A new professionalism for agricultural research for development

There have been repeated calls for a ‘new professionalism’ for carrying out agricultural research for development since the 1990s. At the centre of these calls is a recognition that for agricultural research to support the capacities required to face global patterns of change and their implications on rural livelihoods, requires a more systemic, learning focused and reflexive practice that bridges epistemologies and methodologies. In this paper, we share learning from efforts to mainstream such an approach through a large, multi-partner CGIAR research program working in aquatic agricultural systems. We reflect on four years of implementing research in development (RinD), the program’s approach to the new professionalism. We highlight successes and challenges and describe the key characteristics that define the approach. We conclude it is possible to build a program on a broader approach that embraces multidisciplinarity and engages with stakeholders in social-ecological systems. Our experience also suggests caution is required to ensure there is the time, space and appropriate evaluation methodologies in place to appreciate outcomes different to those to which conventional agricultural research aspires.     

建立生态补偿机制的财政政策研究

生态补偿机制是为了控制环境破坏而建立的约束制度,包括生态补偿类型,生态补偿方式,生态补偿责任,生态补偿法规、制度、政策等。黑龙江省建立生态补偿机制面临着缺乏法律保障、排污费征收标准过低、环境违法处罚标准过低,企业将环境治理成本转嫁给政府等问题。根据黑龙江省的情况,建立生态补偿机制应遵循市场经济规律、完善相关财政政策和保障措施,惟如此,才能对落实科学发展观,构建环境友好型社会,实现人与自然和谐发展起到积极的推动作用。     

Agents for diffusion of agricultural innovations for environmental outcomes

In New Zealand, local governments are tasked with both sustainably managing natural resources and supporting adoption of practices and technologies for environmental outcomes. Unfortunately, farmers in New Zealand lack trust in advice on environmental performance provided by local governments. Hence, local governments may seek to partner with others to disseminate information about environmentally friendly practices and technologies to farmers. Empirical evidence indicates that New Zealand farmers are more likely to adopt new practices after seeing them successfully demonstrated; therefore, local government would do well to partner with those who have tried the practices themselves and those with large farmer networks. In this paper, we use unique survey data to identify the characteristics of such “innovators” and “connectors”. We also identify the characteristics of individuals who trust environmental information provided by local governments. We find that sex, age, education level, financial robustness, farm size, and the number of distinct land uses are correlated with both innovativeness and connectedness. However, among these characteristics, only education and financial robustness predict trust in environmental information provided by local governments.     

退耕农户长期生计分析

以陕西、青海两省4个县15个村400个退耕农户为研究对象,通过20年的成本效益分析,探讨了退耕还林对农户生计的长期影响,预测了退耕后林草产品的产出、价格和农产品产量,分析了样本农户退耕前后在土地利用、种植结构、收入和成本结构等方面的变化,对林草产品价格、退耕补助、毁林复耕等因素进行了敏感性分析。结果表明:在预测的价格和产出水平上,退耕提高了样本农户的收入水平。从长期看,退耕农户面临自然、技术和市场风险。要实现中国政府的生态建设目标,决策者应关注退耕农户尤其是退耕地比例高的农户的长期生计。     

Land administration for housing production: An approach for assessment

The integration of land administration processes and the collaboration of land agencies are considered essential for the effective delivery of developable land for housing production. The research upon which this paper is based investigates the interrelationship across land administration functions and between different levels of government in the management and delivery of land for housing production. It focuses on land management policies, land administration processes, and spatial data infrastructure, as they are related to housing production. The study starts from the premise that inadequate integration across land administration functions and between different levels of government impedes land delivery for housing production. Against this background, an assessment framework is proposed as a tool to assess the levels of integration. The parameters for the development of the framework are based on the extensive literature of past and present initiatives which focused on enhancing inter-agency collaboration. It is also supported by interviews with land agencies in the case study areas – Australia and Nigeria – to aggregate the common themes as observed in the literature. The assessment framework was evaluated through selected government departments and agencies. With this approach, the assessment framework develops into the land administration integration assessment matrix. The key consideration of the matrix is to assess the depth of inter-agency relationship ranging from information sharing to consultation, coordination of activities, joint management, partnership arrangement and formal merger of organisations.     

Agriculture for development: new paradigm and options for success

The role of agriculture as an instrument for industrialization had been rigorously conceptualized in the 1960s and 1970s under the classical paradigm of development economics. After many implementation failures under import substitution industrialization policies and protracted neglect of agriculture under the policies of the Washington Consensus that followed the debt crisis, agriculture has gradually returned in the development agenda, especially with the food crisis. We argue in this article that a new paradigm has started to emerge as to how to use agriculture for development, pursuing a broadened development agenda. We explore the specifications of this paradigm and discuss conditions for successful implementation.     

Empowering change for sustainable agriculture: the need for participation

Sustainable agricultural development (SAD) requires empowerment and engagement of all actors in the agricultural production and supply chain to enable change. This paper proposes a novel framework for Participatory Sustainable Agricultural Development (PSAD) that distinguishes four main classes of factors that influence participation in SAD: environmental, economic, social and governance-related. The factors in each of these classes are analysed in relation to their effect over time, on the basis of 49 SAD programmes reported in the literature. Findings show that the social factors of engagement and empowerment, not often addressed in existing SAD programmes, are of significant influence to effect over time, as are the environmental factors of food safety, and the economic factors of production and capacity development. As such this paper shows that in in addition to the well-acknowledged need for knowledge and skills related to food safety, production and capacity development, SAD programmes also need to address the social factors of engagement and empowerment to enable sustainable change over time for SAD through participation.     

