IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/409.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Contribution of Non-Physical Resources and Strategic Household Decision-making to Environmental and Policy Risks

Author

Listed:
  • Mariam, Yohannes
  • Galaty, John
  • Coffin, Garth

Abstract

Physical resources such as land, labour and livestock, and nonphysical resources such as indigenous knowledge and institutions of producers in the grain surplus and deficit regions of the Central Highlands of Ethiopia are examined under situation of environmental and policy risks. Frequency distribution and comparative statistical analysis of the grain-surplus regions suggest that in situations where all producers are subjected to a common source of risk (e.g. rainfall): I) institutional resources become less effective, and ii) combination of land, labour, knowledge and other complementary resources form the basis for adjustment mechanisms and sequential or strategic decisions. On the other hand, when essential resources such as land are government owned and household decisions are shared by the state, local institutions or social networks become an effective means to maintain reproduction of the farm and producers through providing access to or sharing of resources. In the extreme case of environmental degradation (e.g., drought), farmers follow sequential decision-making. This sequence of decision-making begins with minimization of expenditure, selling of resources that are intended to stabilize farm income, selling of resources essential to farming and depletion of household items, and finally evacuation. The ability of such farming system to regenerate, however, greatly depends not only on the availability of physical resources but most importantly by the potential of knowledge and institutions of producers to adjust to environmental changes, and support from governmental or non-governmental sources.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariam, Yohannes & Galaty, John & Coffin, Garth, 1993. "The Contribution of Non-Physical Resources and Strategic Household Decision-making to Environmental and Policy Risks," MPRA Paper 409, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Dec 1994.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:409
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/409/1/MPRA_paper_409.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feder, Gershon & Just, Richard E & Zilberman, David, 1985. "Adoption of Agricultural Innovations in Developing Countries: A Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 255-298, January.
    2. Schultz, Theodore W., 1979. "The Economics of Being Poor," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 1979-1, Nobel Prize Committee.
    3. Robert E. Mazur, 1987. "Linking Popular Initiative and Aid Agencies: The Case of Refugees," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 437-461, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Paunić, Alida, 2016. "Brazil, Preservation of Forest and Biodiversity," MPRA Paper 71462, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ouma, James Okuro & De Groote, Hugo & Owuor, George, 2006. "Determinants of Improved Maize Seed and Fertilizer Use in Kenya: Policy Implications," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25433, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Alexander, Corinne E., 2002. "The Role Of Seed Company Supplied Information In Farmers' Decisions," 2002 Annual meeting, July 28-31, Long Beach, CA 19617, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    3. Mekonnen, Daniel Ayalew & Gerber, Nicolas & Matz, Julia Anna, 2018. "Gendered Social Networks, Agricultural Innovations, and Farm Productivity in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 321-335.
    4. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mungoma, Catherine, 2008. "The effect of household wealth on the adoption of improved maize varieties in Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 550-559, December.
    5. Cuong Le Van & Nguyen To The, 2019. "Farmers’ adoption of organic production," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 33-59, February.
    6. Gedikoglu, Haluk & McCann, Laura M.J. & Artz, Georgeanne M., 2011. "Off-Farm Employment Effects on Adoption of Nutrient Management Practices," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-14, August.
    7. Vera Castillo, Y.B. & Pritchard, H.W. & Frija, A. & Chellattan Veettil, P. & Cuevas Sanchez, J.A. & Van Damme, P. & Van Huylenbroeck, G., 2014. "Production viability and farmers’ willingness to adopt Jatropha curcas L. as a biofuel source in traditional agroecosystems in Totonacapan, Mexico," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 42-49.
    8. Anjani Kumar & Ashok K. Mishra & Sunil Saroj & Vinay K. Sonkar & Ganesh Thapa & Pramod K. Joshi, 2020. "Food safety measures and food security of smallholder dairy farmers: Empirical evidence from Bihar, India," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 363-384, June.
    9. Smale, Melinda & Assima, Amidou & Kergna, Alpha & Thériault, Veronique & Weltzien, Eva, 2016. "Farm Family Effects Of Improved Sorghum Varieties In Mali: A Multivalued Treatment Approach," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259076, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    10. Michael J. Andrews, 2020. "Local Effects of Land Grant Colleges on Agricultural Innovation and Output," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Research and Innovation in Agriculture, pages 139-175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ogada, Maurice Juma, 2012. "Forest Management Decentralization in Kenya: Effects on Household Farm Forestry Decisions in Kakamega," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126319, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Kim, Seon-Ae & Westra, John V. & Gillespie, Jeffrey M., 2006. "Factors Influencing the Adoption of Russian Varroa-Resistant Honey Bees," 2006 Annual Meeting, February 5-8, 2006, Orlando, Florida 35311, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    13. Burton, Michael P. & Rigby, Dan & Young, Trevor, 2003. "Modelling the adoption of organic horticultural technology in the UK using Duration Analysis," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 47(1), pages 1-26, March.
    14. Ridier, Aude & Roussy, Caroline & Chaib, Karim, 2021. "Adoption of crop diversification by specialized grain farmers in south-western France: evidence from a choice-modelling experiment," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 102(1), April.
    15. Scherr, Sara J., 1995. "Economic factors in farmer adoption of agroforestry: Patterns observed in Western Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 787-804, May.
    16. Marie-Estelle Binet & Lionel Richefort, 2011. "Diffusion of irrigation technologies: the role of mimicking behaviour and public incentives," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 43-48.
    17. Assima, Amidou & Smale, Melinda & Kergna, Alpha, 2016. "Impacts of improved sorghum varieties on farm families in Mali: A Multivalued Treatment Effects approach," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246962, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    18. Terrance Hurley & Jawoo Koo & Kindie Tesfaye, 2018. "Weather risk: how does it change the yield benefits of nitrogen fertilizer and improved maize varieties in sub‐Saharan Africa?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 711-723, November.
    19. Wang, H. Holly & Young, Douglas L. & Camara, Oumou M., 2000. "The Role Of Environmental Education In Predicting Adoption Of Wind Erosion Control Practices," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 25(2), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Lilli Scheiterle & Regina Birner, 2018. "Assessment of Ghana’s Comparative Advantage in Maize Production and the Role of Fertilizers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Resources; indigenous knowledge; institutions; Ethiopia; frequency distribution; statistical analysis; risk; sequential decision-making; environment; government;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:409. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.