University of Minnesota, Duluth
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Guyana’s Economic Growth and Its Implications for Intra-CARICOM Trade and Investment, and Functional Cooperation
No full textThis paper examines the implications of Guyana’s rapid economic growth, for intra-CARICOM trade, investment, and functional cooperation. It explores how Guyana’s expanding fiscal capacity, productive base, and demand for goods and services create new opportunities for regional integration. It identifies key challenges while highlighting Guyana’s potential to lead in agro-industrial development, institutional support, and regional value chains. The paper concludes with policy recommendations aimed at aligning Guyana’s development with CARICOM’s integration objectives, highlighting the importance of coordinated efforts to promote inclusive growth, strengthen resilience, and deepen regional cooperation for shared economic and social benefits
Production Risk And Technical Efficiency Of Dry-Season Vegetable Farmers In The Upper East Region Of Ghana
No full textThe Ghanaian population is aware of the increasing health challenges in our health facilities and the need to consume more vegetables to improve their health status. This, coupled with population growth and changing consumer patterns has led to an increasing demand for vegetable products in Ghana. Smallholder farmers in the country have thus intensified the production of vegetables during the dry season to meet consumers’ demand and to generate income. However, their outputs have been lower than the country’s potential, so the research was conducted to identify the causes and determinants of the low yields. A total of 322 dry-season vegetable farmers in seven (7) districts in twenty-four (24) communities were selected from the Upper East Region of Ghana using a purposive random sampling technique. The Kumbhakar model was employed to compute the production risk, technical inefficiency and determinants of vegetable production in the region. The study reveals that the input variables: labour, seed, fertilizer, agrochemical and irrigation costs positively are related to the output value of vegetables with an increasing return to scale. In addition, labour, seed and agrochemical costs show a significant production risk-decreasing effect while the risk of vegetable production is reduced with fertilizer and irrigation costs. The study further depicts that extension visits, experience, water pumps and gravity-fed irrigation systems positively affect the technical efficiency of dry-season vegetable production. Again, given the current state of technology and resources available to the farmers, enhancing the vegetable outputs could be achieved by reducing the technical inefficiencies by 27% while considering the effects of production risk. The study concludes that the farmers can improve the output of the vegetable farms for higher income by adopting the best vegetable production practices such as efficient water-saving irrigation technologies and fertilizer usage while adopting the knowledge from the extension training to improve their technical efficienc
Impact Analysis Of Innovation And Gendered Constraints In The Fisheries Sector Of Southern Ghana
No full textThis paper adopts the multinomial endogenous treatment effect approach to analyze the impact of innovation choices on the income of 230 fish workers in the Greater Accra and Central regions of Ghana, while the Kendall’s ranking technique is applied to analyze the constraints to innovation. Findings show that technological and non-technological innovations available to fish workers have positive impacts on their income. Specifically, savings, credit access, and support service are identified to have positive impacts on income while gender and membership of a fish workers’ association have negative impacts on income. The most pressing constraints to innovation faced by female fish workers are cultural/ethnic restrictions, social exclusion, and time constraints. On the other hand, a high dependency ratio and discrimination in access to resources are the most pressing constraints faced by male fish workers. The paper recommends that stakeholders should continue to offer support services to fish workers. In addition, lending institutions should make credit accessible at lower interest rates. Interventions by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and development agencies that aim to solve constraints of fish workers should be approached from a gender dimension
Crop Insurance Participation and Cover Crop Use: Evidence from Agricultural Resource Management Survey Data
No full textHistorical ambiguity on how cover crop use influences future crop insurance eligibility has been proposed as one explanation for low cover crop adoption rates. However, explicit guidance on cover crop use for crop insurance participants was added in the 2018 Farm Bill. This study uses farm level data from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey to ascertain whether crop insurance participation influenced adoption of cover crops and to what degree that influence persisted after the 2018 Farm Bill. Estimation of a double hurdle model, combined with a control function approach to address endogeneity, suggests statistically and economically significant effects between crop insurance expenditures and cover crop use at the “extensive margin,” but no statistically significant effect at the “intensive margin.” Estimation on subsets of the data defined by before and after the 2018 Farm Bill suggest that the effect is primarily attributable to participation trends prior to the 2018 Farm Bill. Following the 2018 Farm Bill, no statistically significant effects are observed between cover crop use and crop insurance expenditures
Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Agricultural Land Markets: A Comprehensive Review of Economic Models
No full textClimate change challenges the allocation mechanisms of agricultural land, yet there is currently no systemic framework for assessing its impact on land markets. We conceptualise the climate change–land market nexus and identify its methodological and thematic issues. To support our original framework, we selectively review how agricultural economic approaches address it. We highlight that the impact of climate change on land markets has been studied at various scales, from global land use adjustments to micro-level farm adaptations, and each of these scales relates with a specific approach. The modelling of climate change effects mainly refers to land conditions, e.g. land state, use or cover change. The land market is usually addressed in rather segmented views: Models focus either on land demand, land value, or transaction mechanisms. Results also show different methods to address micro and macro levels, spatial and temporal dimensions, dynamics, and uncertainties. This paper provides a comprehensive review of agricultural economics, outlining gaps and research perspectives. It paves the way for further work on how to design better policies for effective land markets in the climate change context
Does Special Education in Elementary and Middle School Mitigate the Effects of Early Childhood Lead Exposure?
