Decline in mean annual rainfall of over 10% has been experienced widely in the Eastern Cape over the past 20 years. In many cases, this means that annual rainfall of about 500 mm in the past is now about 400 mm, and the summer seasonal rainfall has declined from 400 mm to 300 mm. This means that...

This chapter contains a discussion on the components of the overall farming environment and, consequently, provides an understanding of the factors that must all be allowed for when planning. These factors include the risk and uncertainty that always exist, the resulting management problem, the...

This chapter argues that it is the differences in households' socioeconomic and environmental characteristics that affect the choice of coping strategies rather than the type of extreme event. In other words, a household employs what is at its disposal to cope with an extreme climate event, whether ...

Ways to promote investment in agriculture in developing countries are examined. The discussion focuses on (1) promoting farm-household savings for on-farm investment, (2) promoting public sector investment in agriculture, (3) creating an enabling environment for corporate private sector investment...

Transaction costs arise in the course of market exchange and involve the cost of information, search, negotiation, screening, monitoring, coordination and enforcement. These are costs related exclusively to coordination of exchange among market actors that are distinct from the physical costs of...

This chapter brings together a comprehensive collection of the macroeconomic and microeconomic data on farm household incomes in the EU and some other OECD countries, and presents the empirical evidence by which the income situation of agricultural households can be judged within a policy context....

This chapter is concerned with the economic attributes of wealth and its relationship with agricultural policy. An attempt is made to present the asset position of farmers in the EU, particularly the UK, as well as the USA. The chapter draws attention to the distinction between, on the one hand,...

This chapter presents the Development Policy Evaluation Model (DEVPEM), a new simulation model which captures four critical aspects of rural economies in developing countries: (1) the role of the household as both a producer and a consumer of food crops; (2) high transaction costs of participating...

This book investigates how the changed agricultural policy climate affected government policies in the nine countries studied already as part of the preceding project: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. By repeating the cross-sectional survey made in...

This chapter examines the role of infrastructure and institutions in agricultural diversification, food self-sufficiency and food security in Ghana. Staple crops are cultivated by all farm households in the eight villages studied in 2002 and 2008. There has been little change in the production of...