Food production policies in Nigeria

This review of Nigerian food production deals with the economic background to and the problems in food production, processing and marketing. The author examines the attempts to improve food supply and the government's approach. He discusses the problems of implementing the plans, prominent amongst which is the land tenure system.     

Land rights,agricultural productivity,and deforestation

This paper studies the relationship between land tenure for smallholder agriculture and deforestation. We combine high resolution satellite data on deforestation with rich household and commune-level, biannual panel data from Vietnam. We study two margins of tenure security, whether a household has any land title (extensive) and the share of a household’s land held in title (intensive). Using a household-fixed effects model, we find the increases in crop production and land investment associated with holding land title are driven by the intensive margin. We then aggregate the survey data to the commune-level and find evidence that marginal increases in extensive tenure (share of households with any land title) increase deforestation holding constant the average intensive tenure (average share of land held in tenure among those with land title). We find some evidence that increasing the intensive margin of tenure (holding constant the extensive tenure) decreases deforestation. These results present a more nuanced view of the tenure-deforestation relationship than is prevalent in the existing literature.     

Chile: the secular food crisis

In order to consider the failure of Chilean agriculture over the past 50 years to meet domestic food demands, the author examines the policies of the Alessandri, Frei and Allende governments with regard to land reform, agriculture and food prices. The ‘free market’ and structuralist approaches to the issue are discussed, and the author concludes that the highly concentrated land tenure system appears to be a decisive factor in explaining the crisis in Chilean agriculture.     

Matters of food and farming in Asia

Leaving aside the plantation enclaves, the problems of food and farming in Asia are centred on subsistence farming. This, in spite of recent improvements in farming techniques, remains subject to natural hazards, population pressure and risks which only those with ready access to land, labour, capital and know-how are able to face. By comparison, small cultivators, tenants and landless labourers suffer serious disadvantages. These can be reduced only as a result of reforms which bring security of tenure, transfers of land and a just system of land tax combined with public works programmes. Thus economic growth, coupled with social equilibrium and political stability, could be achieved.     

Minimising the harm to biodiversity of producing more food globally

Should farming and conservation policies aim broadly to separate land for nature and land for production (land sparing) or integrate production and conservation on the same land (wildlife-friendly farming)? Most studies that try to address this question suffer from flaws in sampling design, inappropriate metrics, and/or failure to measure biodiversity baselines. We discuss how these failings can be addressed, and what existing information tells us about the key debates on this topic. The evidence available suggests that trade-offs between biodiversity and yield are prevalent. While there are some wildlife-friendly farming systems that support high species richness, a large proportion of wild species cannot survive in even the most benign farming systems. To conserve those species, protection of wild lands will remain essential. Sustainable intensification could help to facilitate sparing of such lands, provided that as much attention is given to protecting habitats as to raising yields. We discuss the general circumstances under which yield increases can facilitate land sparing, recognising that policies and social safeguards will need to be context-specific. In some situations, bringing degraded lands into production could help reduce pressure on wild lands, but much more information is needed on the biodiversity implications of using degraded lands. We conclude that restricting human requirements for land globally will be important in limiting the impacts on biodiversity of increasing food production. To achieve this, society will need to integrate explicit conservation objectives into local, regional and international policies affecting the food system.     

The Impacts of Remittances, Residency Status and Financial Attachment on Housing Tenure for Mexican-Heritage Americans: Inferences from a New Survey

Immigration has and will continue to alter the composition of housing demand in the United Sates. In this article, we analyze results from a new survey of Mexican-heritage households to draw some inferences about tenure choice within that group. Some measures of attachment to the United States—residency status and the amount of money sent to relatives and friends in Mexico—suggest that, among Mexican immigrants, permanence is a key determinant of homeownership in the United States. More specifically, being a citizen increased the probability of ownership, whereas being undocumented reduces the probability. Surprisingly, after controlling for residency status, length of tenure in the United States does not predict tenure status, except that those who refused to report length of tenure were more likely to have higher tenure status. Those who sent remittances home to Mexico were less likely to become homeowners.     

