Factors of vulnerability: How large-scale land acquisitions take advantage of local and national weaknesses in Sierra Leone

Enticing economic benefits for host nations and the notion of large areas of land considered available are often put forward as the main reasons for large-scale land acquisition in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa. However, country-level datasets of land acquisitions seem to indicate a clear divide between a majority of countries engaged in land acquisitions as investors and those involved as targets. We posit that there are socio-economic and governance factors that make the engagement between targets of land acquisitions and investors both unequal and attractive to large-scale investments. We then ask the question: what are the factors that make communities vulnerable to an unequal engagement with large-scale land-investing interests in Sierra Leone? We explore this question using local-level socio-economic data of households and communities in two settings where land acquisitions have occurred in Sierra Leone. We find that socio-economic characteristics of local populations, such as levels of education, the powerful role of traditional chiefs and corruption, make these areas easier targets for such land investments. Investors also exploit the poor economic situation of local areas by making alluring promises of development opportunities. The vulnerability of local people to land investors is further undermined by poor governance at the national level and external politico-financial interest in favor of such investments. Local populations are vulnerable to organized campaigns of land acquisitions by multi-national companies. Proper legal and institutional frameworks are required to protect local interests in these land deals.     

West African Insurgencies in Agrarian Perspective: Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone Compared

This paper examines agrarian issues in civil wars in Côte d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone. Attention is paid to two different ways in which lineage society evolved during the colonial and post‐colonial periods. The motivations of fighters are related to these different trajectories of agrarian social change. In Côte d’Ivoire youth militia fought to uphold a lineage‐based social order, but in Sierra Leone a comparable group of young fighters sought to overturn it. Large migrant populations on a forest frontier are an important factor in Côte d’Ivoire, while in Sierra Leone significance attaches to an excluded agrarian underclass. Not all African conflicts are ethnic conflicts; autochthony is shown to be a factor in one conflict and class in the other. Approaches to post‐war reconstruction based on undifferentiated notions of community should be resisted.     

Knowledge and Control in the Contemporary Land Rush: Making Local Land Legible and Corporate Power Applicable in Rural Sierra Leone

Substantial media and academic attention has recently focused on changing patterns of land control in the ‘Global South’, wherein foreign governments and corporations seek to control land for food, fuel and feed production. Recent scholarship describes such projects as symptomatic of a broader liberalization of global governance. However, few studies investigate how such liberal governance is applied on the ground in host countries. This paper fills this need by examining one such case in Sierra Leone, and describing the various technologies of control deployed to make local land legible to the corporate eye and therefore manageable within the liberal model. As I show, such imported technologies are disrupting and displacing traditional modes of authority and allowing the company concerned to apply power and manage both the land and the local people. At the same time, however, these technologies generate frictions on the ground, creating dangerous tensions between the various actors in the local setting.     

Labour commodification,differentiation, and marginalization of the peasantry in Sella Limba (Sierra Leone) from 1950 to the present

In Sierra Leone, migration to diamond fields and the development of cash crops have contributed to the increasing integration of the peasantry in the national and global economy. Based on the study of a small northern chiefdom, Sella Limba, we describe how the labour commodification have led to the perversion of “traditional” social relations based on anteriority, and to the break‐up of large domestic groups into smaller, more precarious ones. At the same time, manual agriculture has been marginalized by massive cheap rice imports and remained very low in capital intensity. In this context, we show how low labour productivity curtails opportunities for long‐term social and economic differentiation. Farmers combine “modern” and “traditional” social relations, developing hybrid accumulation strategies that are sometimes close to mere survival.     

Production Efficiency of Jasmine Rice Producers in Northern and North‐eastern Thailand

The paper jointly evaluates the determinants of switching to Jasmine rice and its productivity while allowing for production inefficiency at the level of individual producers. Model diagnostics reveal that serious selection bias exists, justifying use of a sample selection framework in stochastic frontier models. Results from the probit variety selection equation reveal that gross return (mainly powered by significantly higher Jasmine rice price), access to irrigation and education are the important determinants of choosing Jasmine rice. Results from the stochastic production frontier reveal that land, irrigation and fertilisers are the significant determinants of Jasmine rice productivity. Significantly lower productivity in Phitsanulok and Tung Gula Rong Hai provinces demonstrate the influence of biophysical and environmental factors on productivity performance. The mean level of technical efficiency is estimated at 0.63 suggesting that 59% [(100 ? 63)/63] of the productivity is lost due to technical inefficiency. Policy implications include measures to keep Jasmine rice price high, increase access to irrigation and fertiliser availability, as well as investment in education targeted to farm households which will synergistically increase adoption of Jasmine rice as well as farm productivity.     

