Explore the vast range of titles available.

This paper uses a partial equilibrium framework to evaluate the relative efficiency, distributional and revenue implications of rice tariffs and targeted transfers in Madagascar, especially in the context of identifying their respective roles for poverty alleviation. Although there are likely to be substantial efficiency gains from tariff reductions, these accrue mainly to higher income households. In addition, poor net rice sellers will lose from lower tariffs. Developing a system of well designed and implemented targeted direct transfers to poor households is thus likely to be a substantially more costeffective approach to poverty alleviation. Such an approach should be financed by switching revenue raising from rice tariffs to more efficient tax instruments. These policy conclusions are likely to be robust to the incorporation of general equilibrium considerations.

Two researchers with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville are studying how to make malted rice an alternative ingredient for brewing beer. Malted barley historically has been the ingredient the brewing process uses to put the alcohol in beer, but rice has generated new interest as a possible replacement. Anheuser-Busch is already inter- ested and supportive of the research, and improvements in the malting process could attract the craft beer industry, which is a rapidly growing sector.

Despite decades of investment in agricultural research and rice development, the Philippines continues to face stagnation in domestic rice production. This persistent trend, occurring despite a sizable arable land base and large rural workforce, has contributed to the country’s growing reliance on rice imports to meet national food needs. In response, the government has implemented a tariff-based import system designed to fund domestic productivity improvements. While previous studies have explored the technical and environmental constraints affecting rice production, such as irrigation shortfalls, land degradation, and climate variability, few have examined recent national trends using regionally disaggregated data alongside qualitative insights. This study fills that gap by analysing official production statistics from 2013 to 2023 across all regions of the Philippines, complemented by contextual data from farming communities and policy reviews. The results reveal that widespread stagnation is primarily driven by limits to both land expansion and yield growth. However, a handful of regions have significantly increased output in recent years, largely due to targeted public investment in irrigation, improved seed technologies, and institutional support. These cases offer important lessons for policy, while also underscoring the risks posed by climate shocks and competing land uses. By identifying both barriers and enablers of rice sector performance, this research contributes to more regionally responsive and inclusive policy strategies aimed at strengthening food security, rural livelihoods, and agricultural resilience in the face of evolving development challenges.

Attaining self-sufficiency in rice production is paramount to Indonesia’s food security and economic independence. This study attempts to formulate a national alternative policy to achieve a Self-Sufficiency Ratio (SSR) of 97.8% for Indonesia. Drawing on data sourced from reputable institutions spanning the years 1998 to 2018, we propose econometric models, which are subsequently analysed using Two-Stage Least Square (2 SLS) methodology. The study’s findings highlight three critical strategies for achieving a 97.8% SSR in rice production: (a) focus on maximising productivity gains, (b) emphasise a balanced approach through expanding irrigated areas and enhancing productivity, and (c) advocate for a comprehensive approach involving increased irrigated areas, heightened productivity, and stricter import tariffs.

Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries presents research findings based on a series of commodity studies of significant economic importance to developing countries. First, the book sets the stage with background chapters and investigations of cross-cutting issues. Trade and domestic policy regimes affecting agricultural and food markets are described, and the resulting patterns of production and trade are assessed. The book follows with an analysis of product standards and costs of compliance and their effects on agricultural and food trade. An investigation of the impact of preferences given to selected countries and their effectiveness is next. The evidence on the attempts to decouple agricultural support from agricultural output is then reviewed. The last background chapter explores the robustness of the global gains of multilateral agricultural and food trade liberalization. Given this context, the book presents detailed commodity studies for coffee, cotton, dairy, fruits and vegetables, groundnuts, rice, seafood products, sugar, and wheat. These markets feature distorted policy regimes among industrial or middle-income countries. The studies analyze current policy regimes in key producing and consuming countries document the magnitude of these distortions and estimates the distributional impacts–winners and losers-of trade and domestic policy reforms. By bringing the key issues and findings together in one place, Global Agricultural Trade and Developing Countries aids policy makers and researchers, both in their approach to global negotiations and in evaluating their domestic policies on agriculture. This book also complements the recently published Agriculture and the WTO that focuses primarily on the agricultural issues within the context of the WTO negotiations.

