Agricultural Product Prices, Fifth EditionPublished continuously since 1972, Agricultural Product Prices has become the standard textbook and reference work for students in agricultural and applied economics, buyers and sellers of commodities, and policymakers, clearly explaining conceptual and empirical models applicable to agricultural product markets. The new fifth edition uses up-to-date information and models to explain the behavior of agricultural product prices
Drivers and Restraints for Economically Efficient Farm Productionthis book summarizes and discusses literature that has investigated reasons for inefficient production, and thus how agricultural production could become more successful. Based on this, the book discusses what aspects need more research in the future to understand what drives and restraints efficient farm production. In particular, the synthesis is based around the following aspects: farm size and its effect on efficiency, farm strategy and its effect on efficiency, farmer managerial capacity and its influence on efficiency, collaboration between farmers and its impact on efficiency, operational managerial practices and their effect on efficiency and, finally, critical success factors and their links with efficiency.
Financial Inclusion, Innovation, And Investments: Biotechnology And Capital Markets Working For The PoorThis book is a state-of-the-art discussion of what has succeeded (and failed) in the design and implementation of projects and institutions to assist the poor in developing country economies. The goal of the book is twofold: (1) to identify and assess the key processes through which markets affect the livelihoods of the rural poor; and (2) to propose micro- and macro-level policies and innovations to address the problems of inclusion that arise.
Global Population : History, Geopolitics, and Life on EarthOverpopulation as a conceptual problem originated after World War I and was understood as an issue with far-reaching ecological, agricultural, economic, and geopolitical consequences. This study traces the idea of a world population problem as it developed from the 1920s through the 1950s, long before the late-1960s notion of a postwar population bomb. Drawing on international conference transcripts, the volume reconstructs the twentieth-century discourse on population as an international issue concerned with migration, colonial expansion, sovereignty, and globalization. It connects the genealogy of population discourse to the rise of economically and demographically defined global regions, the characterization of civilizations with different standards of living, global attitudes toward development, and first- and third-world designations.
New And Enduring Themes In Development EconomicsThis book is a compilation of selected papers presented at the ISI (Indian Statistical Institute) Platinum Jubilee Conference on Comparative Development held at the ISI, Delhi, India. The papers cover new and well-established topics in development economics. Some of these include political economy, role of public outrage in delivering justice and the political economy of general strikes, economics of happiness, economics of labour, agricultural economics, macroeconomics and public finance. These topics are analyzed from the perspective of developing countries. The book will be of interest to both researchers and graduate students in development economics.
Risk, Uncertainty And The Agricultural FirmThis text is the first major survey of risk analysis from the perspective of the agricultural firms since Agricultural Decision Analysis by Anderson, Dillon, and Hardaker published in 1977. In addition to updating the traditional material from that text, this book includes the statistical foundations of decision making under risk and uncertainty.
Sustainable Agriculture : Technology, Planning and ManagementSustainability is defined as the use of natural resources without risking their exploitation by future generations. Agriculture can only be considered as sustainable if it includes a suitable system of plant genetic resources conservation. In this book, the modern concepts of agricultural sustainability and the economics of agricultural sustainability are discussed. A new framework for analysis and improvement of the governance of agrarian sustainability is presented.
The Atlas of World HungerThe Atlas of World Hunger uses a conceptual framework informed by geography and agricultural economics to present a hunger index that combines food availability, household access, and nutritional outcomes into a single tool one that delivers a fuller understanding of the scope of global hunger, its underlying mechanisms, and the ways in which the goals for ending hunger can be achieved. The first depiction of the geography of hunger worldwide, the Atlas will be an important resource for teachers, students, and anyone else interested in understanding the geography and causes of hunger. This knowledge, the authors argue, is a critical first step toward eliminating unnecessary suffering in a world of plenty.
The Economics of Natural and Human Resources in AgricultureThis book is about the allocation of natural and human resources in the agricultural sector of both developed, developing and transition economies. Extensive search for the sources of economic growth have lead economists to comprehend that sustainable growth requires efficient allocation of natural resources, complemented by high levels of human resources, such as knowledge, management and governance.
