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Can Land Fragmentation Reduce the Exposure of Rural Households to Weather Variability?

Author

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  • Stefanija Veljanoska

    (Paris School of Economics, UniversitŽ de Paris 1 PanthŽon-Sorbonne, UniversitŽ Paris-Sud)

Abstract

Climate change continuously affects African farmers that operate in rain-fed environments. Coping with weather risk through credit and insurance markets is almost inexistent as these markets are imperfect in the African economies. Even though land fragmentation is often considered as a barrier to agricultural productivity, this article aims at analyzing whether land fragmentation, as an insurance alternative, is able to reduce farmers' exposure to weather variability. In order to address this research question, I use the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) data on Uganda. After dealing with the endogeneity of land fragmentation, I find that higher land fragmentation decreases the loss of crop yield when households experience rain deviations. Therefore, policy makers should be cautious with land consolidation programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefanija Veljanoska, 2017. "Can Land Fragmentation Reduce the Exposure of Rural Households to Weather Variability?," Policy Papers 2017.02, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:fae:ppaper:2017.02
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; land fragmentation; rainfall; yield; insurance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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