Access to agricultural extension,credit and markets among small‐scale farmers in southern Zambia

This article used survey data to determine the extent to which small‐scale farm households in the Choma district of Zambia's southern province have access to agricultural extension services, credit and markets. The findings show that the majority of the sample households had access to extension and credit services. They also showed that the resource base or wealth of the households — as manifested by farm size, livestock ownership and human capital or management capacity (the household head's training in agriculture) — is a significant factor when accounting for differential access to extension and credit. On the other hand, study findings suggest that farm households are facing problems with marketing their produce under the liberalised agricultural marketing system. Based on these findings, the article discusses recommendations for providing solutions to some of the problems affecting small‐scale farmers in accessing production services.     

Projecting meat and cereals demand for China based on a meta-analysis of income elasticities

There are many projections for China's food demand, and the projection results differ significantly from each other. Different values for income elasticities could be a major reason. This study projects meat and cereals demand for China based on a meta-analysis of the income elasticity estimates using a collection of 143 and 240 income elasticity estimates for cereals and meat products, respectively, from 36 primary studies. We find that income elasticities for most cereals (general cereals, rice, and coarse grains) and all meat products (general meat, pork, poultry, beef & mutton) tend to decline as per capita income increases, except for wheat, which increases. Taking this into account, differences between consumption projections based on time-varying income elasticities and values based on constant elasticities are substantial in quantities and increase over time.     

Connecting to global markets in the Internet age: The case of South African wooden furniture producers

This article assesses the extent to which Internet connectivity and electronic commerce have the capacity to assist South African wooden furniture producers (SAWFPs) in securing improved access to international markets. The current pressures of globalisation and the challenge to direct overseas market expansion underscore the importance of e-commerce for the local wooden furniture sector. The article argues that while e-commerce capabilities are not a substitute for a systematic export strategy, they are nonetheless important for SAWFPs, as they are struggling to compete in a globalised and interconnected world that is organised around integrated trading systems and networked communication and information flows. However, participation in e-commerce by SAWFPs is currently very limited owing to a variety of factors, such as lack of infrastructure and awareness, high costs of Internet connectivity and inadequate skilled human resources. The article discusses the implications of the findings for policy.     

The tourism potential of Beaufort West: a study based on visitor demand

Tourism is increasingly viewed as a key strategy for promoting local economic development. The integrated development planning (IDP) process of the Beaufort West municipality on the north-eastern border of the Western Cape identified tourism as a key to economic progress. Starting from this tourism-orientated approach to local economic development, a three-month survey of visitors examined the tourist potential of the town, a possible tourism product, and an approach to marketing the town as a destination. The findings suggested that Beaufort West should develop a ‘destination brand’, portraying the town as a ‘tourism gateway’ through which important sectors such as eco-tourism could be marketed. The profile of the survey participants revealed that tourist industries are not fully aware of their customer profile and should adjust their offerings to attract family visitors. The impact of the N1 route through town was also confirmed in the survey, which demonstrated that significant expenditure emanated from the high levels of traffic through the town.     

Recidivism among Welfare Recipients: The Role of Neighborhood and Access to Employment

Work requirements and time limitations on benefits have forced welfare administrators to be more aggressive in moving welfare recipients into the workplace. This paper tracks a cohort of Georgia welfare leavers from 1992 to 2001, estimating the timing of recidivism using duration models. Of the case heads that leave the program within a two-year period, 15.3 percent remain out of welfare for less than three months and 35 percent returned within one year. There is also a relatively high risk of welfare recidivism for a much longer period than estimated in previous studies. Furthermore, successful employment may be affected not only by the presence of job growth but also by the industrial mix in which jobs are growing and by the residential location of welfare leavers.     

Nutrition knowledge and barriers to good dietary practices among primary school children in a farming community

This article examines the nutrition practices of black African children attending farm schools and looks at what they know about nutrition. The research was part of the Farm Labour and General Health (FLAGH) project of the North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa. Two schools participated in the study, which involved 132 primary schoolchildren aged 8 to 16 years. A structured questionnaire revealed the children's knowledge about nutrition related issues, and focus group discussions brought to light attitudes and barriers to sound dietary practices. This study provided insight into the lives of children living on commercial farms in the North West Province. The findings provide strong support for the view that while nutrition education is important to children's development of nutrition knowledge, good dietary practices and overall nutritional status, so also are influences from the children's social, economic and psychological environment.     

