Squaring Farm Security and Food Security in Two Types of Alternative Food Institutions*

Abstract Even though both farmers' markets and community supported agriculture were first developed to provide markets for farmers, recently the goals of food security have been attached to these market‐based alternative food institutions, based on their potential to be 'win‐win” economic solutions for both small‐scale farmers and low‐income consumers. This article reports on survey and interview research conducted in California during 2004–2005 designed to examine to what extent CSAs and farmers' markets are addressing food security in both concept and practice. Findings show that managers of these institutions generally support the idea of improving the affordability of the food they provide, and most have made an effort to do so, although these efforts vary with institutional capacity. Still, some hedged their interest in supporting food security goals with countervailing concerns such as the need to support farmers first. It is ironic, then, that the way that private CSAs and farmers' markets achieve some elements of food security is by virtue of the support of public food assistance programs.     

Designing a Programme to Support Smallholder Agriculture in Mexico: Lessons from PROCAMPO and Oportunidades

This article argues that there is a gap in current Mexican rural development policy that could be filled by a smallholder‐targeted programme. The gap exists because agricultural programmes tend to benefit better‐off farmers, while social programmes tend to focus on long‐term investment in human capital, specifically for the children of today's poor. Drawing on lessons from PROCAMPO and Oportunidades, it offers a specific design for such a programme at a time when the government is considering how to reform PROCAMPO, given that, after 15 years, it is due to come to an end.     

The Value of Domestic Supply Chains: Producers,Wholesalers, and Urban Consumers in Colombia

Global value chains are potential links between smallholder farmers in developing countries and lucrative markets in industrialised nations. However, food access for poor consumers in Third World cities depends largely on traditional domestic supply chains. This article focuses on the market for perishables in Colombia, which is dominated by peasant farming and ranching, wholesale (spot) markets, and small, family‐run corner stores and butchers. Here, evidence suggests that, despite characterisation of traditional supply chains as inefficient, they provide critical outlets for smallholders' heterogeneous production while simultaneously ensuring availability of cheap food for poor urban consumers.     

Evaluating a Product Donation Program: Challenges for Charitable Capacity

This article offers one of the first efforts at describing the impact of a national product donation program. Despite the importance of in‐kind giving to the corporate and charitable sectors, little research has explained how in‐kind gifts are used effectively once they leave the donor's hands. In this study we examine outcomes and impacts associated with a product donation program, including numbers served, a faith‐based mission, the ability to process product donations effectively, the extent of performance measurement, and the effect of program experience on continued participation. Data come from Good360's Framing Hope program, a partnership between The Home Depot stores and local charities across the United States. Our findings support the organizational capacity literature in suggesting that experience with this program only partly mitigates the challenges of participation and that success may be due to how central the program is to organizational objectives.     

Risk and returns of sustainable crop intensification: The case of smallholder rice and potato farmers in Uganda

The use of modern inputs such as synthetic fertilizers is often put forward as the best way to increase crop yields in an ecologically sustainable way. However, such inputs can be perceived as risky, and adoption may depend on how much extra risk a farm household can afford. This article describes the potential for fertilizer and pesticide use among Ugandan smallholder rice and potato farmers. In addition, it documents patterns observed in socioeconomic data that suggest that risk is an important barrier to sustainable crop intensification practices. We find that households that engage in risk‐management strategies, such as investing in risk‐reducing technology or engaging in precautionary savings, are more likely to practise intensified cropping. We also elaborate on the policy consequences.     

Standards for Development: Food Safety and Sustainability in Wal‐Mart's Honduran Produce Supply Chains

Public‐private partnerships between supermarket retailers and development agencies help small‐scale producers reach growing domestic markets in developing countries. Drawing on qualitative data that focuses on relationships between producers, development agencies, and Wal‐Mart‐owned supermarkets in Honduras, the research presented here demonstrates how, by introducing food safety standards to development agencies' outreach efforts, but without necessarily certifying producers or offering a price premium, Wal‐Mart uses these standards to simultaneously differentiate production practices by promoting quality, while maintaining a standardized market. As a result, the responsibility and costs for incentivizing growers to change their practices is shifted to nongovernmental organizations. Therefore, although an extensive body of literature describes standards and third‐party certification systems as the means for corporations to control production practices, this research indicates that public‐private partnerships are a new vehicle by which corporations can influence agricultural production practices. In addition, this article argues that the inclusion of food safety standards in development projects leads to the conflation of food safety and sustainability, without adequately interrogating which agroecological processes food safety standards include and exclude. Therefore, retailers' private food safety standards dominate how sustainability is perceived and practiced in the development context.     

