What tenure security? The case for a tripartite view

In the face of advancing urban informality in the developing world there appears to be increasing consensus that tenure security is an important engine driving settlement development. This has, however, not led to a consensus about what tenure security exactly entails. In both theory and policy, the idea of tenure security for low-income settlement dwellers is encountered in three distinct forms: tenure security as perceived by dwellers, tenure security as a legal construct and de facto tenure security. The main argument of this paper is that much controversy that surrounds the debate arises precisely as a consequence of the indiscriminate use of these different kinds of tenure security. To address this problem, a tripartite conceptualization of tenure security that incorporates its three constituent components (perception, de jure, de facto) and clarifies their interrelations is presented.     

What Future for Agricultural Safety Net Programs?

The early 1990s held the promise of decoupled farm programs in Canada and the U.S.; however, the potential benefits of decoupling have been eroded by ad hoc disaster programs. This paper assesses the benefits and difficulties of disaster programs relative to traditional farm programs, and proposes gross margin insurance as an approach to safety nets that captures the benefits of both. Gross margin insurance is applied to hogs in Ontario and Minnesota as case studies, with the cost and level of income protection compared. We show that based on simple estimates of actuarially fair premium costs, gross margin insurance compares favorably with programs that have been used to support hog farm incomes in both regions.     

Good governance and strong political will: Are they enough for transformation?

By the year 2050, more than 70% of the world’s population will be living in cities. The rush to the cities, along with subsequent increased consumption patterns, has dire consequences, for the ecological systems that sustain human life. Some find hope in the potential that cities can be built differently, that green infrastructure and denser forms of development, will satisfy human needs while decreasing the stress on valuable resources and mitigating consequences of climate change. Some say that “strong political leadership and robust governance” is critical for this need to drive sustainable urban transitions. However, are “political will” and “good governance” enough or is the issue more complicated than this? Using a critical political economy approach this paper shows the fundamental difficulties that arise when attempting to transition urban centres to “smarter”, more “sustainable” and “resilient” cities. Ultimately, the paper argues that “good governance” and “strong political will” are inadequate for understanding the requirements for transformation.     

Is Irrigation Rehabilitation Good for Poor Farmers? An Impact Evaluation of a Non‐Experimental Irrigation Project in Peru

This paper analyses the effect of a set of irrigation rehabilitation projects conducted over the last 10 years in Peru. The projects were conducted without the aim or the tools for a full‐fledged impact evaluation. Nevertheless, this paper attempts an evaluation through the use of alternative data sources such as household surveys and geographic information, a strategy of identification of beneficiaries and control households based on spatial proximity to the projects’ sites, and an econometric approach consisting of a double‐differencing technique. The empirical analysis is guided and interpreted with the help of a theoretical model that considers the effects of an irrigation project on the distribution of production, employment and income for different types of landowners. The paper concludes that the irrigation projects implemented in Peru had a positive impact on intended beneficiary households, but not in the way it could have been simplistically expected. The project did benefit the poor but not by increasing production in their own small plots but by providing them with better employment opportunities in larger farms.     

Did the Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act Alter Farm Enterprise Diversification?

We estimate how much United States farms changed enterprise diversification in response to a marked increase in crop insurance coverage brought about by the 1994 Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act, which substantially increased insurance subsidies. The analysis exploits farm‐level panel census data to compare farm‐specific changes in enterprise diversification over time. By examining diversification decisions of the same farms over time, we control for time‐invariant unobserved individual heterogeneity. We then use pooled cross‐sectional data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Resource Management Survey to estimate the relationship between farm diversification and average returns. We find that the insurance subsidies caused a modest increase in enterprise specialisation and production efficiency. Estimated efficiency gains are far less than the subsidies.     

Promoting planning for housing development: What can Sweden learn from Germany?

In the years 2006–2014, urban planning reform was seen as the major remedy against housing shortage in Sweden. The present government has the continuation of such reform on its agenda, but as of yet has made no proposals; instead, other housing policy measures have been introduced.In light of the uncertainty as to the future course of urban planning reform, possible future steps can be discussed. This article accordingly investigates whether German urban planning law and implementation could provide interesting reference points for discussion of further urban planning reform in Sweden, and if so, what parts of the German experience should be the center of attention.The article covers three aspects of German planning that influence the uncertainty, duration, and cost of residential planning as well as social goals addressed through planning: planning law, focusing on facilitated planning procedures of German planning law, measures taken in the organization of planning authorities to make development planning more efficient, and planning-related city demands for affordable housing.The conclusions encompass proposals for the further reform of the Swedish planning process in the form of a facilitated and accelerated development planning procedure for housing projects, as well as the introduction of private initiative in development planning. Further improvements to the organization and incentives of planning authorities are proposed. More research is required into municipal demands for affordable housing in the form of inclusionary zoning; such research should draw on the extensive international experience of such zoning, relating it to a Swedish pilot project.     