Increasing employability in the emerging tourism sector in Mozambique: Results of a qualitative study

Mozambique’s tourism sector could play a key role in the country’s socio-economic development, especially in the region of Cabo Delgado where the demand for tourist services is expected to increase. Nonetheless, several constraints (e.g. the lack of adequate training) are hindering the capacity of local people to take full advantage of this opportunity. Qualitative research has been performed in order to align vocational training programmes with the needs of the emerging tourism sector. Local and foreign key informants were interviewed in order to gain a better understanding of training needs and to gain insights into developing training programmes that can enhance local people’s employability. The main findings highlight the lack of symbolisation of tourism and its correlates from local communities. Therefore, rather than just delivering technical skills, training programmes should also promote a ‘culture of tourism’ and a more favourable attitude towards ‘working in the tourism sector’.     

城乡预防保健服务需求差异及其影响因素:基于中国跨省数据的实证分析

本文采用中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据分析2004-2006年间城乡预防保健服务需求状况及其影响因素,以此提出缩小城乡之间与城乡内部预防保健服务差异的政策建议。考虑样本选择性与医疗保险内生性问题,运用probit估计方法,发现城乡居民的预防保健服务需求存在显著差异,但两者差距呈缩小态势;同时,相较于农村内部,城市内部差异更趋于扩大。影响居民的预防保健服务的需求因素中,除预防保健服务费用是否由医疗保险支付这一因素外,在农村主要是供给方因素,如农村的医疗资源供给水平,在城市主要是需求方因素,如个人收入。     

Constraints in Access to and Demand for Rural Credit: Evidence from Uganda

Abstract: Like in most developing countries, Uganda's financial sector is largely underdeveloped and concentrated in urban areas, leaving the majority of the agricultural producers in the rural population with no access. However, agriculture forms a significant part of the lives of the rural households, who constitute about 85 per cent of the population. This study uses the Uganda household surveys conducted in 1992/93 and 1999/2000 to shed some light on access to, and the characteristics of demand for credit among the rural population. We employ the probit, tobit and multinomial logit model estimations and we analyse demand for credit and find that Uganda's credit market is highly segmented. The rural peasant producers are largely served by relatives/friends and self‐help credit associations and their loan applications are less likely to succeed, and of those that do, smaller loans are granted. The educated and the young are more likely to demand credit while women are less likely to, and to apply for smaller loans. Therefore, while government's agricultural modernization policy considers credit as an important input to its success and as the government plans to roll out the ‘wealth‐for‐all’ programme, more needs to be done to get credit to the sector and to ensure that it can be usefully utilized. Programmes to promote skills and vocational training to enhance production and training in appropriate use of credit are also needed.     

Competition for the use of public open space in low-income urban areas: the economic potential of urban gardening in Khayelitsha,Cape Town

Urban agriculture is a contested issue in the larger South African debate on urban poverty alleviation. This paper investigates the economic viability of urban agriculture and informs the debate on the optimal use of open space in Khayelitsha. It compares the economic performance of the Scaga community garden in the low-income township Khayelitsha, predicted in a 1998 study by Fermont et al., with empirical results of a similar study by Fleming in 2003. It concludes that urban agriculture in Khayelitsha is potentially economically viable, subject to certain conditions being satisfied. However, as a land use, urban agriculture competes with housing, ecological corridors, the stormwater management system and nature areas and reserves.     

Community‐based finance systems and their potential for urban self‐help in a new South Africa

Agents dealing with the improvement of the living conditions of the poor often face difficulties owing to a lack of finance. A possible solution is the use and creation of community‐based finance systems for residential improvement, taking into account that additional finance can be mobilised among the target group. For the creation of such schemes, one can learn much from the organisation, operation and maintenance of financial self‐help groups such as stokvels in the informal sector. In discussing and analysing this information, lessons are drawn and policy options developed. It is of great importance that blueprints should be avoided. Consequently, alternative policy options for guided self‐help are explored.     

Retail margins, price transmission and price asymmetry in urban food markets: the case of Kinshasa (Zaire)

Some African food markets can still seem to operate inefficientlyafter price liberalisation. This seems mainly due to the existenceof significant transaction costs because of small-scale operations,and is influenced by lack of grading, deficient infrastructureand information systems. It is shown in the case of retail marketsin Kinshasa that search, supervision and other difficult-to-measuretransactions costs are more important in the margin of foodproducts than the measurable marketing costs (e.g., storage,transport). It is also shown through time series analysis thatmost of the price transmission between wholesale and retailhappens in the same week and that price asymmetry, i.e., thedifferent transmission of price increases compared with pricedecreases, is present for most products. Products characterisedby relatively more standardisation and homogeneity are shownto have lower retail margins and to behave symmetrically. Amodel based on kinked demand curves and search costs might explainthis asymmetric price behaviour.     

