Agricultural and Resource Economics Commons^™

Food Frights: Covid-19 And The Specter Of Hunger, Maggie Dickinson

Publications and Research

Worries over widespread food shortages in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 lockdowns in the United States eclipsed the real hunger crisis on the horizon—one intimately tied to already existing inequalities. In the midst of the pandemic, the specter of hunger is haunting the same people it always has—the poor, the undocumented, low wage workers, the un- and under employed. It is not our supply systems that are breaking down and causing hunger, but our systems for ensuring people can access the food that exists which have been broken for a long time.

Changing Water Resources’ Effect On Livelihoods And Socio-Ecological Relationships In Himalayan Communities Of Nepal, Luke Bazemore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The looming threat of climate change will lead to significant alterations in livelihoods and daily practices for individuals across the world. This paper seeks to identify the effects of climate change on hydrological regimes in Himalayan communities in Nepal with particular focus towards livelihood and socio-ecological transformations. Using the socio-ecological systems framework to analyze specific communities and their resource use, along with vulnerability and adaptative capacity analysis, this paper includes a meta-analysis of existing literature. Numerous findings indicated that rural, mountainous communities of Nepal face a variety of environmental impacts which may reduce viability of two significant modes of production: …

Non-State Actors’ Covid-19 Response In Nepal, Jenna Mae Biedscheid

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research explores the ways in which non-state actors have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal and the needs present in the months before drastic increases in cases began on May 11th. In doing so, it describes how social and political inequality within Nepal has caused people experiencing the most need to be left out of early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic relief effort. This research includes a literature review which situates Nepal amidst the global pandemic as well as interviews with non-state actors currently responding in Nepal. It finds that migrant workers, daily wage earners, Dalits, Janajati/Adivasi peoples, …

Shifting Landscapes: The Effects Of Male Out-Migration On Food Security And Food Sovereignty In Rural Nepal, Emma Brown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Rural Nepal is experiencing rapid demographic changes, significantly impacting the socioeconomic and agricultural landscape of these areas. Growing percentages of the male population are migrating out of the country in search of better livelihood opportunities. This is largely a result of poor development processes and governmental policies that have failed to create adequate domestic livelihood opportunities and incentives to work in agriculture, as well as changing ideas on what it means to be successful, spurred by globalization. Further, dominant neoliberal ideology and the commercialization of agriculture is decreasing the profitability of agriculture, making migration a lucrative option. Due to out-migration, …

Ecological And Economic Benefits And Risks Of Using Botanical Insecticides In Tanzanian Farms, Lilia Garcia

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Insect damage is a major concern for smallholder farmers in developing countries like Tanzania. Synthetic insecticides can tame infestations, however they can be expensive, inaccessible, and their misuse can threaten farmer health and ecological conditions. Botanical insecticides are cheap alternatives to treat infestations while preserving beneficial insects such as pollinators, predators, and parasitoids. This study assesses how both synthetic and botanical insecticides affect beneficial insects, crop yield and profit/costs. This study finds botanical insecticides slightly less harmful towards non-target insects. Botanical insecticides seldomly improve crop yields but usually result in a higher profit/lower cost. Due to high variation in ecological …

Mis-Nourished Nation: Analysis Of The Impact Of Snap Benefits On Food Deserts In The U.S., Audrey E. Maynard

Student Publications

Researchers from a range of fields have been concerned with learning about and addressing food security and access issues, but have done less to tackle the specific issue of food deserts. Rooted in a historical analysis of diet and health, I examine how trends in agricultural subsidies and other structural factors contribute to a cycle of health issues, poverty and “mis-nourishment”. Further, I review and evaluate existing interventions. Then, with the use of grounded theory, I conduct a systematic review of sources within the EBSCO Host database concerning both “food access, insecurity and deserts” and “SNAP Benefits” to determine the …

Transcanada’S Keystone Xl Pipeline And Its Impact On Nebraska Water Quality, Amy Chin

Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies

The Keystone Pipeline entered the national stage in 2010 when TransCanada proposed an extension that went through the Nebraska Sandhills, an ecosystem which contains a large portion of the Ogallala Aquifer. This is not an issue to be taken lightly – the Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer fulfill many of the functions noted in de Groot, Wilson, and Bouman’s typology of ecosystem services. In this analysis, these two sides will converge into one research problem: exploring connections between the potential economic, social, and environmental effects of the Keystone XL Pipeline’s presence in the Sandhills region of Central Nebraska.