Informal Labor and Social Relations in Northern Malawi: The Theoretical Challenges and Implications of Ganyu Labor for Food Security*

Abstract Food insecurity is a problem faced by smallholder farmers in Malawi. In any given year between 70 and 85 percent of households run out of food stocks several months prior to the next harvest. Once food stocks are depleted many households obtain food by doing ganyu, a type of piecework labor. Limited research has been carried out on ganyu. This paper uses qualitative data to examine ganyu in relation to food security in one area of northern Malawi. Using the livelihoods framework, I argue that the most common form of ganyu is both a livelihood strategy and a measure of vulnerability, rather than a type of social capital as suggested by other authors. High reliance on ganyu points to increased social stratification related to a rise in smallholder tobacco production. Women in female‐headed households appear to rely more on ganyu than in married households. Policy implications of these findings are considered.     

THE IMPACTS OF THE USDA BROADBAND LOAN AND GRANT PROGRAMS: MOVING TOWARD ESTIMATING A RATE OF RETURN

In this article, we evaluate the rate of return to government efforts to promote broadband. Specifically, we estimate the impact of USDA's broadband loan and grant programs on the average payroll per worker using zip code level data from the Zip Code Business Patterns for the period from 1997 to 2007. Our results indicate that two of the smaller broadband programs (the Pilot loan program and the broadband grants program) likely had no effect on local payroll per workers. On the other hand, the largest program in terms of funding and coverage (the current broadband loan program) likely had a positive impact. Our estimate implies that a $1 per capita increase in a particular zip code's one-time receipt of the current program broadband loan results in a $0.92 increase in payroll per worker annually. Our calculated point estimates of the benefit: cost ratios for this broadband program range from 1.98 to 2.99, depending on assumptions about the time frame over which benefits accrue. However, the confidence intervals are wide enough to include the possibility that the costs outweigh the benefits.(JEL L86, J30, O18)     

Dairy Livestock Interventions for Food Security in Uganda: What are the Implications for Women's Empowerment?*

Women are increasingly the target of agricultural development programs aimed at reducing poverty and food insecurity, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Some feminist scholars argue that such efforts are driven more by concerns about the efficient use of resources than the rights of women and do little to transform gendered power relations. We examine how development interventions that target women affect household well-being, especially food insecurity, empower women, and transform gendered power relations. Our study uses the case of the Gates Foundation funded East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) program in Uganda. Our methods include the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index survey and in-depth interviews of women farmers and key informants, within the EADD program. We argue that the livestock sector provides critical insights into women's empowerment because livestock are not “socially neutral” in their gendered effects. Our study found that: (1) ownership of dairy cows enhanced important dimensions of women's empowerment and gender equity that benefited women and households; (2) women's labor responsibilities for dairy cows disempowered some women by increasing their time poverty and; (3) ownership of dairy cows provided a means for women to disrupt entrenched social norms related to gender roles within the household and agriculture.     

Smallholder participation and certification of organic farm products in Mexico

Organic and other environmental and social marketing devices seek to connect producers and consumers more directly and reward environmentally and socially superior production systems. Some researchers have observed that these schemes may introduce mechanisms of exclusion, creating an elite group of certified smallholders while putting non-certified farmers at a distinct disadvantage and introducing division among people whose true interest may lie more in relations of solidarity and cooperation. The trade and regulatory environment that smallholder coops must navigate is increasingly complex and adaptation to its requirements has important implications for farmer organizations. Standards applied to certify smallholder production systems tend to be developed with regard to first-world consumer interests and imposed in a top–down fashion by certification agencies and intermediaries, with little or no farmer participation. Especially in the tropics, agricultural standards that reflect temperate country conditions may place unnecessary burdens on growers who attempt to meet agronomic norms that are irrelevant to local agroecologies. After providing a summary of organic farming and certification in Mexico over the past two decades, we discuss three emerging trends: the advent of contract agriculture in organic production, the appearance of a new, environmentally-based coffee certification system intended to favor bird conservation, and a recent government program to support transition to organic production. All three trends involve certain contradictions, both with the foundational social and ecological goals of organic agriculture and with the interests of small farmers.     

