Are returns to research quality lower in agricultural economics than in economics?

We compare effects of research quality and quantity on the salary of academics in agricultural economics and economics departments of the same universities. Agricultural economists get a significantly lower payoff to research quality, whether measured by quality‐weighted journal articles (based on nine different weighting schemes) or by citations. Instead, salary depends on the quantity of journal articles, while article counts have no independent effect on economist salaries. These differences in the reward structure for research are not due to either the extension focus of agricultural economists or to disciplinary differences in publishing with students and instead may reflect institutional factors that govern incentives within universities. One‐third of academics in the agricultural economics departments studied here have doctoral training in economics; the very different disciplinary reward structures may cause frustration for these faculty due to the muted returns to research quality that agricultural economics departments seem to offer.     

Does community ownership affect public attitudes to wind energy? A case study from south-west Scotland

This paper presents the results of a study of public attitudes to onshore windfarm development in south-west Scotland. Specifically, it explores the influences of different development models on attitudes to windfarms by comparing public attitudes towards a community-owned windfarm on the Isle of Gigha with attitudes towards several developer-owned windfarms on the adjacent Kintyre peninsula. The study, conducted in 2006, used a questionnaire-based survey (n = 106) to test the hypothesis that community ownership would lead to greater public acceptance of windfarms. It also examined the attitudes of both residents and tourists towards the impacts of onshore windfarms on landscapes and seascapes, including cumulative impacts. The data show that the Gigha respondents were consistently more positive about wind power than were the Kintyre residents. However, the differences were differences of degree rather than diametrically opposing viewpoints. The most significant concerns about windfarms were intermittent production and visual impact, but majorities in both areas nevertheless regarded their visual impact as positive. The data also indicate that local attitudes could become even more positive if future windfarms were owned by local communities. The fact that the residents of Gigha have affectionately dubbed their turbines ‘the Three Dancing Ladies’ is indicative of the positive psychological effects of community ownership. These results support the contention that a change of development model towards community ownership could have a positive effect on public attitudes towards windfarm developments in Scotland.     

Land consolidation – A great need to improve effectiveness. A case study from Poland

Among the different factors which have an influence on the profitability of small and medium-size farms, a very significant and sometimes even crucial role is played by the unfavourable parameters of land fragmentation (LF). However, this adverse limiting factor can be improved in a relatively short time through land consolidation (LC) treatment. The financial support of these kinds of activities is one of the main aspects of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which aims to equalise the conditions for farming production. Since accession to the EU in 2004, Poland is one of the biggest beneficiaries of various financially-supported projects oriented to the development of rural area, where LC work takes a special position.This paper sums up the outcomes of the LC work that was undertaken in Poland over the period 2007–2013. The results of the investigation delivered the information about the effectiveness of LC work at the farm level. Also, the efficiency of the existing funding strategy of LC work was evaluated. Additionally, the findings revealed poor effects of land swapping and re-parcelling activities, which is disturbing bearing in mind the financial scale and the amount of time spent conducting these actions. As a remedy, several solutions for improvement of the inefficient LC proceedings were proposed.     

Soil,Striga, or subsidies? Determinants of maize productivity in northern Ghana

High yield gaps persist in sub‐Saharan Africa and increased fertilizer use is considered among the crucial measures to increase productivity. Despite high government investments, particularly in fertilizer subsidy programs (FSPs), overwhelming evidence has revealed their inefficiency. This study employs a multidisciplinary approach to identify the determinants of low maize yields in the Guinea savanna zone of Ghana. We conducted a socioeconomic household survey and analyzed plot‐specific soil samples. Econometric models were estimated based on both socioeconomic and soil variables. The results show that a common parasitic weed, Striga, and labile soil structure have significant effects on yield in the study region. Plot sizes were recorded both from farmers’ direct elicitation and using GPS devices. Considerable discrepancies were detected between self‐reported and GPS‐measured plot sizes. Fertilizer samples from randomly selected agro‐input shops were analyzed to control for adulterated or fake inputs. The measured nutrient contents of the samples reflected the composition indicated on the package labels. Findings underline the need of site‐specific data collection, supported by laboratory‐based soil test results, to efficiently address low productivity. Although there are no signs of fertilizer adulteration, governance challenges persist in targeting, timing, and elite capture in the distribution system of the subsidy program. The study shows that the FSP has not been an effective standalone measure. Rather, the government needs to invest in capacity building and extension services to address the site‐specific problems through comprehensive soil fertility management techniques and weed control. Promoting soil carbon management, minimum mechanical stress, crop rotation, and permanent soil cover should be further investigated as options for the region.     

Farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change under various property rights: A case study of maize farming in northern Benin (West Africa)

Making the assumption that property rights might determine whether farmers adopt particular strategies, this study aims at modelling farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change by focusing on their property rights – declined as institutional arrangements on land and rights on land – as well as their socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The case study took place in northern Benin (West Africa). In this zone, 308 farmers producing maize and adapting to climate change were randomly sampled. The study was conducted by a survey method on respondents using structured interviews based on a questionnaire. A simultaneous modelling using a Multivariate Probit (MVP) model highlighted that socio-economic and demographic characteristics, institutional arrangements on land, and rights on land determine the farmers’ decisions to adapt to climate change. The land ownership has a positive effect on the decision to adopt any adaptation strategy. Subsequently, securing farmers’ property rights would help to enhance their capacity to adapt to climate change.     

Can carbon-trading schemes help to protect China's most diverse forest ecosystems? A case study from Xishuangbanna,Yunnan

Xishuangbanna has been largely transformed from biodiverse natural forests and mixed-use farms into monoculture rubber plantations in just twenty years. This conversion has expanded into forests previously protected by the community and onto marginal sites at high-elevation. Market-based ecosystem payments, especially carbon financing, are potential tools to prevent further forest loss in China. Here, we compare rubber net present value (NPV), carbon sequestration, and seed-plant species diversity for Xishuangbanna given three land-use scenarios: Business-As-Usual (BAU), Economic Oriented Scenario (EOS) and Conservation Oriented Scenario (COS) using a previously published spatial map of rubber profitability. The EOS achieved the greatest rubber profit but caused substantial reductions in natural forest area, biodiversity and carbon stocks. The EOS also requires substantial immigration of workers into a remote and ecologically important region with little social infrastructure for basic security, food security, health-care and education, causing frequently ignored costs. As expected, the COS will maintain the highest levels of natural forest area, sequester 57% more carbon, and 71% more biodiversity than EOS. Given the conservation value of the carbon stores and rich biodiversity residing in Xishuangbanna's natural forests, reducing rubber NPV only marginally would probably cost less than attempting to recover these resources. We recommend that rubber plantations be limited to established, productive lowland areas whilst protecting intact high-elevation forest and reforesting low-productivity plantations. These actions will enhance carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. Management policies focused solely on profits, like the EOS scenario, will fail to sustain the entire range of natural resources and ecosystem services. The prices in the carbon market would have to be considerably larger than they are currently to compete with the profitability of rubber.     

A study of farmer’s decision and incentive scheme to reduce highland maize farming in Thailand

During the past 15 years, there has been a considerable increase in highland maize farming in Nan, a province in northern Thailand. The increase in farming area causes an excessive forest encroachment and environmental problems, e.g. soil degradation, landslide, and pesticide contamination. This research explores the mechanism and factors which drive a sustainable transformation from highland maize farming to reforestation. We survey 107 farmers in Nammeed and Sopsai watersheds in where the reverses of growing trend of deforestation in Thailand have been observed. Comparative statistical analysis and regression are used to analyse factors affecting farmer’s decisions and compare differences between the two sites. We find that the fundamental mechanism driving a sustainable transformation from highland maize farming to reforestation comprises 3 pillars. These are 1) realization of adequate economic, health or environmental benefits derived from the alternatives; 2) a sense of belonging and attachment towards the forest and 3) effective enforcements of communal rules and regulations. While natural transformation in Nammeed area highlights the roles of flatland as key driver of the change, subsidy schemes can supplement the transformation during transitional period as seen in Sopsai area.     

Is spatial planning a collaborative learning process? A case study from a rural–urban gradient in Sweden

International and national policies stress the importance of spatial planning for the long-term sustainability of regions. This paper identifies the extent to which the spatial planning in a Swedish region can be characterised as a collaborative learning process. By combining qualitative interviews and systems thinking methods we analysed the main attributes of public-led spatial (i.e. comprehensive) planning in nine municipalities representing a steep urban–rural gradient in the Bergslagen region of Central Sweden. We show that the attributes of strategic spatial planning needed for collaborative learning were absent or undeveloped. All studied municipalities experienced challenges in coordinating complex issues regarding long-term planning to steer territorial development and help to solve conflicts among competing interests. Stakeholder participation was identified as a basic condition for social learning in planning. Together with stakeholders we identified the causal structure behind stakeholder participation in municipal planning processes, including main drivers and feedback loops. We conclude that there is a need for arenas allowing and promoting stakeholder activity, participation and inclusion that combines both bottom-up and top-down approaches, and where evidence-based collaborative learning can occur.     

