey data from 57 certified and 169 non-certified Chilean smallholder raspberry producers is analyzed. The analysis of the certification decision shows that small-scale farmers are less likely to implement food safety and quality standards. Once farmers are able to overcome the barriers and implement a food standard, we find that this has a positive effect on their quality performance and net raspberry income.     

New perspectives on farm size and productivity

The farm size and productivity debate has been limited by the focus on land or labor productivity, generally showing respective productivity advantages to smaller or larger sized farms. Our purpose is to provide new perspectives on the debate by bringing together evidence from a set of novel case studies in both rich and poor countries. Common to them are the adoption of total factor productivity (TFP) as the comparative performance measure, and the reliance on panels of farm micro data. The present article presents a synthesis of findings from five case studies in (i) Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda; (ii) Bangladesh; (iii) Brazil; (iv) Australia; and (v) the United States. The preponderance of evidence from these studies suggests that there is no single economically optimal agrarian structure; rather, it appears to evolve with the stage of economic development. Certain farm sizes face relative productivity advantages, such as small farms in Africa. But with economic and market growth, that smallholder advantage will likely attenuate, moving toward constant and eventually increasing returns to size. Yet, importantly, small farms may be quite dynamic, and need not be a drag on agricultural growth until perhaps well into the development process.     

The impact of cooperatives on agricultural technology adoption: Empirical evidence from Ethiopia

Using cross-sectional data and a propensity score matching technique, this paper investigates the impact of cooperatives on adoption of agricultural technologies. Our analysis indicates that cooperative members are more likely to be male-headed households, have better access to agricultural extension services, possess oxen, participate in off-farm work, and have leadership experience. We also found that geographic location and age of household head are strongly associated with cooperative membership. Our estimation results show that cooperative membership has a strong positive impact on fertilizer adoption. The impact on adoption of pesticides turns out to be statistically significant when only agricultural cooperatives are considered. Further analysis also suggests that cooperative membership has a heterogeneous impact on fertilizer adoption among its members. The results suggest that cooperatives can play an important role in accelerating the adoption of agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.     

Farm size and productivity growth in the United States Corn Belt

In recent decades, agricultural production in the U.S. has continued to shift to large-scale operations, raising concerns about the economic viability of small and midsized farms. To understand whether economies of size provided an incentive for the consolidation of production, the study estimates the total factor productivity (TFP) of five size classes of grain-producing farms in the U.S. Heartland (Corn Belt) region. Using quinquennial Agricultural Census data from 1982 to 2012 the study also compares TFP growth rates across farm sizes to gain insight into whether observed productivity differences are likely to persist. The finding of a strong positive relationship between farm size and TFP suggests that consolidation of production has contributed to recent aggregate productivity growth in the crop sector. The study estimates the extent to which sectoral productivity growth can be attributed to structural change versus other factors including technological change. The study also explores some tradeoffs associated with policies that raise the productivity of small versus large farms.     

Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand,and the search for alternative supply models

Influential studies in the 1980s and early 1990s drew on the Boserup–Ruthenberg theories of farming systems evolution to argue that African countries were not yet ready for widespread agricultural mechanization. Through applying the theories of farming systems evolution and of induced innovation in technical change, this paper shows that demand for certain mechanized farming operations particularly plowing has emerged even among smallholders, suggesting that supply issues may now be the main constraint to successful mechanization. We therefore adopt a supply chain approach to analyze two types of mechanization practices in Ghana, i.e., a recent state-led mechanization program and the private sector-led service hiring market, against an international perspective by drawing on three Asian supply models. We identify two major flaws in existing policies. First, the agricultural mechanization service centers that the government promotes fail to use tractors services with sufficient intensity. Second, direct importation of agricultural machinery by the government inhibits imports of appropriate and affordable machinery. In contrast, the development of mechanized service hiring market in which medium and large scale farmers who are tractor owners provide hiring-out services to small-scale farmers represents a promising model for sustainable mechanization in Ghana. This private sector-led second model is consistent with international experiences.     

Knowing is half the battle: Seasonal forecasts,adaptive cropping systems,and the mediating role of private markets in Zambia

This paper examines how smallholders living in regions where a drought is forecasted adapt their farm practices in response to receiving seasonal forecast information. The article draws on a unique longitudinal dataset in Zambia, which collected information from farm households before and after a significant drought caused by the 2015/2016 El-Niño Southern Oscillation. It finds that farmers residing in areas forecasted to be drought-affected and receiving seasonal forecast information are significantly more likely to integrate drought tolerant crops into their cropping systems compared to similar households not receiving this information. Moreover, the probability that a farmer implements these adaptive farm management strategies in response to seasonal forecast information is found to increase substantially as the number of private grain buyers in the farmers’ village increases. This suggests that climate change adaptation and resilience strategies that integrate the generation and dissemination of weather information with agricultural market development can achieve greater impact on farmers’ adaptive responses than approaches that treat these activities in isolation.