Papers by John K M Kuwornu
Food Policy, 1990
Abstract The nutritional impact of increased commercialization of smallholder agriculture in deve... more Abstract The nutritional impact of increased commercialization of smallholder agriculture in developing countries, while generally positive, may in certain circumstances be unfavourable. Adverse policies tend to be the problem in these circum stances. The ...
Journal of Marketing Channels, 2009
We use the classic agency model to derive a time-varying optimal hedge ratio for low-frequency ti... more We use the classic agency model to derive a time-varying optimal hedge ratio for low-frequency time-series data: the type of data used by crop farmers when deciding about production and about their hedging strategy. Rooted in the classic agency framework, the proposed hedge ratio reflects the context of both the crop farmer’s decision and the crop farmer’s contractual relationships in the marketing channel. An empirical illustration of the Dutch ware potato sector and its futures market in Amsterdam over the period 1971–2003 reveals that the time-varying optimal hedge ratio decreased from 0.34 in 1971 to 0.24 in 2003. The hedging effectiveness, accord-ing to this ratio, is 39%. These estimates conform better with farmers ’ interest in using futures contracts for hedging purposes than the much higher estimates obtained when price risk minimisation is the only objective considered.
Smallholder farmers ’ adoption of technologies for adaptation to climate change in Northern Ghana
Erratic rainfall, within and between years, leads to high uncertainty in runoff reservoir operati... more Erratic rainfall, within and between years, leads to high uncertainty in runoff reservoir operations in many Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries. Severe food shortages attributed to drought affect millions of vulnerable households, particularly those whose livelihoods depend on agriculture. We construct and successfully simulate a stochastic dynamic model of a small runoff reservoir fashioned after the Tono Reservoir in Northern Ghana. Our model considers a reservoir authority who at the beginning of each season observes the stock of water in the reservoir and, in the wet season, the amount of rainfall, and must decide how much water to release from the reservoir for irrigation and how much acreage to irrigate in order to maximize returns to the agriculture over the three growing seasons. We drive optimal irrigation policies with and without access to emergency groundwater pump irrigation systems and with and without access to rainfall index insurance. The optimal irrigation policies...
Journal of economics and international finance, 2011
This study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns... more This study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns using monthly data that spans from January 1992 to December 2008. Macroeconomic variables used in this study are consumer price index (as a proxy for inflation), crude oil price, exchange rate and 91 day Treasury bill rate (as a proxy for interest rate). The ordinary least square estimation (OLS) model in the context of the Box-Jenkins time series methodology was used in establishing the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns. Empirical findings reveal that there is a significant relationship between stock market returns and consumer price index (inflation). On the other hand, crude oil prices, exchange rate and Treasury bill rate do not appear to have any significant effect on stock returns. The results may provide some insight to corporate managers, investors and policy makers. Key words: Stock market returns, inflation, crude oil price, exchange rate,...
LSE Research Online Documents on Economics, 2011
This scoping study aims to lay a foundation for the introduction and randomized trial of third-pa... more This scoping study aims to lay a foundation for the introduction and randomized trial of third-party quality certification of infant foods in Ghana. The products whose quality would be certified are the cereal-based complementary foods recommended for infants between 6 and 24 months of age, when healthy growth requires foods of exceptionally high nutrient density and digestibility. These specialized infant foods are needed from the time when the child’s needs outpace the nutrients available in breast milk, to the time when the child can digest sufficient quantities of more commonly-available foods.
Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 2021
We conduct controlled field experiments to elicit risk preferences and subjective probabilities a... more We conduct controlled field experiments to elicit risk preferences and subjective probabilities among uneducated smallholder maize farmers in Northern Ghana. Motivated by Prospect Theory, we estimate a Rank-Dependent Utility Model with Power Risk Utility Function that embeds Expected Utility Theory and constant relative risk aversion as independent special cases characterized by specific parametric restrictions. We jointly estimate individual utility of money function and subjective probability weighting function parameters from experiments conducted using a multiple price list format. We initially estimate a model in which parameters are homogeneous across subjects, and then estimate a model in which parameters are allowed to vary across subjects according individual socioeconomic characteristics, including education, gender, food security status, and recent experience with losses due to drought. With both specifications, we reject the hypotheses that preferences are adequately cha...
