Energy efficiency measurement is crucial when planning energy reduction policies. However, decision makers understandably will be reluctant to act in the absence of solid data and results supporting a policy position. The main objective of this paper is to propose an alternative method to...

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

Smallholder farmers’ access to markets has traditionally been constrained by lack of market information. The need to facilitate farmers’ access to markets has seen the emergence of many projects that employ electronic tools in the provision of market information services (MIS). This study...

Demand heterogeneity often makes it profitable for firms to price and promote goods and services differently in different market segments. When private consumption brings public benefits, this same heterogeneity can be used to develop targeted public subsidies. We explore the design of...

We analyze complicated ethanol/commodity policies not just in (q, p) space, but also in “policy space” and “welfare space.” Specific advantages of conducting policy analysis in welfare and policy spaces are (1) it makes clearer the distributional consequences of policy change instead of...

During the last fifteen years, the impressive increase in the area planted with soybeans in Argentina, since the commercial release of glyphosate-tolerant varieties in 1996, has sparked a heated debate about its implications. There is wide concern about the detrimental effects of this process,...

Since 1987, ACIAR has invested in collaborative research projects between Australian and Indonesian scientists, with the aim of improving plantation forestry in both countries. This presentation is derived from report on a cost–benefit study to assess economic impacts from this investment. For...

Use of ICTs by smallholder farmers in accessing agricultural market information

This study evaluates the environmental efficiency of seven recently constructed ethanol plants in the North Central region of the U.S., using nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA). Environmental efficiency is measured and decomposed into its technical and allocative sources. Results show...

Why do many smallholder farmers fail to adopt improved land-use practices which can improve yields and incomes? The reason is not always because these practices are uneconomical but sometimes it is because resource poverty prevents farmers from taking advantage of yield and income enhancing...