Is farming enough in mountain areas? Farm diversification in the Pyrenees

The continuity of farming in mountain areas in Europe is at severe risk and its future faces manifold uncertainties. Mountain farms are immersed in a long-term process of reorganization. Farm diversification plays a prominent role in this process of adjustment and reallocation. However, little work has been done explicitly on the role farm diversification plays in the current structural changes occurring. In order to fill this void, the nature of farm diversification has been examined in the Pyrenees, where four different typologies of farms have been identified: absence of diversification, agricultural diversification, farmland diversification and finally farm labour diversification. These typologies reflect a gradation along which the farm diversification practices are applied to more aspects of the farm household. Throughout this gradation farming is increasingly marginalised. Finally, it is argued that the endorsement of policy measures stimulating farm diversification in mountain regions should be cautiously considered, since there is high risk of encouraging further agricultural abandonment.     

Demand for Seasonal Wage Labour in Agriculture: What Does Family Farming Hide?

This article draws on the agricultural household literature to understand the dynamics of wage labour on farms in a context of family farming. The recent evolution towards an increased use of seasonal wage labour motivates the original distinction of three types of labour: family labour, permanent‐wage labour and seasonal‐wage labour. Considering the two wage labour types and hiring cost for seasonal workers, our empirical results based on 2000 French data on fruit and vegetable farms suggest that the choice between hiring permanent or seasonal wage labour is not only determined by the seasonality of the activity. Indeed, the characteristics of the local labour market also affect the trade‐off between permanent and seasonal wage labour. This result provides insights on the substitutability of the two labour types, especially when the local labour market is tight. Moreover, the substitution of seasonal‐wage labour for permanent‐wage labour can occur in the agricultural sector as a mean of increasing flexibility as well as reducing costs and commitments. Finally, family labour is found to substitute for wage labour and more specifically for seasonal‐wage labour.     

How much green is needed for a vital neighbourhood? In search for empirical evidence

In this paper, we attempt to find empirical evidence for the proper size of the Polish eco-spatial index, known as the Ratio of Biologically Vital Areas (RBVA). The objective is to establish the minimal proportion of green space required for good environmental performance in neighbourhoods.Eighteen neighbourhoods (representing the most popular type of residential areas consisting of multi-storey buildings) located in Warsaw and characterised by different RBVA values (varying from ca. 20% to ca. 70%) were chosen as the study area. Different types of measurements and calculations were performed to verify the relationships between the size of the RBVA and selected environmental features (e.g., air temperature and humidity, floristic diversity, butterfly species richness, surface outflow, etc.). Based on these values, a threshold of 45% RBVA was recommended as the minimum, which guarantees environmental performance in the neighbourhoods to certain extent. Eco-spatial indices can be recommended as a useful planning tool for new projects and for evaluation and enhancement of existing urban structures, including residential areas. It should be stated that these indices are not the only measures for green space planning, because they do not refer to the major residents’ needs (e.g., social interaction, recreation).     

Local sustainability initiatives in English National Parks: What role for adaptive governance?

Adaptive governance has assumed growing importance in natural resource management literatures, emphasising learning and adaptation among actors at different political administrative levels and geographic scales as a precondition for the emergence of sustainable development. Here we assess this claim by examining five case studies of ‘good practice’ in sustainability, drawn from a national survey conducted in English National Parks. Specifically, we evaluate whether (1) adaptive governance characteristics are present in these ‘good practice’ initiatives, and (2) what governance role, if any, National Park Authorities have played in mediating individual and collective activities and behaviours within these projects at different levels and scales. We conclude with a critical assessment of the capacity of the adaptive governance approach to furnish new understandings of sustainable development initiatives in English NPs.     

The New Tomato Suspension Agreement: What Are the Implications for Trade Flows?

This paper examines the implications of the new tomato suspension agreement (signed on March 4, 2013, by the U.S. government and Mexican tomato producers) for trade in fresh tomatoes and processed tomato products. The empirical analysis is performed through a gravity model that accounts for vertical linkages between primary and processed goods. The estimated gravity parameters are used to implement suspension agreement scenarios. The results show that the new suspension agreement leads to considerable decreases in Mexico's exports of fresh tomatoes to the United States. These decreases are accompanied with various trade diversion and deflection effects. There are increases in Mexico's exports of processed tomato products to the United States and other countries, and in Mexico's exports of fresh tomatoes to non‐U.S. destinations. These increases do not amount, however, to considerable compensations of the decreases in Mexico's fresh tomato exports to the United States. The results also suggest that the initial 1996‐based suspension agreement has significantly smaller impacts on trade flows over the period that preceded the implementation of the new suspension agreement.     

