Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Socio-Economic And Environmental Assessment Of A Microcontroller-Based Coffee Roasting Machine: Implications For Market Potential And Technology Commercialization, Ruel M. Mojica, Marilyn M. Elauria

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

The study assesses the socio-economic and environmental performance leading to the commercialization of the micro-controller-based coffee roasting machine for smallscale roasting operations. Key informant interview and coffee farmers’ survey were conducted to assess the farmer- respondents’ perceptions of coffee roasting machines and availability of resources. Results show that the designed coffee roaster almost fits the farmers’ criteria in selecting coffee roasting machine. Coffee farmers perceived the machine to be a very good technology as evidenced by its highly acceptable rating. Investment analysis reveals that using the roaster for custom work would be a profitable business with an IRR of 76% …

What Does It Mean To Do Food Justice?, Kirsten Valentine Cadieux, Rachel Slocum

College of Liberal Arts All Faculty Scholarship

'Food justice' and 'food sovereignty' have become key words in food movement scholarship and activism. In the case of 'food justice', it seems the word is often substituted for work associated with projects typical of the alternative or local food movement. We argue that it is important for scholars and practitioners to be clear on how food justice differs from other efforts to seek an equitable food system. In the interests of ensuring accountability to socially just research and action, as well as mounting a tenable response to the 'feed the world' paradigm that often sweeps aside concerns with justice …

Effects Of Extension Services On The Technical Efficiency Of Rice Farmers In Albay, 2014-2015, Bm Bathan

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

Through the Farmers Information and Technology Services (FITS) program, extension services in the form of trainings and seminars, and education and communication materials were provided to rice farmers in Albay. Using farm-level input-output data covering the wet season of 2014 and the socio-economic and farm-specific characteristics of randomly sampled 30 farmer beneficiaries and 30 non-beneficiaries, a stochastic production function and technical inefficiency model were estimated. Results of the study reveal that beneficiaries have higher input utilization, yield and technical efficiency than non-beneficiaries. Furthermore, the amount of seed and fertilizer significantly and positively affects the yield of rice. In addition, the …

Economic Impacts Of Smallholder Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) Plantations On Peatlands In Indonesia, Roberto F. Ranola Jr., Asa Jose Sajise

Journal of Economics, Management and Agricultural Development

Oil palm smallholders on peatlands have contributed significantly to economic development in rural areas by augmenting income and reducing poverty. However, these plantations also cause adverse environmental impacts such as carbon emission, haze and peat fires, deforestation, water supply disruption and biodiversity loss. The objective of the study is to determine the economic impacts of developing smallholder oil palm plantations on peatlands in Siak District Riau Province, Indonesia. Cochran sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. Cost benefit analysis was used to determine the economic impacts of the smallholder oil palm plantations. Results reveal that the development of 94,726 …

Alternative Timing Of Carbaryl Treatments For Protecting Lodgepole Pine From Mortality Attributed To Mountain Pine Beetle, Christopher J. Fettig, A Steve Munson, Kenneth E. Gibson

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Carbaryl is regarded among the most effective, economically viable, and ecologically-compatible insecticides available for protecting conifers from bark beetle attack in the western United States. Treatments are typically applied in spring prior to initiation of bark beetle flight for that year. We evaluated the efficacy of spring and fall applications for protecting individual lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud, from mortality attributed to mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, the most notable forest insect pest in western North America. Both spring and fall treatments of 2.0% a.i. carbaryl (Sevin® SL) were efficacious for two field seasons, while results from …

Information Content Of Usda Rice Reports And Price Reactions Of Rice Futures, Jessica L. Darby

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Rice is a predominant food staple in many regions of the world, and it is important to determine how efficiently the U.S. rice market helps to ensure world food security. This question can be answered by gauging the price discovery performance of the U.S. rice futures market and the economic usefulness of the U.S. government’s supply and demand forecasts. So, to this end, we employ two event study approaches: (1) to examine variability in returns on report-release days as compared to returns on pre- and post-report days, and (2) to regress price reactions on changes in usage and production information. …

Piecemeal Reform Of Trade And Environmental Policy When Consumption Also Pollutes, Mark R. Metcalfe, John C. Beghin

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

We incorporate endogenous (price-responsive) consumption pollution into a dual trade model to assess welfare effects of coordinated trade and environmental piecemeal reform in a small, open and distorted economy. Pollution is generated by production and consumption. Producers control the level of pollution and face incentives to abate both types of pollution. We identify sufficient conditions for welfare-improving reforms of trade and environmental policies. An additional domestic environmental policy instrument must be imposed on exportables because of their supply response to foreign environmental taxes.