The Impact of Tobacco Policy Reforms on Smallholder Prices in Malawi

Two key questions are addressed in this article. (i) Have Malawi's tobacco‐policy reforms led to improvements in the absolute prices that smallholders get? (ii) How do the prices that smallholders receive compare with what the rich estate owners get? Empirical results indicate that the reforms have led to some improvements in both absolute and relative prices that smallholder farmers receive. Major positive changes in the tobacco price‐structure have occurred after removing monopsony and liberalising the market. However, farmers, especially smallholders, are still faced with high transaction and logistics costs that need to be addressed.     

Redrawing the Contours of the Nation‐State in Uruguay? The Vicissitudes of Emigration Policy in the 2000s

This study analyzes Uruguay's recently launched emigration policy. It argues that the redrawing of the boundaries of the nation‐state along non‐territorial basis is still an incipient and contested process. The findings highlight some relatively under‐explored explanatory factors: emigrants' profile; political junctures requiring immediate commitment; the impact of rhetorical changes and post‐neoliberal projects; presidents as policy drivers and sources of inconsistencies; and institutional deficiencies, inertias, lack of reform, and society's conflictive notions of nation and belonging as brakes. The conclusions indicate that the sustainability of emigration policy is contingent on the state's progress toward internal reform and society's ability to acquire a greater voice and more organizational capacity. Exploring emigration policy characteristics and sources of setbacks in Uruguay unveils the inter‐mestic character of state transnational outreach efforts, qualifies and refines existing explanations, expands our understanding of new governance techniques, and provides some insights into the requirements for emigration policies to work effectively.     

Economic Dependency and HIV/AIDS Prevalence in the Developing World: A Comparative,Longitudinal Analysis

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has plagued global society for over three decades. While breakthroughs in antiretroviral treatments (ART) have proven effective in suppressing the virus and HIV/AIDS intervention outreach have widened, epidemic control remains unevenly achieved among countries. At least 95 percent of HIV/AIDS sufferers originate from developing countries. Dependency theory suggests that developing countries' reliance on debt, trade, and foreign investments pose negative effects on their populations' health. Guided by dependency theory's propositions, this cross‐national study assesses whether increasing dependence on trade, debt, and foreign direct investment potentially increases adult HIV prevalence in developing countries from 1989 to 2012. Using a sample of over 80 nations, we perform a two‐way fixed‐effects OLS regression to evaluate the impact of increasing debt, trade, and foreign investment on adult HIV prevalence. Total debt, short‐term debt, external debt, and GDP were found to increase HIV prevalence. The findings for debt support dependency theory's predictions concerning the ramifications of global economic inequality on HIV/AIDS prevalence.     

Women and agricultural productivity: Reframing the Issues

Should agricultural development programmes target women in order to increase productivity? This article analyzes the challenges in distinguishing women's agricultural productivity from that of men. Most of the literature compares productivity on plots managed by women with those managed by men, ignoring the majority of agricultural households in which men and women are both involved in management and production. The empirical studies which have been carried out provide scant evidence for where the returns to projects may be highest, in terms of who to target. Yet, programmes that do not consider gendered responsibilities, resources and constraints, are unlikely to succeed, either in terms of increasing productivity or benefitting men and women smallholder farmers.     

Disintegration,Formalisation or Reinvention? Contemplating the Future of Balinese Irrigated Rice Societies

Bali's rice production is organised in units called subak with compulsory membership for farmers who grow rice. The future of this highly productive system generating some of the highest yields across Indonesia is under threat. Urbanisation, rural diversification and tourism are encroaching on the immaculately groomed rice terraces, undermining a centuries-old sociocultural institution which, interwoven with kinship, neighbourhood and congregation groups, shapes Balinese society. Nonetheless, rice farming remains a vital source of income for many and rice the most important staple food. This predicament raises questions about the future of farmers' livelihoods, the subak, its cultural heritage and rice production in Bali. The author contemplates possible trajectories by developing three scenarios: (1) disintegration; (2) formalisation; and (3) reinvention. The resulting structured narratives are not forecasts but may encourage discussion of the place and value of the subak and local rice supply in the Balinese economy and society.     