Foreign Aid: Good for Investment,Bad for Productivity

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of aid on sources of growth: capital accumulation and total factor productivity (TFP) growth; the latter captures the effect on growth after removing the contribution of factor accumulation. Given the role of TFP in explaining cross-country differences in income levels and growth rates, the productivity effect can play a significant role in explaining the impact of aid on growth. Contradictory effects of aid were found: aid boosts investment but adversely affects TFP, suggesting that efficiency losses may undermine the overall effects of aid on growth. It was also found that aid reduces the efficacy of financial institutions in supporting productivity growth, a surprising result that possibly illuminates the nature of aid distribution in receiving countries.     

主食生产工业化与膳食消费现代化

由传统社会向现代社会转型,一个必然趋势就是:主食生产方式趋向工业化,膳食消费方式趋向现代化.前者是指,在发扬我国传统主食优秀文化的基础上,采用现代科学营养原理和先进技术装备,进行规模化生产,提供标准化、方便化、安全化、营养化的主食品.     

Towards a theory for a practical optimisation model for a farm

Abstract

Total factor productivity in communal agriculture in Zimbabwe grew at 1.73% per annum from 1975 to 1990. Growth was negative before independence in 1980 and then reached over 8% a year, but turned negative again after 1985. The success following independence can be explained by the widespread adoption of modern technology, especially in maize production. Adoption was driven by the reorientation of government policy towards the communal sector, which led to improved price incentives and public provision of essential infrastructure investments, such as marketing depots and farm credit facilities. However, the high costs of support proved to be unsustainable and productivity declined from 1985.     

中国虾出口企业遭遇美国反倾销的原因及对策

在经济全球化的背景下,企业之间的竞争已经跨越了国界.许多国家的政府为保护本国企业的利益纷纷对他国进口产品设置重重障碍.反倾销是世界贸易组织允许的少数合法的措施之一,由于程序简便易行、能够有效排斥进口商品而被很多国家广泛采用.[1]本文对我国虾出口企业2004年遭遇美国反倾销的原因作了分析,并对相关企业提出若干应对策略,希望为更好的解决这一贸易纠纷提供某些借鉴.     

A paradigm for persistence: a vital challenge for the agricultural academy

The further economic development of modern, multi-functional and responsible agricultural and food systems must be set within a global context of ecological sustainability and social responsibility. This presents all of those who are concerned with such development, with a much more complex challenge than that posed by the relatively straightforward goals of the Green Revolution to increase production of staple grains in the pursuit of food security on a national scale. It is thus crucial that leaders within institutions of research and higher education in agriculture and related disciplines across the entire world come to terms with the intellectual, moral, practical and political challenges that are fundamental to this systemic change of focus. The situation demands nothing less than a paradigmatic revolution in education, research and extension with implications for the adoption of a very different strategic role for universities with respect to how they critically engage with the multi-stakeholders of entire agri-food systems.     

Appraising Alternatives for Allocating and Cost Recovery for Irrigation Water in Egypt

Alternative approaches to allocating and recovering costs for water on Egyptian farms are proposed and evaluated in accordance with the societal objectives of allocative efficiency, equity of income distribution and cost recovery. A linear programming model of a study area in Egypt's northern Delta predicts farmers' response to the proposed cost-sharing instruments over a range of water supply conditions. Transactions costs for each charging instrument are estimated and incorporated into the allocative. efficiency analysis. Flat land charges, supplemented by water quotas in the event of increasing water scarcity, best achieve societal objectives in the current and prospective Egyptian situation. Volumetric charging instruments were judged to be somewhat less desirable, due to higher tangible and intangible costs of implementation. The results highlight the importance of transactions costs, the degree of water scarcity and other governmental revenue raising policies in determining an appropriate charging mechanism.     

Hedging Opportunities for Canadian

The unprecedented commodity price volatility in the last decade has resulted in a growing interest in futures trading by farmers. One of the major reasons often provided for the usefulness of commodity futures markets is that they provide a mechanism whereby producers can shift the risk of price change onto others. Interestingly, little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of the WCE as a hedging tool for farmers.
The objective of this paper was to investigate the extent to which the futures contracts for rapeseed, barley and flaxseed can be used by farmers in order to reduce price risk (measured by volatility). Drawing on earlier literature, the theory of hedging was reviewed and formulae for estimating the optimal hedge and the effectiveness of hedging were presented. An empirical analysis determined that the Winnipeg rapeseed, barley and flaxseed futures contracts are very useful in terms of allowing a producer the opportunity to reduce exposure to price risk.     

Policy Development for Novel Foods: Issues and Challenges for Functional Food

Challenges in policy development for novel foods arise from information asymmetry associated with these credence goods. Policy development reflects pressures by firms and investors to apply health claims in marketing functional food, nutraceuticals and natural health products, which are growing market segments, relative to mature food markets. However, the wordings on health claims are often misinterpreted by consumers. Despite tendencies for some convergence in approaches to health claim policies, policy differs internationally. Related issues considered include factors influencing consumer preferences for these products and uncertainties in the markets for them.     

关于渔业产业化问题

本文指明了渔业产业化的实质所在，分析了渔业产业化水平的现状，并联系渔业产业化实践提出了建设性的思路，以供进一步研究提高渔业产业化问题时参考