Suchergebnisse

Garantizar la estabilidad de la renta agraria es uno de los objetivos de las políticas agrarias española y comunitaria. Se comparan los pagos directos, la diversificación, los seguros agrarios y un Instrumento de Estabilización de Rentas (IER) respecto a (i) su efecto en la renta agraria y su estabilidad, (ii) la predisposición de los productores a adoptarlos y (iii) la eficiencia del gasto público. Los pagos directos y la diversificación son las medidas más eficaces para estabilizar la renta. El seguro y el IER mejoran la estabilidad de la renta con una alta eficiencia del gasto público. ; Guaranteeing farm income stability is an objective of the European Union's and the Spanish agricultural policies. In this paper, CAP direct payments, diversification, crop insurance and an Income Stabilisation Tool (IST) were compared considering (i) their effect on farm income and income stability, (ii) the expected farmers' willingness for adoption, and (iii) the efficiency of public expenditure invested in supporting them. Main conclusions point at direct payments and crop diversification as the most effective measures in decreasing income variability. Nevertheless, using crop insurance or an IST has potential for both improving farm resilience to income variability and limiting public expenditure.

In this paper, we investigate the real demand for climate protection when the purely individual perspective of existing revealed preference studies is relaxed. This is achieved in two treatments; first, we determine the information subjects receive about the demand revealed by other subjects in a similar decision making situation, second, collective action is implemented whereby all subjects are required to purchase the group?s median quantity at a given price. Participants in the experiment were offered the opportunity to contribute to climate protection by purchasing European Union Allowances. Allowances purchased were withdrawn from the European Emissions Trading Scheme. In our experiment, information about other subjects? behaviour has no treatment effect on the demand for climate protection. Under collective action however, the probability of purchasing allowances is higher compared to the reference treatment situation, an individual contribution mechanism. Furthermore, we observe a strong correlation between subjects? demand and their expectations about other participants? behaviour. When collective action is not available, subjects? e xpectations are consistent with free rider behaviour.

The coffee market is distinguished for being volatile and uncertain in terms of domestic and international prices. Arabica and Robusta coffee are produced in 23 provinces of Ecuador. A decade-long decline of coffee production prompted the Ecuadorian government to launch a public program for replanting coffee trees towards the end of 2011. A grower's decision to enter, remain in or exit the coffee sector is based on fluctuating profits from each year's harvest sale. We analyzed the hypothesis whereby the coffee grower's decision to leave the sector is explained by volatile and uncertain prices. This paper aimed to evaluate the coffee sector with an application of Real Option Analysis for the period 2002-2012. We also defined entry (H) and exit (L) prices for Arabica and Robusta coffee for the analyzed period. Our findings revealed high H and L prices encourage growers to leave the sector for the most part of the analyzed period. High H and L prices resulted from high variable cost due to increasing wages for farm workers. The Ecuadorian government is developing a policy to help growers make production more efficient, encouraging them to remain in the sector in the long run.

Both in principles and practical terms, Spain's water policy has changed dramatically in the last years years. This rapid evolution has been accompanied by growing water problems, of which the Spanish society is becoming increasingly concern. This paper reviews the recent history of Spanish water policy, examines its weaknesses and strengths and draws policy relevant conclusions for other arid and semiarid countries. Key drivers of change, including serious environmental degradation, growing water demand, climatic change, agricultural policy and economic growth provide the context for recent water policy landmarks. Among these the reform of the water law in 1999, enabling water market transactions, the EU Water Framework Directive, the 2001 national hydrological plan and its subsequent reform in 2004 mark a decade of radical policy initiatives. Underlying them, water users, managers and society in general also show signs of new attitudes, thinking and awareness. In the paper, we review a few innovative programmes that tackle problems whose solution is long overdue, but shows signs of success. We look at the economics of water resources, including flexible allocation instruments, voluntary arrangements, and water prices. We also review how the most pressing problems associated with instensive use of groundwater resources are being addressed, after decades of unsuccessful attempts. Finally, we look at the irrigation sector, by far the largest water consumer in Spain and the one in which policies can accomplish the largest impacts. Furthermore, we elaborate on the impact that virtual water trade can have on water supply for the production of food and fibers.