The analysis shall …

Less Is More: Invasive Species Removal In Ohio’S Miami Valley Region As Part Of A Green Jobs Guarantee Program, Amy Chin

Student Papers in Local and Global Regional Economies

When it comes to plants and other wildlife, it is important to distinguish between quality and quantity. More green space may be pleasing to the eye, but if the green space contains invasive plants, it can cause more harm than good. Unfortunately, invasive species can be found all over Ohio – in state parks, nature preserves, local park systems, farm land, and citizens’ back yards. In this proposal, the negative impact of invasive species in Ohio will be analyzed from ecological, economic, and sociocultural lenses. The concept of an Invasive Species Removal Technician as part of a green jobs guarantee …

A Half Century Of Yield Growth Along The Forty-First Parallel Of The Great Plains: Factor Intensification, Irrigation, Weather, And Technical Change, Federico J. Trindade, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Richard Perrin

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

In this study, we explain a half-century of crop yield growth along an 800-mile transect of the forty-first parallel North in the U.S. Great Plains. Using 101 county-level observations from 1960-2008 we jointly estimate a biomass production function with cost shares for fertilizer and chemicals while controlling for environmental factors. The main contributors to yield increases in this region were non-specific technical change +62%, irrigation +17%, fertilizer +13% and chemicals +11%. Environmental changes had a minor impact on regional yield changes. The wide range of agroclimatic conditions present along this transect produced significant sub-regional deviations from the aggregate estimates. While …

The Potential Cost Of Methane And Nitrous Oxide Emissions Regulation In U.S. Agriculture, Tshepelayi Kabata, Lilyan E. Fulginiti, Richard Perrin

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

Most studies on the impacts of agriculture on the environment have devoted efforts to measure the environmental impacts of the sector rather than to assess its ability to reduce or mitigate such impacts. Some have addressed the environmental efficiency of the sector (Reinhard, et al., 1999, Ball et al., 1994 and 2004; Rezek and Perrin, 2004 and Serra et al., 2011) but only few have examined greenhouse gas emissions (Njuki and Bravo-Ureta, 2015; Dakpo, Jeanneaux and Latruffe, 2016) from the sector. This paper analyzes the agricultural performance of states in the U.S. in terms of their ability to reduce emissions …

4-H Youth Leaders: Acquisition Of Leadership Skills Based On Perceived Influence, Cathy Bartlett Gray Ma

All Student Scholarship

This study focuses on youth perceptions of influence on others and leadership skills they may seek to acquire, particularly within the Maine 4-H program. Understanding the relationship between the youth perception of leadership influence and the skills they seek to acquire will enable 4-H club leaders and adult mentors to better facilitate acquisition of leadership skills. This study gains understanding from the perspective of current teen leaders in the Maine 4-H program through the use of personal interviews with active teen leaders. Findings indicate that Maine 4-H Teen Leaders do not necessarily recognize the influence they have with their peers …

Los Comedores Populares Argentinos En Tiempos Del Covid-19: El Rol De Los Comedores Durante La Pandemia: El Sistema Alimentario Y La Acción Del Gobierno Argentino, Katrina Frei-Herrmann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Durante la pandemia mundial de COVID-19 a principios del 2020, muchos países enfrentaron enormes desafíos desde el punto de vista económico y de salud pública. Argentina tomó las medidas rápidas y drásticas para combatir la propagación del virus, que incluyó un largo período de cuarentena con controles muy estrictos. Esto llevó a un alto costo económico en el cual muchos trabajadores perdieron sus empleos y fuentes de ingresos. Como resultado, un creciente número de personas debieron depender de ayuda de instituciones sociales para sobrevivir o atender sus necesidades básicas como el alimento. Los comedores populares – que han existido desde …

Una Evaluación De La Evolución Y El Futuro De La Vigilancia De La Pesca Ilegal En Antártida Bajo La Ccrvma, Courtney Jacobs

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este documento de investigación evalúa el tema de la pesca ilegal en el Área de la Convención de la Antártida establecida por la Comisión para la Conservación de los Recursos Vivos Marinos Antárticos (CCRVMA). El enfoque general de esta investigación es evaluar la capacidad de la Comisión para abordar la preocupación de la pesca ilegal en el Área de la Convención. Este objetivo se persigue examinando tres subpreguntas: ¿cómo ha evolucionado la pesca ilegal en el Área de la Convención a lo largo del período estudiado, qué medidas ha tomado con éxito la Comisión con respecto al monitoreo y cumplimiento …

Sin Acceso A Alimentos Seguros, Saludables Y Económicos: El Modelo Agroindustrial Dominante Y Sus Efectos En Los Consumidores En Salta, Argentina / Without Access To Safe, Healthy, And Affordable Food: The Dominant Agroindustrial Model And Its Effects On Consumers In Salta, Argentina, Sara Paulsen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper analyzes the effects of the hegemonic food system on low income consumers in Salta, Argentina. Results from previous literature indicate a relationship between the dominant agroindustrial model in Argentina and the concentration of power in the food production system. This paper seeks to contextualize the reports of malnutrition in Salta, a province in northwest Argentina, within larger social, cultural, and nutritional trends. To answer the question of how the hegemonic food system affects access to safe, healthy, and affordable food in Salta, I analyzed reports of various health outcomes (including malnutrition, cancer, birth defects, and obesity) and contextualized …

