The goal of the TOPMARD project is to develop a model of agriculture and rural development to better understand the agronomic, ecological, economic and social dimensions of rural regions. The resulting model, (Policy Model of Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development) was built...

We analyse the impacts of the CAP reforms on the technical efficiency of the crop farms. We use an output distance function and an inefficiency effects model which incorporates the influences of exogenous variables on farm efficiency. We formulate policy variables (e.g. the CAP subsidies) and...

Standard deterministic analysis of agricultural and biofuel policies can yield incomplete or misleading results. Stochastic analysis is especially important when policies have asymmetric effects and when there is intrinsic interest in uncommon events or the distribution of possible outcomes. The...

An important approach to reducing persistent technical inefficiency is through technical change. This paper considers the case of genetically modified crop production. A stochastic frontier approach is used to examine how a drastic change from non-GM to GM technology effects the position of the...

The challenges posed by food security for populations in sub-Saharan Africa and the fact that extensive production systems are reaching their limits in food-producing agriculture imply accelerating technological innovation toward ecological intensification of agricultural production systems. A...

The new EU Animal Health Strategy suggests a shift in emphasis away from control towards prevention and surveillance activities for the management of threats to animal health. The optimal combination of these actions will differ among diseases and depend on largely unknown and uncertain costs...

Recent EU regulations have imposed mandatory labelling of all food products that consist of or contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Labelling should state that "this product contains genetically modified organisms". This study examines how different label messages may affect the...

This paper analyses, within the new growth theory framework and using panel cointegration techniques, the effect of agricultural international technological spillovers on total factor productivity growth for a sample of 47 countries during the period 1970-1992. The analysis shows that total...

The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International Centre of Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT) introduced dual purpose soybean varieties in south-west Kenya both to improve soil fertility by nitrogen fixation and to provide a source of better food and income. Since the start...