Food Policy

Journal: Food Policy

Abbreviation

Food policy

Publisher

Elsevier

ISSN

0306-9192
1873-5657

Show all metadata

Search Results

Publications 1 - 10 of 29

Does it matter who advises farmers? Pest management choices with public and private extension
Wüpper, David Johannes; Roleff, Nikolaus; Finger, Robert (2021)
Food Policy
Does it matter whether farmers receive advice on pest management strategies from public or from private (pesticide company affiliated) extension services? We use survey data from 733 Swiss fruit growers who are currently contending with an infestation by an invasive pest, the fruit fly Drosophila Suzukii. We find that farmers who are advised by public extension services are more likely (+9–10%) to use preventive measures (e.g. nets) while farmers who are advised by private extension services are more likely (+8–9%) to use synthetic insecticides. These results are robust to the inclusion of various covariates, ways to cluster standard errors, and inverse probability weighting. We also show that our results are unlikely to be driven by omitted variable bias. Our findings have implications for the current debates on both the ongoing privatization of agricultural extension and concerns regarding negative environmental and health externalities of pesticide use.
Extreme weather events cause significant crop yield losses at the farm level in German agriculture
Schmitt, Jonas; Offermann, Frank; Söder, Mareike; et al. (2022)
Food Policy
Extreme weather events frequently cause severe crop yield losses, affecting food security and farmers’ incomes. In this paper, we aim to provide a holistic assessment of these impacts across various extreme weather events and multiple crops. More specifically, we estimate and compare the impact of frost, heat, drought and waterlogging on yields of winter wheat, winter barley, winter rapeseed and grain maize production in Germany. We analyse 423,815 farm-level yield observations between 1995 and 2019, and account for extreme weather conditions within critical phenological phases. Furthermore, we monetarize historical yield losses due to extreme weather events on a spatially disaggregated level. We find that drought is a main driver for farm-level grain yield and monetary losses in German agriculture. For instance, a single drought day can reduce winter wheat yields by up to 0.36%. It is estimated that during the period 1995–2019, summer drought led to yield losses in winter wheat, which, on average, caused annual revenues to sink by over 23 million Euro across Germany. We find that the impacts of extreme weather events vary considerably across space and time. For example, only the most important winter rapeseed production region in the North of Germany was prone to winter rapeseed yield losses due to heat during flowering. Moreover, waterlogging and frost are generally less relevant from an economic point of view, but can nevertheless cause crop- and regional-specific damage. Our analysis provides stakeholders with information for weather-related risk management and adaptation strategies.
Agricultural policy in the era of digitalisation
Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich; Huber, Robert; Finger, Robert (2021)
Food Policy
Digitalisation in the agricultural sector continues to expand. At the same time demands for an agricultural policy offering better support for sustainability become increasingly fervent. However, it is far from clear how digitalisation could make agricultural policy more effective in reducing undesired impacts and enhancing the benefits of farming. This article investigates the extent to which digital technologies can trigger different choices of agricultural policy instruments and novel design specifications that address problems of sustainability in farming more effectively and possibly more efficiently. It develops and applies an analytical framework that focuses on the effects of digitalisation in distinct policy dimensions, drawing on theoretical insights and examples from practice in a European context. We show that digital agricultural policy does not simply replace analogue technologies used in traditional agricultural policy. It offers new options for agricultural policy, including novel designs to address challenges more effectively. In particular, it offers opportunities for more effective spatial targeting and tailoring of instruments, including results-based subsidies. Digital data can be generated strategically using respective instrument designs to support policy learning and adaptation of designs. Information-intensive instruments and designs generally benefit most from digitalisation while transaction costs often go down. Digitalisation could also move agricultural policy from direct intervention to information-based governance. However, the analysis suggests that institutional constraints and interests, as well as the capabilities of the actors involved require attention in research and practice of digitalisation of agricultural policy.
How would Swiss consumers decide if they had freedom of choice?
Aerni, Philipp; Scholderer, Joachim; Ermen, David (2011)
Food Policy
Pesticide-free but not organic: Adoption of a large-scale wheat production standard in Switzerland
Möhring, Niklas; Finger, Robert (2022)
Food Policy
The sustainable intensification of agriculture requires solutions for a large-scale reduction of pesticide use while sustaining agricultural yields. Pesticide-free production standards, which bring together the strengths of all the food value chain actors, could be a cornerstone of this transformation. In Switzerland, a non-organic, private–public standard for pesticide-free wheat production is currently being introduced by the producer organization IP-SUISSE. It is the first of its kind in Europe and may reach a market share of 50% of Swiss wheat production. We here assess the determinants of farmers' participation and willingness to participate in the future. For our analysis, we combine a survey of the entire population of IP-SUISSE wheat producers (4749 farmers, 23.3% response rate) with data on historical farm-level wheat yields, soil properties, weather, climate, weed pressure, and spread of herbicide resistance. Our results indicate that a large-scale establishment of pesticide-free wheat production in Switzerland is possible. We find that farmers' perceptions of positive environmental effects of the production program are key for adoption. Moreover, farmers' expectations of the program’s production effects play a central role. Farmers perceiving large yield losses and increases in production risks are less likely to enter the program. Based on our results, we discuss implications, leverage points, and challenges for designing and implementing large-scale pesticide-free production programs.
Evidence of slowing yield growth
Finger, Robert (2010)
Food Policy
People’s willingness to eat meat from animals vaccinated against epidemics
Zingg, Alexandra; Siegrist, Michael (2012)
Food Policy
Farmer seed networks make a limited contribution to agriculture? Four common misconceptions
Coomes, Oliver T.; McGuire, Shawn J.; Garine, Eric; et al. (2015)
Food Policy
The importance of seed provisioning in food security and nutrition, agricultural development and rural livelihoods, and agrobiodiversity and germplasm conservation is well accepted by policy makers, practitioners and researchers. The role of farmer seed networks is less well understood and yet is central to debates on current issues ranging from seed sovereignty and rights for farmers to GMOs and the conservation of crop germplasm. In this paper we identify four common misconceptions regarding the nature and importance of farmer seed networks today. (1) Farmer seed networks are inefficient for seed dissemination. (2) Farmer seed networks are closed, conservative systems. (3) Farmer seed networks provide ready, egalitarian access to seed. (4) Farmer seed networks are destined to weaken and disappear. We challenge these misconceptions by drawing upon recent research findings and the authors’ collective field experience in studying farmer seed systems in Africa, Europe, Latin America and Oceania. Priorities for future research are suggested that would advance our understanding of seed networks and better inform agricultural and food policy.
Water scarcity and food trade in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries
Yang, Hong; Wang, Lei; Zehnder, Alexander J.B. (2007)
Food Policy
Analyzing nutritional impacts of price and income related shocks in Malawi: Simulating household entitlements to food
Harttgen, Kenneth; Klasen, Stephan; Rischke, Ramona (2016)
Food Policy

Publications 1 - 10 of 29

Journal: Food Policy

Abbreviation

Publisher

Journal Volumes

ISSN

Description

Filters

Search Results