Rental markets,gender, and land certificates: Evidence from Vietnam

In developing countries, a significant share of land transactions occurs among closely related parties and often does not entail any specific compensation (in-kind or monetary). Despite the prevalence of these non-market or informal transactions, the literature has paid little attention to the determinants and consequences of these exchanges. In this paper we shed light on the role land use certificates play on the agreed compensation of rental agreements when landlords, particularly those with weaker ex-ante tenure security (i.e. women), rent out land to their relatives in Viet Nam. We find that female-headed households who lease their plots to relatives are less likely to receive any type of payment, unless they possess a title for the plot they leased. A regional decomposition of our results shows that this effect is more predominant in the Northern regions.     

Land consolidation,specialization and household diets: Evidence from Rwanda

Despite rapid population growth, increasing land pressure and urbanization, farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa have not intensified their production in a sustainable manner and farming systems remain predominantly subsistence-oriented. In response, developing country governments increasingly implement programs that promote crop intensification and more commercially-oriented agricultural systems. Rwanda’s Crop Intensification Program (CIP), launched in 2007, is one such example. However, despite its apparent success in raising production of several priority crops, there are legitimate concerns about the food and nutrition security implications for households that are encouraged to consolidate their land, specialize in their production, and increasingly rely on markets for their food needs. Using recent household survey data and a propensity score matching difference-in-differences method, we find that participation in land consolidation activities had ambiguous consumption effects: it positively impacted on consumption of roots and tubers, but had a negative effect on meat, fish and fruits consumption and the potential availability of vitamin B12 in participants’ diets. This calls for a review of CIP implementation practices to enhance the program’s food and nutrition security outcomes, with improvements in market functioning and market access being potential starting points.     

National policies within the CAP

Despite the existence of the Common Agricultural Policy within the EEC a considerable number of policies still remain under national control. Professor Britton reviews these, which include several commodities, most technical activities and land tenure policy, and the ‘grey areas’ which may become subject to Community control. He points to alternative policies which might reduce some of the tensions in the CAP and urges a more positive approach by national governments. Each government should ask if it would be willing for other governments to pursue the policies which it wishes to follow for its agricultural population.     

苏南经济发展中的土地资源约束探讨

苏南经济快速发展的背后是土地资源的日渐减少,土地资源先天条件不优越加上粗放浪费的使用模式使苏南较早地面临经济发展的资源瓶颈.土地资源趋紧带来了区域粮食安全的问题;导致了苏南商务成本的加大,低成本优势逐渐丧失;土地资源约束直接威胁到了全区的可持续发展.针对以上问题,文章通过比照国际上两种不同发展模式,从中得出有益的启示:今后苏南应尽快转变经济发展模式,通过技术创新,注重开发、培植新技术,走出低端竞争的误区.     

Political reforms,rural crises,and land tenure in western Europe

This paper analyzes the origins and causes of the differences and changes in land tenure institutions over more than a century in several western European countries. The analysis shows that differences and changes in land tenure are caused by a combination of economic, institutional, and political factors, including the French Revolution, changes in agricultural profitability, voting rights reforms, etc. Significant changes in land tenure regulations resulted from the combination of both improved political representation of tenants in parliament and a severe economic crisis increasing the pressure for reforms. Empowerment of small tenants and farm workers and increasing their access to and influence on policy-making appears to be an important pre-condition in order to improve their land tenure rights.     

Global developments in the competition for land from biofuels

The potential global demand for biofuels and the implications of this for land use and its interaction with food agriculture is reviewed. It is expected that biofuels will form an important element of global transport energy mix (in the order of 20–30% of total requirement) over the next 40 years and beyond. Over this time, there will be a transition from so called first generation biofuels, based on commodity agricultural crops with food/feed uses, to advanced biofuels, sometimes called second and third generation biofuels, based primarily upon lignocellulosic feedstocks. It remains unclear whether these advanced biofuels, based on lignocellulosic materials, will entirely replace first generation or if second generation will be supplemental to first generation. This expansion in biofuels will be coupled to a substantial increase in alternative fuels (electricity, hydrogen, biogas and natural gas) and modal shifts. Biofuel production from agricultural commodity crops that exhibit strong sustainability criteria will remain important (e.g. sugarcane) with supportive and competitive aspects for food security.Land requirement projections estimated for a range of potential biofuel development trajectories range widely and are inherently uncertain. Under the most active scenario that delivers substantive greenhouse gas reductions in transport by 2050 (relative to 2005 levels), approximately 100 Mha of additional land is projected. In the ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, in which transport energy demand rises by 80% by 2050 from present levels, a land use requirement of 650 Mha is projected.Significant potential exists for producing biofuels that possess high productivity and sustainability profiles through continued research, development and demonstration. Policy and regulation at a global level, that focuses biofuel development on these goals in ways that are synergistic with food agriculture, will simultaneously help to decarbonise transport and maintain a diverse and financially robust agricultural (and forestry) sector.     

论恢复土地农民所有制

土地的农民所有制是我国1949年至1956年实行的一种农村土地制度，是一种新型的土地私有制，实行效果颇佳且受农民欢迎。实行农地私有化是由社会分工和农业生产的特点决定的，与社会制度、社会形态和意识形态没有必然联系，与公有制以及社会主义制度也是能够相容的。从农地私有化的产生条件，农业生产的特点，新中国土地制度变革史，中国现有土地制度的缺陷以及党的十七届三中全会精神等方面分析说明，在中国推行农地私有化是可行的。应在国家的控制下，积极稳妥地推动农地私有化，恢复土地的农民所有制，还地权于农民，实现土地的农民所有，以解决“三农问题”和推动我国的工业化、城市化。     

REDD policy impacts on the agri-food sector and food security

Recent research shows that the combined contributions of deforestation, forest degradation and peat land emissions account for about 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. The REDD policy which preserves forests and values standing forests, enables substantial emission reductions. Since agricultural production and area expansion is a primary driver of tropical deforestation, REDD policies might limit the expansion possibilities of agricultural land use and therefore influence competitiveness of the agricultural sector, agricultural prices, trade patterns, agricultural production and therefore food security in the world. This paper studies the impact of REDD policies on the agri-food sector and food security with a global CGE model called MAGNET using a scenario approach. It focuses on the restrictions on agricultural land expansion within the REDD policy package. Simulation results show that REDD policies start to affect the agri-food sector in some lower developed countries if more than 15% of potentially available agricultural areas are protected from deforestation. A stringent REDD policy that protects 90% of land reserves that could potentially be used for agriculture production results in a global real agricultural price increase of almost 7.6%, and a worldwide agricultural production decrease of 1.7%. Regional differences are large, with real agricultural price changes ranging from 4% in North America to about 24% in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. Food access rapidly deteriorates for low-income population in these regions in the case of high forest protection levels. Compensatory payments are necessary from a food security point of view if the level of forest protection increases. Our results indicate that from a food security perspective REDD policy should stop short of trying to protect more than 40% of global carbon if the compensation mechanism is not effectively implemented within REDD.     

The state of food and agriculture in Islamic countries

This review of the state of food and agriculture in Islamic countries underlines the need for much greater public commitment to agricultural development. Within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), 44 member nations, exibiting immense geographic and economic diversity, have come together recently to begin to cooperate on increasing food production. It is difficult to generalize about food production conditions in Islamic nations, but basically, within the OIC, total arable land increased from 159 to 167 ha in the 1970s, a small amount unevenly distributed over the group. Dry-land farming has not received enough public attention, and the dependence on cereals grown under rainfed conditions leaves the population vulnerable to fluctuation. Many of the poorer nations have not given the priority to land improvement that has been successful in Egypt, Pakistan, and some other countries. The economic burden of food imports has become lighter in some countries, although in all it continues to be serious. Net cereal imports to Islamic countries rose from 21 to 39 million tons from 1975-83. An overall increase in the per capita dietary energy supplies masks broad differences between the wealthier and poorer nations of the OIC, and between more and less priviledged populations within the societies. A small proportion of financial commitments to agriculture (15%) come from Islamic community donors; this is not a leading program priority. Often spending has been for large capital-intensive projects depending on imported skills and inputs. As a group, the OIC must plan to take advantage of their technical and environmental diversity, and work together to avoid inefficient dispersal of personnel and other resources. Tabular data show selected indicators of agricultural development (e.g. % of food imported, food production growth), average annual rate of food production change related to population growth, per capita dietary energy supplies, and external assistance commitments.     