We apply the classic agency model to investigate chain reversal in a food marketing channel, usin... more We apply the classic agency model to investigate chain reversal in a food marketing channel, using time series analysis. We show that if the principal is risk-neutral and the agent is risk-averse, then a linear contract can still be optimal if the fixed payment is negative. Empirical results for the Dutch potato marketing channel indicate that fixed payments to producers (agents) have decreased over time, even to negative levels, and the incentive intensity has approximately doubled. These results could be the consequence of chain reversal, i.e., the transformation of the traditional supply chain into a demand-oriented chain.
In this study, we examine the efficiency of regulated ( and vegetables that spans from 1984 Trans... more In this study, we examine the efficiency of regulated ( and vegetables that spans from 1984 Translog production function was specified and the analysis was carried across the above mentioned Agricul these the co of efficiency. This result also suggests that the co of technologies within the same sub each cotested and the results showed t two groups of co not equal and neither are they absolute. The elasticities of the regulated co eggs) were less elastic as compared to those for the non vegetables) advantage over the non empirical results from the profit and efficiency estimations showed that the individual co are not technically or allocatively efficient. These results have policy implications regarding the managem concerned about improving efficiency.
Marine resources are depleting, making the dependence of economies on fish from such sources no l... more Marine resources are depleting, making the dependence of economies on fish from such sources no longer the best option. Aquaculture has been suggested as an alternative livelihood. This study assesses the willingness of marine artisanal fishermen in the coastal region of Ghana to adopt aquaculture. The Effutu municipality in the central region of Ghana was purposely selected for the study. A multi stage cluster sampling procedure was used to randomly select150 artisanal fishermen from two communities in the coastal area of the district. Data was collected using semi structured questionnaire. The study employed the Binary Logit model to assess the influence of technical, socioeconomic and institutional factors on the decision to integrate the aquaculture enterprise into household enterprises of fishermen. The results of the study showed that about62 percent of the marine fishermen were willing to adopt and integrate aquaculture into their enterprise mix. The Logit estimation results ...
African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2017
Using count models, this paper assesses the intensity of land and water management practices amon... more Using count models, this paper assesses the intensity of land and water management practices among smallholder maize farmers in Ghana and the factors driving the number of practices adopted. Farmers’ use of fertiliser, non-burning of farmland and ploughing-in of vegetative cover are the practices adopted the most. The paper cautiously notes that the farmers who combine three of the land and water management practices have the highest average productivity. Access to extension contact, credit and farmers’ experiences of food shocks are important driving factors. The findings have implications for a comprehensive land and water management policy within which different strategies are articulated to increase the productivity of the farmers. Fertiliser application, no burning, zero tillage and ploughing-in of the vegetative cover are important. However, the regression results for maize yields suggest that the adoption of a high number of the technologies might not necessarily result in be...
We apply the classic agency model to investigate risk shifting in an agricultural marketing chann... more We apply the classic agency model to investigate risk shifting in an agricultural marketing channel, using time series analysis. We show that if the principal is risk-neutral and the agent is risk-averse instead of risk-neutral, then a linear contract can still be optimal if the fixed payment is negative. Empirical results for the Dutch potato marketing channel indicate that while fixed payments to farmers (agents) have decreased over time, even to negative levels, the incentive intensity has approximately doubled, and the risk premium the farmers ask for has remained considerable. These results imply that risk has shifted from wholesalers, processors, and retailers to farmers; we argue that this shift could be the consequence of chain reversal, i.e., the transformation of the traditional supply chain into a demand-oriented chain.
Environmental Management
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 in response to adverse environme... more The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 in response to adverse environmental impacts caused by the expansion of oil palm production. It created voluntary standards to accelerate adoption of improved practices along the supply chain to ensure environmental benefits. However, the rate of adoption among smallholders of the practices RSPO recommends remains low. This study assessed the factors influencing smallholder farmers’ adoption decisions and the intensity of adoption using primary data obtained from 723 randomly selected oil palm producers in the southern region of Thailand, of which 333 RSPO were adopters and 390 were non-adopters. The results of the binary logit and two-limit Tobit regressions revealed that total farm labor, farm size, number of training sessions attended, access to information, extension services, support services, and perceived ease of adoption of the practices had positive effects on the intensity of adoption. However, the age of oil palm trees negatively influenced the intensity of adoption. The results suggest that strengthening capacity building activities and extension services would increase the adoption of the RSPO practices among small-scale farmers.
ICCCSDA, 2017
This study assessed the adaptive capacity of smallholder women farmers to climate change and vari... more This study assessed the adaptive capacity of smallholder women farmers to climate change and variability in Northern Region of Ghana using a composite index approach. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 210 smallholder women farmers from Tolon and Central Gonja districts and data on their adaptive capacities solicited using questionnaire. Based on literature, seven adaptive capacity indicators, namely, livelihood diversity, information accessibility, physical, financial, natural, human and social resources were used to determine women farmers' adaptive capacities to climate variability. The empirical results revealed that farmers in Tolon District had higher adaptive capacity than those in Central Gonja District in terms of all the indicators and the overall adaptive capacity, except human resources. In the combined data, most farmers had low adaptive capacity in terms of financial indicators and the overall adaptive capacity; moderate adaptive capacity in te...
Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies
Purpose Due to rapid urbanization, rice consumption in Togo has also rapidly increased. Most cons... more Purpose Due to rapid urbanization, rice consumption in Togo has also rapidly increased. Most consumers prefer imported rice over domestically produced rice due to the higher quality of the imported rice. The purpose of this paper is to show that it is possible to upgrade the quality of Togo’s domestically produced rice by providing technical and management support in the form of contract farming. Design/methodology/approach Cross-sectional data were collected using a multi-stage sampling technique. An endogenous switching regression model was used for data analysis. Findings The results show that by participating in contract farming, paddy rice quality was upgraded from Grade IV (poor quality) to Grade I (premium quality). The factors influencing this upgrade in the quality of paddy rice grown through contract farming are: the number of extension visits to the farmer, the mode of threshing used by the farmer, and the agro-ecological zone of the farmer. Research limitations/implicati...
International Journal of Value Chain Management
This paper examined the balance of bargaining power, market risks and coordination costs among pr... more This paper examined the balance of bargaining power, market risks and coordination costs among producers and wholesalers in the Thailand cassava marketing channel using annual data spanning 1980–2007. The results revealed that cassava producers were exceedingly risk averse and that there was bilateral bargaining power between the producers and wholesalers. The variability in profit for the wholesalers was higher than that of producers. The coordination cost generally showed positive linear trend over the years and this demonstrates the existence of information asymmetry in the marketing channel. The policy recommendations are presented.
British Food Journal
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of fa... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of farmers regarding the on-farm food safety measures in the commercial layer farms in Thailand prior the implementation of the mandatory Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standard. Design/methodology/approach The cross-sectional study was conducted through the face-to-face interview with a questionnaire in 143 GAP certified and 59 non-GAP certified farms. The levels of safety and quality measures implemented in farms were evaluated using a self-reported approach. Scoring system was applied to investigate the relationship between level of practices and its determining factors using the correlation test. Findings The layer hen farmers appeared to have an adequate level of knowledge on safety and quality measures; however, some misconception on recommended practices was still observed. The significant differences (p<0.001) in the regularity of practices adopted in farms were noticed between ...
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Papers by John K M Kuwornu