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We investigate the role of productive safety net program (PSNP) and its modes of benefit transfer in vulnerability to nutritional outcomes in rural households of Ethiopia. We model a panel switching regression in a counterfactual framework to account unobserved individual heterogeneity. We find an inverse relationship between PSNP participation and households' vulnerability to low dietary intake and diet diversity. Our findings confirm that vulnerability is reduced more with cash plus food transfers compared to either of the mechanism individually. The study sheds some light to the on-going debate on the design of mode of benefit transfer in social protection programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the extent that diversifying income portfolio is used as a strategy for shielding against production risk, both individual risk aversion and weather uncertainty could affect crop diversification decisions. This paper is concerned with empirically assessing the effects of risk aversion and rainfall variability on farm level diversity. Unique panel data from Ethiopia consisting of experimentally generated risk aversion measures combined with rainfall data are employed in the analysis. The major contribution of this study is its explicit treatment of individual risk preferences in the decision to diversify, simultaneously controlling for environmental risk in the form of rainfall variability. Covariate shocks from rainfall variability are found to positively contribute to an increased level of diversity with individual risk aversion having a positive but less significant role. We find that rainfall variability in spring has a greater effect than rainfall variability summer-the major rainy season. This finding is in line with similar agronomic-meteorological studies. These results imply that in situ biodiversity conservation could be effective in areas with high rainfall variability. However, reduction in risk aversion, which is associated with poverty reduction, is likely to reduce in situ conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the patterns of food crop choice in a multicropping setting, in which production risk considerations and rainfall uncertainty are likely to be critical factors. The analysis employed plot level panel data from Ethiopia, combined with 30 year meteorological data corresponding to the survey villages used to construct seasonal and yearly rainfall variability. Using the single index approach, the riskiness of crop portfolio was constructed at a household level, taking into account the multicropping nature of the farming system. The combined riskiness of crops grown at a household level responded negatively to annual rainfall variability, with seasonal rainfall variability having a less consistent impact. Farmers are, therefore, more likely to select less risky crop portfolios even when intercrop interactions are taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures for potential profit in the North Sea mixed demersal fishery for cod, haddock and whiting. Dynamic bioeconomic models for three UK fisheries are developed, incorporating both population dynamics and economic structure. Actual profit in 2006, for the three UK fleets included in the analysis, is estimated at £10.3 million. If the TAC remains unchanged but vessels are allowed to harvest at near efficient levels with fleet size reduced accordingly, potential profit is measured at £34.5 million. If demersal stocks are allowed to recover to near optimal levels potential UK profit exceeds £185 million. This indicates substantial profit dissipation due to overcapacity and stock depletion in the fishery. The results of the paper should be of policy interest and will add to the empirical literature on resource profits in mixed demersal fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]