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Costs and Benefits of Land Fragmentation: Evidence from Rwanda

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  • Daniel Ayalew Ali
  • Klaus Deininger
  • Loraine Ronchi

Abstract

Panel data from Rwanda allow us to explore costs and benefits from land fragmentation in a non-mechanized setting using two methodological improvements, namely (i) a terrain-adjusted measure of travel time/cost required to visit all parcels to measure fragmentation; and (ii) instrumental variable (IV) approaches that use measures for inherited/allocated parcels and past displacement as instruments. Results suggest that fragmentation as measured by travel cost negatively affect yield, intensity of labor use, and technical efficiency while reducing yield variability. With some 7 percent increase in yields, the size of the estimated impact of potential consolidation remains modest, suggesting that in an unmechanized setting such as the one studied here, the costs of programs to reduce fragmentation may outweigh the benefits.

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  • Daniel Ayalew Ali & Klaus Deininger & Loraine Ronchi, 2019. "Costs and Benefits of Land Fragmentation: Evidence from Rwanda," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 750-771.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:33:y:2019:i:3:p:750-771.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lhx019
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    1. Do, Manh Hung & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Grote, Ulrike, 2023. "Land consolidation, rice production, and agricultural transformation: Evidence from household panel data for Vietnam," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 157-173.
    2. Joglekar, Alison B. & Pardey, Philip G., 2016. "Proximity to African Agricultural Markets, Down to the Last Kilometer," Briefs 253951, HarvestChoice.
    3. Cocco, Valentin & Chakir, Raja & Mouysset, Lauriane, 2025. "Guilty or scapegoat? Land consolidation and hedgerow decline," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Gharad Bryan & Jonathan de Quidt & Tom Wilkening & Nitin Yadav, 2017. "Land Trade and Development: A Market Design Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 6557, CESifo.
    5. Tian, Guangjin & Duan, Jinlong & Yang, Lan, 2021. "Spatio-temporal pattern and driving mechanisms of cropland circulation in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    6. Ndip, Francis Ebai & Molua, Ernest L. & Mvodo, Meyo-Elise Stephanie & Nkendah, Robert & Djomo Choumbou, Raoul Fani & Tabetando, Rayner & Akem, Nina Fabinin, 2023. "Farmland Fragmentation, crop diversification and incomes in Cameroon, a Congo Basin country," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    7. Ma, Meilin, 2023. "Interdependent investments in attached and movable assets under insecure land rights," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    8. Yulmardi, Yulmardi & Junaidi, Junaidi & Nugraha Putra, Dios, . "Is the second generation of transmigrants more prosperous? A study of intergenerational welfare in ex-transmigration settlements," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 9(01).
    9. Tu, Vo Hong & Kopp, Steven W. & Trang, Nguyen Thuy & Hong, Nguyen Bich & Yabe, Mitsuyasu, 2021. "Land accumulation: An option for improving technical and environmental efficiencies of rice production in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    10. Manh Hung Do & Trung Thanh Nguyen & Ulrike Grote, 2022. "Is land consolidation policy a solution for rice production and agricultural transformation in Vietnam?," TVSEP Working Papers wp-028, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Project TVSEP.
    11. Yishao Shi & Qianqian Yang & Liangliang Zhou & Shouzheng Shi, 2022. "Can Moderate Agricultural Scale Operations Be Developed against the Background of Plot Fragmentation and Land Dispersion? Evidence from the Suburbs of Shanghai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    12. Adam, Baba & Abdulai, Awudu, 2022. "Heterogeneity in the Impact of Conservation Agriculture Practices on Farm Performance and Inorganic Fertilizer Use in Ghana," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 47(2), May.
    13. Klaus W. Deininger & Thea Hilhorst & Zevenbergen,Jaap & Nkurunziza,Emmanuel, 2025. "Capitalizing on Digital Transformation to Enhance the Effectiveness of Property Institutions : Conceptual Background and Evidence from 85 Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11100, The World Bank.
    14. Phuc Van Phan & Martin O'Brien, 2022. "Is small beautiful? An empirical analysis of land characteristics and rural household income in Vietnam," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(3), pages 561-580, July.
    15. Pierre Damien Ntihinyurwa & Walter Timo de Vries, 2021. "Farmland Fragmentation, Farmland Consolidation and Food Security: Relationships, Research Lapses and Future Perspectives," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-39, January.
    16. Wang, Yahui & Li, Xiubin & Lu, Dan & Yan, Jianzhong, 2020. "Evaluating the impact of land fragmentation on the cost of agricultural operation in the southwest mountainous areas of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

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