Soil Fertility Management and Compost Use in Senegal's Peanut Basin

The Jóór (Dior) soils of Senegal's Peanut Basin are inherently low in organic matter, limiting yields of millet and other crops and threatening the food security of smallholders. Focus groups and interviews were conducted in eight villages to characterise the site-specific fertility management by farmers in the Peanut Basin. Results of the qualitative survey revealed that farmers base management decisions on a series of fertility indicators that include type, colour, and texture of soil, presence of vegetation, and productivity in previous years. In an effort to equalise fertility across the field, farmers amend areas they classify as less fertile with decomposed manure and household waste from the family sëntaare (traditional pile) orwith compost from managed piles. On-site measurements of soil in areas of fields amended with compost or sëntaare material revealed significant increases in peanut and millet growth over unamended areas, but little difference between the effects of compost and manure. Similarly, chemical analysis revealed increased effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) and nutrient concentrations (K, Mg and Al) in soils amended with compost or manure. Similarities in the chemical characteristics of compost and sëntaare material suggest that development workers could emphasise improved pile management rather than promoting more labour-intensive composting.     

The Negative Effects of Inappropriate Price Stimulation; The Case of Senegal: Rice Price Increases to Encourage Production May Harm Families of Non-responsive Subsistence Farmers

Abstract . Some governments of developing economieshzve been encouraged to use pricing policy to stimulate increases in food production. It is not known whether all subsistence farmers in those countries operate in an economic, financial and technological environment in which they can respond positively to price increases. In this paper models were used to demonstrate two situations: one in which farmers responded to price stimulation and another where price increases were ineffective, costly and produced results inconsistent with national goals. Data from the Basse Casamance Region in Senegal were used to show that farmers were not responsive to price changes and were net purchasers of grains. The study concludes that unless farmers' supply curves were shifted to the right—that is, that they meet more of their own subsistence needs—recent Senegalese government rice price increases could be harmful to the farm family.     

Distressed comps

We consider the use and impact of distressed properties as comparables in residential appraisals. First, we describe the incidence of their use and their relative comparability; second, we estimate their impact on the appraisal value itself; and third, we consider their impact on the probability that the appraisal is below the proposed transaction price. We find, generally, that distressed comps are largely good matches to their subject properties, which suggests that they are not necessarily used as a last resort. We find that they are not a drag on appraised value because appraisers learn to make the right adjustments over time. The use of distressed comps is associated with a higher probability of a below-price appraisal due to the increased spread of appraisals around the contract price, particularly for higher priced homes. Overall, the use of distressed comps increased the uncertainty in the valuation process, but appraisers learned the appropriate adjustments over time.     

Competition and Appraisal Inflation

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - In mortgage debt contracts, real property serves as collateral and the terms of mortgage financing are largely conditional on the certification of...     

Discipline, Signaling, and Currency Boards

The paper models the choice between currency boards (CBs) and adjustable pegs (or managed floating). Countries adopting CBs have grown faster and inflated less on average than countries adopting other regimes. The explanation hinges on key features of CBs: policy discipline and inflation credibility. The authors find separating equilibria in which a weak government chooses a CB as a discipline device while a tough government chooses a standard peg for its policy flexibility. Paradoxically, the weak government can then outperform the tough government on average. In simulations performed, CBs welfare can exceed peg welfare even when unemployment persistence is strong.     

Will African Agriculture Survive Climate Change?

Measurement of the likely magnitude of the economic impact ofclimate change on African agriculture has been a challenge.Using data from a survey of more than 9,000 farmers across 11African countries, a cross-sectional approach estimates howfarm net revenues are affected by climate change compared withcurrent mean temperature. Revenues fall with warming for drylandcrops (temperature elasticity of –1.9) and livestock (–5.4),whereas revenues rise for irrigated crops (elasticity of 0.5),which are located in relatively cool parts of Africa and arebuffered by irrigation from the effects of warming. At first,warming has little net aggregate effect as the gains for irrigatedcrops offset the losses for dryland crops and livestock. Warming,however, will likely reduce dryland farm income immedia-tely.The final effects will also depend on changes in precipitation,because revenues from all farm types increase with precipitation.Because irrigated farms are less sensitive to climate, wherewater is available, irrigation is a practical adaptation toclimate change in Africa.     

Technical analysis compared to mathematical models based methods under parameters mis-specification

In this study, we compare the performance of trading strategies based on possibly mis-specified mathematical models with a trading strategy based on a technical trading rule. In both cases, the trader attempts to predict a change in the drift of the stock return occurring at an unknown time. We explicitly compute the trader’s expected logarithmic utility of wealth for the various trading strategies. We next rely on Monte Carlo numerical experiments to compare their performance. The simulations show that under parameter mis-specification, the technical analysis technique out-performs the optimal allocation strategy but not the Model and Detect strategies. The latter strategies dominance is confirmed under parameter mis-specification as long as the two stock returns’ drifts are high in absolute terms.     

How Do Firms Finance Nonprimary Market Investments? Evidence from REITs

This study explores the impact of investment characteristics, mainly investment location relative to the firm's primary market, on financing choices by real estate investment trusts (REITs). Using a large sample of commercial property acquisitions, we show that REITs are 4–8% less likely to use secured (mortgage) debt when acquiring properties in their primary markets than elsewhere. The documented evidence supports a demand‐side story for the relation between investment characteristics and financing. Moreover, the evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that REITs avoid mortgage financing in their primary markets to preserve operational flexibility in those markets.     

Is Per Capita Growth in Africa Hampered by Poor Governance and Weak Institutions? An Empirical Study on the ECOWAS Countries

Abstract: This paper proposes an empirical study of the links between poor governance, weak institutions and the growth of per capita income in the countries that belong to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). We estimate a conditional beta‐convergence model using panel data. We find that variables such as the rule of law, property rights, the regulatory burden, political violence, and government ineffectiveness hinder growth in these countries. An interesting question is then the following: what can the countries do to improve their situations? To answer this question, we give several examples (Ghana, Nigeria and the NEPAD) of measures that are undertaken in order to strengthen the institutions and improve governance.     

Rice market integration and food security in Nepal: The role of cross-border trade with India

Coarse rice market integration between Nepal and India is analyzed applying a threshold autoregressive model. The price response behaviour of traders is found to be consistent with an asymmetric price adjustment mechanism, indicating coarse rice prices in Nepal respond to shocks originating in India. The results show that adjustments to negative price deviations from long-run stable equilibrium are faster than adjustments to the positive ones given a null threshold. Given that trade flows mainly from India to Nepal, Nepali traders would adjust their prices upward to align with the long-run equilibrium value relatively more quickly in the case of negative price deviations, than if the price deviations were positive. Such a high speed of adjustment to negative price deviations could be detrimental to net food buyers’ food security status in the absence of a price stabilization mechanism. However, a price stabilization policy in Nepal, a food deficit and import dependent country, would hardly have any effect on prices unless further effort is made to build up the level of national food reserves for short-term food security interventions. In the current context of structurally low levels of national food reserves, an alternative short-term policy such as foreign aid, in the form of food or income transfers, targeting the most vulnerable households to price increases is necessary through social safety net programmes. In the long-run, an improvement of transportation infrastructure between market hubs (other than the Biratnagar trade basin) in the Terai (Nepal) and India would contribute to the reduction of transaction costs and create incentives for more competition in formal cross-border trade with India. In times of negative shocks such as the high food price crisis in 2008, restrictive food trade policies in India will continue to undermine household food security in Nepal.