Agriculture and Food in the 21 St CenturyThis Festschrift in honour of Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. P. Michael Schmitz covers theoretical as well as empirical works on challenges prevailing in the food and agricultural sector. Discussions of conflicts between social and ecological requests of citizens and market outcomes are provided. The contributors discuss options of policy interventions as well as their limitations.
China's Agricultural ModernizationThis book provides an overview of current issues in China's agricultural development, policy responses to these issues, and the effects of these policies on China's growing role in international markets. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.
Facing the Challenges of Climate Change and Food Security : The Role of Research, Extension and Communication for DevelopmentThe study report is based on case studies from Bangladesh (Sulaiman, 2010), Bolivia (Pafumi and Ulloa, 2010), DR Congo (Mbaye, 2010) and Ghana (Adjei-Nsiah and Dormon, 2010) which were carried out with the purpose of assessing needs and gaps with regard to the provision of innovation support services for climate change adaptation. It took the form of desk-studies complemented with key informant interviews. Research results showed that climate change adds urgency to the need for adaptation in its widest sense in the natural resources sphere (agriculture, forestry, natural resources management, livestock and fisheries). The main message from the study is that not only is technical change for farm-level adaptation and mitigation needed, but also a change of policy and institutional regimes that govern agricultural production, value chains and natural resource management.
Rethinking Agricultural Policy Regimes : Food Security, Climate Change and the Future Resilience of Global AgricultureFor many decades debates about the future of developed world agriculture policy have been dominated by a long political conflict between European/multifunctional policy regimes and the global trend towards trade liberalisation. The stalemate that had emerged between these two positions by 2000 has now been dramatically reconfigured. This book argues that there are four reasons why this area of policy has now reopened to wider debate: The World Food Crisis of 2008-2011 has signalled a potential end to the era of cheap food.
State of the World 2013 : Is Sustainability Still Possible?State of the World 2013 cuts through the rhetoric surrounding sustainability, offering a broad and realistic look at how close we are to fulfilling it today and which practices and policies will steer us in the right direction. This book will be especially useful for policymakers, environmental nonprofits, and students of environmental studies, sustainability, or economics.
The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2013 : The Multiple Dimensions of Food SecurityDrawing on the suite of indicators, the report also examines the diverse experiences of six countries in more detail, finding a mixed picture of progress and setbacks. Together, these country experiences show the importance of social protection and nutrition-enhancing interventions, policies to increase agricultural productivity and rural development, diverse sources of income and long-term commitment to mainstreaming food security and nutrition in public policies and programmes.
Agricultural Production
Agricultural ProductionThis new book illustrates how the need for sustained agricultural production increases as the human population increases, while many natural resources grow scarce and the amount of land devoted to agriculture declines.
Agriculture and Food in Crisis : Conflict, Resistance, and RenewalThe failures of “free-market” capitalism are perhaps nowhere more evident than in the production and distribution of food. Although modern human societies have attained unprecedented levels of wealth, a significant amount of the world's population continues to suffer from hunger or food insecurity on a daily basis. In Agriculture and Food in Crisis, Fred Magdoff and Brian Tokar have assembled an exceptional collection of scholars from around the world to explore this frightening long-term trend in food production. While approaching the issue from many angles, the contributors to this volume share a focus on investigating how agricultural production is shaped by a system that is oriented around the creation of profit above all else, with food as nothing but an afterthought.
Drivers and Restraints for Economically Efficient Farm ProductionThis book summarizes and discusses literature that has investigated reasons for inefficient production, and thus how agricultural production could become more successful. Based on this, the book discusses what aspects need more research in the future to understand what drives and restraints efficient farm production. In particular, the synthesis is based around the following aspects: farm size and its effect on efficiency, farm strategy and its effect on efficiency, farmer managerial capacity and its influence on efficiency, collaboration between farmers and its impact on efficiency, operational managerial practices and their effect on efficiency and, finally, critical success factors and their links with efficiency.