Are we overestimating the negative impact of higher food prices? Evidence from Ghana

Most studies of the welfare impact of higher food prices adopt Deaton's approach, based on the first‐order effect of prices changes using income and expenditure survey data. This paper explores the impact of higher maize and food prices in Ghana and considers the sensitivity of results to changes in several assumptions. If second‐order effects are included, incorporating household response to price changes, the welfare impact of food price increases is more positive, but only modestly so. However, if we assume that marketing margins are constant in real terms rather than proportional to prices, the welfare impact is substantially more positive. These findings highlight the need for more research on the behavior of marketing margins under volatile prices.     

Does organic farming (OF) work in favour of protecting the natural environment? A case study from Poland

Organic farming (OF) is a management system that is closely linked with the quality of the natural environment since it should, besides producing organic food, constitutes a protective factor for all components of that natural environment. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to answer the following question: Does organic farming (OF) protect the natural environment? In order to achieve this goal it was essential to determine what kinds of natural and non-environmental factors have the largest influence on the development of OF in Poland, and to assess the significance of these factors in the spatial diversification of the regional density of organic farms. The analysis was carried out on the basis of data from 2012 comprising 2074 communes, including both rural communes (1563) and urban-rural ones (511). The research results indicated the weaknesses of the organic farming policy (OFP) with respect to the functioning of OF in Poland in the years 2007–2013. The results also show that the development of OF in Poland mainly depends on the system of financial support, i.e. one that either encourages farmers to change the manner of production to a more environmentally friendly one, or one that has an impact on their decision to resign from production using ecological methods. Moreover, as our research has proved, OF is not always developed in places where it should be a priority because of the suitable conditions of the natural environment.     

Welfare impacts of climate-smart agriculture in Ghana: Does row planting and drought-tolerant maize varieties matter?

This study provides new evidence of the impact of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) – row planting and drought-tolerant maize varieties - on farm and welfare outcomes by estimating a multinomial endogenous switching regression model that corrects for selection bias and farmer heterogeneity in CSA choice. Application of our model to panel observations of 438 households in Ghana show that adoption of CSA increases both yield and intensity of maize commercialization but negatively affect own consumption. Specifically, the magnitude of the impact is relatively higher for adopters of row planting relative to adopters of drought-tolerant maize seeds. These results suggest the need for development practitioners to increase awareness and emphasize the importance of row planting as a key component of climate-smart agriculture.     

Ecological networks: Are they enough for connectivity conservation? A case study in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (NE Spain)

This paper extends the debate on corridor effectiveness at regional planning scale, by exploring the contribution to landscape connectivity of a proposed ecological network and the remaining non-urbanized matrix in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR). Using the Ecological Connectivity Index, we evaluated the expected connectivity loss after the development of the approved urban plans in the region. Thus, we compared the baseline (present-day) and the projected (after planned urban development) connectivity scenarios for total, forest and agricultural habitats. Then, we estimated the mitigation in connectivity loss when successively removing from plans those development sectors included in protected sites, first order corridors, and second-order corridors of the ecological network, and in the rest of land matrix. Estimations were done for all the BMR and for inside versus outside the set of sites currently protected.The ecological network and the rest of matrix contributed equally to mitigating the expected connectivity loss, but while the former was more effective for forest habitats, the latter was especially constructive for croplands. This was due to a heterogeneous distribution of habitats, protected reserves and urban development areas. Still, connectivity preservation within protected sites appeared to be highly dependent on what is going on outside the ecological network, as we observed in particular for agricultural habitats. This result extends at regional scale the statement that no park is an island, but is highly affected by the land use and land cover dynamics of its surroundings.     

Does access to improved grain storage technology increase farmers' welfare? Experimental evidence from maize farming in Ethiopia

Seasonal price variability for cereals is two to three times higher in Africa than on the international reference market. Seasonality is even more pronounced when access to appropriate storage and opportunities for price arbitrage are limited. As smallholder farmers typically sell their production after harvest, when prices are low, this leads to lower incomes as well as higher food insecurity during the lean season, when prices are high. One solution to reduce seasonal stress is the use of improved storage technologies. Using data from a randomised controlled trial, in a major maize-growing region of Western Ethiopia, we study the impact of hermetic bags, a technology that protects stored grain against insect pests, so that the grain can be stored longer. Despite considerable price seasonality—maize prices in the lean season are 36% higher than after harvesting—we find no evidence that hermetic bags improve welfare, except that access to these bags allowed for a marginally longer storage period of maize intended for sale by 2 weeks. But this did not translate into measurable welfare gains as we found no changes in any of our welfare outcome indicators. This ‘near-null’ effect is due to the fact that maize storage losses in our study region are relatively lower than previous studies suggested—around 10% of the quantity stored—likely because of the widespread use of an alternative to protect maize during storage, for example a cheap but highly toxic fumigant. These findings are important for policies that seek to promote improved storage technologies in these settings.     

