The practice of slash-and-burn agriculture in poor tropical countries is often one of the main causes for deforestation, leading to biodiversity loss and to potential externality effects on lowland agricultural productivity. Under innovative environmental policies, direct conservation payments...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns and dynamics of the diffusion of modern food retail in India. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on detailed sales data from retail chains in India, short case studies of retail chains, and review of literature....

Local brands are rapidly gaining agricultural market share in developing countries. However, it is not well understood how they reshape agricultural value chains. In a detailed case study of the value chain of makhana in Bihar, we see the fast emergence – a doubling over 5years – of more...

This study estimates the benefits that Indian farmers derive from market and weather information delivered to their mobile phones by a commercial service called Reuters Market Light (RML). We conduct a controlled randomized experiment in 100 villages of Maharashtra. Treated farmers associate RML...

Local brands are rapidly gaining agricultural market share in developing countries. However, it is not well understood how they reshape agricultural value chains and what the implications are for consumers and producers. In a detailed case study of the value chain of makhana in Bihar, we see the...

Higher world food prices have led many developing countries to adopt policies to mitigate the impact on low-income households. This article sets out a partial equilibrium framework to evaluate the efficiency, distributional, and revenue implications of alternative policy responses. The model is...

Using original survey data collected on growers, traders, processors, markets, and village communities, we will compare the situation in four states - Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa. We examine the way that information about crop attributes is conveyed (or not) along the value...

This paper studies liberalised grain markets in Madagascar and examines how property rights are protected and contracts are enforced among agricultural traders. We find that the incidence of theft and breach of contract is low, and that the losses resulting from such instances are small. This,...

This paper investigates the relationship between poverty and crime. Following a disputed presidential election, fuel supply to the highlands of Madagascar was severely curtailed in early 2002, resulting in a massive - if temporary - increase in poverty. Using original survey data collected in...