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Modelling embedded risk in peasant agriculture: methodological insights from northern Malawi
Author(s) -
Dorward Andrew
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.29
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1574-0862
pISSN - 0169-5150
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-0862.1999.tb00593.x
Subject(s) - peasant , agriculture , capital (architecture) , digital signal processing , economics , linear programming , computer science , econometrics , geography , algorithm , archaeology , computer hardware
Using a linear‐programming model of farming systems in northern Malawi, the conditions under which peasant farm‐household models may need to allow for embedded risk are investigated, Tactical, sequential responses to uncertainty are found to be more important to labour‐scarce households with limited access to capital and to credit markets. Compared with semi‐sequential programming, discrete stochastic programming (DSP) provided more efficient solutions for problems involving embedded risk. There may be intuitive advantages in presenting results from DSP models in terms of a semi‐sequential strategy.