List Of Economics Department Pamphlets, Penny Stover

Economics Pamphlet Series (1985-2016)

No abstract provided.

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Report 2014, Jeff Stringer, Billy Thomas, Bobby Ammerman, Alison Davis

Kentucky Forestry Economic Impact Reports

Forests cover one-half of Kentucky and provide a wide range of benefits to the commonwealth. One of the most notable benefits is the economic contribution that we gain from the utilization of timber and wood resources. Analysis of Kentucky’s forest and wood industries in 2014 indicated an estimated direct economic impact of $8.3 billion (up 4.4% from 2013). These industries employed over 28,200 individuals. Total economic impacts were estimated at $12.8 billion and 57,700 jobs in 2014. Kentucky is one of the leading producers of hardwood forest products in the south and exports wood products across the nation and the …

School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer

Honors Theses

School gardens have existed since the late nineteenth century and today are becoming increasingly popular in many parts of the world, including where I studied in Maine and Australia (AUS). Multiple organizations support school gardens in Maine, including the Maine School Garden Network, which has over 125 registered school gardens. In AUS, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation primarily supports the school garden movement and has over 800 registered school gardens. While many researchers have studied school gardens, few have compared two countries, focused on environmental sustainability, or investigated Maine in particular. This thesis combines information from literature reviews, and …

Addressing Food Security: Saba Banana And Rootcrops As Alternative Food Staples To Rice In Quezon Province, Philippines, Isabelita M. Pabuayon, Blanquita R. Pantoja, Anselma C. Manila, Mac Lorenz C. Santos

Journal of Public Affairs and Development

The Philippines considers rice self-sufficiency as vital to food security; hence, possible alternative food staples are being identified in case of persistent shortfalls in domestic rice production. This paper explores the potential of Saba (cardava) banana, sweet potato, potato, yam, and cassava as alternative staples for the local communities in the Quezon province, Philippines, which grow all these crops. Socioeconomic surveys of 375 farmers, 82 traders, and 625 consumers were conducted in 2013 but covered crop year 2012. Results showed that Saba banana, sweet potato, and cassava had the highest demand among the five crops based on per capita consumption. …

Coastal Environmental Policies And Water: Environmental Values In Ghana And Senegal, Molly R. Loftus

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of the environmental values present in Ghana’s and Senegal’s coastal regions, and the implications that those have for the surrounding environment. The countries approaches to urban farming, mining and oil and gas extraction, fishing, marine debris and municipal waste management are assessed in order to reach a greater understanding of these environmental issues. In undertaking this thesis, I attempted to draw a correlation between the handling of these issues and how people perceive their environment. Through the comparison of environmental degradation and the level of effort to achieve a more sustainable developmental framework in …

Expanding Eco-Visualization: Sculpting Corn Production, Jennifer E. Figg

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation expands upon the definition of eco-visualization artwork. EV was originally defined in 2006 by Tiffany Holmes as a way to display the real time consumption statistics of key environmental resources for the goal of promoting ecological literacy. I assert that the final forms of EV artworks are not necessarily dependent on technology, and can differ in terms of media used, in that they can be sculptural, video-based, or static two-dimensional forms that communicate interpreted environmental information. There are two main categories of EV: one that is predominantly screen-based and another that employs a variety of modes of representation …

Nông Thôn Mới And Rural Development In The Mekong Delta: A Comparative Study Of Bàu Môn And Hòa Phụng C Hamlets, Alex Lintz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Vietnam’s Nông Thôn Mới or New Rural Development program is a relatively new target program introduced in 2010. As of yet there has been little research done on its effects on the economies in rural areas. This paper attempts to analyze the economic situation in the Bàu Môn and Hòa Phụng C hamlets with a particular emphasis placed on income and factors that affect income in terms of Vietnam’s Nông Thôn Mới or New Rural Development program. In order to assess the economic situation in the hamlets, a survey was administered to 25 participants in each hamlet and leaders from …

Consumer Acceptance And Willingness To Pay For Genetically Modified Rice In China: A Double Bounded Dichotomous Choic Contingent Valuation Survey Calibrated By Cheap Talk, Jing Jin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considering population growth, limitations on land and water resources, and contamination to the ecosystem due to agricultural activities, current rice production in China is facing pressure to fulfill national demand. Self-sufficiency of rice has been a long-held political objective of the Chinese government and it is national goal to maintain the equilibrium between the national production and consumption or even achieve a supply surplus in rice. With the developing bio-technology of genetic modification (GM), scientists believe that using genetically modified cultivars may ease the pressure mentioned above. However, both the government and the people are very cautious about large-scale cultivation …