Alimentando A México: Los Movimientos Indígenas Y Agrícolas Contra Las Políticas Neoliberales, Sofia Buchler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Para analizar la complejidad de la agricultura en México en este momento, es necesario analizar las políticas neoliberales de México. El Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN) marca un punto de inflexión para la privatización de las tierras agrícolas y los cambios de la dieta mexicana. Las políticas de los últimos cuarenta años han destruido la dieta de la milpa en México y la tradición del policultivo. Los cambios en la agricultura han destruido el suelo, y forzado a los pequeños agricultores a abandonar sus tierras y buscar trabajos diferentes. Hay una gran historia de resistencia indígena …

Pricing Stallion Seasons For An Individual Stallion: The Existence Of Top Tier Pricing And Market Power, Robert L. Losey Ph.D., Thomas E. Lambert 1959-

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This paper is an academic treatment of the pricing of stallion seasons (a “season” confers the right to breed a mare to a stallion) The commercial stallion seasons market can be represented schematically as a triangle that normally has a single-digit number of stallions offering high-priced seasons in the narrow apex, a moderate number of stallions composing the middle section, and over 150 in the $5,000-$10,000 range. We argue that it is logical for profit-maximizing stallion managers, most especially those in the apex of the stallion seasons triangle, to charge different prices for different groups of buyers of the same …

Adolescent Food Insecurity In Rural Sindh, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Survey, Sana Sheikh, Romaina Iqbal, Rahat Qureshi, Iqbal Azam Syed, Rubina Barolia

Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Background: Food insecurity (FI) is alarmingly high in developing countries including Pakistan. A quarter of Pakistan's population consists of adolescents yet there is no information on their experience of FI. FI at adolescent age have long term effect on mental and physical health hence we aimed to determine the prevalence of food insecurity (FI) among adolescents and compare it with household FI, and assess social determinants of adolescent FI.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey on 799 households with unmarried adolescents was conducted from September 2015 to June 2016 in three union councils of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Unmarried 10-19 years old girls and …

Letter To The Editor, D. Grant Whaley

Journal of Agricultural Hemp Research

Letter to the editor on lending in the hemp industry

Unearthing The Consequences Of The U.S.’S Conventional Food System: How To Frame Analysis, Assess Damages And Cope With The Realities, Katherine James Clark

Student Theses and Dissertations

The U.S.’s conventional food system has driven many of the country’s most serious health concerns. Since the food system was molded by historical events, policy changes, and industrial evolution, the totality of the consequences has only been realized in the last several decades. Despite the attention the issues have garnered, it is likely improvement has not been observed because: 1) the resulting consequences and their dynamics have not been viewed in a comprehensive, interactive light; 2) many previous efforts have only focused on one segment of the issue and have not taken a holistic approach; and, 3) political and industrial …

Beyond The Food Pantry: Supporting #Realcollege Students During Covid-19, Sara Goldrick-Rab

Rebuilding the Launchpad: Serving Students During Covid Resource Library

Colleges and universities across the United States and around the world are scrambling to keep their students, faculty, and staff healthy, safe, and educated during the COVID-19 pandemic. As experts on the daily crises that derail #RealCollege students and prevent them from completing their degrees our team at the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice offers the following considerations and resources to support your work.

Analysis Of The Impact Of Central Bank Of Nigeria's Agricultural Intervention Funds On The Economy, E. T. Adamgbe, M. C. Belonwu, E. R. Ochu, I. I. Okafor

Economic and Financial Review

This paper set out to investigate the impact of Central Bank of Nigeria's interventions on the agricultural sector within an economy-wide framework of general equilibrium modelling. The paper adopted a dynamic (recursive), two-sector general equilibrium model of the Nigerian economy with some modifications on the standard model developed by the Centre for Econometric and Applied Research (CEAR) and incorporated the contributions of the CBN's agricultural based interventions as increases in the stock of agricultural capital to have a more robust size of interventions into the agricultural sector. The SAM used for the CGE model analysis was derived from the updated …

Estimating Residential Water Demand In A Relocation Area With Inadequate Piped Water System, Rosalina Palanca-Tan

Economics Department Faculty Publications

This paper assesses household water demand and estimates a demand equation particularly for low-income households in the Philippines. The study uses survey data on the value and volume of household water purchases from different water providers in a government resettlement area. The paper provides empirical evidence on the impact of average water price on household water consumption, as well as the effects of household income and size on household water consumption. The study finds that households buying water from jetmatic pump wells and water tankers pay more than five times that of those served by the piped water system. This …

