This paper assesses the implications of large-scale investments in biofuels for growth and income distribution. We find that biofuels investment enhances growth and poverty reduction despite some displacement of food crops by biofuels. Overall, the biofuel investment trajectory analyzed...

We investigate the impacts of coffee and cotton production on land management and land degradation in Uganda, based on a survey of 851 households and soil measurements in six major agro-ecological zones, using matching and multivariate regression methods. The impacts of cash crop production vary...

In arid countries worldwide, social conflicts between irrigation-based human development and the conservation of aquatic ecosystems are widespread and attract many public debates. This research focuses on the analysis of water and agricultural policies aimed to conserve groundwater resources and...

The Kyoto protocol and the EU Directive 2009/28/EC focus their attention on the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The use of biofuels in the transport sector is one of the main measures proposed. This paper evaluates the environmental impact, in terms of GHG emissions, of the...

This paper investigates the effects of network based individual social capital on the access of rural households to services. In the context of development economics, an innovative data collection approach is used to determine network based social capital. The approach originates from the field...

The contribution of the agricultural sector to climate change is gaining more and more visibility and therewith, interest is growing on policy options to induce agricultural GHG mitigation. However, so far only little is known about the different impacts of specific policies on GHG mitigation on...

There has been substantial water resources development for agriculture in India but the emphasis has been mainly on the technical side - the building of the necessary institutions required for effective management of the resource has received little attention. Many believe that water resource...

This study develops and uses a programming model for farm-level resource use and output supply response to estimate the effects of agricultural land tax in South Africa: A case study of Free State, a region of extremely large commercial farms that gained their size and economic heft during the...

Global projections for increasing food demand combined with increasing demand for energy from all sources – including crop-based biofuels – point towards greater stress on food systems and their supporting ecosystems. In many parts of the world, increasing household incomes has translated...