International Food Policy Research Institute

About: International Food Policy Research Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Agriculture & Food security. The organization has 1217 authors who have published 4952 publications receiving 218436 citations.

Food Production, Population Growth, and the Environment

Abstract: This Policy Forum is based on the report of a 2-day meeting held on the island of AskA¶ in the Stockholm archipelago in September 1997. The meeting was convened by the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. Its aim was to encourage a substantive dialogue among a group of natural and social scientists so as to assess whether an interdisciplinary consensus exists on the issue of food production, population growth, and environmental security.

A field experiment on the impact of weather shocks and insurance on risky investment

Abstract: We conduct a framed field experiment in rural Ethiopia to test the seminal hypothesis that insurance provision induces farmers to take greater, yet profitable, risks. Farmers participated in a game protocol in which they were asked to make a simple decision: whether or not to purchase fertilizer and if so, how many bags. The return to fertilizer was dependent on a stochastic weather draw made in each round of the game. In later rounds a random selection of farmers made this decision in the presence of a stylized weather-index insurance contract. Insurance was found to have some positive effect on fertilizer purchases. Purchases were also found to depend on the realization of the weather in the previous round. We explore the mechanisms of this relationship and find that it may be the result of both changes in wealth weather brings about, and changes in perceptions of the costs and benefits to fertilizer purchases.

Linking GIS and water resources management models: an object-oriented method

Abstract: Many challenges are associated with the integration of geographic information systems (GISs) with models in specific applications. One of them is adapting models to the environment of GISs. Unique aspects of water resource management problems require a special approach to development of GIS data structures. Expanded development of GIS applications for handling water resources management analysis can be assisted by use of an object oriented approach. In this paper, we model a river basin water allocation problem as a collection of spatial and thematic objects. A conceptual GIS data model is formulated to integrate the physical and logical components of the modeling problem into an operational framework, based on which, extended GIS functions are developed to implement a tight linkage between the GIS and the water resources management model. Through the object-oriented approach, data, models and users interfaces are integrated in the GIS environment, creating great flexibility for modeling and analysis. The concept and methodology described in this paper is also applicable to connecting GIS with models in other fields that have a spatial dimension and hence to which GIS can provide a powerful additional component of the modeler’s tool kit.

Is there a Future for Small Farms

Abstract: Small farms are seriously challenged today in ways that make their future precarious. Marketing chains are changing and becoming more integrated and more demanding of quality and food safety. This is creating new opportunities for farmers who can compete and link to these markets, but threatens to leave many others behind. In developing countries, small farmers also face unfair competition from rich country farmers in many of their export and domestic markets. The viability of many is further undermined by the continuing shrinkage of their average farm size. And the spread of HIV/AIDS is further eroding the number of productive farm family workers, and leaving many children as orphans with limited knowledge about how to farm. Left to themselves, these forces will curtail opportunities for small farms, overly favor large farms, and lead to a premature and rapid exit of many small farms, adding to already serious problems of rural poverty and urban ghettos. If small farmers are to have a viable future, then there is a need for a concerted effort by governments, NGOs, and the private sector to create a more enabling economic environment for their development. Appropriate interventions could unleash significant benefits in the form of pro-poor agricultural growth in many developing countries and more than pay for themselves in terms of their economic and social return. But they do not seem very likely at the moment and current trends are moving in the opposite direction.

Farmer preferences for milpa diversity and genetically modified maize in Mexico: a latent class approach

Abstract: Mexico is the centre of origin of maize. Maize is Typically grown as part of a set of associated crops and practices called the milpa system, an ancient mode of production that is practiced today in ways that vary by cultural context and agro-environment. We use a choice experiment to estimate the farmers’ valuation of three components of agrobiodiversity: crop species richness, maize variety richness and maize landraces. We include the option to cultivate genetically modified (GM) maize. Data were collected from 420 farm households across three states of Mexico. We analyze the heterogeneity of farmer preferences with a latent class model, which enables us to identify the characteristics of farmers who are most Likely to continue growing maize landraces, as well as those least likely to accept GM maize. Findings have implications for debates concerning the use of GM maize in Mexico and the design of on-farm conservation programmes.