Effect Of Food Aid Delivery Mode On Food Production In Recipient Nation, Steven Marc Wolf

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide quantitative evidence linking food aid delivery mode and its correlation with food production in the recipient nation. Debate over the best way to provide food aid to developing countries inspired this study. The three delivery modes used for this study were direct transfer, locally purchase, and triangular purchase. Food aid data was available from The World Food Programme and food production indices were available from The World Bank. Correlations between the independent variable (food aid quantity by delivery mode) and dependent variable (food production index) were examined using the coefficient of determination, …

Rough Hands: Family Conceptions Of Rural Morocco’S Agricultural Labor, A Case Study, Leah Kahler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Conceptions of success for people in any capitalist context are tangled with social hierarchies of work. The rural women of Morocco have been specifically singled out as the objects discourses about their domestic and agricultural work, agency, gender identity and role, and their use of private and public space ownership. This project will examine the justifications, conceptions, and satisfaction with rural-agricultural work in a small-scale family farm in Morocco’s Al Hoceima province. Using the case study approach, I will live with a family in Sidi Bouafif and work alongside the family for an eight-day fieldwork period. Through participant observation and …

Bridging The Food Gap: Addressing The Feasibility And Applicability Of Three Key Traditionally Western Food Preservation Techniques To Improving Household Food Security And Reducing Malnutrition In Uganda., Eva K. Baguma

Capstone Collection

Food wastage is the leading cause of food insecurity and malnutrition in the world today. A huge amount of food gets wasted along the food supply chain from the time it is harvested to the time it gets to our plates. A significant amount of the food wasted happens in the home as well as on farms, in restaurants and supermarkets across the globe.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, many families and communities are facing severe food shortages due to lack of electricity for refrigeration, poor storage facilities and limited access to markets.

However for many centuries, different cultures around the world …

Farm Bill Trends And Food Insecurity: Impacts On Rural And Urban Communities, Adell Brown Jr., Susan E. Nelson

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

With the constraints in federal budgeting requiring the shrinkage of federal programs, programs outlined in the 2014 Farm Bill are significantly impacted, showing a thirteen year trend toward funding reduction. This paper examines historical Farm Bill programs, including crop subsidies and the nutritional assistance programs and how these programs historically addressed food insecurity versus how they are impacted by today’s budgetary constraints. The paper also examines new models for addressing food insecurity and how communities are pulling together resources to address food insecurity. In discussing the new models, the paper focuses on policy trends and funding structures; for example community …

Organic Growers Of Alabama Cooperative, A Loosely Fitted Cooperative: Nurturing The Community And Growing Together, Wylin D. Wilson, Jose Gbadamosi, Decetti Taylor, Susan Barnes, Jan Garrett, Asabi Hunter, Cheryl Parker, Wendy Williams, Henry Williams

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

The age-old connection between the people and the land is something that seven women, who have organized themselves into a loosely fitted cooperative, are reviving. In the process of growing together as members of a cooperative, these women in Macon County, Alabama, are not only promoting healthy living and nurturing community, but are also addressing the issue of food security by making nutritious affordable produce and other agricultural products available to their community. Additionally, they are illustrating alternative strategies of community and economic development. This article examines why they chose the structure of a loosely fitted cooperative over a traditional …

Modeling Maine’S Rockweed Harvest, Meagan Hennessey

Journal of Environmental and Resource Economics at Colby

Currently, Maine is in a political struggle over the best way to manage the harvesting of Rockweed, or Ascophyllum nodosum. As the dominant macro algae along the state’s rocky intertidal zone it supports over 150 different species, meaning its loss could impact food web stability, protection of endangered species, and support of economically viable harvests. This work takes parameters found in the literature to create a Stella model, which is then manipulated to explore the relative impact of possible management strategies. It is found that a strictly accurate model is not possible to create given the current biological knowledge and …

The Environmental And Health Costs Of Alternative Diets: A Comparative Study Of The U. S. Diet Relative To The French, Japanese, Mediterranean, And Nordic Diets, Sarah Rehkamp

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis contributes to the literature on sustainable consumption by using scenario analysis to evaluate the environmental and health costs of the U.S. diet relative to the French, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Nordic diets, identified in the literature as healthier diets. As a first step in estimating environmental costs, the energy efficiencies of each diet are calculated by decomposing each of the diets into their respective components. Then, the dietary efficiencies are translated into CO₂ emissions. As a first step in estimating health costs, a pooled cross-section time-series dataset is used to find the association between BMI and five countries, …

