Environment and Development Economics

Table of Contents - October 2012 - Volume 17, Special Issue 05 (Seed supply in local markets: supporting sustainable use of crop genetic resources)  

Research Article

The impact of seed market access and transaction costs on potato biodiversity and yields in Bolivia

Lina Salazara1 and Paul Wintersa2

a1 Environment, Rural Development and Disaster Risk Management Division (INE/RND), Inter-American Development Bank, 1300 New York Ave. NW. Office #SW514, Washington, DC 20577, USA. Tel: 1-202-623-2830. Email: lsalazar@iadb.org

a2 Department of Economics, American University, Washington, DC, USA. Email: winters@american.edu

Abstract

Using data from Bolivia, this paper analyzes seed market participation and how transaction costs in these markets influence intracrop biodiversity and the influence of biodiversity on yields. Results indicate that seed market attributes such as distance and market-level biodiversity have a crucial effect on a farmer's market choice, suggesting that farmers are willing to sacrifice time and income to travel further distances in order to reach markets with a broader range of varieties. This study finds that farmers from this sample who have access to seed markets are more likely to have higher levels of intracrop biodiversity. In addition, for market-integrated farmers, intracrop biodiversity does not seem to have a negative effect on yields, which suggests that improved market access does not threaten biodiversity in contexts with similar characteristics to the study site.

(Received July 15 2011)

(Revised April 02 2012)

(Accepted June 11 2012)

(Online publication July 17 2012)