Life Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of African Leafy Vegetables In Food Security, Marcia M. Croft

Open Access Dissertations

African leafy vegetables (ALVs) are a diverse set of crops grown across sub-Saharan Africa. They have been a staple of traditional diets and contain many critical micronutrients but their importance has been largely ignored by researchers and policymakers at the expense of imported crops. Availability, accessibility, and utilization of ALVs are limited by factors across the supply chain. This research investigated seed systems, drought tolerance, hydroponic production, market barriers, consumer preference, and the impact of gender as related to ALVs. We found that ALVs play an important role in food security and that critical differences exist between formal and informal …

Subsidies, Aquaculture Technology Adoption, And Welfare Impacts In Ghana And Kenya, Akuffo Amankwah

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation empirically examines subsidies, aquaculture technology adoption, and welfare implications of fish farming households in Ghana and Kenya. It is divided into three separate chapters, each addressing a specific empirical issue related to aquaculture in the countries.

The second chapter of this dissertation applies the lognormal double hurdle model to a cross-section of fish farms to analyze commercial demand for improved feed, and whether the government feed subsidy program influences private demand for the feed. The results indicate that households’ decisions to participate in improved feed market are affected by the quantity of the subsidized feed received. Once the …

A Unique Perspective On The Demand For Livestock Product Attributes, Elizabeth S. Byrd

Open Access Dissertations

Consumers are increasingly concerned about the social and environmental impacts of the foods they purchase. Both choice experiments and best-worst scaling (BWS) methodology have been used to elicit consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for food attributes and the relative importance of food attributes to consumers. The dissertation consists of four essays. Chapter 2 presents a formal law review article exploring the laws associated with wild game harvest, consumption, and inspections. The remaining three essays (Chapters 3-5) each address an extension or application of choice experiment and/or BWS methodology focused on credence attributes of meat products. Two online surveys were used …

Essays On Malawian Agriculture: Micro-Level Welfare Impacts Of Agricultural Productivity; Profitability Of Fertilizer Use; And Targeting Of Fertilizer Subsidy Programs, Francis Addeah Darko

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation comprises of three essays that address different aspects of agriculture in Malawi using a two-wave panel data collected by the National Statistical Office of Malawi with support from the World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) program. Each essay stands alone as an independent study because of differences in research questions and the methodologies used in addressing the questions.

The first essay analyzes the micro-level welfare impacts of agricultural productivity. Welfare is measured by various dimensions of poverty and food insecurity; and agricultural productivity is measured by maize yield and value of crop …

Food Security Crop Price Transmission And Formation In Nigeria, Patrick L. Hatzenbuehler

Open Access Dissertations

The three studies in this dissertation explore the current conditions and operations of markets for seven key food security crops (cassava, cowpeas, maize, millet, rice, sorghum, and yams) in Nigeria.

Chapter 2 is an empirical analysis of the current agricultural statistics system in Nigeria. A number of sources gather and report agricultural statistics for the country. Since there has not been an agricultural census implemented there for multiple decades, however, there is no objective source for data verification. Therefore, this study uses two additional types of “on the ground information” to assess if agricultural production estimates reflect growing conditions: prices …

Three Essays Analyzing The Role Of Social Capital On Individual And Firm Decision Making, Ariana P Torres Bravo

Open Access Dissertations

The following dissertation is comprised of three essays that focus on different mechanisms on which social capital influences firm and entrepreneur behavior. All three essays use different econometric techniques to account for endogenous variables.

Essay 1: Are Local Market Relationships Trumping Organic Certification? The Case of Small and Medium Fruit and Vegetable Farmers. This article investigates how an organic fruit and vegetable farmer’s choice to use direct-to-consumer market channels impacts his/her decision to be certified organic. First, we model the decision to be certified organic as a conditionally independent decision from the farmer’s chosen market channels. Second, we estimate …

Evaluation Of Negative Energy And Mineral Balance In Periparturient Holstein-Friesian Cattle, Ameer Ahmed Abdelhameed

Open Access Dissertations

Most cows experience a state of negative energy and mineral balance during the periparturient period. This imbalance is a major problem in the dairy industry and it is more frequently seen in multiparous cattle due to their high milk production. A large amount of fat and protein is mobilized in order to address the energy deficit during the periparturient period. The ability to accurately monitor energetics and electrolytes status using accurate, rapid, and low cost point-of-care instruments will assist in optimizing animal health and productivity.

