Almost 90 percent of Moroccan agriculture is not irrigated, and since most of Morocco's crops depend on adequate rainfall, yields and production vary widely. A drought insurance program based on rainfall index contracts is feasible in parts of Morocco and could significantly benefit its...

Government intervention is the main reason for the low correlation between cash prices for Polish wheat and wheat futures prices in Chicago and London. Polish government policies reduce incentives for Poland`s private sector to use existing wheat futures contracts in foreign exchanges to hedge...

Derivatives exchanges can offer emerging market economies certain important benefits, including risk transfer, price discovery, and more public information. But they are not a substitute for reform of financial, capital, and commodity markets.Tsetsekos and Varangis examine the architecture,...

Market liberalization has increased the appeal of commodity derivative instruments (such as futures, options, swaps, and commodity-linked notes) as a means of managing price uncertainty. In many emerging countries both government and the private sector are increasingly using these instruments....

Since the early 1980s, dramatic changes in export commodity markets, shocks associated with resulting price declines, and changing views on the role of the state have ushered in widespread reforms to agricultural commodity markets in Africa. The reforms significantly reduced government...

Current coffee prices are at record lows and below the cost of production for many producers in Central America. Moreover, the coffee crisis is structural, and changes in supply and demand do not indicate a quick recovery of prices. So, coffee producers in Central America are facing new...

The authors estimate the potential commercial benefits that tropical timber producing countries could enjoy by adopting timber certification schemes. Such benefits are crucial for encouraging the supply of certified timber. Timber certification is a reality: Various countries and organizations...

The authors review the historical relationship between the work of applied economists, and policymakers, and the institutions that came to characterize the commodity, and risk markets of the 1980s. These institutions were a response to the harmful consequences of commodity market volatility, and...