清代四川粮食亩产与农业劳动生产率研究

四川是全国著名的稻作区之一，清代四川粮食平均亩产约为222．58千克／市亩，平均每个成年农业劳动力一年约可生产原粮1423千克，可养活连其自身在内的4口人。18世纪中期，四川一个普通农民全年所得，大约表现为银13．04两，或钱10400余文。清代四川农民以“过密化”为代价，使粮食总产大幅度增长，而清末粮食亩产急剧下滑，折射出重大的社会危机。当时四川余粮、粮食消费、农村基本生活情况，与粮食亩产、劳动生产率紧密相关，并为后两者的合理估测提供佐证。     

论明清时期松江府的农业发展及其地位——以粮食生产和供应为中心的考察

明清时期，松江府是全国的棉纺织业中心，长期以来人们往往强调这是人口和重赋双重压力下的产物。同时，发达的棉纺织业使这里的经济结构发生了巨大的变化。本文考察明清松江府人地资源的配置比例和粮食的生产和供应后指出，发达的棉纺织业并非人口和重赋双重压力下的产物，粮食生产的基础性并未动摇，商品经济虽然发达，但自然经济瓦解的程度是非常有限的。     

Economic Analysis of the Policy for Accreditation of Dairy Farms Free of Bovine Brucellosis and Tuberculosis: Challenges for Small and Large Producers in Brazil

One of the cornerstones of the National Program for Control and Eradication of Bovine Brucellosis and Tuberculosis in Brazil is the voluntary accreditation of free herds. We developed a stochastic cost–benefit analysis model for two types of dairy herds (high yield Holstein‐Zebu crossbred females and lower productivity smaller scale herds) to identify the technical and economic constraints of this process. The initial prevalence of infected animals and the impact of the disease in the structure and performance of the herd were derived from secondary data. Information on the costs and benefits of herd sanitation were compiled into a cost–benefit model at the herd level. The last step consisted of a scenario simulation to evaluate the impact of alternative policies to the certification process. For each scenario, we calculate the probability over time of a Benefit–Cost Ratio greater than 1 and of an Internal Rate of Return above 1% (the discount rate used in the model). Results show that larger and more intensive dairy farms, and also herds affected by brucellosis compared with tuberculosis‐positive herds, are more likely to achieve financial gains from the certification investment. The compensation for culled animals is important in the initial phase of herd sanitation and the premium payment on milk would help farmers to achieve a return on the investment over time. The model can be adapted to different and dynamic production, epidemiological and economic settings.     

Factors Influencing Organic and Fair Trade Coffee Growers Level of Engagement with Cooperatives: The Case of Coffee Farmers in Mexico

We study the factors influencing the percentage of organic and fair trade certified coffee sold through a cooperative by growers of five cooperatives in Mexico. The percentage of coffee sold through the cooperative was used as a proxy of growers’ engagement with a cooperative. Using factor analysis and a fractional probit regression, we evaluated the proposition that the level of engagement can be explained by transaction cost economics, social norms and connections, and farmer and farm business characteristics. We found that farm size, uncertainty regarding cooperative time of payment to the members and cooperative commitment on price to be paid negatively influence the level of engagement. In contrast, asset specificity, relational commitment, and price have a positive impact on engagement. Our results may help cooperatives and policy makers to build strategies aiming to increase this level of engagement. This is relevant because lower grower engagement has been found to be positively correlated with weak performing cooperatives.     

隧道式微波防治袋装大米中储粮害虫技术研究

采用GETS-2A12型隧道式工业微波炉处理PE／PP复合膜包装袋中的1kg大米,其中放置了米象、谷蠹、玉米象的卵和成虫,锯谷盗的成虫,印度谷螟的卵,锈赤扁谷盗的幼虫和成虫,赤拟谷盗的幼虫、蛹和成虫,烟草甲的幼虫等不同虫态的重要储粮害虫,经过915MHz隧道式微波处理：温度50～70℃,时间约6min,结果显示对这些储粮害虫有100％的杀灭效果,且对大米的品质质量指标没有明显的影响。说明隧道式微波应用于防治袋装大米或其他成品粮中的储粮害虫前景广阔。     

粮食游离氨基酸总量测定方法研究

α-氨基酸在弱酸性条件下与茚三酮反应生成紫色的双-1,3-二酮茚,反应灵敏.以粮食粗粉水提取液为样品,分析了其游离α-氨基酸与茚三酮反应的最佳温度是85℃,最佳时间12～15 min;反应产物采用比色法测定的最佳波长是570 nm,并在反应完成后1.5 h内完成测定.水溶性蛋白不影响粮食游离氨基酸总量的测定.同时指出游离氨基酸总量可用于芽麦和发芽糙米检测.     

