IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaaeke/9519.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Expanding the Frontiers of Agricultural Economics to Meet the Future Challenges of Agricultural Development

Author

Listed:
  • Kirsten, Johann F.

Abstract

In this paper I challenge the theoretical building blocks of agricultural economics and then provide some indication of how the discipline has rectified some of its shortcomings. The introduction of the New Institutional Economics into our discipline has been a major improvement. I have then argued that the challenges facing our profession are so huge that we need to think about further adaptation by making more use of other social sciences such as sociology and anthropology. This could help us understand the major complexities of dealing with the challenge of black economic empowerment in agriculture. This will however, also be necessary for us to adjust our research paradigm. This argument is well articulated by Doyer and Van Rooyen (2001) when they motivated a research method to study agribusiness supply chains. The challenges highlighted that for agricultural economic analysis to capture complex business reality and decisions to explain and predict the institutional and governance structures and optimal resource allocation behaviour of firms, approaches to research that combines positivist and constructivist are the most sensible. The combination of these approaches enables a holistic approach to the research problem. Positivism's strong explanatory and prediction capabilities are combined with the strong understanding and reconstructive capabilities of the constructivist approach. Throughout this process, qualitative and quantitative data can be used in combination. Since our research work also needs to focus more on structural and institutional issues it seems quite evident that we have to adopt a more eclectic research approach making much more use of case studies. The skills from the other social sciences will desperately be required here to advance our discipline into previously untreated terrain. This is necessary to make sure we make the important contribution to the task of building Africa's Agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirsten, Johann F., 2004. "Expanding the Frontiers of Agricultural Economics to Meet the Future Challenges of Agricultural Development," 2004 Inaugural Symposium, December 6-8, 2004, Nairobi, Kenya 9519, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaaeke:9519
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.9519
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/9519/files/cp04ki01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.9519?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harriss, John, 2002. "The Case for Cross-Disciplinary Approaches in International Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 487-496, March.
    2. Kherallah, Mylene & Kirsten, Johann F, 2002. "The New Institutional Economics: Applications For Agricultural Policy Research In Developing Countries," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 41(2).
    3. Reardon, Thomas & Barrett, Christopher B., 2000. "Agroindustrialization, globalization, and international development: An overview of issues, patterns, and determinants," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 195-205, September.
    4. Olson, Mancur & Kahkohnen, Satu (ed.), 2000. "A Not-so-dismal Science: A Broader View of Economies and Societies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294900.
    5. Warren J. Samuels, 1992. "Determinate Solutions and Valuational Processes: Overcoming the Foreclosure of Process," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Essays on the Methodology and Discourse of Economics, chapter 6, pages 92-107, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Mantzavinos,C., 2001. "Individuals, Institutions, and Markets," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521773584, January.
    7. Lyne, M. C. & Thomson, D. N. & Ortmann, G. F., 1996. "Institutional Change To Promote Land Rental Markets I In The Developing Regions Of Southern Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 35(01), March.
    8. Lodewijks, John, 2002. "Intersubjectivity in Economics: Agents and Structures," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 539-543, August.
    9. Claude Ménard (ed.), 2000. "Institutions, Contracts and Organizations," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1921.
    10. Dorward, Andrew & Kydd, Jonathan & Morrison, Jamie & Urey, Ian, 2004. "A Policy Agenda for Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 73-89, January.
    11. Kherallah, Mylene & Kirsten, Johann F., 2001. "The new institutional economics: applications for agricultural policy research in developing countries," MSSD discussion papers 41, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Kanbur, Ravi, 2002. "Economics, Social Science and Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 477-486, March.
    13. Jonathan Kydd & Andrew Dorward, 2001. "The Washington Consensus on Poor Country Agriculture: Analysis, Prescription and Institutional Gaps," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 19(4), pages 467-478, December.
