Food and Resource Economics

A profit-maximizing linear programming model with a risk programming component was developed to identify sets of optimal management strategies and outline an annual schedule of production activities for shrimp farming in Honduras. A database of 912 complete pond production records was used to define technical relationships between stocking density and survival and growth rates and to develop net return coefficients for the mathematical model. Separate matrices were developed for three farm-size scenarios to account for economies of scale. Results indicated that, in spite of recent viral epizootics, shrimp farming continues to be a profitable economic activity. Stocking density was found to have a negative effect on growth rate, but not on survival rate. As a consequence, low and intermediate stocking rates were most commonly selected, but high stocking densities were recommended in certain periods of the dry season. Results demonstrated some economic advantages of reducing the traditional levels of water exchange with supplemental aeration. The risk programming analysis indicated that the selection of low and intermediate stocking rates resulted in overall annual risk levels that were relatively low. 0

Different sizes of catfish fingerlings understocked in multiple-batch production may result in different survival, yield, cost, and economic risk. A pond production study was conducted to compare net yield, growth, survival, costs, and economic risk of understocking 7.6-cm, 12.7-cm. or 17.8-cm channel catfish lctalurus puncrurus fingerlings in growout ponds. Fingerlings were understocked at 1 S,000/ha with 1,369 kgha carryover fish averaging 0.58 kg. Mean growth rate increased significantly with size of fingerling understocked (1.4 2 0.2 gld, 1.8 2 0.07 g/ d, and 2.2 2 0.06 g/d for 7.6-cm, 12.7-cm, and 17.8cm understocked fingerlings, respectively). Mean individual weights at harvest also increased significantly with size at stocking but none of the understocked fingerlings reached minimum market size (0.57 kg) over the 201-d study period. Survival of the smallest (7.6cm) understocked fingerlings was significantly lower, but there was no difference in survival between the two other treatments. Net yields were highest for the two treatments understocked with 12.7-and 17.8-cm catfish and significantly lower for the treatment understocked with 7.6-cm fish. Growth of large carryover fish was significantly less in the treatment understocked with 17.8-cm fingerlings. Breakeven production costs were highest for the treatment understocked with 7.6-cm fish and lower for the other two treatments. The risk analysis showed that it was very likely that the 12.7-and 17.8-cm understocked fish could be grown profitably (very little risk of costs exceeding $1.32/kg--$I .6S/kg). However, the risk of growing out 7.6-cm understocked fish at costs above market prices increased sharply. This static analysis indicated that the preferred size to understock in growout ponds would be 12.7 cm; however, additional work is needed in a dynamic framework to quantify the benefit of 17.8-cm fingerlings reaching market size earlier in the second year.

The use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is supported as a solution for sustainable agricultural development. While NTFP advocates claim these resources offer a financial incentive to smallholder households, this incentive is often smaller than the income received in agricultural monoculture systems. Rural households often utilize NTFPs or adopt sustainable methods even though they could adopt more profitable practices. The authors examine thetradeoff between working for cash income and meeting the subsistence needs of smallholder cacao producers in Northern Ecuador. The authors compare the economic and ecological factors to be considered when producing cacao in either a monoculture or agroforestry system. The paper finds that farmers' preference for agroforestry systems is more highly related to environmental benefits than to specialty market access, and that cacao farmers utilizing agroforestry systems are neither the wealthiest nor the most marginalized.

This report examines briefly the issue of welfare impacts and cost-benefit analysis of food safety regulations. It considers a set of theoretical frameworks and then explores an empirical analysis of one of these policy models: a product-oriented food safety regulation. The analysis focuses on the import market for fresh and dried oranges in the European Union, focusing on trade flows between the EU and two main market partners, Brazil and South Africa. The policy assumption is that the regulation imposes costs of compliance which force the import price above domestic equilibriums. We find that such a policy would have net losses to European society, all of which are borne by consumers. Domestic producers of fresh (table) oranges have the potential to accrue large benefits from redistribution effects. Impacts on foreign firms are not considered here, and such an analysis is only expected to increase the value of total societal welfare losses. The question then becomes at what level benefits from the food safety barrier, in terms of illness avoidance or health stability, must be accrued in order to offset the costs.

For centuries, rural communities in Brazil have garnered some portion of their income from the growing of sugarcane and the related processing and production of its derivatives. Early in the 20th century, ethanol became included within this cadre of products. Since that time the production and use of the alcohol-based fuel within Brazil and the world has experienced a roller-coaster like ride to reach the contemporary importance it holds for the future of addressing climate change mitigation strategies, altering the consumption of petroleum-derived fuel sources, improving the sustainability of global and local energy regimes and providing for new opportunities in greater economic development of nations and locations. This later factor will be the focus of this discussion, most specifically within the context of improving the standing of Brazil’s vast rural areas.

Over the past 30 years, there has been much emphasis on a shift in African security and how to handle Africa’s internal conflicts that affect the global community.  Rather than follow in the footsteps of generations past, the emphasis on creating a self-sustaining Africa is the push for legislation and policymakers in the 21st century.  Taking into careful consideration the potential threat scenarios, it is the recommendation of this brief that climate change and the affects that it has on Africa be viewed as a potential security threat that has destabilizing effects on the continent if left unchecked.  In regards to health, agro-food and resource security, it is a necessity to look at the implications of climate change, the relationship between the three and their shared relationship to state, human, and international security on the developing African continent.

Although consumption of mandarins has grown steadily in the United States, mandarin cultivars being produced and consumed have been changing. The goal of this research was to identify factors that impact consumer choice of mandarins. In this analysis, consumers were presented with multiple mandarins for taste tests and then asked to identify their willingness to purchase the products. The results from our study suggest that sweetness, shape, acidity, and flavor are the most important factors related to their willingness to try a mandarin, and factors such as seeds, size of fruit, color, and overall appearance were less important. [Econ Lit classifications: Q13]. r

In the main approaches used to elicit consumer preference for food attributes, only limited attribute information are present. Though useful for ranking and revealing consumer preferences, these methods are not appropriate when results may be dependent upon the information set presented in the surveys. Studies have found out that additional quality information in surveys significantly affected respondents' attitudes to or WTP for a specific product attributes. By using cluster analysis we are able to classify respondents into different consumer groups and investigate the difference in responses to new attribute information across consumer groups.