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The goal of the paper is to analyse the various issues attached to the valuation of weather derivatives. We focus our study on temperature‐related contracts since they are the most widely traded at this point and try to address the following questions: (i) should the quantity underlying the swaps or options contracts be defined as the temperature, degree‐days or cumulative degree‐days? This discussion is conducted both in terms of the robustness of the statistical modelling of the state variable and the mathematical valuation of the option (European versus Asian). (ii) What pricing approaches can tackle the market incompleteness generated by a non‐tradable underlying when furthermore the market price of risk is hard to identify in other traded instruments and unlikely to be zero? We illustrate our study on a database of temperatures registered at Paris Le Bourget and compare the calls and puts prices obtained using the different methods most widely used in weather markets.

This study examined the impact of the Input Credit Scheme (ICS) by the Integrated Water Management and Agriculture Development (IWAD) on the productivity and food security of smallholder rice farmers in Ghana.

Cross-sectional data from 250 rice farming households in the Mamprugu Moagduri district of the North East Region obtained from a multi-stage sampling technique were used for the study. Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment (IPWRA), Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Kendall's coefficient of concordance were the methods of analysis employed.

Empirical results show that education, rice farming experience, dependency ratio, FBO membership, farm size and farm age were the significant factors influencing participation in the input credit scheme (ICS). Also, participants had an average rice productivity of 1,476.83 kg/ha, whereas non-participants had 1,131.81 kg/ha implying that participants increased their productivity by about 30%. In addition, the study revealed that participant households increased their household dietary diversity (HDDS) by 0.45 points amounting to about 8% diversity in their diets. High-interest rates associated with credit received, the short periods of credit repayment and the high cost of inputs provided under the scheme were the most challenging constraints associated with partaking in the ICS.

The available literature on agricultural interventions have predominantly emphasized input credit as a key factor for improving cropt productivity and food security of smallholders. This study provides compelling evidence that participation in ICSs can result in substantial benefits for agricultural development, as evidenced by increased productivity leading to improved food security. The significance of these findings is highlighted by the fact that, through participation in input credit schemes, smallholder rice farmers in many developing countries see substantial improvement in their capacity to access productive resources, thereby improving their productivity, while simultaneously reducing food insecurity.

Leveraging on the improved productivity of participants in the ICS, this study advocates that such input credit schemes should scale up to more food-insecure farming communities in Ghana.

The study uses a doubly robust econometric approach to evaluate the impact of ICS on smallholder rice farmers' productivity and food security in Ghana, making it the first of its kind. The findings offer a solid basis for future research and provide guidance for policymakers looking to boost agricultural development in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze food security status and its determinants among households in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

The analysis is based on the General Household Survey which was conducted in 2014 where 3,033 households were sampled from the province. Specifically, this study examines the determinants of food security proxy by dietary diversity (24-hour recall) using descriptive statistics, Poisson regression. A frequency count of food groups consumed household dietary diversity score was used as the explained variable.

The descriptive analysis shows that, although 61.7 percent of households in the study area have a high dietary diversity score, however, food group giving micronutrients are less consumed as food groups having cereals (maize), beef, sugar and oil was mostly consumed. Results on the marginal effect of Poisson regression indicate that household head characteristics (age, gender, education, marital status, and employment status), pension receiving households and geographical location significantly influence household dietary diversity.

This study advocates for the intensification of rural development and food security programs, formal and informal education for household heads, female empowerment and dietary enlightenment for households in order to promote the consumption of diverse diets and more healthful food groups.

Land is an emotive issue for women in Kenya, majority of who still suffer the consequences of not having access to land, leading to economic insecurity. This paper aims at examining the effects of women access to land on household nutritional outcomes among smallholder farmers in Kenya.

The study uses primary data collected from a sample of 384 small-scale women farmers selected using multi-stage sampling technique. For data analysis, household nutritional outcomes were measured using Households Dietary Diversity Scores (HDDS) and Household Hunger Scale Scores (HHS). Stratification multilevel and matching-smoothing approach that controls for pre-treatment heterogeneity bias and treatment effect heterogeneity bias was used in estimating heterogeneous effects of women access to land.

The analysis reveals that women access to land has a significant positive effect on household nutritional outcomes. All households across all propensity scores strata benefited significantly but differently from women access to land in terms of nutritional outcomes.

Econometrically, propensity matching technique used in computing heterogeneity effects captures selection bias due to observable characteristics but it fails to capture selection bias due to unobservable factors. However, robust strategies were employed to ensure minimal estimation bias.

The paper provides insights on the determinants of women access to land and the influence women access to land has on household nutritional outcomes. In addition, by employing one of the conventional impact evaluation techniques, the paper contributes to knowledge by taking into accounts the heterogeneity in the effects of women access to land on household nutritional outcomes.

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of off-farm work on food security in rural Bangladesh. We use rural household-level data and a nonparametric propensity score matching (PSM) estimator. Matching estimators are used in observational data to address the potential selection biases caused by nonrandom allocation of the treatment. Monthly food-consumption data and household income and expenditure surveys from rural Bangladesh for 2013–2014 are used in this chapter. We found that rural Bangladeshi households participating in nonfarm income-generating activities, especially in higher return nonfarm employment, enjoy higher levels of per-capita food expenditures and diet diversity – two of the measures of food security. In particular, we find that rural households increased diet diversity in cereals, fruits and vegetables, and meats. Finally, our estimates reveal that rural households participating in off-farm work increased per-capita food consumption by about Taka 1,576, on average, and increased per-capita expenditures on milk and milk products (Taka 212), and fruits and vegetables (Taka 235) significantly. Policy makers should design and implement policies that create off-farm livelihood activities. These nonfarm activities would help smallholder farm families to diversify, to supplement their income, and to continue their agricultural operations as well as increase food security.