    14. Peterson, H. Christopher & Robison, Lindon J. & Siles, Marcelo E., 1999. "The Social Capital Foundations Of Trust In Global Agri-Food System Transactions," Staff Paper Series 11490, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    15. Bromley, Daniel W., 1990. "The ideology of efficiency: Searching for a theory of policy analysis," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 86-107, July.
    16. Doyer, O. T. & van Rooyen, C. J., 2001. "Challenging the Paradigm: How to Extend Conventional Agricultural Economic Analysis to Support Agribusiness in the New Global Economy," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 40(2), June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kirsten, J, 2002. "Forty Years Of Agricultural Economics Scholarship And Practice In South Africa: A Time To Challenge The Consensus And Refocus Our Intellectual Work," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 41(4).
    2. Spielman, David J., 2007. "Pro-poor agricultural biotechnology: Can the international research system deliver the goods?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 189-204, April.
    3. Roberto Dell’Anno, 2010. "Institutions and human development in the Latin American informal economy," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 207-230, September.
    4. Spielman, David J. & Kolady, Deepthi E. & Cavalieri, Anthony & Rao, N. Chandrasekhara, 2014. "The seed and agricultural biotechnology industries in India: An analysis of industry structure, competition, and policy options," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 88-100.
    5. Wendy Olsen & University of Manchester, 2005. "Pluralism, Poverty and Sharecropping: Cultivating Open-Mindedness in Development Studies," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-008, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Rashid, Shahidur & Sharma, Manohar & Zeller, Manfred, 2002. "Micro-lending for small farmers in Bangladesh," MTID discussion papers 45, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Freeman, H. Ade & Kaguongo, Wachira, 2003. "Fertilizer market liberalization and private retail trade in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5-6), pages 505-518.
    8. Nicolas Faysse, 2005. "Coping With The Tragedy Of The Commons: Game Structure And Design Of Rules," Post-Print cirad-01002167, HAL.
    9. Leonard, David K. & Bloom, Gerald & Hanson, Kara & O’Farrell, Juan & Spicer, Neil, 2013. "Institutional Solutions to the Asymmetric Information Problem in Health and Development Services for the Poor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 71-87.
    10. Kherallah, Mylene & Kirsten, Johann F, 2002. "The New Institutional Economics: Applications For Agricultural Policy Research In Developing Countries," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 41(2).
    11. Mitra, Sophie & Palmer, Michael & Vuong, Vu, 2020. "Development and interdisciplinarity: A citation analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    12. Ravi, S.C. & Umesh, Kotrakere Basegowda & Murthy, P.S. Srikantha & Chandrakanth, M.G., 2021. "Institutional Interventions and Governance for Equity: Impact and Policies from Tank Irrigation in Central Dry Zone of Karnataka," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315209, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Giles Mohan & Gordon Wilson, 2005. "The antagonistic relevance of development studies," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 5(4), pages 261-278, October.
    14. Nicholas Minot & Lisa Daniels, 2005. "Impact of global cotton markets on rural poverty in Benin," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(s3), pages 453-466, November.
    15. Thapa, Gopal B. & Rasul, Golam, 2005. "Patterns and determinants of agricultural systems in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 255-277, June.
    16. Jonathan Kydd & Andrew Dorward & Jamie Morrison & Georg Cadisch, 2004. "Agricultural development and pro-poor economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: potential and policy," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 37-57.
    17. Konlambigue, Abdou, 2008. "Financing agricultural inputs in Northern Togo through an inventory credit system: an economic analysis of institutional response," 2007 Second International Conference, August 20-22, 2007, Accra, Ghana 52100, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    18. Kherallah, Mylene & Kirsten, Johann F., 2001. "The new institutional economics: applications for agricultural policy research in developing countries," MSSD discussion papers 41, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Husmann, Christine, 2015. "Transaction Costs on the Ethiopian Formal Seed Market and Innovations for Encouraging Private Sector Investments," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 54(01), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Isaac Agholor, 2013. "Analysis of Constraints of Rural Beef Cattle Cooperative Farmers: A Case Study of Ga-kibi, Norma and Mogalakwena in Blouberg," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 5(8), pages 1-76, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aaaeke:9519. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaaeaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.