How adjustments in land use patterns contribute to drought risk adaptation in a changing climate—A case study in China

In the context of climate change, adaptation to climatic extremes, such as drought, has attracted worldwide attention, yet many practical adaptation strategies need to be examined at the local level. Based on a case study of the village of Beidian, located in a drought-prone region in northern China, this study demonstrates that when faced with multiple pressures of regional climate change, drought risk and rural poverty, reasonable adjustments in land use patterns can serve as an effective adaptation strategy in the agricultural sector. We used household questionnaires, in-depth interviews with village managers, and land use surveys at the farming plot level to quantify the relationship between land use change and drought mitigation effects. Our findings indicate that in the past decade, the farming practices in Beidian have transformed from a complete reliance on the winter wheat–summer corn rotation to a new diversified mode of apple as the main crop and corn and coarse cereals as the subsidiary crops. The current farming mode is proven to possess a stronger adaptive capacity to drought due to its higher water-saving efficiency and economic benefit, which facilitates rural poverty reduction and socio-economic development. This study presents a feasible approach to address adaptation strategies at the local level, which provides policymakers with information on how to best support farm-level adaptation and to reduce farmers’ vulnerability to climatic extremes within the broader context of climate change.     

Comparing the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from 1975 to 2015: A case study of pioneer cities in China’s rapid urbanization

The distinct urbanization process of China has attracted worldwide attention because of its impressive speed, massive scale, and policy intervention. However, the interrelationship between urban expansion and government policies is still not well understood. The Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration of China is the first national pioneering urbanization area since the implementation of the policy “Reform and Opening-up” in the late 1970s. Here we compared the spatial and temporal patterns of urbanization in two leading cities of the Pearl River Delta (i.e., Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the provincial capital and the first Special Economic Zone of China, respectively) from 1975 to 2015, using Landsat data integrated with urban growth and landscape metrics analysis, and examined possible footprints of major economic and urbanization policies. Our results illustrated that urban land areas in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen have experienced magnificent annual growth rates at 8.1% and 11%, respectively between 1975 and 2015. On average, Shenzhen witnessed substantially higher urban growth rate than Guangzhou during the past four decades, particularly in the initial period (1978–1990) when the Reform and Opening-up policy was launched and Shenzhen was designated as the first Special Economic Zone in China in the late 1970s. However, the speed of urban expansion in Shenzhen became considerably lower than Guangzhou from 2005 to 2015, subject to physical conditions and a series of urban land use policies. Both cities showed a generally similar dynamics of urban growth forms with leapfrogging as the predominant type of urban growth at first and then edge-expansion while the contribution of infilling in Shenzhen was higher than that in Guangzhou, especially since 2005. The urbanization processes characterized by landscape and urban growth metrics revealed that a diffusion-coalescence-diffusion-coalescence process was identified for Guangzhou, while Shenzhen was generally consistent with the diffusion-coalescence urban growth hypothesis.     

Can environmental attributes influence protected area designation? A case study valuing preferences for springs in Grand Canyon National Park

Springs in Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) provide water to over 6 million visitors per year. In addition to use value for visitors, springs have cultural value to indigenous peoples and provide critical habitat for plants and animals. Finally, base flow to the Colorado River is dependent upon springs and they also provide an important water source for backcountry recreation. Climate change, uranium mining, and increased groundwater pumping threaten the continued viability of Grand Canyon springs. Springs protection is at the forefront of proposed national policy to protect the area of the aquifers contributing to springs of the Grand Canyon outside of the designated boundaries of the national park. To date very little research on the non-market values of springs has been conducted, and no research has estimated non-market values of springs within Grand Canyon National Park using a Choice Experiment (CE). We conduct a nationwide online Choice Experiment to determine willingness to pay (WTP) to protect backcountry springs and attributes including; accessibility, suitability as a back country water source, suitability as habitat for species of concern, aesthetics, and significance to Indigenous Nations. We estimate a Bayesian mixed logit, and find an average willingness to pay of $32.60 per household for a spring with the presence of all five attributes. The habitat attribute produces the highest WTP of $14.80. We find WTP of $4.50 for springs with cultural significance. Results from our study could be instrumental in designation of the Grand Canyon National Heritage Monument. In addition, our results indicate that careful consideration of watershed services on public lands is essential for efficient decision-making regarding protection of public lands.     