Economic And Environmental Implications Of Biomass Commercialization In Agricultural Processing, Bin Li, Onur Boyabatli, Buket Avci

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School of Business

Motivated by the agricultural industries, this paper studies the economic and environmental implications of biomass commercialization; that is, converting organic waste into a saleable product, from the perspective of a processor that uses a commodity input to produce both a commodity output and biomass. We characterize the economic value of biomass commercializa- tion and examine how input and output spot price uncertainties affect this value. Using a model calibration, we find that lower input spot price variability or higher output spot price variabil- ity or correlation between the two spot prices increases this value for a typical palm oil mill. …

Planning For The Peel Food Zone, Heather M. Percy

All other publications

The Planning for the Peel Food Zone project is part of Phase 1 of the Transform Peel initiative.Transform Peel is intended to be a ‘disruptive’ long-term program that supports economic growth, diversification and creates jobs in the Peel region. Transform Peel recognises the importance of protecting the internationally recognised waterways and wetlands of the Peel–Harvey Estuary and aims to halve the nutrient loads entering its waterways from the surrounding catchment.

The $49.3 million Phase 1 program for Transform Peel comprises three main components: Peel Food Zone; Peel Integrated Water Initiative; Peel Business Park.

This report summarises the findings from the …

Eat Mor Chikin!: A Case Study In Economic Efficiency And Sustainability, Thomas Andrews

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

The United States Love Affair With Maize: A National Security Issue?, Jared Kelly

Gettysburg Social Sciences Review

Maize is the most widely grown crop in the United States. The crop has a variety of applications being used for food, fuel, and in some industries. Maize is heavily integrated into the fabric of billions of lives across the world. The United States has encouraged the growth of a massive maize monoculture through the usage of government subsidies. However, this presents issues for the United States since it has created a large monoculture that is threatened by natural disasters, pest infestation, and bioterrorism attacks. Additionally, the cheap nature of the monoculture has additional externalities. Examples include decimated maize production …

Prospects For Commercialization Among Smallholder Farmers In South Africa: A Case Study, Christopher Ugochukwu Nwafor, Carlu Van Der Westhuizen

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The study explored determinants of commercialization among selected smallholder potato farmers in Bizana, Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Increasingly presented as a rural development paradigm, the capability of many smallholders to commercialize is questioned. Fifty-eight smallholder farmers were purposively sampled for this study, which estimated farmers’ level of commercialization and identified factors contributing to their estimated engagement with markets. Structured questionnaires were used to obtain primary data from farmers, while reports from published materials were also reviewed. The study utilized the household commercialization index (HCI) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model as its main analytical tools. It found …

Spontaneous Appearance And Transmission Of Polydactyly In Dexter Cattle, Richard Browning Jr., Emily G. Hayes, Andrea S. Lear

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

A 3-yr-old Dexter cow and her yearling Dexter heifer calf exhibited polydactyly. Neither animal was linebred within 5 generations. This cow-calf pair represented the first reported occurrence of polydactyly in Dexter cattle in the US or abroad. Based upon external examination, the cow was classified as having a spontaneous unilateral case of polydactyly with an extra digit along the medial digit of the right front limb and the heifer was classified as having bilateral polydactyly because both front limbs exhibited an extra digit along the medial digit. Radiographic examination confirmed bilateral status of the heifer and revealed bilateral status of …

Economic Impacts Of Coastal Hazards On Mississippi Commercial Oyster Fishery From 2005 To 2016, Benedict C. Posadas

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This paper attempted to quantify the commercial fishery impacts consisting of wild harvest losses of oysters by commercial Mississippi fishers due to coastal hazards since 2005. The economic impacts of coastal hazards on the Mississippi oyster fishery included the direct losses associated with Katrina in 2005, the oil spill in 2010, spillway opening in 2011 and harmful algal blooms in 2015. The cumulative economic direct impacts on the Mississippi oyster reached almost $40 million, averaging about $3.3 million per year. Long-term data were compiled to develop economic recovery models for the Mississippi oyster fishery. The economic recovery model attempted to …

The Tale Of Two Community Gardens: Green Aesthetics Versus Food Justice In The Big Apple, Sofya Aptekar, Justin S. Myers

Publications and Research

There has been a vibrant community gardening movement in New York City since the 1970s. The movement is predominantly located in working class communities of color and has fought for decades to turn vacant land into beneficial community spaces. However, many of these communities are struggling with gentrification, which has the potential to transform access to and use of community gardens in the city and the politics around them. Drawing on separate multi-year ethnographic projects, this article compares two community gardens in food insecure communities in Queens and Brooklyn: one that is undergoing gentrification and one that is not. We …