Effect of Diversity of Large Wildlife Species on Financial Benefits to Local Communities in Northwest Namibia

There exist few quantitative assessments of the relationship between biodiversity per se and economic benefits at scales that are relevant for conservation. Similarly, the merits of Community-Based Natural Resource Management programs for both wildlife and people are contested. Here, we harness two databases, on wildlife surveys and financial benefits, to address these issues for communal conservancies in northwest Namibia. We use ordination methods to characterize the diversity and stability of large wildlife assemblages on conservancies, and demonstrate that diversity (but not stability) is an important explanator of conservancy financial benefits. Our results indicate that for this area of Namibia, biodiversity, as represented by large wildlife assemblages, has an important, positive effect on the tangible financial benefits that people derive from conservation programs.     

A multi-criteria assessment of tourist farm service quality

Farm tourism is a significant means of supplementing farmers' incomes. This paper presents a methodology for ranking tourist farms by using a multi-criteria model based on the qualitative multi-criteria modeling methodology, DEX, to assess service quality. The software tool DEXi was used to achieve this end. The model was then applied to seven tourist farms with data derived from questionnaires completed by tourist farm operators and guests. The results are shown as service quality assessments for individual farms. The potential of the model for assessing the farms is demonstrated with the aim of providing a comprehensive explanation and justification of the assessment technique. It also indicates potential improvements that farms can make through “what-if” analysis and visualization. Despite limitations, such as use of qualitative data only, the approach is proposed as being both appropriate and advantageous when compared with other means of ranking enterprises.     

Changing EU agricultural policy discourses? The discourse analysis of Commissioner’s speeches 2000–2007

This paper is a combination of political economy and critical discourse analysis of public texts about the common agricultural policy (CAP) by concerned agents and the EU’s agricultural Commissioner in the period of November, 2004 until October, 2007. The analysis reveals how concerned agents articulated three competing discourses (neomercantilism, multifunctionality, and neoliberalism). It also shows that elements of the discourse of neoliberalism in the Commissioner’s speeches, despite her use of different discourses for different audiences, are becoming more and more important in order to facilitate further reforms and liberalisation of the CAP.     

Enclave tourism versus agritourism: the economic debate

The approaches to tourism development vary in different settings. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the conversation on the relative economic advantages of enclave and agritourism in a small island context. This study explicitly discusses these two forms of tourism in the island of Mauritius where tourism is a key pillar of the local economy. This study uses a novel format where stakeholder perspectives are reviewed based on a simulated debate between two sets of advocates. The debate arguments rely on a grounded methodology where in-depth interviews were conducted to gather the opinions of three substantial groups of stakeholders: notably, government officials, business interests and local community members. The multi-faceted arguments are built on the identified local concerns and perspectives and provide a forum for the voices of diverse participants from the tourism world of Mauritius. The format offers a rich, realistic set of arguments exploring the economic merits of both forms of tourism in a specific setting. Five main themes influence the economic support for tourism development: certainty of tourism income, scale of tourism development, employment, regional disparity and the challenge of change.     

Bringing Ecosystem Services into the Real World: An Operational Framework for Assessing the Economic Consequences of Losing Wild Nature

Policy action to halt the global loss of biodiversity and ecosystems is hindered by the perception that it would be so costly as to compromise economic development, yet this assumption needs testing. Inspired by the recent Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, the leaders of the G8+5 nations commissioned a similar assessment of the economics of losing biodiversity, under the Potsdam Initiative on Biodiversity. Here, we propose a conceptual framework for such a global assessment which emphasizes several critical insights from the environmental economics and valuation literature: contrasting counterfactual scenarios which differ solely in whether they include specific conservation policies; identifying non-overlapping benefits; modeling the production, flow, use and value of benefits in a spatially-explicit way; and incorporating the likely costs as well as possible benefits of policy interventions. Tackling these challenges, we argue, will significantly enhance our ability to quantify how the loss of benefits derived from ecosystems and biodiversity compares with the costs incurred in retaining them. We also summarise a review of the current state of knowledge, in order to assess how quickly this framework could be operationalized for some key ecosystem services.     

Inequity in poverty: the emerging public health challenge in Johannesburg

In 2005, in recognition of the role of social factors in increasing health inequities, the World Health Organisation established the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. South Africa is among the most unequal societies in the world. It faces serious public health challenges, including an elevated burden of chronic disease, and high levels of violence. This paper presents data from a cross-sectional study of socio-economic and health status conducted in five Johannesburg housing settlements in 2006. The findings paint a picture of health inequities across and within the study sites, and socio-environmental conditions that undermine the prospects of protecting and promoting health. The authors suggest the need for a new approach to public health in areas of urban impoverishment in Johannesburg and elsewhere.     

The search for meaning in a changing work context

The nature of work is currently undergoing a complete transformation. In response to economic pressures organizations are reshaping themselves into totally new forms. Information technology is underpinning this transformation by providing the backbone for new organizational structures and new ways of working. The implications of this transformation are far reaching, particularly as the entire concept of work changes. The boundaries which have traditionally existed between organizations, individuals, family, home life and community will disappear as work increasingly becomes situation-independent and centred in the home. Our current understanding of the meaning of work will become increasingly obsolete and therefore will force individuals to search for new meanings of work in their lives. As a result work will take on an entirely different meaning. This article explores the problems of the meaning of work in a context of change. We look forward to a future in which the nature of work as we know it now will have changed beyond recognition. The question we address is this: what will work mean to us in the future?     

The challenges of policy coordination at a programme level: Why joining-up is hard to do

This article examines obstacles to policy coordination to promote development at a programme level. Contemporary efforts to promote coordination or ‘joined-up’ working across government entities highlight attempts to promote policy synergy and resource maximisation for achieving objectives that straddle the sector-specific boundaries of multiple departments. This paper assessed efforts to coordinate the actions of multiple departments towards achieving a single cross-cutting policy objective. Programme-level analysis of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South Africa revealed various reasons why joining-up is difficult to negotiate in practice. This consisted of policy goal and operational incompatibility between specialised entities, which appears sensitive to the specificity and stringency of policy goals and implementation regimens; as well as a host of difficulties related to how coordination is formally defined and designated. This included role definition and confusion, as well as the nature and locus of coordination mandates across and within individual departments.     

Firm survival through a crisis: The influence of market orientation,marketing innovation and business strategy

As an outcome of the economic crisis, the global manufacturing sector is collapsing. Focusing on Chinese manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this study investigates whether marketing innovation, defined as improvements in the marketing mix, can assist in withstanding the challenges of operating under the current economic conditions. A conceptual model linking market orientation, marketing innovation, competitive advantage and firm survival is tested using structural equation modelling. Three key findings are derived. First, the examined Chinese manufacturing SMEs had a greater perceived likelihood of survival had they developed and sustained a competitive advantage. Second, marketing innovation assisted in developing and sustaining competitive advantages based on differentiation and cost leadership strategies. Third, marketing innovation capabilities improved when the examined manufacturing SMEs were competitor oriented and had good inter-functional capabilities.