Transdisciplinary landscape planning: Does the public have aspirations? Experiences from a case study in Ghent (Flanders,Belgium)

Since the end of the last century, the focus in landscape policy is shifting from traditional top-down perspectives into a bottom-up and integrated approach involving participation of local stakeholders. Keywords in the European Landscape Convention (ELC) include participation and awareness-raising: the public should be involved and their aspirations towards landscape should be assessed. This evolution in policy went with a new paradigm in landscape research: transdisciplinarity. Despite this evolution, literature indicates the necessity of a more general use of methods for public participation in landscape planning to meet the objectives of the Convention. The present paper explores ways to involve ‘the local people’ and to grasp their aspirations with regard to the landscape features of their surroundings. Point of departure is a questionnaire combining questions on landscape preference, environmental worldview and behaviour in the landscape. The questionnaire was distributed in a spatially stratified sample amongst inhabitants of the city of Ghent. The survey was set up without any connection to a concrete operational project that could convince respondents to participate. The response rate was relatively large despite a rather demanding questionnaire. More isolated target groups such as people with lower income, lower education level, and retired people were included, but foreigners, despite being a substantial part of the urban population, did not respond. The respondents appeared to be rather homogeneous as regards environmental worldview and aspirations in the landscape. It appeared that environment and landscape were not clearly distinguished between by the respondents. These results yield some suggestions for transdisciplinary landscape policy. A careful design of the sampling can enhance number and diversity of the respondents. Yet, it is equally important to develop a common language to communicate about landscape so that the question items can be clearly phrased and understood. Aspirations towards landscape should be defined more unambiguously so that they can be assessed alike. Awareness-raising for landscape may help to increase the number of local people that feel addressed when talking about landscape. When public support for landscape policy and management is taken seriously, more factors than only landscape should be taken into consideration.     

Twenty-three years of forest cover change in protected areas under different governance strategies: A case study from Ethiopia’s southern highlands

Tropical deforestation has heightened the need for effective governance of protected areas aimed at conserving natural resources, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. The southern highlands of Ethiopia hold some of the largest expanses of contiguous tropical forest in Ethiopia. This area also is undergoing rapid land conversion. Multiple protected areas with different management strategies and objectives have been established, in part, to conserve forests and the ecosystem services they provide. We examined four types of protected areas; a national park, a state-run forest enterprise, two occupied privately leased hunting concessions, and two unoccupied hunting concessions, to evaluate their effectiveness at protecting forest cover. We used 1509 field plots with medium-resolution Landsat imagery from 1987 to 2015 to develop models of forest cover at approximately five-year time intervals. We found protected areas that were actively managed for timber production or hunting were more effective at conserving forest cover than the national park and the unoccupied hunting concessions. Over the study period, net forest cover change was −7.8% for the national park, 12.9% for the state-run forest enterprise, −0.2% and 13.3% for the occupied hunting concessions and −14.0% and −13.0% for the unoccupied hunting concessions. We also discuss how the change in forest cover relates to historic political events. In places like Ethiopia where the federal resources needed to conserve forests are limited, promoting a network that includes both federally and non-federally managed protected areas can result in more area and forests under protection.     

Are Russian Wheat Exporters Able to Price Discriminate? Empirical Evidence from the Last Decade

Significant changes have taken place in the world wheat market in the last decade. Russia, a former net wheat importer, has become a leading exporter with a world market share of 11.2% in 2009. This increasing importance and the discussion about the establishment of a grain‐OPEC consisting of Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia has raised the issue of pricing behaviour of Russian wheat exporters. Although there are several studies on the pricing behaviour of Canadian and US wheat exporters, there is none so far for Russian wheat exporters. This study provides a quantitative analysis of the pricing behaviour of Russian wheat exporters, explicitly taking account of the export tax imposed between 2007 and 2008. We employ a pricing‐to‐market (PTM) model on quarterly Russian wheat‐export data, covering the period from 2002 to 2010 and 25 export destinations. Our findings indicate that (i) Russian wheat exporters exercised PTM in only a few importing countries over the whole time period, and (ii) PTM behaviour was more pronounced in the aftermath of the export tax period (i.e. 2008–2010) than before.