Economic Impacts Of Increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy (Cafe) Standards, Ann K. Hunter-Pirtle

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) mandates that U.S. transportation fuel producers blend specific volumes of ethanol and other biofuels with fossil fuels to spur U.S. biofuel production and to minimize foreign oil imports. Ethanol is more corrosive to auto engines than gasoline, and although vehicles manufactured since 2001 are approved to use up to a 15% ethanol blend (E15) (Naylor & Falcon, 2011), E10 is much more widely available. Ethanol producers therefore face a so-called blend wall at 10 percent—a maximum amount of ethanol that is usable domestically based on the demand for gasoline.

Meanwhile, gasoline demand in the U.S. …

Essays On Smallholder Farmers In Jamaica: Context-Specific Evidence For Food Security Policymaking, Deborah Evadne Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three essays that examined the experiences and welfare of traditional food crop farmers in Western Jamaica. It systematically analyses the interplay between smallholder farmers and often overlooked variables in society. The study used qualitative interviewing, field observations and discourse analysis techniques to generate context-specific evidence for food security policymaking.

The first essay examined smallholder farmers' motives for farming. This formed the basis for a farmer typology that provides a portrait of the participants, and was used to inform findings in subsequent essays in this dissertation. The theory of planned behavior provided the conceptual grounding and …

Assessing Food Policy Options In Asia To Reduce Price Volatility Of Rice Market, Ranjitsinh Mane

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice is a staple food in Asia and its prices at national and international levels are largely influenced by different policy actions of trading countries. The consequence of the 2008 food crisis was food riots and rationing of rice in many nations. The ASEAN Plus Three (APT) countries have adopted an institutional framework called ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserves (APTERR) to address food security concerns of ASEAN countries that may arise due to climate change, supply chain disruptions or price speculation in the regional rice market. The RICEFLOW model is used to study the effectiveness of the strategic grain …

A Win-Win On Agricultural Lands: Creating Wildlife Habitat Through Agroforestry, Gary Bentrup

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

With increasing demands from society for limited resources, agroforestry will likely be one source of solutions as people find it increasingly necessary to achieve multiple social, economic, and ecological objectives on the same plot of land. Indications are that this is a growing field, so wildlife biologists of the future may want to consider incorporating agroforestry into their career development.

Stop Lion Hunting, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

According to my informal tally, at least seven mountain lions have so far been killed in Nebraska during 2014, as follows: 1 & 2: Two were killed on January 1 and 2, at the start of Nebraska's first hunting season. Both were killed by treeing the animals with dogs, then shooting them execution style. One was killed by a man who bought the permit ($13,500) at auction; the other by a teenager who won a Game & Park's fund -raising lottery. 3: An adult male was accidentally killed by a vehicle on February 1, in Sioux County. 4: An adult …

The 24th Annual Research Conference Abstract Booklet, Nikki Lynn Rogers

University of Gondar Research Conferences

Staff members, postgraduate and senior undergraduate students of the University, invited guests and speakers participated in the conference. The annual conference of the University is meant to share experiences in research activities among juniors and seniors, staff and students, and invited guests. It is also meant to motivate students and young faculty to engage in research and also to initiate and strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations. The findings of the studies and the resulting recommendations are expected to be used in solving the diverse societal problems we have been facing.

Research activities at the University of Gondar are primarily aimed at solving …

Spreading The Char: The Importance Of Local Compatibility In The Diffusion Of Biochar Systems To The Smallholder Agriculture Community Context, Laura C. V. Munoz

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis enters the context of smallholder agriculture communities in the developing world. It explores the potentials of biochar and what biochar systems could bring to the smallholder communities while simultaneously bringing environmental benefits. It then acknowledges the challenges of diffusion –the spreading of an unfamiliar innovation. It seeks to answer the question of what will make diffusion of biochar systems more successful in the smallholder context, fixating on the characteristic of compatibility as well as the role local community members can play in making a new biochar system more visible to the rest of the communities.

Rare Trophy Varmint Bagged, Paul A, Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

This beast was shot during a special hunting season on hummingbirds opened by the Game and Parks Commission after reports of possible threats to people and livestock.

It was taken in one shot at 15 yards with a high-powered Canon and special high-velocity electronic ammunition. The state is now safer for everyone.

P. (Dead-eye) Johnsgard