Linking agribusiness and small-scale farmers in developing countries: Is there a new role for contract farming?

This article examines a new role for contract farming in developing countries in the light of the industrialisation of agriculture and the globalisation of world markets. A theoretical rationale for contracting in developing countries is developed on the basis of adopting new institutional economic theory for the purpose of matching governance forms to market failure problems and transaction characteristics. The history of contract farming is reviewed, together with the advantages and disadvantages to the various players, for the purpose of developing a list of key success factors, problems and some possible solutions.     

The ERM and structural change in European labour markets: A study of 10 countries

The ERM and Structural Change in European Labour Markets: A Study of 10 Countries. — This paper tests for structural changes in European labour markets and attempts to associate them with the evolution of the ERM as well as with political and institutional developments. The results indicate that diverging sacrifice ratios, rather than tax wedge and productivity effects may be the strongest impediment to labour market convergence in the transition from the ERM to full economic and monetary union. The empirical work indicates that the ERM may have provided some pressure towards more symmetric responses to shocks, but the changes have not been great.     

Of markets,might and mullahs: a case for equity,pluralism and tolerance in development

This paper tries to confront the ‘puzzlement’ of the development profession regarding the ‘best’ alternative strategies aimed at increasing employment, reducing poverty and promoting equity at the same time as fostering economic growth — and the ‘advocacy’ role that should or should not be played by that profession. The author argues that the issue lies in achieving a workable ‘meaning’ of development and then moving on to the moral ‘questions’ of value judgments and to the specific ‘problems’ that can be dealt with by science and social science. He suggests that a possible meaning of development is ‘to create more options for more people’ — ‘to achieve that the greatest number of people have the greatest number of options.’ He discusses the need for improving ‘life chances’ and considers the development policies which may or may not assist in this process. He tries to tie together conceptually the ideas of power and social change, consensus and conflict. Also in this context, the roles of participation, organization and mobilization are explored, especially their impact on different political systems. The analysis concludes with a plea for social, cultural and political pluralism — and thus, a commitment to tolerance. The author argues that these goals should be addressed by the development community without the hesitation sometimes attached to ‘protection of expertise’.     

The demand for money in a small open economy: The case of Switzerland

The paper uses cointegration analysis to investigate the demand for money in Switzerland in the context of an open economy. It considers the general process of financial asset substitution and tests for the relevance of an exchange rate and a foreign interest rate variable in a conventional money demand equation. The results show that the variables entering into the demand for either monetary base or narrow money equation may not form a cointegrated system unless the exchange rate or foreign interest rate variable is included. This provides support to both the currency substitution and capital mobility hypotheses.     

The quest for affordable urban housing: A study of approaches and results in Harare,Zimbabwe

Approaches aimed at achieving housing affordability have long emphasised the housing unit. Conventional wisdom prescribes that affordability will be enhanced if the unit cost of a house is reduced. Classic solutions include the reduction of standards, use of indigenous technologies and materials, adopting self-help modes of delivery and addressing market imperfections. This study shows that while it is not unwise to reduce the cost of housing, there is a limit to this approach. Unit costs cannot be reduced indefinitely and non-cost-reducing strategies are therefore called for. The approaches hinge on improving the economic status of low-income groups by implementing measures that reduce household expenditure and/or boost their incomes.     

Individual characteristics and the demand for reciprocity in trade liberalization: Evidence from a survey in Japan

Reciprocity is an important concept in international trade negotiations. However, we know little about who demands reciprocity in trade liberalization. This paper characterizes reciprocitarians based on a survey of 10,816 individuals in Japan. Workers in protected sectors tend to demand reciprocity in import liberalization, but oppose the demand for foreign countries to open their markets. In contrast, individuals in managerial occupations tend to demand foreign market opening, but reject the idea of no import liberalization without reciprocity. We also examine the effects of education, nationalism, and risk aversion.     

Poverty and firewood consumption: A case study of rural households in northern China

This paper discusses the determinants of firewood consumption in a poor township in rural northern China, with a special focus on the relationship between households' economic wealth and firewood consumption. We find strong support for the poverty–environment hypothesis since household economic wealth is a significant and negative determinant of firewood consumption. Firewood can therefore be considered as an inferior good for the whole population in the rural area under study, although further evidence shows that at the top of the wealth distribution, there might be a floor effect in the decreasing firewood consumption. Besides economic wealth, our analysis also shows that the own-price effect is important in explaining firewood consumption behavior, the price effect gaining importance with rising incomes. Finally, increasing education is also found to be a key factor in energy consumption behavior, especially when dealing with energy source switching behavior.