Smallholder farmers in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate shocks but often lack access to insurance. Weather index insurance (WII) is a promising innovation, but uptake has been lower than expected. WII contracts are not yet sufficiently tailored to the needs and...

Weather risk is a serious issue in the African small farm sector, which will further aggravate due to climate change. Farmers typically react by using low amounts of agricultural inputs. Low input use can help to minimize financial loss in bad years, but is also associated with low average yield...

Weather risk is a serious issue in the African small farm sector, which will further aggravate due to climate change. Farmers typically react by using low amounts of agricultural inputs. Low input use can help to minimize financial loss in bad years, but is also associated with low average yield...

Climatic risks are a major challenge for rural communities, especially those whose livelihoods directly depend on agriculture. Weather extremes affect crop productivity not only through the direct relationship between weather variables and yields, but also through the negative effects of such...

Do transgenic crops cause agrobiodiversity erosion? We hypothesize that they increase productivity and reduce production risk and may therefore reduce farmer demand for on-farm varietal diversity, especially when only a few transgenic varieties are available. We also hypothesize that varietal...

Do transgenic crops cause agrobiodiversity erosion? We hypothesize that they increase productivity and reduce production risk and may therefore reduce farmer demand for on-farm varietal diversity, especially when only a few transgenic varieties are available. We also hypothesize that varietal...

Private standards are gaining in importance in global markets for high-value foods. We analyze and compare impacts of three sustainability oriented standards – Fairtrade, Organic, and UTZ – on the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. Using survey data and propensity score...

Private standards are gaining in importance in global markets for high-value foods. We analyze and compare impacts of three sustainability oriented standards – Fairtrade, Organic, and UTZ – on the livelihoods of smallholder coffee farmers in Uganda. Using survey data and propensity score...

Commercialization of smallholder agriculture is widely seen as an essential pathway towards rural economic growth. While previous studies have analyzed effects of commercialization on productivity and income, implications for farm household nutrition have received much less attention. We...

In many developing countries, supermarkets are expanding rapidly. This also affects farmers’ marketing options. Previous studies have analyzed welfare effects for smallholders with crosssection data. Here, we use panel data and a differencing approach to study supply chain dynamics and better...