Environmental Impacts of Modern AgricultureThis comprehensive volume examines the environmental impact made by agriculture in the 21st Century, looking forward to the future with the lessons of the past. Key chapters include impacts of agriculture upon soil quality, greenhouse gas budgets, water-borne pathogens, surface water chemistry, groundwater, agricultural pesticides and the environment, balancing the environmental consequences of agriculture with the needs for food security and positive and negative aspects of agricultural production of biofuels.
Facing the Challenges of Climate Change and Food Security : The Role of Research, Extension and Communication for DevelopmentThe study report is based on case studies from Bangladesh (Sulaiman, 2010), Bolivia (Pafumi and Ulloa, 2010), DR Congo (Mbaye, 2010) and Ghana (Adjei-Nsiah and Dormon, 2010) which were carried out with the purpose of assessing needs and gaps with regard to the provision of innovation support services for climate change adaptation. It took the form of desk-studies complemented with key informant interviews. Research results showed that climate change adds urgency to the need for adaptation in its widest sense in the natural resources sphere (agriculture, forestry, natural resources management, livestock and fisheries). The main message from the study is that not only is technical change for farm-level adaptation and mitigation needed, but also a change of policy and institutional regimes that govern agricultural production, value chains and natural resource management.
Local Food Systems : Background and IssuesThis book is a comprehensive overview of local food systems and explores the definitions of local food; estimates market size and reach; describes the characteristics of local consumers and producers; and examines early indications of the economic and health impacts of local food systems.
Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural EcosystemsManaging Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems takes a look at how farmers manage, maintain, and benefit from biodiversity in agricultural production systems. The volume includes the most recent research and developments in the maintenance of local diversity at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels.
One Billion Hungry : Can We Feed the World?.In One Billion Hungry, Sir Gordon Conway, one of the world's foremost experts on global food needs, explains the many interrelated issues critical to our global food supply from the science of agricultural advances to the politics of food security. He expands the discussion begun in his influential The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for All in the Twenty-First Century, emphasizing the essential combination of increased food production, environmental stability, and poverty reduction necessary to end endemic hunger on our planet.
Risk, Uncertainty And The Agricultural FirmThis text is the first major survey of risk analysis from the perspective of the agricultural firms since Agricultural Decision Analysis by Anderson, Dillon, and Hardaker published in 1977. In addition to updating the traditional material from that text, this book includes the statistical foundations of decision making under risk and uncertainty. Adding to the material covered in Anderson, Dillon, and Hardaker, the text includes material on dynamic decision rules, the arbitrage pricing model, real options theory, and state-contingent production relationships. Risk, Uncertainty, and the Agricultural Firm provides a unique discussion of each application — developing the theoretical basis for each model and presenting an empirical roadmap (or the “nuts and bolts”) of each model to facilitate the empirical application of each technique.
Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st CenturyThis text is the first major survey of risk analysis from the perspective of the agricultural firms since Agricultural Decision Analysis by Anderson, Dillon, and Hardaker published in 1977. In addition to updating the traditional material from that text, this book includes the statistical foundations of decision making under risk and uncertainty. Adding to the material covered in Anderson, Dillon, and Hardaker, the text includes material on dynamic decision rules, the arbitrage pricing model, real options theory, and state-contingent production relationships.
Trade and Environment Review 2013 : Wake up Before It Is Too Late: Make Agriculture Truly Sustainable Now for Food Security in a Changing ClimateThe 2013 report warns that continuing rural poverty, persistent hunger around the world, growing populations, and mounting environmental concerns must be treated as a collective crisis. Urgent and far-reaching action is needed before climate change begins to cause major disruptions to agriculture, especially in developing countries. The report cites a number of trends that collectively suggest a mounting crisis, including increasing food prices, increased fertilizer use, and a decline in the agriculture growth rate. But most important of all are the persistent problems with hunger, malnutrition, and access to food. Almost 1 billion people currently suffer from hunger, and another 1 billion are malnourished, even though current global agricultural production already provides sufficient calories to feed a population of 12 to 14 billion.
Related Subjects
See also Animal Science, Biology, and Environmental Science in this Subject Guide.