Risk aversion, crop diversification, and food security

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Abstract

This paper explores the interplay between risk aversion, crop diversification, and food security. In poor agrarian countries, farmers’ risk aversion is inherently linked to their food security, yet empirical evidence regarding this relationship remains scarce. Using field experiment data from rural Ethiopia, I find that crop diversity is a mediating mechanism through which farmers’ risk aversion negatively affects food security. This finding highlights the importance of factoring in farmers’ risk preferences when formulating policies aimed at promoting crop diversification among impoverished smallholder farmers as a strategy to mitigate food insecurity.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Applied Economics

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS