Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the aforementioned literature on the linkage between economic activity and human preference by estimating the cross-sectional determinants of farmers’ participation in participation in crop insurance programs (CIPs) and identifying the impediments preventing the remaining farmers from participating. Design/methodology/approach Using the unique data sets of risk preference experiments and maize producer surveys pertaining to the maize production areas of China, this paper explores the determinants of farmers’ CIPs and scrutinizes the role of risk aversion in farmers’ CIP purchase decisions under the expected utility maximization framework. And a “non-zero threshold probit model” is used for the analysis. Findings The results show that risk aversion plays an important role in CIP purchase decision-making, not only in the form of its direct effect but also with regard to the interaction term and expected loss. Furthermore, if the insured amount is high enough, then risk aversion will no longer affect insurance purchase. Additionally, purchase experience, CIP environment (village purchase ratio), and contract items (insured amounts) are significant determinates in these decisions. There is no significant evidence to suggest that serious adverse selection exists in the sampling areas. Originality/value One theoretical model is established which considered not only general variables like farmers’ production and household information, but also conditions and terms in the insurance policies. The unique experimental method is used to measure farmers’ risk aversion. Both the role of risk aversion and its’ interaction terms with others in CIP participation are scrutinized to identify complicated influences under the context of real society.

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In Ethiopia, famine and extreme poverty are a result of insufficient food relief, poor macroeconomic factors, climate shocks, undiversified livelihoods based on low productivity in rain-fed agriculture, coupled with institutional incapacity. To serve as a context, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the conceptual framework of human development and capability paradigm to food security. In addition, it highlights evidence and a comparative analysis of the Asian green revolution experience, and places emphasis on sustainable and intersectoral growth through agricultural transformation and promotion of rural non-farm economy agenda to reverse the trends of protracted food crises in Ethiopia. Rapid, science-led, and employment-intensive agricultural growth, accompanied by the promotion of the rural non-farm sector, is of great importance to the rural economy. These will bring about farm sector competitiveness and enhanced productivity, environmental outcomes, acceleration of human development, new opportunities provided to the small-scale food producers, and desirable changes to the rural landscape. The study further introduces a brief analysis of the prominent role of social protection instruments in strengthening food entitlements and basic capabilities, including individual agencies. It suggests that actualizing sustainable food security and hastening human development under Ethiopia’s exclusive settings require the recognition of the rural economic heterogeneity as well as holistic and pragmatic policies, which promote sustainable and inclusive growth.

Aquatic products are important sources of protein and food consumption, which are pivotal to solving the problem of food shortage. As the world’s largest producer of aquatic products, China’s aquaculture has developed rapidly. However, a large quantity of pollutants has also been generated in the fish farming process, which is detrimental to the sustainable development of China’s aquaculture. Therefore, under double constraints with regard to resources and the environment, fishery development must achieve cleaner production. Measuring green total factor productivity in aquaculture is fundamental to improving aquaculture production efficiency and reducing pollution emissions. This paper investigated the green total factor productivity in China using the SBM-ML method and analyzed the dynamic evolution of fish farming, measuring its change characteristics with regard to time and spatial differences. The results indicated that the total factor productivity indexes of mariculture and freshwater aquaculture in China are 1.050 and 1.060, respectively. Regionally, mariculture in the East China Sea region has the highest green total factor productivity of 1.072, followed by the South China Sea region with 1.056, and the green total factor productivity in the Yellow Sea region is the lowest—only 1.030. The results of the freshwater aquaculture calculations showed the opposite geographical distribution characteristics in China, with the highest in the western region (1.098), followed by the central region (1.046), with the lowest being in the eastern region (1.038). Evidently, both mariculture and freshwater aquaculture have noticeable spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Relevant policy recommendations are provided to improve the green production efficiency of fishery.

Undertaking non-agrarian income-generating activities to reduce overreliance on agriculture, production failures, and income fluctuations is a household-amenable, self-insurance mechanism, which provides employment opportunities and capital investment. This article examines the determinants of participation in non-farm activities and effect on household income. Heckman two-step procedure was used to analyze a three-wave survey data set captured from 3866 households. Crop failures, insufficient intake of food, household consumption expenditure, gender, family size, literacy, health status, farm animals holding, access to credit, total hired labor, cooperative membership and agricultural extension services were factors influencing household involvement in non-farm work. Furthermore, the findings establish that there is a decline in the likelihood of households headed by aged people, who tend to rely on subsistence farming to engage in alternative non-agrarian activities. The results of the analyses support the non-separability hypothesis of non-farm activities and household income; this implies that engaging in non-agricultural activities has a direct positive effect on household income. The omnipresence of non-agrarian income generating activities in agroecoregions requires inclusive rural development policies that focus beyond agriculture based on the recognition of the rural economic heterogeneity.

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