Value Chain Development and the Agrarian Question: Actor Perspectives on Native Potato Production in the Highlands of Peru

Value chain development seeks to integrate smallholder farmers into competitive markets to promote economic and social development. This article, conceptually based on the agrarian question, considers how the perspectives of various value chain actors, with particular focus on smallholders, have important implications for the outcomes of these market‐oriented initiatives. Utilizing Long’s concept of social interface, we present a mixed‐methods case study that analyzes how smallholders, an NGO, and agrifood corporations, including PepsiCo, partnered to establish value chains for native potatoes in the Peruvian highlands. We find that a thorough understanding of the various perspectives held by value chain actors provides important insight into why value chain initiatives have divergent trajectories. Based on the findings, we conclude that accounting for how actors are responding to development initiatives and one another helps explain development outcomes and that therefore the agrarian question remains relevant in current agricultural development discourse and practice.     

Trading sex: Voluntary or coerced? The experiences of homeless youth

This study examined the circumstances surrounding a homeless youth's “decision “ to trade sex for food, money, shelter, or drugs. Forty homeless youth in 4 Midwestern states participated in individual, in‐depth qualitative interviews. Interviewers recruited youth through both service agencies and street outreach. The findings revealed that approximately one third of the sample had some experience with trading sex, whether it was in the form of having traded sex, having been propositioned to trade sex but having refused, or having friends or acquaintances that had traded sex. Young people's reports indicated that they had traded sex for things they deemed necessary in order to survive (i.e., food, shelter, money, or drugs) and that they did not want to trade sex, but did so because they were desperate and lacked alternatives. Additionally, others were coerced, manipulated, or forced to do so, indicating that the decision to trade sex is not always voluntary. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of cumulative effects on youths’ later development. Directions for future research among this population are also discussed.     

The Brewers and Public Relations History, 1909–1919

In 1909, the American brewing industry's trade association, the United States Brewers' Association, launched its first year book to serve as an educational resource for those concerned about temperance and prohibition. Over the next 10 years, these year books revealed communication efforts that more closely resembled a modern approach to influencing public sentiment, such as the consistent use of 4 key messages, research on local option persuasion campaigns, and a relationship-building outreach program in the form of the Barley Campaign. This study, then, not only contributes to the historical scholarship concerning the role of trade associations in public relations history, but, in its departure from the timeline approach to understanding the field's development, it also contributes to the ongoing theory building in public relations history.     

The Persistence of the Black Farmer: The Contemporary Relevance of the Lenin-Chayanov Debate1

Abstract Previous empirical studies of black farmers have identified socioeconomic and demographic variables as important to their success and survival. The theories of Lenin and Chayanov also highlight the role of demographic and socioeconomic factors in the differentiation of the peasantry. Panel data from a survey of black small-scale farm operators in the North Carolina Piedmont are used to test hypotheses based upon the Lenin-Chayanov debate. A multivariate analysis shows that black farmers who survived owned tobacco quota, had more on-farm household labor, had smaller households, and had higher gross farm incomes than those who left agriculture. These results point to the need to synthesize Lenin's macro-level focus on class formation and Chayanov's micro-level focus on enterprise formation in order to understand smallholder persistence. Over the five-year period studied, approximately 50 percent of the original respondents were no longer actively operating farms indicating that the future of the black smallholder remains precarious.     

Social Structural Location and Vocabularies of Participation: Fostering a Collective Identity in Urban Agriculture Activism

Contextualized within the visible inequality that permeates its local food landscape and the broader elitist food culture of California's San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland's urban agriculture movement comprises actors with rich vocabularies of motive for participation. Drawing from 25 in‐depth interviews with movement activists, I uncover a racial and social class homogeneity among participants that contributes to the formation of a collective identity but also limits the movement's outcomes in important ways. This research draws from Bourdieu's theory of class distinction and social movement theories of collective identity formation to contribute to literature on the reproduction of class and racial privilege in alternative food activism. I find that narratives for movement involvement converge on three discourses: possession of education‐derived knowledge to contend with the agroindustrial complex, the conflation of the creation of community through urban food growing with inclusivity, and a missionary‐like desire to educate others as to the benefits of growing their own food. I argue that the movement could benefit from a more diverse repertoire of action generated from a greater integration of racially and economically diverse actors working together to reorient the food system toward local food production alternatives.