Trade can be slowed down by cultural diversity as a source of friction but also accelerated by the emergence of a global culture. We attempt to illustrate this point by focusing on one good, Japanese sake, whose exports can benefit from the diffusion of Japanese food culture as represented by sushi consumption. We estimate a gravity model of Japanese sake exports worldwide over the years 2001–2016, showing that this trade responds to standard determinants (GDP, distance, exchange rates, tariffs) but also to the flow of Google searches for the word ‘sushi’. We extensively discuss the assumption that sushi, as a proxy for the popularity of Japanese culture, is unaffected by other unobservables that may drive up exports from Japan. Future research should attempt to model and further characterize the spillovers from a global culture on international trade.

In this paper, two power plant configurations for distributed energy, simple and cascaded Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), were proposed, modeled, analyzed and compared from a technical and economic point of view. It is proposed to use rice husks from a typical mill in Nigeria as fuel for the operation of the power plant, while the working fluids for the studied ORC plants are toluene and R245fa refrigerants. Power plants are modeled on the basis of fundamental technical and economic approaches. At the same time, power generation, as well as energy and exergy efficiency were selected as key technical parameters for the study. The desired economic parameter determines the cost of a unit of energy. It has been established that with proper use of rice husks as a renewable energy source, the energy generated by the ORC power plant can help to meet 27–38 MWh daily needs of the rice factory and its surroundings. The results of the analysis of the energy and exergy efficiency of a simple and cascade ORC power plant as presented indicates a better prospect for the latter. The working/thermal capacities of the plant elements and the loss of exergy in them are analyzed. The directions of increasing the efficiency of the rice husk power plant have been identified, primarily by improving high-temperature heat exchangers. The results of an economic analysis of the viability of the simple and cascade ORC power plants are presented. A simple ORC demonstrates the best economic performance with a unit energy cost of $0.115 per kWh compared to $0.124 per kWh of a cascade ORC. However, a holistic study of technical, economic, social and environmental indicators creates prerequisites for the research and development of a cascade ORC installation. The paper also presents the results of an analysis of the sensitivity of plant performance on the volume of annual production of rice husks, the temperature of the exhaust gases at the outlet of the chimney and the coefficient of the import tariff. A feasibility study of the prospects of the proposed technical solution for poorly electrified countries is presented.

This study evaluates the cost-competitiveness and economic viability of local wheat flour production as a strategy to reduce Ghana’s significant dependency on import, using a comprehensive mixed-methods approach. The study used a historical (2000–2024) and forward-looking (2025–2050) cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with rice production data as proxy. The research finds a robustly positive Net Present Value (NPV) of GHC1.93 billion for the historical period and GHC87.47 billion for the future projection. The sensitivity analysis revealed that, the project’s viability is most sensitive to global wheat price volatility, yet it remains financially resilient across various adverse scenarios. The findings demonstrate that, local wheat production is not only a strategic imperative for promoting food sovereignty in Ghana, but also an economically viable and robust investment. The study concluded with evidence-based recommendations, including initiating pilot programs with heat-tolerant varieties, developing price stabilization mechanisms and prioritizing important inputs like irrigation to guide policymakers and private sector actors in developing a cost-competitive local wheat flour industry in Ghana.

Tariff removal has always a positive impact on increasing trade between countries. Trade liberalization always leads to an expansion in intraregional and interregional trade, which is also supposed to stimulate investment and economic growth in the long term. Considering the aforementioned, this paper employs a multi-region, multi-sector dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to investigates the economic impacts of tariff removal in Korea, Japan, India, China, and ASEAN. To conduct the investigation, this paper constructs general algebraic modeling system (GAMS) language to find an answer to how the simulated region's economy affects after the tariff removal. The simulation results show Korea, Japan and India ranked the top countries with an average growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.13%, 0.01%, and 0.004%, respectively. Moreover, China and ASEAN followed with a decline in average gross domestic product (GDP) by − 0.02% and − 0.002%. A significant increase in consumption is observed in China, where, consumption declines in Japan, Korea, India, and ASEAN. The average export in China, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN reduce by − 1.8%, − 0.43%, − 24%, and − 2.3%, where, export in India expands to 0.58%. The analysis of this study finds that Korea's economy will gain more by growing commodities output like rice, wheat, cereal grains, and textile-wearing apparel by 3.8%, 2.7%, 2.5%, and 8.5%, accordingly. In conclusion, this study is directed to policymakers looking at valuable information for decision-making.