216 research outputs found
Replication package for paper "Agroforestry as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: Evidence from Ghana’s Cocoa Sector"
No full textThe uploaded data is a replication package for following manuscript, entitled:
Agroforestry as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: Evidence from Ghana’s Cocoa Sector
ABSTRACT
In sub-Saharan Africa, where most farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture, climate change poses serious threats. Agroforestry offers a promising adaptation strategy, with well-documented ecological and economic benefits. Yet, evidence on its role in enhancing household-level resilience to adverse weather events, such as drought, remains limited. We assess how decreases in rainfall affect cocoa yield among agroforestry adopters and non-adopters in Ghana and examine whether these effects vary by regional climatic suitability. We combine a two-wave panel data set of 365 cocoa-producing households with satellite-based climate data. We use a correlated random effects model to estimate the differential effects of reduced rainfall on yield by agroforestry status. To test for heterogeneity, we re-estimate the model for two subsamples located in climatically suitable and less suitable cocoa-growing regions.
We find that on average, agroforestry adopters are less severely affected by reduced rainfall. A one-millimeter decrease in rainfall significantly reduces yield by 2.17 kg/ha for adopters and 2.84 kg/ha for non-adopters. However, when disaggregating between regions, this effect only holds in climatically suitable regions. In less suitable, drier regions, we do not find any significant effects. Our findings suggest that agroforestry could be used as a strategy for adapting to climate change, although more research is needed to understand the conditions under which it would be most effective
Agroforestry as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy: Evidence from Ghana’s Cocoa Sector
No full textClimate change is intensifying extreme weather events such as droughts and extreme temperatures, threatening agricultural systems. In sub-Saharan Africa, where most farmers rely on rainfed agriculture, the impacts are particularly severe. Agroforestry practices have the potential to provide a viable climate change adaptation strategy for many farmers. The ecological and economic benefits of agroforestry systems have been well studied, yet the extent to which agroforestry can enhance resilience towards adverse weather events at the household level, such as drought, remains largely unknown. Using a two-wave panel data set of 365 cocoa producing households and publicly available satellite climate data, we investigate whether the effect of drought differs between agroforestry adopters and non-adopters. We find that on average, agroforestry adopters are less severely affected by reduced rainfall. However, when disaggregating between regions that differ in climatic suitability, we find that this effect holds only in regions that are climatically suitable for cocoa production. In contrast, we do not find any significant effects in less suitable regions, where farmers are more prone to drought stress. Our findings suggest that agroforestry can serve as a climate adaptation strategy, though future research is needed to better understand under what conditions its benefits can be realised best.Keywords: Agroforestry, Cocoa, Climate-smart agriculture, Climate change adaptation, GhanaJEL: O13, Q01, Q54, Q56, Q5
Agroforestry as a climate change adaptation strategy: Evidence from Ghana's cocoa sector
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 European Commissionhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaf
Voluntary Sustainability Standards and Socioeconomic and Ecological Outcomes – Panel evidence from Rwanda’s Coffee Sector
No full textVoluntary sustainability standards (VSS) provide consumers with the assurance that certified
products are produced under more sustainable conditions. While the literature on VSS has expanded
considerably, most studies rely on cross-sectional data, thereby providing only a snapshot in time and
focus on the effects on single sustainability dimensions, thereby neglecting potential trade-offs between
multiple dimensions. In addition, little is known of the extent outcomes are influenced by the duration
of participation. Economic gains may accrue in the short to medium term, whereas ecological effects
often take longer to materialize. Our study addresses these gaps by using a unique three-wave panel
dataset from Rwanda’s smallholder coffee sector. We combine household-, buyer- and plot-level data
to estimate how in-house certification (C.A.F.E. Practices), third-party certification (The Rainforest
Alliance, Fairtrade, Organic, 4C), and certification duration are associated with both socioeconomic
and ecological outcomes. Our results suggest that only third-party certification is significantly
positively associated with socioeconomic outcomes such as coffee yield, prices, profits and returns to
land. Moreover, we find that for both VSS types the socioeconomic outcomes increase, the longer a
household is certified. Regarding ecological outcomes, only third-party certification duration shows
significant positive associations with shade tree density. In addition, for both VSS types, we do not find
any significant associations with outcomes related to animal diversity. Overall, the findings highlight
that VSS should be understood as a long-term process where sustainability-related changes materialize
over time. The findings also suggest that the environmental requirements – especially of in-house
schemes – may be set too low.Keywords: Voluntary sustainability standards, certification, Rwanda, coffee, biodiversity,