En 2005 se inicio un debate, promovido por la Comision Europea (CE), para decidir si, y como, la UE debe intervenir para proporcionar a agricultores y ganaderos una red de seguridad ante crisis, desastres y catastrofes (CDS). El articulo revisa las politicas nacionales y reflexiona sobre las tres opciones basicas consideradas por la CE (seguros agrarios, fondos de estabilizacion y ayudas ad hoc ante CDS). Se comprueba que tanto la perception de riesgos como los riesgos reales de los productores en la UE difieren considerablemente. Las opciones politicas de cada EM tampoco convergen a un patron comun. La UE ha regulado las ayudas nacionales y anima a los EEMM a que destinen fondos de la modulation a cofinanciar instrumentos de gestion del riesgo. Salvo en ganaderia, no es esperable una po- Iftica europea en materia de riesgos y crisis, desastres y catastrofes

Users in the Mediterranean region face significant water supply risks. Water markets mechanisms can provide flexibility to water systems run in tight situations. The largest water infrastructure in the Iberian Peninsula connects the Segura and Tagus Basins. Stakeholders and politicians in the Tagus Basin have asked that water transfers between the two basins be eventually phased out. The need to increase the statutory minimum environmental flow in the middle Tagus and to meet new urban demands is going to result in a redefinition of the Transfer?s management rules, leading to a reduction in the transferable volumes. To minimise the consequences of such restrictions to irrigators in the Segura Basin who depend on the transferred volumes, we propose the establishment of water option contracts between both basins that represents an institutional innovation with respect to previous inter-basin spot market experiences. Based on the draft of the new Tagus Basin Plan, we propose both a modification of the Transfer?s management rule and an innovative inter-basin option contract. The main goal of the paper is to define this contract and evaluate it with respect to non-market scenarios. We also assess the resulting impact on environmental flows in the Tagus River and water availability for users in the Segura Basin, together with the economic impacts of such contract on both basins. Our results show that the proposed option contract would reduce the impact of a change in the transfer?s management rule, and reduce the supply risks of the recipient area.

This paper explores the water-energy nexus of Spain and offers calculations for both the energy used in the water sector and the water required to run the energy sector. The article takes a prospective approach, offering evaluations of policy objectives for biofuels and expected renewable energy sources. Approximately 5.8% of total electricity demand in Spain is due to the water sector. Irrigated agriculture is one of the Spanish water sectors that show the largest growth in energy requirements. Searches for more efficient modes of farm water use, urban waste water treatment, and the use of desalinated water must henceforth include the energy component. Furthermore, biofuel production, to the levels targeted for 2020, would have an unbearable impact on the already stressed water resources in Spain. However, growing usage of renewable energy sources is not threatened by water scarcity, but legislative measures in water allocation and water markets will be required to meet the requirements of using these sources. Some of these measures, which are pushed by regional governments, are discussed in concluding sections.

This study reports the results of a water footprint (WF) assessment of five types of textiles commonly used for the production of jeans, including two different fibres (cotton and Lyocell fibre) and five corresponding production methods for spinning, dyeing and weaving. The results show that the fibre production is the stage with the highest water consumption, being cotton production particularly relevant. Therefore, the study pays particular attention to the water footprint of cotton production and analyses the effects of external factors influencing the water footprint of a product, in this case, the incentives provided by the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the relevance of agricultural practices to the water footprint of a product is emphasised. An extensification of the crop production led to higher WF per unit, but a lower overall pressure on the basins water resources. This study performs a sustainability assessment of the estimated cotton WFs with the water scarcity index, as proposed by Hoekstra et al. (2011), and shows their variations in different years as a result of different water consumption by crops in the rest of the river basin. In our case, we applied the assessment to the Guadalquivir, Guadalete and Barbate river basins, three semi-arid rivers in South Spain. Because they are found to be relevant, the available water stored in dams and the outflow are also incorporated as reference points for the sustainability assessment. The study concludes that, in the case of Spanish cotton production, the situation of the basin and the policy impact are more relevant for the status of the basin s water resources than the actual WF of cotton production. Therefore, strategies aimed at reducing the impact of the water footprint of a product need to analyse both the WF along the value chain and within the local context.

This paper explores and analyzes farmers' risk perceptions, risk management instruments' demand and usage in five Member States (Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland). A survey completed by 1047 representative farmers of these EU Member Status collected information that allowed us to set apart two focus areas: the first looks at the declared importance of several sources of farms' risk and income instability, and at the actual means that farmers pursue to manage and face them. The second area focuses on the demand for risk management instruments. The paper's objective is to determine the factors that explain farmers' responses in the first area, and based on those factors, analyse the demands for two instruments (insurance, and future & option markets). After carrying out basic descriptive statistic analyses, we perform factor analysis in order to establish the linkages between the perceptions and ranking of risks with the declared strategies to manage them. Logit models were fit to determine potential demand of insurance, and futures & options based on the three factors, and other variables like activity types and other controls, like nationality. Results from the factor analysis show that the perception of risk and actual use of risk management are very diverse. Logit models show that insurance is clearly an alternative instrument to diversification, but its demand is poorly explained by the other factors. Furthermore the demand for the use of futures and options is explained by the three factors, with the volatility factor, positively linked; market access /contractual risks; and diversification, negatively linked. In conclusion, policy makers should proceed with caution selecting the most adequate risk management instruments for farmers. It appears that the expected demand of risk management tools does not fit perfectly with the stated perception of risks.