No full textWe examine the relationship between childhood lead exposure and special education using data on over 800,000 North Carolina 3rd-8th grade students. We use matching and panel data techniques to estimate the effect of lead exposure on the probability of having a learning disability that qualified students for special education and to estimate the effect of special education on lead-exposed students’ academic performance. We find that higher lead exposure significantly increased participation in special education, and special education significantly increased lead-exposed students’ test scores. These results indicate that special education can help mitigate academic deficits for lead-exposed students with learning disabilities
Marketing Margins for Florida Oranges in 10 Major Cities (October–November 1951)
No full textIncluded in this report are monthly prices at specified points along the marketing channels for Florida oranges and orange products, prices are reported for the following 10 cities: Atlanta, Ga.; Birmingham, Ala.; New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.; Chicago, Ill.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colo.; San Francisco, Calif.; and Seattle, Wash. This report is a part of the research on marketing citrus fruits being conducted under provisions of the Research and Marketing Act of 1946
Gender Disparities in the Adoption of Akilimo Cassava Advisory Tools and Productivity in Ogun State, Nigeria
No full textThis study investigates Nigeria's low digital agricultural technology acceptance rates by studying gender disparity and developing inclusive policies for both sexes. It presents empirical evidence on the use of the Akilimo Cassava Advisory Tool, a digital tool that provides cassava farmers with agronomic guidance to help them make better decisions. The data for this study was collected through interviews and questionnaires distributed to 329 farmers who cultivate cassava and who were chosen randomly through multistage sampling technique. Descriptive statistics, logit regression model and Average Treatment Effects (ATE) model served as the basis for conducting the analysis. The study reveals that male farmers had higher adoption rates of the Akilimo tools at 33.03% compared to female farmers who adopted at 27.93%. Overall, only 31% of cassava farmers adopted the tools. Their low rate of adoption are due to low awareness of the tool, inability to get the recommended cassava and maize varieties, high herbicide prices and tool skepticism. The barriers to adoption particularly oppressed female farmers which intensified the gender gap in adoption rates. Factors influencing adoption included household farming members, income contributors, native status, cooperative membership, marital status (single), and food expenditure. Male farmers showed superior advantages from Akilimo than female farmers because they received better resources coupled with advisory information. The statistical evidence validates that Akilimo tool adopters achieved higher cassava yields at a significance level (p-value = 0.048). All agricultural farm sizes derive improved productivity benefits from implementing Akilimo cassava advisory tools. Therefore, the Akilimo tool developers should team up with various government agencies to develop new training initiatives to teach farmers about the platform usage. To achieve widespread coverage of these programs, farmer cooperatives and radio broadcasts, along with community demonstrations, should be used. Also, the Akilimo tools developer should develop offline capabilities, which will minimize data expenses
An Investigation into Nutrition-Led Extension with Mention to Agri-Livestock Systems: A Critical Review in India
No full textMalnutrition is considered as one of the most important threats globally and brings about undesirable impacts both on health of humans and economic potential. In recent years, the emergency reduction of malnutrition has become utmost policy priority which is realized to be accomplished through nutrition-led extension; leading to its evolution in trends. The purpose of the study is to investigate the integration of nutrition and extension advisory services (EAS) that encompasses all activities/interventions/strategies aimed at providing information and services on nutrition sensitive farming needed by farmers and other stakeholders in rural settings, which assist them in developing their own technical, organisational, and management skills and practices, so as to improve their livelihoods and well-being achieving desirable food security satisfying both hunger and hidden hunger. The study also focused on realising the importance of agriculture, livestock and allied sectors as the crucial component in nutrition-led extension and determines the various challenges encountered; which need to be attained. The findings associated with systematic literature review concerning nutrition led extension revealed the major barriers like inadequate skills in training professionals, lack of funding, negligible pluralistic approaches, negligible role of women and other minor barriers. There is an essentialness by government, research institutions and other stakeholders in overviewing the existing schemes and policies and to work in overcoming the lacunae through employing different approaches to varied situations; which can be understood through analysing case studies discussed