Agricultural price distortion which is the discrepancy between world market price of agricultural produce and price received by farmers as a result of market interventions by governments, either through subsidies or taxes or even trade protection systems, has received rare attention in the cocoa and coffee sub-sectors. This study examines the contribution of mobile phone technology in reducing price distortions in cocoa and coffee production.

This paper provides a holistic literature review of climate change and variability in Ghana by examining the impact and projections of climate change and variability in various sectors (agricultural, health and energy) and its implication on ecology, land use, poverty and welfare. The findings suggest that there is a projected high temperature and low rainfall in the years 2020, 2050 and 2080, and desertification is estimated to be proceeding at a rate of 20,000 hectares per annum. Sea-surface temperatures will increase in Ghana’s waters and this will have drastic effects on fishery.

The present study investigates the effects of combinations of climate smart agricultural practices on risk exposure and cost of risk. We do this by examining the different risk components – mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis – in a multinomial treatment effects framework by controlling weather variables for key stages of crop growth. We found that adoption of combinations of practices is widely viewed as a risk reducing insurance strategy that can increase farmers’ resilience to production risk.

The extensive kelp forests along Chile’s coastline are an important source of income for many small fishing operations in Chile. But harvesting pressure has denuded many areas of the sea floor, threatening the health of the inshore marine environment. Recently, small operators have begun work to repopulate and/or cultivate seaweed. This work aims at studying the role of fishing and agriculture as outside options and their interactions with risk and time preferences in the uptake of seaweed aquaculture technology.