Coping With Risk In Agriculture 3rd Edition

Risk and uncertainty are inescapable factors in agriculture which require careful management. Farmers face production risks from the weather, crop and livestock performance, and pests and diseases, as well as institutional, personal and business risks. This revised third edition of the popular textbook includes updated chapters on theory and methods and contains a new chapter discussing the state-contingent approach to the analysis of production and the use of copulas to better model stochastic dependency. Aiming to introduce agricultural decision making, probability and risk preference, this book is an indispensable guide for students and researchers of agriculture and agribusiness management.

Risk and uncertainty are inescapable factors in agriculture which require careful management. Farmers face production risks from the weather, crop and livestock performance, and pests and diseases, as well as institutional, personal and business risks. This revised third edition of the popular textbook includes updated chapters on theory and methods and contains a new chapter discussing the state-contingent approach to the analysis of production and the use of copulas to better model stochastic dependency. Aiming to introduce agricultural decision making, probability and risk preference, this.

Risk and uncertainty are inescapable factors in agriculture. Farmers face production risk, from the weather, crop and livestock performance, and pests and diseases, as well as government-controlled institutional risk, and personal or human risk. Together with price or market risks, these constitute business risk which is further related to financial risk. All of these factors must be managed to achieve satisfactory management in agriculture. The aim of this book is to introduce the nature of agricultural decision making under uncertainty, the concept of rational choice and its foundations in theories of probability and risk preference. It also describes methods for the analysis of risky decisions that can be used in agriculture and the preparation of plans for risk management.

The book addresses and documents farmers' risks in developing and emerging economies. It draws lessons from experimental economics on measuring risk preferences, attitudes, gender differences in managing risks, and risk management strategies in countries across Africa and Asia. It argues policy makers, especially in emerging economies, need a better understanding of farmers' attitudes toward risk and choices of risk management strategies when designing policies to support production agriculture. The book includes chapters on three themes: understanding risk attitudes and preferences; using experimental economics to measure risk, preferences, and risk management strategies; and understanding climate change, risk, and risk management. The book critically examines the currently held beliefs about risk preference, attitudes, and empirical estimation of risk management strategies, emphasizing developing and emerging economies (DEE). This book is ideal for students and researchers in universities and research organizations who conduct applied research on public policy, community development, and rural development, and will also be of interest to policy-makers in those fields.

Farmers in developing countries are frequently exposed to the uncertainties of weather, prices and disease. Many farmers live on the edge of extreme uncertainty, sometimes falling just below, and sometimes rising just above the threshold of survival. Farmers do not know whether rainfall will be good or bad over a season; they do not know the prices they will receive for produce sold; and they do not know whether their crops will be infected by disease. These risks are not under the control of farmers but some farmers have developed ways of coping and managing them. Farmers make decisions every day that affect farming operations. Many of the factors that affect the decisions they make cannot be predicted with complete accuracy; this is risk. Farming has become increasingly risky as farmers become more commercial. Farmers need to understand risk and have risk management skills to better anticipate problems and reduce consequences.