Date of Award

1-1-2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Josef Korbel School of International Studies

First Advisor

Ilene Grabel, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

George DeMartino

Third Advisor

Martin Rhodes

Fourth Advisor

Randall Dodd

Keywords

Agriculture, Coffee, Derivaties, Development, Futures, Risk

Abstract

It has become common for researchers and international development institutions to recommend the use of derivative instruments to developing country farmers and policymakers as a means of insuring agricultural incomes against the threats posed by volatile global commodity prices. Despite such enthusiasm, very little research to date examines whether or not derivative instruments actually can deliver income support to agricultural producers who face commodity price risk. This dissertation evaluates these recommendations, focusing upon the potential income security benefits of hedging with futures instruments for coffee farmers in Mexico, Brazil and Uganda during the 1998-2002 coffee crisis. The three-part quantitative and qualitative analysis undertaken focuses upon: 1. The ability of futures hedging to address the income insecurity of coffee producers (with income security having four dimensions: certainty, stability, adequacy and (in)equality); 2. Difficulties accessing futures markets, especially among small producers, due to various obstacles such size, yield risk, cost, information and knowledge; and, 3. Policy innovations and alternatives that could enhance the services provided by futures markets, supplement, or replace them in the coffee context. The data suggest that futures hedging provides an ambiguous income security service that in some cases can improve farmer income security, while in other cases making farmer incomes more insecure. Further, no hedging strategy tested was able to address all four aspects of farmer income (in)security simultaneously, suggesting the need for policymakers to consider alternative commodity price risk management arrangements. The data additionally suggest that substantial portions of the coffee farming populations of the three case countries are systematically excluded from futures hedging due to the presence of severe obstacles to substantive participation. Alarmingly, many of the futures market intermediaries erected by development institutions and/or national policymakers in the three case countries also fail to include small coffee producers, and sometimes provide risk management services of dubious quality. The dissertation concludes with suggestions for cautious and limited application of futures instruments by governments to the problem of coffee farmer income insecurity, as well as suggestions about alternative arrangements that may be of greater income security assistance to small coffee producers.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Sasha Coler Breger Bush

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

407 p.

Discipline

International law, Agriculture economics, Finance

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