Publication: Migration, Transfers and Economic Decision Making among Agricultural Households: An Introduction
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Date
2010
ISSN
00220388
Published
2010
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The increasing volume of remittances and public transfers in rural areas of the developing world has raised hopes that these inflows may serve as an effective mechanism for reducing poverty in the long term by facilitating investments and raising productivity, particularly in agriculture where market failures are most manifest. The seven papers in this special issue systematically test the relationship between transfers and productive spending amongst rural households in six different countries. Overall, the studies embrace a less optimistic view of the role of migration and public and private transfers on agriculture, with migration as facilitating a transition away from agriculture or to models of less labour intensive agriculture.
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Publication Globalization and Smallholders : The Adoption, Diffusion, and Welfare Impact of Non-traditional Export Crops in Guatemala(2010)This paper uses a duration analysis based on adoption data spanning 25 years from six communities in the Central Highlands of Guatemala to explore how household characteristics and external trends play into both the adoption and diffusion processes of non-traditional exports (NTX) among smallholders. Based on the analysis, NTX production appeared to have delivered less prosperity to adopters than initially promised. Smallholders may lack capacity to overcome difficulties that inevitably arise in complex types of cultivations and in highly variable global agricultural markets. Governmental and non-governmental organizations can attempt to mitigate these difficulties, but market forces may overwhelm these efforts.Publication Assessing the Impact of Migration on Food and Nutrition Security(2011)Migration has become a key component in the livelihood strategies of an increasing number of households across the developing world and remittances have expanded dramatically in the last decade. This has come at a time when an increased emphasis has been placed on reducing malnutrition to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. While this is the case, there has been little attention on the interface between migration and nutrition even though migration can influence nutrition through a number of channels. The objective of this special issue is to present state-of-the-art analyses of the link between migration and nutrition in developing countries. In this paper, an overview of the conceptual and empirical issues in identifying the link between migration and nutrition are considered. Further, the results from seven country case studies are synthesized and policy implications are drawn.Publication Assessing the Impact of Massive Out-Migration on Albanian Agriculture(2009)In this paper, we examine the impacts of migration on household-level farm production decisions, including labor allocation, crop diversification, and agricultural and total household incomes, using household survey data from Albania. Results indicate that increased international migration leads to a reduction in household labor allocated to agricultural activities and crop diversity, but has no impact on agricultural income. However, it does lead to higher total incomes. These findings suggest that international migration does not strengthen household agricultural production but instead facilitates the transition away from agriculture. We also consider the effect on agricultural outcomes of the network of adult children who have left home but are still living in Albania. The effect of this local migration on agriculture is the opposite: larger networks lead to higher agricultural incomes and greater agricultural labor per capita.Publication The Vanishing Farms? The Impact of International Migration on Albanian Family Farming(2010)This paper investigates the impact of international migration on technical efficiency, resource allocation and income from agricultural production of family farming in Albania. The results suggest that migration is used by rural households as a pathway out of agriculture: migration is negatively associated with both labour and non-labour input allocation in agriculture, while no significant differences can be detected in terms of farm technical efficiency or agricultural income. Whether the rapid demographic changes in rural areas triggered by massive migration, possibly combined with propitious land and rural development policies, will ultimately produce the conditions for a more viable, high-return agriculture attracting larger investments remains to be seen.Publication The Vanishing Farms? The Impact of International Migration on Albanian Family Farming(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-09)This paper investigates the impact of international migration on technical efficiency, resource allocation and income from agricultural production of family farming in Albania. The results suggest that migration is used by rural households as a pathway out of agriculture: migration is negatively associated with the allocation of both labor and non-labor inputs in agriculture, while no significant differences can be detected in terms of farm technical efficiency or agricultural income. Whether the rapid demographic changes in rural areas triggered by massive migration, possibly combined with propitious land and rural development policies, will ultimately produce the conditions for more viable, high-return agriculture attracting larger investments remains to be seen.
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