The purpose of this study is to compare food consumption and dietary diversity in smallholder cassava value chain households (CVCHs) and non-cassava value chain households (non-CVCHs).

A total of 572 rural households were selected using multi-stage sampling from Oyo and Kwara states, Southwest Nigeria. Socio-demographic, 24 h dietary recall and food frequency questionnaires were used to collect data. Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and the Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women of Reproductive Age (MDD-W) were measured.

The mean age of respondents was 49.1 ± 17.3 years, 68.3 per cent were female, household sizes ranged from 2-20 with an average of 8 members. Most households consumed monotonous staple-based diets mainly from roots and tubers, cereals and legumes. There was no significant difference in HDDS (6.70 ± 1.37 and 6.77 ± 1.12; p = 0.12) and MDD-W (4.78 ± 1.12 and 4.95 ± 1.16; p = 0.09) for CVCH and non-CVCH respectively. About one-third of all women did not achieve the MDD-W score required for micronutrient adequacy, with the main dietary gap being vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables.

The findings suggest that there was no influence of households’ involvement in cassava value chain activities on their pattern of food consumption and dietary diversity.

While cassava value chain activities have potential for improved livelihoods among its actors, a nutrition-sensitive approach needs to be incorporated to translate this into their improved food consumption, dietary diversity and nutritional (particularly micronutrient) status.

The reliability of hard disk drives (HDDs) is dependent on the drive construction, as well as the operational and environmental conditions, in which the drive is used. Self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology (SMART) continuously provides attribute information on HDD usage and degradation characteristics.

This paper aims to analyze the reported failures Backblaze data set for ST3000DM001 HDDs intended for desktop applications within a data center application. SMART attributes used for predicting failure are discussed and analyzed over the life of many hard drives. A case study on the actual use of SMART and the limitations of the SMART attribute information, the data center’s information and the use of desktop drives in a commercial application are also presented.

The analysis showed that when Backblaze started to record the data, the hard disk drives had already worked for a while with power on hours mean and standard deviation of 6,683 and 365 h, respectively. Therefore, it is possible that some SMART attributes have experienced critical values that have not been recorded by Backblaze. Additionally, 8% of all ST3000DM001 drives that Backblaze labeled as failed did not have raw values above zero for the five attributes that were considered critical. Backblaze recorded 25 SMART attributes in total for all hard disk drive brands where ST3000DM001 having 83.3% of the attributes ranked as the drive with the most attributes recorded. Having more recorded attributes with critical values leads to label more ST3000DM001 drives as failed while there might be the hard drives from the other brands or part numbers that experienced more critical SMART attributes but were not labeled as failed because of the lack of records.

It is an original work carried out at the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, University of Maryland.

The paper examines the role played by foreign direct investment in developing local linkages in Singapore’s electronics industry. Backward material linkages have developed as a result of two processes: the development of indigenous local suppliers, mostly within the fabricated parts sector, and foreign investment by overseas suppliers, especially in the hard disk drive sector. The economic development potential of these suppliers varies, and local suppliers in contract manufacturing offer the best hope for future indigenous growth within the supply base. Public policies targeted towards supplier development and upgrading the quality of multinationals play a significant role in facilitating local linkage development in Singapore.

This study aims to investigate the determinants of the food security status of participants and non-participants of livestock extension services living under similar socioeconomic conditions as livestock farming households in the Feed the Future zone of Bangladesh.

Cross-sectional data of 906 farm-households extracted from a total of 2064 from the Feed the Future representative Bangladesh Integrated Households Survey 2018 were used. A triple hurdle model combined with a structural equation model were used to analyze the data. The causal relationship between food security status, livestock extension services, technology adoption and women's empowerment was investigated by estimating structural equation modeling with second-order latent factors.

The results indicate that livestock extension services have increased livestock technology adoption and have a positively significant (p < 0.01) relationship with household wealth, food security, welfare and women's empowerment.

The results suggest that livestock extension services have an impact on new technology adoption and enhancing women's empowerment; thus, the services should be widely made available in the region.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2021-0647.

This study aims to investigate the food choice motivations of rural households using a cross-sectional dataset of 510 households from northwest Vietnam interviewed in 2016.

A modified Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) is used to assess factors related to food choice and explore relationships between food choice factors, diet quality and various sociodemographic characteristics.

Results show four distinct food choice factors: “Natural and healthy,” “Familiarity,” “Balanced diet” and “Convenience.” Two distinct consumer clusters are identified: “Health-conscious” households and “Pragmatic” households. “Health-conscious” households rank “Balanced diet” and “Natural and healthy” highly, while “Pragmatic” households prioritize “Convenience” and “Familiarity.” “Health-conscious” households have significantly more diverse diets, are wealthier and have a greater geographic concentration in the high vegetable density per capita-high elevation areas (36%). Their main food preparers are more educated and about 13% have Kinh ethnicity.

Further research is warranted to explore the temporal dimension of parental food choice motivations given the changing agrifood system in Vietnam.

This study is one of the few studies that assess the food choice motivations among ethnic minority groups in a rural setting.