This dissertation contains three studies that evaluated point-of-care instruments for measuring blood and plasma glucose, …

Behavioral Responses And Policy Evaluation: Revisiting Water And Fuel Policies, Shanxia Sun

Open Access Dissertations

In my dissertation, I examine how policies regulating agricultural production and clean technology impact the environment. I focus on policies affecting water depletion, water pollution, and fuel consumption. I assess their cost-effectiveness by modeling and quantifying the behavioral responses of farmers and households.

My first essay focuses on decreasing groundwater depletion through increasing irrigation efficiency in Mexico. I quantify the impacts of different sources of inefficiency on groundwater extraction, and I evaluate the effectiveness of alternative policies that aim to reduce the over-extraction of groundwater. I find that mechanisms of electricity cost-sharing implemented in many wells have a sizable impact …

U.S. Farm Capital Investment 1996--2013: Differences By Farm Size And Operator Primary Occupation, Sarah Stutzman

Open Access Dissertations

This study analyzes U.S. farm level investment in machinery, equipment and structures between 1996-2013. A synthetic panel is constructed using annual cross-sectional farm level observations from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). Cohorts are formed by grouping farms into similar categories based upon farm production type, region and farm typology. This methodology allows the use of fixed effects to control for cohort specific and time-invariant similarities in investment levels, addresses non-investment in a single period by using cohort average investment rates, and allows links between investment levels and other key determinants across cohorts over time.

Within farm typologies, farms are …

Trade And Agriculture Policy Options To Improve The Wheat Subsector In Afghanistan, Ghulam Hazrat Halimi

Open Access Dissertations

In Afghanistan wheat availability is important for national food security as it is the key staple food, accounting for over half of calorie intake. The country has imported on average 32% of its wheat consumption over the period 2000-2015, primarily from Pakistan and Kazakhstan. Since domestic production is volatile, consumer well-being depends on access to international markets.

Pakistan, a key supplier of wheat and flour to Afghanistan, has not been a reliable source for Afghanistan to meet its wheat deficit. Pakistan subsidizes and stabilizes its wheat production, and this benefited Afghan consumers before 2008. Pakistan restricted wheat and flour exports …

Modeling, Empirics And Policy Implications Of Firm Heterogeneity In International Trade, Zeynep Akgul

Open Access Dissertations

Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models are essential computational tools for trade policy analysis. While traditional CGE models based on the Armington assumption of national product differentiation have been successfully applied to various policy scenarios, they also have significant limitations in explaining the firm-level information prevalent in the recent international trade literature. The pioneering work of Melitz (2003) has provided a firm heterogeneity theory that can help address the shortcomings of Armington-based CGE models by introducing additional productivity mechanisms and extensive margin effects. Incorporation of firm heterogeneity in mainstream CGE models offers great potential to improve computational policy analysis. Even though …

Communication, Home Bias And Social Capital, Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays on the effects of communication, home bias and social capital. The first study analyzes three different laboratory treatments that determine if policies that introduce and improve communication are beneficial to a market. The control treatment has no communication. Then, two different types of communication mechanisms are introduced: cheap communication, where subjects are able to lie, and truthful communication, where only honest messages may be sent. The results demonstrate that truthful communication dramatically improves subjects' ability to trade efficiently, ultimately leading to higher social surplus and lower income inequalities. Cheap communication does not produce the …

Energy Production, Distribution, And Pollution Controls: Combining Engineering And Economic Analysis To Enhance Efficiency And Policy Design, David F. Perkis

Open Access Dissertations

Three published articles are presented which focus on enhancing various aspects of the energy supply chain. While each paper adopts a different methodology, all three combine engineering data and/or techniques with economic analysis to improve efficiency or policy design within energy markets. ^ The first paper combines a chemical engineering plant design model with an economic assessment of product enhancements within an ethanol production facility. While a new chemical process is shown to achieve greater ethanol yields, the animal feed by-products are denatured and decrease in value due to the degradation of a key nutritional amino acid. Overall, yield increases …

Us Commodity Support Payments: On Allocation Of Resources And Fairness, Post 1996, Samiul Haque

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the effect of US commodity support payment on agricultural producer decisions during the "decoupled" regime. Particular attention is paid to the national optimal output mix, input proportions, and farm level changes in scale operations. While "decoupled" payments were instated to comply with WTO guidelines, where tax payer dollars cannot be spent to alter agricultural outputs and /or on farm input decisions, evidence suggests that such payments are far from being decoupled. At the national level, this dissertation finds evidence for mild labor input using and capital input economizing behavior. Substantial land input economizing behavior and moderate material …

Essays On Productivity Growth In Agriculture, Uris Lantz Caldo Baldos

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation aims to explore the current trends in agricultural productivity and analyse its impact on the global farm and food system. Chapter 2 in this dissertation looks at the current trends in agricultural productivity in India—one most of the populous country in the world. In this chapter, productivity trends in Indian agriculture are examined by looking at changes in Total Factor Productivity—a measure which takes into account all farm outputs and inputs. Estimates in this chapter suggest that TFP growth for the 10-year period—between 1999-2000 and 2009-2010—steadily grew at the national level. Looking at the 5-year estimates, TFP growth …

Agriculture, Climate Change, And Adaptation In Morocco: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis, Ismail Ouraich

Open Access Dissertations

The empirical analysis in this dissertation comprises two essays investigating the impacts of climate change on agriculture in Morocco, with an emphasis on climate uncertainty and robust adaptation.^ The first essay in Chapter 4 provides estimates of economic impacts of climate change, and estimates on the extent to which the current Moroccan agricultural development and investment strategy, the Plan Maroc Vert (PMV), could help in agricultural adaptation to climate change and uncertainty.^ We simulated three cases. First, we examined the impacts of PMV on the economy in the absence of climate change and found that it could provide about a …

Environmental Tradeoffs In Bioenergy Production And Agricultural Practices, Alicia Lynn English

Open Access Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is the environmental tradeoffs of stover removal within the Corn Belt. The environmental tradeoffs considered are mainly concerned with managing soil erosion and soil quality. The analysis layers soil characteristics, management strategies and per acre costs using an integrated RUSLE2/WEPS model and an economic optimization model to illuminate a lower bound supply response. Different assumptions were tested in regards to sustainability, prices, and market integration for five states and 18,760 soil types throughout the Corn Belt. Sustainability was defined to limit soil erosion from wind and water to 5 tons/acre/year and the soil organic matter …

Impacts And Feasibility Of The Us And The Eu Sustainability Criteria On Existing Land-Use Practices, Krissana Treesilvattanakul

Open Access Dissertations

Several studies have examined the land use and economic consequences of national and multi-national biofuel policies. They explored the impacts of biofuels mandates mainly based on the quantitative biofuel targets. However, the recently updated renewable policies of the United States and the European Union, which are the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and EU Directive 2009/28 of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) both place restrictions on land that can be used to produce biofuel, and these restrictions are generally known as sustainability criteria. This research aims to determine to what extent sustainability criteria are actually binding; that is, would they …

Welfare Impacts Of False Codling Moth Threatening California Oranges, Azza Mohamed Kamal Ahmed Mohamed

Open Access Dissertations

Welfare impacts of alternative pest management strategies of False Codling Moth (FCM) threatening California's oranges are examined. Different economic agents along the supply chain of fresh oranges and orange products in the United States are considered, including consumers, retailers, wholesalers, and growers. A partial equilibrium dynamic framework that accounts for supply response from the other US orange producing states is developed. Data for supply shocks (orange yield losses and control costs) are obtained from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (APHIS).

FCM is not presently in the United States. If introduced to …

Three Essays On The Interaction Between Global Trade And Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Agreements, Zeynep Burcu Irfanoglu

Open Access Dissertations

The role of trade sanctions in enforcing greenhouse gas mitigation agreements is the fundamental theme of the three essays comprising this dissertation. All three essays employ a multi-sector, multi-region computable general equilibrium model, GTAP-AEZ-GHG, documented in Golub et al. (2009) to investigate how the United States can use trade sanctions as an enforcement mechanism in a global greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation agreement. The focus is placed on inducing China to comply with the global agreement.

The first essay contributes to the body of knowledge on global GHG emissions mitigation agreements by investigating the range of emission taxes that can be …