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Peasant farmer behavior and cereal technologies: stochastic programming analysis in Niger

OAR@ICRISAT

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/7597/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016951509190034I
 
Title Peasant farmer behavior and cereal technologies: stochastic programming analysis in Niger
 
Creator Adesina, A A
Sanders , J H
 
Subject Agriculture-Farming, Production, Technology, Economics
 
Description Peasant farmers in Sahelian West Africa adjust to rainfall uncertainties in the agricultural season by making decisions sequentially as a function of the evolving rainfall patterns. Understanding such flexibilities in farmer decision-making is central to technology introduction. This paper determines how sequential decision making under weather uncertainty affects the adoption and farm-level effects of cereal technologies in Niger. The study also draws policy implications for a price floor to arrest the substantial fall in cereal prices in good rainfall years when farmers have more grains to sell. The methodology used is discrete stochastic programming. The paper shows that the ability of peasant farmers to adapt cropping and resource management strategies to the rainfall patterns is the basis for their survival in this high-risk environment. Model results show that by (a) carrying a portfolio mix of varieties of varying maturities, and (b) making sequential decisions based upon rainfall expectations, farmers can adapt to the production uncertainties. Breeding programmes should therefore be diversified to develop not only early-maturing cultivars, but also improved intermediate and long-season varieties
 
Publisher Elsevier
 
Date 1991
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
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Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/7597/1/Agricultural%20Economics_5_21-38_1991.pdf
Adesina, A A and Sanders , J H (1991) Peasant farmer behavior and cereal technologies: stochastic programming analysis in Niger. Agricultural Economics, 5 (1). pp. 21-38. ISSN 1574-0862