Index insurance, which indemnifies agricultural producers based on an objectively observable variable that is highly correlated with production losses but which cannot be influenced by the producer, can provide adequate protection against catastrophic droughts without suffering from the moral...

Thaba Nchu is a semi-arid area with low and erratic annual rainfall not exceeding 600mm. Various dryland crops are produced with relatively low yields and high risk of failure. Lack of appropriate technology and other constraints has led to most of the arable land being unused thus restricting...

In this paper, we examine the diversity of risks that affect farming in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. We also investigate the perspectives of these risks in relation to their economic implications on the farming enterprises. We also show that through reorganization of these risks, some...

This paper examines the technical efficiency of the resettlement sector of the agricultural system in Zimbabwe. The land reform programme aims to redistribute land from large-scale commercial farmers to the small-scale peasantry sector so as to reduce rural poverty. Since such an agrarian reform...

In this study, the structure of the South African wheat market is analysed using economic theory and econometric modelling techniques. The developed model is used to make baseline projections regarding the supply and use of wheat in South Africa and to analyse the impacts of various policy...

Patterns in price adjustment in response to information are important to market practitioners. This study looks at cowpea real wholesale price adjustment patterns in Bolgatanga, Wa, Makola and Techiman markets in Ghana. Using Techiman as the central market, a threshold autoregressive test for...

Cette étude vise à évaluer l’état de pauvreté des riziculteurs en vue d’apprécier leurs capacités de gestion des risques auxquels ils sont exposés. Une enquête a permis de collecter des données dans 14 villages sur un échantillon de 183 ménages riziculteurs dans la région des...

Cassava production in Benin is still characterized by low productivity compared to those of sub regional countries. Improved cassava varieties have been then developed. They have been promised to raise the productivity and thereby the income of farmers. This study examines the relationship...

Successive droughts, in Zimbabwe compounded by other economic shocks in recent years have resulted in decreased maize productivity amongst the communal farmers most of whom reside in regions IV and V which are considered semi-arid. This has given rise to the need to find alternative food crops,...

This study employed the Ricardian approach to test the relative importance of climate normals (average long-term temperature and precipitation) in explaining net revenue from Nigerian rice agriculture under irrigation and dry land conditions. A survey was done by interviewing 1200 rice farmers...