What Explains Agricultural Price Movements?

After 2005, commodity prices experienced their longest and broadest boom since World War II. Agricultural prices have now come down considerably since their 2011 peak, but are still 40% higher in real terms than their 2000 lows. This paper briefly addresses the main arguments on the causes of the agricultural price cycle. It broadens the scope of analysis by focusing on six agricultural commodities, and identifies the relative weights of key quantifiable drivers of their prices. It concludes that increases in real income negatively affect real agricultural prices, consistent with the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis and its predecessor, Engel's Law. Energy prices matter most (not surprisingly, given the energy‐intensive nature of agriculture), followed by stock‐to‐use ratios and, to a lesser extent, ex‐change rate movements. The cost of capital affects prices only marginally, probably because it not only influences demand, but also evokes a supply response. The added value of these results lies in that, when examined in tandem and against market fundamentals, they challenge the conclusions from uni‐dimensional approaches that often put disproportionate weight on an individual factor.     

What role for cooperation in conservation tenders? Paying farmer groups in the High Andes

This paper sheds light on the potential of group-level tenders to enhance conservation where it depends on cooperation of small-scale farmers. We analyze data from two pilot payment for ecosystem service (PES) schemes focused on the conservation of agricultural biodiversity in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. Contracts were assigned to farming groups who could choose between different types of in-kind payments with varying degrees of divisibility between group members. Our main results indicate that: (1) stronger general patterns of collective action are positively related to the level of cooperation in group-bid making; (2) where collective action is robust, collective payments seem to provide stronger conservation incentives than individual payments; (3) collective payments could mitigate some potential rent-seeking behavior; (4) selecting bid offers based on both a ‘cooperation’ criterion and conservation land area offered does not overly compromise the cost-effectiveness of PES; and (5) group-level contracts may create strong incentives for contract compliance. Hence, combining farmer group-level contracts with collective in-kind payments can enhance the cost-effectiveness of conservation tenders, while generating co-benefits in terms of increased interaction and social capital among group members.     

Taken for a ride? Mainstreaming periurban transport with urban expansion policies

This article describes the transportation needs and practices of periurban residents in a village in the Gurgaon district of the Northwestern Indian state of Haryana. As conurbations grow, urban authorities place much emphasis on connecting them with other major cities or towns. Improving their connectivity with the peripheral villages receives scant attention. This ignores the duality of economies that operates within the newly created urban spaces. This article argues that this reflects a bias in and politics of urban planning that accepts the hegemony of cities to the peril of rural areas that support them and with whom crucial rural–urban links evolve with urbanization. Using a qualitative research design, an ethnographic approach and a diversity of data sources, this article shows how social heterogeneity, land use change and other transformations in rural–urban links brought on by urbanization shape periurban transportation needs and practices. Though the acquisition of private means of transport is made possible through the sale of agricultural lands by the periurban elite, the article shows the increasing role of shared private transport in linking the village with the city. Urban authorities focus on connecting growing cities with other major urban centers; however, the article argues that linking them better with peripheral villages will be essential for making processes of urbanization equitable and sustainable and have wider spin-off effects. Such interventions need to be based on a nuanced understanding of transition processes underway in periurban spaces as well as the complementary roles of private, public and shared private transport.     

Urban expansion in contemporary China: What can we learn from a small town?

Rapid physical expansion of urban land use is widely observed in Chinese cities. Although there is a consensus that economic liberalization and decentralization of administrative responsibilities explain the urban changes, it is not clear whether or not actual economic and population growth is the only cause of urban expansion. By using a small town as a case study, this paper shows that urban expansion is a combined outcome of actual needs, planning preparations, profit-seeking, and more importantly, the approach used by local government to achieve economic ambitions. Findings show that local economic and demographic changes do contribute to land-use expansion, but a local development approach that uses urban expansion to improve the competitive edge of the locality plays a critical role. A pro-growth coalition consisting of top local government officials, state work-unit leaders, and developers, whose interests align for short-term gain in economic and political terms, guarantee the mobilization of resources for carrying out the rapid urban expansion, and a vision of the local economic success. These findings add in a new dimension that is not yet seen in the study of China's urban expansion.