Increased variability in temperature and precipitation aggravate crop farmers' productivity especially rural farmers in developing countries where smallholder agriculture is a major source of livelihood. In an era of climate change, farm level adaptation strategy is crucial to combating food insecurity and lost farm income. To guide policy in this direction, it is important to understand the determinants of farmers' decision to adapt to climate change. Data was collected from 200 farmers randomly selected from six farming zones in the Shama district of Ghana. Binary logistic and semi-log regression models were used to estimate the socio-economic and institutional factors that determine farmers' decision to adapt to climate change, their access to credit and the size of agricultural land in production. The results revealed relevant social-economic and institutional factors that significantly determine farmers' decision to adapt to climate change, their access to agricultural loans as well as agricultural land in production. Policy decisions on farm level adaptation may focus on the relevant socio-economic and institutional factors to help farmers develop resilience to a changing climate.
Disparities in drinking water quality pose harm to public health across the United States. Yet, few studies have systematically analyzed disproportionate exposure to impaired drinking water. This study sheds light on disparities in healthbased drinking water violations and the shortcomings of regulatory assessment that only considers equity in terms of variation in compliance across system size. We examine the relationship between health-based violations, utility size, and socioeconomic factors, using probit regression and a balanced panel dataset of 1693 community water systems in California from 2000 to 2018. Demographics of water systems are developed using areal weighting. We find evidence of water equity concerns.Violation rates are several times higher at systems serving low-income areas and communities of color. These disparities are present even in models stratified by size of service population. Our findings highlight that equity in environmental regulation could be improved by considering factors beyond system scale.
Three restaurant taste panels and an online consumer survey were conducted during 2012-2013 to assess whether Gulf consumers would be willing to pay a premium for place-name specific (i.e., "branded") Gulf oysters over typical "generic" Gulf oysters, and whether consumers in other U.S. markets would be willing to pay for branded Gulf oysters compared to other U.S. branded oysters. Panelists in the two Gulf Coast taste panels had strong preferences for local oyster varieties when they were aware of oyster variety names and harvest locations (i.e., during labeled rounds). In the absence this information (i.e., during blind rounds), panelists had no such preferences, and in the case of the Houston taste panel, actually had a significant distaste for the local Galveston Bay variety. Panelists in the Chicago taste panel had strong preferences for the Island Creek oyster, in both the blinded and labeled rounds, although during the labeled rounds, the Point aux Pins oysters fared equally well (statistically) to the Island Creeks. Additionally, during the labeled rounds, the Apalachicola Bay and Point aux Pins oysters were statistically more likely to be chosen over the San Antonio Bay oysters. Respondents to the online survey tended to have higher perceptions of quality and seafood safety regarding their own regionally-produced oysters relative to oysters from other regions. There was limited variation in perceptions from one Gulf Coast variety to another, with the exception of the Apalachicola Bay variety being rated higher in several cases, and the more general "Gulf of Mexico" category being rated lower. Online survey results indicate that, consumers living in eastern Gulf states such as Georgia and Florida may be willing to pay a premium for branded Gulf oysters, particularly oysters from Florida and Louisiana. Gulf consumers living in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, however, did not show any strong preferences for branded oysters relative to cheaper 3 generic ones. Among non-Gulf consumers, survey results indicate that while a price discount may be needed to sell branded Gulf oysters relative to local oysters (i.e., relative to, say, East Coast oysters in East Coast markets), that Gulf oysters generally fared no worse than other nonlocal oysters (i.e., West Coast oysters in East Coast markets). Of the Gulf oysters tested, Atlantic Coast respondents appear to prefer Louisiana oysters. Pacific Coast respondents appear to be indifferent between most Atlantic Coast and Gulf Coast varieties. Also, it appears that relatively few respondents were concerned about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill when answering questions about oysters, although these concerns did affect preferences for Gulf Coast oysters negatively in some cases. Less than 1% of all respondents indicated any concern regarding Vibrio vulnificus, bacteria, or similar. However, such concerns, though not cited explicitly, may yet be latent in the reported perceptions of oysters from various Gulf Coast locations. These results would indicate that ther...
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