MK102-Chair of Agricultural and Food Market Analysis - Economics Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Task 

Question 1: Market shocks and food security    

You are an analyst with the World Food Program (WFP). You look into this year’s maize harvest in Kenya to detect if there are early signs of food insecurity. Maize is an important staple food for household diets in Kenya, but atypical weather patterns had swarms of locusts devastate parts of Eastern Africa and the Red Sea region. The insects are devastating farmland and grazing areas and have reduced the yields of maize farms in Kenya significantly.

a.Draw a simple supply and demand model that captures the influence of the pest shock on the maize market in Kenya. Describe the effects of the shock in terms of quantity and price changes. Assume demand for maize is stable. 

b.Add a second demand curve to your graph (label it D2) that is relatively more elastic. Will the price change from the pest shock be smaller or larger with this relatively more elastic demand? 

c.Why is it important to monitor food prices in developing countries? How are poor households in developing countries affected by high food prices and high food price volatility? (your answer should pay attention to the different pillars of food security) 

d.Which measures would you use to assess and monitor food prices and food security in Kenya? 

Question 2: Trade theory 

a.According to Adam Smith, what is the basis for trade between two countries? How does the Ricardian Model of Trade differ from Smith’s argument? How are gains from trade realized according to both? 

b.Suppose the country of Agraria needs 4 units of labor to produce 1 meter of cloth and 8 units of labor to produce 1 ton of rice. The country of Industria, however, needs 20 units of labor to produce 1 meter of cloth and 10 units of labor to produce 1 ton of rice.

The labor requirements are:
    
                                  Agraria              Industria
Cloth (1 meter)              4                          20
Rice (1 ton)                   8                          10

• Who has absolute advantage of producing i) cloth and ii) rice – and why? 
• Suppose Agraria and Industria start trading cloth and rice with each other. Explain which country should produce cloth and which country should produce rice. What will be the pattern of trade between both countries? 

Question 3: Trade policy    
The nation of Exotica has a small, but emerging rice industry. Nevertheless, the country currently imports rice from the world market at a price of 10€. Its domestic market is illustrated in the graph below:

a.With trade, how much is produced and consumed domestically? How much is imported? 

b.What effect would a specific tariff t=20 have on the amount of imports when we assume the nation is a small country? Illustrate and explain the welfare effects of an import tariff (when compared to free trade). Use the graph and the table below to:  

• describe the changes in domestic consumption, production, and imports, and 
• assess changes in producer, consumer and total welfare. 

c.How would the effect of an import tariff differ if the nation was large? In your answer, consider tax revenue, producer and consumer surplus as well as total welfare (no graphs needed; detailed verbal explanation is sufficient). How would you determine whether an importing country is small or large? Explain.

Question 4: Consumer studies/behaviour

Two of your friends, Bob and Andrew, differ in their marginal WTP for organic tomatoes in comparison to conventional tomatoes. While Bob exhibits a positive marginal WTP for organic tomatoes, Andrew does not. A third friend of yours, Cathy, is arguing that this is due to differences in their risk perceptions. Do you agree with this statement? Please justify/elaborate your answer. 

Question 5: Food standards/labels and globalized food markets
a.The supply chains in Sub-Saharan Africa were historically dominated by tradition value chains. Following the food price crisis in 2007/8, governments implemented policies aiming at upgrading their agri-food value chains. Nigeria was especially successful and new forms of agri-food value chains have emerged. Describe how traditional value chains differ from modern-to-traditional value chains (in terms of actors involved, length, scale, products, buyers, etc.). 

b.You have a lively discussion with a friend about the topic of food labeling. Your friend is arguing that most food labels are not fulfilling its primary role. Drawing from what we discussed in class, what is your position on this?

Question 6: Seminar reflection
In 150-200 words reflect on a topic presented/discussed in the seminar. In your answer, 

1st: provide a description of a finding/result that you found important, interesting or puzzling;
2nd: describe how it relates to theories or issues presented in the lectures;
3rd: express what you learnt and why it matters, e.g., for reaching SDG2. 

This MK102-Economics Assignment has been solved by our Economics Expert at My Uni Paper. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics. Our Experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing Style. Be it a used or new solution, the quality of the work submitted by our assignment experts remains unhampered. 

You may continue to expect the same or even better quality with the used and new assignment solution files respectively. There’s one thing to be noticed that you could choose one between the two and acquire an HD either way. You could choose a new assignment solution file to get yourself an exclusive, plagiarism (with free Turn tin file), expert quality assignment or order an old solution file that was considered worthy of the highest distinction.