Agricultural Economics—Without Apology
A few days ago, The New York Times had an article discussing the gains to trade created by contract farming arrangements between PepsiCo and smallholders in Jalisco, Mexico. What the article describes is typical in the academic literature on agricultural value chains:
In case you have been wondering what has been happening in Morocco in response to political unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the New York Times had a good article on the topic a few days ago.
As it turns out, food prices have apparently been playing a role in Morocco as well:
On Sunday, in response to a ‘February 20 Movement for Change’ that began on Facebook, more than 10,000 people turned out in cities across the country to call for democratic change, lower food prices, freedom for Islamist prisoners, rights for Berbers and a variety of causes, including pan-Arab nationalism. (…)
[T]he adviser, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said that the king was listening, having recently promised to invest $1.9 billion in subsidies to ease high prices for food and basic commodities.
On a personal note, my wife and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary in Marrakesh in October 2009. Here is a picture we took on our first night of the food stalls on Djemaa el Fna Square.
Nestlé S.A. has opened nominations for its 2012 Prize in Creating Shared Value:
“The Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value offers advice and financial support of up to CHF 500,000 (more than USD 480,000) to an individual, non-government organisation, or small enterprise working in the field of nutrition, water, or rural development.
It is awarded in alternate years to an innovation or project that has shown outstanding promise in improving access to, or management of, water; enhancing the lives of farmers and rural communities; or providing better nourishment to communities suffering from nutritional deficiencies.”
More information is available here. This is a nice occasion for aid workers and development practitioners to get recognized for their efforts.
(HT: Marion Nestle, via Twitter.)