Social protection for people with disabilities in Africa and Asia: a review of programmes for low- and middle-income countries

Despite a greater need for social protection among people with disabilities, there is limited evidence of their inclusion into social protection programmes in low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents the findings from a review of regional and global data sources for Asia-Pacific and Africa to identify social protection programmes that aim to include people with disabilities. It finds a substantial number of programmes in both regions, although there is considerable variation in the quantity and types of programmes within and between regions and countries, as well as between low- and middle-income countries. Further, the quality of data is not sufficient to assess the degree to which these programmes are genuinely inclusive of people with disabilities. As such, it highlights important limitations in the way data is currently being collected that require further attention in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the commitment to ‘Leave No-one Behind’     

碾米技术在大米储藏与加工中的应用研究进展

粮食储藏与加工是确保食品安全的关键点.碾米技术可有效改善大米陈化问题,提升大米的食用品质及商品价值,并已广泛应用于大米储藏、加工等领域.为深层次探索碾米技术在粮食储藏与加工中的应用情况,本文剖析了粮食储藏与加工面临的问题,阐述了4种关键碾米技术的基本原理与特点.在此基础上,围绕如何提升碾米技术的加工效率对未来研究方向进...     

Agricultural taxation in developing countries: a survey of issues and policy

This study surveys the experience of agricultural taxation in developing countries in the context of the ongoing policy debate about the tax structure and administration affecting agricultural producers. Using the examples of a number of countries, it analyzes the conceptual and practical problems associated with different tax regimes. Governments in most countries have reduced indirect (export) taxes on agricultural producers. However, the revenue from direct taxes on farmers has not increased. A major problem in most countries has been the measurement of (actual) agricultural income. Different measures for presumed income have been used with varying success. They seem to have the most potential for increased revenue in many countries, but their effective implementation is constrained by the political and administrative considerations.     

Rationale and Motivation of Agricultural Producers in Adopting Crop Rotation in the Northern Great Plains,USA

Despite several environmental and economic benefits of crop rotation, the adoption of this agricultural practice is relatively low. Understanding the reasons for low adoption is important from a sustainability policy perspective. This study explores the motivation, challenges, and sources of information of agricultural producers who participate in crop rotation practices in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. The findings of a mail survey of 672 producers in these three states show that producers are familiar with the crop rotation practice. Economic profitability is found to drive motivation for crop rotation adoption. The results of a binary logistic regression model show that a producer who perceives that crop rotation is beneficial to farm profitability is 1.83 times more likely to adopt it than the producer who does not believe in its profitability to the farm. The lack of time or resources is the primary barrier to the adoption of crop rotation practice. This study provides additional evidence in support of the importance of farm profitability for the adoption of the practice of crop rotation. Understanding the rationale and addressing the challenges faced by agricultural producers would be useful in planning and policy making of sustainable agriculture.     

Institutional Environment and Technical Efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Cotton Producers in West Africa

This paper examines the effects of the institutional environment on West African cotton farmers’ technical efficiency (TE). First, key aspects of the cotton sector institutional environment are discussed, including input and credit access, and producers’ organisations. Then, a stochastic frontier production function, which incorporates technical inefficiency effects, is applied to farm level data collected in Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. The survey includes farmers’ evaluations of the cotton sector institutional environment. Results suggest that institutional level features influence producers’ TE, besides farm‐level characteristics. Cotton growers who report a negative experience with the joint liability programme, who identify the cotton price mechanism or access to credit as the main constraints to performance, and who cultivate more hectares of cereals are technically more inefficient in producing cotton. Findings suggest that cotton farmers in Mali are less technically efficient in producing cotton than in Burkina Faso and Benin. Agricultural development policies focusing on reducing farmers’ financial stress, particularly through the establishment of adequate price mechanisms (i.e. higher farm‐gate prices and timely payments to farmers) and improvement in the input–credit markets should be encouraged to improve TE in West Africa.     

集群——国外家具产业发展的经验与启示

根据国外家具产业的发展经验，集群是家具产业发展的共同选择之一。究其原因，与家具产业的特性密切相关：家具产业的发展必须顺应潮流而动，并需要众多配套供应和相关服务，对技术要求也越来越高。要推动我国家具产业发展，有必要借鉴国外家具产业发展的经验，加大对家具产业集群的扶持力度，以集群作为家具产业发展战略的重点之一。由此，政府要致力于制度和环境的改善，为集群的形成和良性发展创造有利的外部环境和健康的内部机制；要充分发挥龙头企业的“羊群效应”，鼓励和推动集群内企业的分工与协作；并始终把创新作为集群保持长久竞争力的不变法则。     

储粮生态系统中多种场的耦合理论及应用

安全储粮作为保障粮食生产和粮食流通之间的重要环节,直接影响我国的粮食安全形势,而掌握粮情的变化规律可以更加科学地指导粮食仓储.粮仓中的粮堆在储藏时是一个多场耦合系统,包括生物场和非生物场.本文综述了近年来生物场理论的相关研究进展,分析了储粮过程中多种场的变化规律和相互作用.