Understanding Smallholder Farmers' Post-Harvest Choices in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Malawi
Abstract
This dissertation has three essays that are focused on understanding smallholder farmers’ choices in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly, Malawi. The first essay uses a clustered randomized control trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of storage and commitment constraints on farmers’ legume storage behavior. The second essay is motivated by the incomplete quality information problem within informal markets that undermines consumers’ demand for quality and lead to lemons market. In this essay, we use a clustered RCT along with the Becker DeGroote Marshack auctions amongst 1,098 farm households to evaluate whether providing food safety (aflatoxins) information increases consumers’ demand for grain quality and whether that demand for quality varies depending on food availability. The third essay uses stochastic dynamic programming to explore the role of market risk and expenditure shocks on smallholder farmers’ storage and marketing behavior.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Ricker-Gilbert, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Agriculture|Marketing|Agricultural economics|Economics|Finance|Food Science|Sub Saharan Africa Studies|Web Studies
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