Meike Wollni Livres

At the turn of the millennium, world coffee prices dropped to their lowest levels in 30 years giving rise to the most severe crisis experienced by the coffee sector. The study evaluates the effects of the coffee crisis on the Costa Rican coffee sector and identifies the factors that influence farmers’ production and marketing performance. A two-step selection model is applied to analyze farmers’ participation in specialty markets and cooperatives and the effects on producer prices. Furthermore, a stochastic production frontier is estimated to explore technical efficiency levels of specialty and conventional coffee farmers. Based on the results of the study, policy recommendations are derived that should help farmers to improve their competitiveness and their ability to cope with the crisis. These include the provision of extension and information, the support of coffee cooperatives, and the diversification of the rural economy.

About one fifth of the world population lives in extreme poverty. Development programs often aim at reaching the most disadvantaged population groups, but insufficient targeting can jeopardize these efforts, effectively excluding the poorest. It is therefore essential to assess the poverty level of program participants in order to get an estimate about the program's contribution to poverty alleviation. This study evaluates the case of a Mexican microfinance institution. Before proceeding with the analysis, the author provides a framework for the evaluation of outreach and sustainability of microfinance institutions. An indicator-based, multi-dimensional poverty index is used to assess the poverty level of households. At the regional level, a poverty mapping approach is followed to assign municipalities to different poverty groupings. Based on the different assessments, the MFI's outreach performance is compared to similar MFI's operating in other countries. The book is directed towards development practitioners, the donor community, as well as the academic audience interested in socio-economic development.