CONTEXT The socio-economic decline of extensive sheep farming caused by its low profitability in southern European Union (EU) regions threatens marginal depopulated rural areas' survival. In the face of new future institutional and climate challenges, there appears to be an urgent need for strategies to improve economic performance. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to evaluate the economic performance and risk of two alternative demand-oriented and productive efficiency strategies: i) protected geographical indication certification, and ii) increased ewe reproduction prolificacy. Method Based on regional farm records and price data and a survey of 54 local farmers, we formulated a stochastic gross margin model to simulate and analyze four strategic scenarios (baseline, quality labelling, productive efficiency, and joint strategies) under two specific stressors, namely decreased lamb prices and increased feeding costs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We found that feeding costs constitute the main risk factor, whereas price instability has less influence. Our findings highlight improvements in performance under a quality scenario, albeit with higher vulnerability to price variability with respect to the baseline scenario. In contrast, the productive efficiency scenario performs much better in terms of average gross margin and reduced vulnerability to feeding costs, albeit with a larger variation for the expected outcomes. SIGNIFICANCE The paper casts light on the vulnerability of the quality label under price risk, and suggests the potential for the joint implementation of both quality production and productive efficiency strategies, which could compensate for their respective weaknesses.

Index-based insurance (IBI) is a risk transfer tool that is widely used in low-incomes countries, especially catered to smallholder farmers. A good correlation between the selected index (in this case Normalized Difference Vegetation Index -NDVI-) and the crop losses of the insured area is a key requirement for well-performing system. Usually, IBI application area is defined by political boundaries, despite that variation in soil, topography, and climate is more important. In this work, agro-ecological variability effects will be studied in the IBI context. The case study was the rice crop failure in Babahoyo canton (Ecuador), using NDVI as the crop damage indicator. In a previous study, zones of similar soil, topographic and climatic characteristics (AHZs) were defined using principal component analysis in Babahoyo canton. Two largest AHZs were found in this canton. They were f7 and f15, which account for 91% of the total rice crop area in Babahoyo. We sampled reflectance values of red, blue, near infra-red (NIR) and medium infra-red (MIR) bands over bare soil (1st of January) by observation points, within f7 and f15. The reflectance band values were used to study whether the difference between the two AHZs could be appreciated through remote sensing. Then, we did the same but for NDVI average of the rice crop cycle, i.e., 15th of January to 15th of May (NDVI_ave). It was done for confirming that the AHZs (f7 and f15) have an influence over rice crop development. The used product was MODIS imagery (2001?2017). We stratified the sampling through the AHZs, applying 30% density for ensuring the accuracy of the selected pixels. Statistically significant differences between the f7 and f15 zones were found in all the analysed reflectance bands and in NDVI_ave. This found supported the differences that the agro-ecological map pointed out in its database. At the same time, the NDVI_ave distribution for each AHZ presented a statistically significant difference of the accumulated probability below the threshold (0.4), ...

The Spanish case study presents the drought planning process carried in the Tagus Basin. The presentation is structured in four parts: organizational, methodological, operational and public review components. The organizational component presents the framework and specific legislations and the organizations and institutions in Spain that work on drought preparedness and mitigation. The methodological component presents the analytical techniques used for drought risk analysis and management. The operational component describes the proposed structure for the drought management plan and presents the specific actions that are contemplated in it. The process review component identifies stakeholders that are involved in the decision making process and presents their views on the process.

The challenges faced by agricultural systems call for an advance in risk management (RM) assessments. This research identifies and discusses potential improvements to RM across 11 European Union (EU) farming systems (FS). The paper proposes a comprehensive, participatory approach that accounts for multi-stakeholder perspectives relying on 11 focus groups for brainstorming and gathering suggestions to improve RM. Data analysis is based on content analysis and coding of suggested improvements, and their assessment through the lenses of main challenges faced, farms' flexibility, and dependence on subsidies. First, the results show that necessary improvements differ depending on whether they have their origin in sudden shocks or long-term pressures. Second, farm dependence on direct payments determines a stronger need to improve financial instruments, whereas farm flexibility suggests a need for more accessible and tailored tools for low-flexibility FS, and increased know-what and know-how for high-flexibility FS. Third, our findings indicate a potential for extending stakeholder involvement in RM to new or unconventional roles. Underlying specific improvements, the paper suggests and discusses three main avenues to improve RM as a whole: i) a developed learning and knowledge network; ii) new forms of collaboration; and iii) integrated financial and policy instruments.