土地要素流动与二元经济结构转换：基于国情对刘易斯二元经济模型的修正

回顾文献,概括出了对二元经济理论进行创新的几个主要方向。在这些创新方向的启示下,考虑了由于现行土地制度使得二元结构被不断强化的特殊国情,借鉴和运用新古典经济学的分析技术,构建一个包含了土地要素流动的二元经济模型,并借此模型为我国的二元经济结构转换给出了简单的政策启示。     

Does food aid have disincentive effects on local production? A general equilibrium perspective on food aid in Ethiopia

This paper examined impacts of food aid on domestic food production employing a computable general equilibrium modelling technique and using data from Ethiopia. The simulation experiments have shown that food aid has unambiguous disincentive effects on domestic food production. The removal of food aid caused a modest increase in food prices but this stimulated food production. Employment and income generation effects of the latter outweighed the adverse effect of the former. Consequently, the removal of food aid led to improvements in aggregate household welfare. Contrary to some concerns in the food aid literature that any reduction in food aid would hurt the poor, the simulation experiments suggested that actually poor rural households and urban wage earners are the ones who benefit most in absence of food aid but entrepreneurs are more likely to encounter a marginal welfare decline. We have distinguished between in-kind food aid and cash equivalent transfers in order to isolate the disincentives that in-kind transfers would make to domestic production from those that are related to household purchasing power problem. The expansionary effect of removing food aid becomes significantly larger when it is accompanied by cash equivalent payments because the latter would provide demand side stimulus to agriculture while the removal of in-kind transfers would stimulate supply side, with the supply and demand side effects reinforcing each other. In our modelling framework, the only adverse effect would be a modest deterioration in the external current account, because the expansionary effects of food aid would cause imports to rise but exports to fall.     

Executive succession: The importance of social capital in CEO appointments

Research Summary: Firm performance and corporate governance have been shown to influence CEO selection, but our understanding of the role of social capital is more limited. In this study, we seek to provide further insight into the role of social capital by examining the influence of both “bonding” and “bridging” forms of social capital on CEO appointments. We find that candidates who have relational social capital, in terms of overlap with the CEO in organizational tenure, board tenure, and CEO tenure are more likely to be appointed as CEO. We also find that candidates who have external linkages to the CEO in the form of geographic, prestigious university, and prior employment affiliations are more likely to be appointed CEO. Managerial Summary: The appointment of a new CEO has significant and widespread implications for the firm’s future strategic direction and performance, the relationship between the board and CEO, and perceptions by investors, employees, and other key stakeholders. Our study finds that candidates who have shared connections and experiences with the CEO in terms of geographic, prestigious university, or prior employment affiliations as well as overlap in terms of organizational tenure, board tenure, and CEO tenure are more likely to be appointed CEO. Given the enormous impact that executive appointments have on the strategic direction and performance of the company, it is important to recognize that social factors such as shared experiences and connections influence how candidates are perceived, and thus, may affect appointment decisions.     

Energy systems analysis for food policy

Recent work on energy systems analysis of food production systems has demonstrated the importance of energy to the food production sector of the economy. We show how energy requirements for food production are closely related to the intensity of production, and that there is a quantifiable trade-off between land and energy use. This trade-off is quite different for vegetable and industrial food as opposed to animals and fish. Thus the energy consequences to food production from changes in diet, shrinking land resources or increasing population may be readily computed.     

International trade related food miles – The case of Canada

At the beginning of the 21st century imports of agricultural and food commodities have become a major part of many nations’ food baskets. Indeed the global food system has several merits for nations, businesses and individual consumers’ well-being. However, as increasing evidence suggests that we are approaching an era of climate change and scarcity of cheap energy sources the sustainability of that system must be examined. One part of any food commodity chain is its ‘food miles’ – the distance the commodity travels from point of production to point of consumption, the required energy and resulting emissions. This paper presents a 1 year ‘snapshot’ of Canada’s total import related food miles. It presents an analysis of the distance imported foods traveled from around the world to major points of consumption in Canada and documents the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions related to those imports. It presents both a macro scale picture of the equivalent emissions related to transportation of imported food and a micro scale picture which focuses on specific commodities consumed in various parts of the country. It then discusses policy implications for food sustainability. Overall the research highlights that about 30% of the agricultural and food commodities consumed in Canada are imported, resulting in ‘food miles’ of over 61 billion tonnes km, leading to annual emissions of 3.3 million metric tonnes of CO₂. Of the various agriculture and food commodities studied, fruits and vegetables had the highest food miles related emissions.