socioeconomic and ecological trade-offsJEL: Q01, Q56, Q5
Do voluntary sustainability standards improve socioeconomic and ecological outcomes? Evidence from Ghana’s cocoa sector
No full textVoluntary sustainability standards offer potential for sustainable development by improving the livelihoods of smallholder cash crop farmers while conserving biodiversity. However, their overall implications remain poorly understood, as studies have mostly focused on assessing their effects on single sustainability dimensions. Here, we use an interdisciplinary approach to understand the simultaneous effects of sustainability standards on socioeconomic and ecological outcomes in Ghana’s cocoa sector. Our study is based on a rich dataset comprising representative household data from 814 smallholder cocoa-producing households from five major cocoa regions and ecological data from 119 cocoa plots. Results from the endogenous switching regression approach suggest that sustainability standards have positive effects on socioeconomic outcomes such as cocoa yield, net cocoa income and net returns to land. However, using generalized linear mixed effects models, we do not find any significant associations with ecological outcomes related to vegetation structure and animal diversity. Our results indicate that sustainability standards in Ghana’s cocoa sector lead to socioeconomic benefits but not to ecological benefits for the plot environment. Nevertheless, yield increases do not come at the expense of biodiversity. We conclude that sustainability standards have the potential to improve socioeconomic outcomes, without significantly creating trade-offs with ecological outcomes.Keywords: Sustainability standards; Certification; Cocoa; Ghana; Biodiversity; Trade-offsJEL codes: Q01, Q56, Q5
Breaking Barriers: Enhancing Smallholder Farmers’ Inclusion in Voluntary Sustainability Standards
No full textVoluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) aim to promote sustainable agricultural practices, yet smallholder farmers in low-income countries still face barriers such as high certification costs, limited training, and restricted market access. This policy brief outlines recommendations to enhance the inclusivity of VSS based on discussions from the 2024 World Café at the University of Göttingen in Germany. These recommendations include strengthening group certification, promoting comprehensive governance, and expanding training access. A shift towards more inclusive VSS frameworks is essential, not only to enable equitable participation but also to ensure that smallholder farmers can reap the intended socio-economic benefits that VSS certification can offer
Do voluntary sustainability standards improve socioeconomic and ecological outcomes? Evidence from Ghana's cocoa sector
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 German Research Foundatio
Sustainability Standards in Agri-Food Value Chains: Impacts and Trade-Offs for Smallholder Farmers
No full textThe global agri-food system faces major challenges of meeting growing food demand in an equitable
way, while mitigating environmental impacts such as deforestation, soil degradation and climate
change. Voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) have surged in recent decades as a potential instrument
to foster more sustainable global value chains and sourcing practices. While the number of VSS
impact evaluations is growing, most studies focus on a single outcome dimension. In this paper, we
propose a conceptual framework to assess the effects of VSS interventions on sustainable food system
outcomes in three dimensions, considering potential trade-offs between them. To illustrate key tradeoffs
identified in our conceptual framework, we present empirical data from three case studies in
Ghana, Rwanda, and Peru. Our empirical results shed light on associations between certification and
various outcomes, including agricultural yields and income, biodiversity at farm and landscape scales,
female empowerment, and food security. We highlight the importance of balancing trade-offs in
multiple sustainability dimensions and assessing VSS performance within the broader policy and
landscape context. Our study contributes to ongoing discussions on the effectiveness of VSS in
promoting sustainability while highlighting potential trade-offs that must be addressed to achieve
more sustainable food systems
Educazione siberiana di Nicolai Lilin: Crisi della presenza e strategie di sopravvivenza
No full textInternational audienceNicolai Lilin is a young novelist born in Transnistria in 1980 who lives in Italy at the present time. His first novel, Educazione siberiana (2009), a kind of transfigured autobiography, has been the subject of lively debate about the supposed « lies » of the writer. However, the transfiguration of the reality is an integral part of literary writing, as Bakhtin says: in this specific case, the author chooses the language of his adopted country, the Italian, in order to introduce the reader to his original community values. Through his literary works, the author defends his land, Siberia, that has been transformed by Soviet Union in a concentration camp and in primary source of raw materials. At the same time, Lilin’s novels are the expression of a crisis of presence (according to De Martino’s theory of ethnology) within a subject who deeply feels the loss of culture; on the other hand, they point out the necessity of protecting the natural world (Siberian taiga as metonymy of the entire Earth) within which every human being must give up his dominant et destructive role
A new similarity method to establish similarity for global bending modes of stiffened cylindrical shells
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