This paper assesses the effect of transportation and communication networks on farmers’ choice of market channels for paddy and wheat, and subsequently on the prices they receive from these channels. It is found that smallholder farmers sell more to informal channels i.e. local traders and input dealers, and typically receive lower prices from them compared to the government-set minimum support prices (MSP). The prices realized from the sales in regulated markets are also less than the MSP despite these being claimed to be more transparent in price discovery.

En Centroamérica, el sector agrícola es indispensable para el desarrollo económico, el alivio de la pobreza y la preservación de la identidad cultural. Gran parte de la producción agrícola regional procede de pequeños productores. La agricultura de pequeña escala proporciona medios de vida a más de 2.4 millones de familias, representa cerca del 50% del PIB agrícola de los países centroamericanos, y provee aproximadamente el 70% de los alimentos consumidos en la región.

En los últimos años, Uruguay ha evidenciado las consecuencias de la contaminación difusa proveniente de la actividad agropecuaria, lo que ha sido abordado a través de programas voluntarios para promover prácticas productivas más limpias, la regulación generalizada del manejo y uso de suelo, y un plan de acción para la protección del agua en la cuenca del río Santa Lucía. Este trabajo busca identificar potenciales oportunidades de mejora de los instrumentos económicos existentes en Uruguay, que puedan promover el diálogo y acciones.

Despite the importance of naturally available wild pollination ecosystem services in enhancing sub-Saharan African smallholder farms’ productivity, their values to actual farming systems remain unknown. We develop a nationally representative empirical assessment by integrating nationally representative plot level panel data with spatially and temporally matched land cover maps to identify the contribution of wild pollinators to crop revenue.

Introducción. Las prácticas agrícolas basadas en el buen manejo de los ecosistemas son promovidas como una buena estrategia de adaptación para las actividades productivas de pequeños caficultores en la región Centroamericana. La diseminación de la información sobre innovaciones, técnicas, instrumentos, etc. entre las organizaciones y productores es clave para expandir y consolidar el uso de estas prácticas. Objetivo.

The Mesoamerican Agroenvironmental Program (MAP-Norway) is a multi-dimensional rural development program implemented in Central America since 2009, working with smallholder families, producer organizations, governmental organizations, and regional governance platforms. To monitor, assess, and evaluate the effects of the program on its beneficiaries, MAP-Norway uses a series of indicators that allow project managers and donors to adapt and follow-up on the interventions.

Central America is one of the regions with the highest vulnerability to climate change, with negative effects projected to affect its economy and food security.

This study combined farm household panel data, weather data and discount rates, as measured by a hypothetical survey question, to estimate the impact of income on discounting. This paper has found that income variation driven by anomalies in rainfall during the main growing season is a strong predictor of farmers’ subjective discount rates. Farmers prefer a smaller immediate reward to a larger deferred one when affected by negative income shocks, while they display lower discount rates when the income shocks are positive.