Publication: Globalization and Smallholders : The Adoption, Diffusion, and Welfare Impact of Non-traditional Export Crops in Guatemala
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Date
2010
ISSN
0305750X
Published
2010
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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.
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Publication Non-Traditional Crops, Traditional Constraints : The Adoption and Diffusion of Export Crops Among Guatemalan Smallholders(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-09)This paper uses a duration analysis based on adoption data spanning more than 25 years from six communities in the Central Highlands of Guatemala. The analysis explores how household characteristics and external trends play into both the adoption and diffusion processes of non-traditional exports among smallholders. Adoption was initially widespread and rapid, which led nontraditional exports to be hailed as a pro-poor success, reaching all but the smallest landholders. However, over time more than two-thirds of adopters eventually dropped out of production of nontraditional exports. Based on the analysis, production of nontraditional exports appears to have delivered less prosperity to adopters than initially promised. Although smallholders may be enticed into entering into nontraditional exports markets when conditions are favorable, they may lack the capacity to overcome the 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 their efforts, with some adopters still unable to compete in global markets.Publication Non-traditional Crops, Traditional Constraints : Long-Term Welfare Impacts of Export Crop Adoption among Guatemalan Smallholders(2009-11-01)This study documents the long-term welfare effects of household non-traditional agricultural export (NTX) adoption. The analysis uses a unique panel dataset, which spans the period 1985-2005, and employs difference-in-differences estimation to investigate the long-term impact of non-traditional agricultural export adoption on changes in household consumption status and asset position in the Central Highlands of Guatemala. Given the heterogeneity in adoption patterns, the analysis differentiates the impact estimates based on a classification of households that takes into account the timing and duration of non-traditional agricultural export adoption. The results show that while, on average, welfare levels have improved for all households irrespective of adoption status and duration, the extent of improvement has varied across groups. Long-term adopters exhibit the smallest increase in the lapse of two decades, in spite of some early gains. Conversely, early adopters who withdrew from non-traditional agricultural export production after reaping the benefits of the boom period of the 1980s are found to have fared better and shown greater improvements in durable asset position and housing conditions than any other category.Publication Migration, Transfers and Economic Decision Making among Agricultural Households: An Introduction(2010)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.Publication Patterns of Rural Development: A Cross-Country Comparison Using Microeconomic Data(2010)This article proposes a general pattern of rural development in which increases in per capita income are associated with a decline in the importance of agricultural production and a rise in the importance of non-agricultural income sources. Following the approach to examining Engel's Law, we use data from 15 developing countries and a merged dataset to test whether such a pattern emerges. The analysis shows a strong, positive relationship between per capita income and the share of income earned from rural non-agricultural wage employment and a negative relationship between per capita income and agricultural production.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.
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