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Stochastic food prices and slash-and-burn agriculture

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Author Info
BARRETT, CHRISTOPHER B.

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Abstract

This paper explores the interrelationship between poverty, risk, and deforestation by small farmers in the low-income tropics. A nonseparable household model reveals how exogenous shocks to the mean or variance of a food price distribution might affect peasants' incentives to clear forest. The resulting links between food price policy, farmer behavior, and deforestation offer an innovative explanation of the vicious cycle of peasant immiserization and tropical deforestation. An intriguing, testable hypothesis also emerges: that market-oriented reforms that increase the mean and variance of food prices may inadvertently stimulate deforestation in economies in which a sizable proportion of farmers are net buyers.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Cambridge University Press in its journal Environment and Development Economics.

Volume (Year): 4 (1999)
Issue (Month): 02 (May)
Pages: 161-176
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Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:4:y:1999:i:02:p:161-176_00

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Allen, Julia C., 1985. "Wood energy and preservation of woodlands in semi-arid developing countries: The case of Dodoma region, Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 59-84. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Jones, D. W. & O'Neill, R. V., 1992. "Endogenous environmental degradation and land conservation: agricultural land use in a large region," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 79-101, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Kramer, R.A. & Sharma, N. & Munashinghe, M., 1995. "Valuing Tropical Forests. Methodology and Cade Study of Madagascar," Papers 13, World Bank - The World Bank Environment Paper.
  4. Larson, Bruce A. & Bromely, Daniel W., 1991. "Natural resources prices, export policies, and deforestation: The case of sudan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 19(10), pages 1289-1297, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Perrings, Charles, 1989. "An optimal path to extinction? : Poverty and resource degradation in the open agrarian economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 1-24, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Epstein, L, 1975. "A Disaggregate Analysis of Consumer Choice under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 43(5-6), pages 877-92, Sept.-Nov. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Barrett, Christopher B., 2002. "Food security and food assistance programs," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 40, pages 2103-2190 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Barrett, Christopher B., 1997. "Liberalization and food price distributions: ARCH-M evidence from Madagascar," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 155-173, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Bluffstone Randall A., 1995. "The Effect of Labor Market Performance on Deforestation in Developing Countries under Open Access: An Example from Rural Nepal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 42-63, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Elnagheeb, Abdelmoneim H. & Bromley, Daniel W., 1994. "Extensification of agriculture and deforestation: Empirical evidence from Sudan," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 193-200, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Barrett, Christopher B., 1996. "On price risk and the inverse farm size-productivity relationship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 193-215, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Deacon Robert T., 1995. "Assessing the Relationship between Government Policy and Deforestation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-18, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Meyer, Jack, 1987. "Two-moment Decision Models and Expected Utility Maximization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 421-30, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Larson, Bruce A. & Bromley, Daniel W., 1990. "Property rights, externalities, and resource degradation : Locating the tragedy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 235-262, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Barrett, Christopher B., 1998. "Markets, Social Norms, And Governments In The Service Of Environmentally Sustainable Economic Development," Economics Research Institute, ERI Study Papers 28352, Utah State University, Economics Department. [Downloadable!]
  2. Takasaki, Yoshito & Barham, Bradford L. & Coomes, Oliver T., 2000. "Wealth Accumulation and Activity Choice Evolution Among Amazonian Forest Peasant Households," Staff Paper Series 434, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Barrett, Christopher B. & Holden, Stein & Clay, Daniel C., 2002. "Can Food-for-Work Programmes Reduce Vulnerability?," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  4. Takasaki, Yoshito, 2000. "Deforestation And Asset Accumulation Among Small Scale Farmers," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21786, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  5. Pascual, Unai & Barbier, Edward B., 2003. "Modelling Land Degradation In Low-Input Agriculture: The 'Population Pressure Hypothesis' Revised," 2003 Annual Meeting, August 16-22, 2003, Durban, South Africa 25827, International Association of Agricultural Economists. [Downloadable!]
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