Agricultural location theory: von Thunen's contribution to economic geography

O’Kelly, Morton E.; Bryan, Deborah

doi:10.1177/030913259602000402

Cited by 69 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Similarly, we controlled for regional fixed effects and discovered that location is very important for prices as can be seen from the significance of the various sub-county dummy variables. This finding is consistent with earlier research that showed that distances and location matter for agricultural market outcomes especially in rural areas (O'Kelly and Bryan, 1996).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Does social network capital buy higher agricultural prices? A case of coffee in Masaka district, Uganda

Mawejje

Holden

2014

International Journal of Social Economics

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how social network capital may facilitate agricultural household market access in Uganda. Specifically, the paper investigates if social network capital has significant positive effects on the ability of households to receive higher prices for coffee. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, social network capital is modeled using a household utility maximisation problem that is dependent on consumption and social interactions. The authors assume that social network capital mediates economic benefits through its effect on information flow, market intelligence and collective bargaining. The paper uses two-stage least square econometric methods to investigate whether group involvement at the household level helps farmers to access markets with higher prices. Findings – The findings indicate that social network capital, measured in form of density of participation and attendance score, and multiplicative and additive indices of these, have significant positive effects on the ability to receive higher prices for coffee. Research limitations/implications – The authors realise that several weaknesses in the approach could compromise the validity of the findings. These weaknesses include: the cross-sectional nature of the data, the omitted variable bias, the endogeneity concerns of social capital, sample size and the dimensions that the paper choses to capture social network capital. Future research should explore the factors that can help households to engage more in group activities. Practical implications – The findings have important implications for government policy especially in areas of agricultural development and poverty reduction. Specifically, governments should pay close attention to various social groups as they can serve as important channels to achieve better market outcomes, as is the for coffee prices in rural Uganda. Social implications – Many governments in Sub Saharan Africa are constrained to provide basic public goods to the people. This is due to a combination of limited budgets and lack of good leadership. In such circumstances, the people have to rely on their collective/social effort to take advantage of markets opportunities. Such opportunities can be accessed using the existing social structures whose norms and the trust between members permit cooperation. Originality/value – The study contributes to a small but growing empirical literature on social groups and how they can mediate social economic outcomes especially for rural households. The empirical estimations take into consideration the endogeinety concerns associated with social network capital. The paper will be useful for policy makers and researchers who may have a keen interest in the roles that group activities play in agricultural development and poverty reduction.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Does social network capital buy higher agricultural prices? A case of coffee in Masaka district, Uganda

Mawejje

Holden

2014

International Journal of Social Economics

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“…Distance from agricultural markets, such as cities, towns, and grain buyers, increases the transportation cost for commodity shipments and farm labor thereby decreasing returns to cultivation. Therefore, I expected it to increase the probability of enrollment (O'Kelly & Bryan ; Segerson et al. ; Lambert et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of conservation easements in agricultural regions

Braza

2017

Conservation Biology

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Conservation easements are a standard technique for preventing habitat loss, particularly in agricultural regions with extensive cropland cultivation, yet little is known about their effectiveness. I developed a spatial econometric approach to propensity-score matching and used the approach to estimate the amount of habitat loss prevented by a grassland conservation easement program of the U.S. federal government. I used a spatial autoregressive probit model to predict tract enrollment in the easement program as of 2001 based on tract agricultural suitability, habitat quality, and spatial interactions among neighboring tracts. Using the predicted values from the model, I matched enrolled tracts with similar unenrolled tracts to form a treatment group and a control group. To measure the program's impact on subsequent grassland loss, I estimated cropland cultivation rates for both groups in 2014 with a second spatial probit model. Between 2001 and 2014, approximately 14.9% of control tracts were cultivated and 0.3% of treated tracts were cultivated. Therefore, approximately 14.6% of the protected land would have been cultivated in the absence of the program. My results demonstrate that conservation easements can significantly reduce habitat loss in agricultural regions; however, the enrollment of tracts with low cropland suitability may constrain the amount of habitat loss they prevent. My results also show that spatial econometric models can improve the validity of control groups and thereby strengthen causal inferences about program effectiveness in situations when spatial interactions influence conservation decisions.

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“…The diversity of economically viable approaches allows numerous scenarios to be implemented, addressing several ecological and socioeconomic issues simultaneously (Eloy et al 2012). The oldest cultivation cycles, furthest from village centres (O'Kelly and Bryan 1996) could be abandoned. Cultivation closest to community centres could be maintained, potentially via inputs, ensuring food security.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Economically viable forest restoration in shifting cultivation landscapes

Morton

Borah

Edwards

2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Shifting cultivation is a predominant land use across the tropics, feeding hundreds of millions of marginalised people, causing significant deforestation, and encompassing a combined area of land ten-fold greater than that used for oil palm and rubber. A key question is whether carbon-based payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes can cost-effectively bring novel restoration and carbon-sensitive management practices to shifting agriculture. Using economic models that uniquely consider the substantial area of fallow land needed to support a single cultivated plot, we calculated the break-even carbon prices required for PES to match the opportunity cost of intervention in shifting agriculture. We do so in the North-east Indian biodiversity hotspot, where 35.4% of land is managed under shifting agriculture. We found net revenues of US$829.53-2581.95 per 30 ha when fallow area is included, which are an order of magnitude lower than previous estimates. Abandoning shifting agriculture entirely is highly feasible with break-even prices as low as US$1.33 t −1 CO 2 , but may conflict with food security. The oldest fallow plots could be fully restored for US$0.89 t −1 CO 2 and the expansion of shifting agriculture into primary forest halted for US$0.51 t −1 CO 2 , whereas abandoning short-fallow systems would cost US$12.60 t −1 CO 2 . A precautionary reanalysis accounting for extreme economic uncertainty and leakage costs suggests that all interventions, excluding abandoning short-fallow systems, remain economically viable with prices less than US$4.00 t −1 CO 2 . Even with poorly formed voluntary carbon markets, shifting agriculture represents a critical opportunity for low-cost forest restoration whilst diversifying income streams of marginalised communities across a vast area.

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Agricultural location theory: von Thunen's contribution to economic geography

Cited by 69 publications

References 57 publications

Does social network capital buy higher agricultural prices? A case of coffee in Masaka district, Uganda

Does social network capital buy higher agricultural prices? A case of coffee in Masaka district, Uganda

Effectiveness of conservation easements in agricultural regions

Economically viable forest restoration in shifting cultivation landscapes

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