How and why large scale agricultural land investments do not create long-term employment benefits: A critique of the ‘state’ of labour regulations in Ghana

In and around the state-owned forest of Farako in the region of Sikasso, Mali, a large-scale study focused on finding a compromise allowing the existential and legitimate needs of the population to be met and at the same time conserving the forest resources in the long term. The first step in research was to sketch out the rural socio-economic context and determine the needs for natural resources for autoconsumption and commercial use as well as the demand for non-material forest services. Simultaneously, the environmental context of the forest and the resources available were evaluated by means of inventories with regard to quality and quantity. According to an in-depth comparison between demand and potential, there is a differentiated view of the suitability of the forest to meet the needs of the people living nearby. Propositions for a multipurpose management of the forest were drawn up. This contribution deals with some basic elements of research methodology as well as with results of the study.

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Exports of Agri-Products from Gujarat: Problems and Prospects

Vikalpa The Journal for Decision Makers ◽

10.1177/0256090920030404 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 41-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ravindra H Dholakia

Keyword(s):

Comparative Advantage ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agricultural Sector ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

The State ◽

Export Market ◽

Cropping Pattern ◽

Scale Production ◽

Specific Product ◽

Product Categories

This paper follows a narrow definition of agri-products that include products of agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, animal husbandry, and poultry. Like most other states in India, Gujarat has also prepared several reports and policy papers assessing the potential for agro-processing, identifying constraints in the development and exports of agri-products, suggesting or announcing several important policy measures for removing physical and financial infrastructural bottlenecks, and promoting R&D activities in the sector. However, these exercises lack realistic assessment of the potential, important features of agri-exports from the state, and Gujarat's comparative advantage over the rest of the country in specific product categories. This paper addresses these aspects. A recent survey of exports originating from Gujarat conducted by the Gujarat Industrial Technical Consultancy Organization (GITCO) estimated that, during the year 2000–01, Gujarat contributed Rs 495 billion (or 20.8%) out of the total national exports of Rs 2,385 billion. However, excluding gems and jewellery and petroleum products, Gujarat's share in the national exports is only 9.2 per cent. Compared to this overall proportion, Gujarat's share in national exports in commodities like groundnut, oil-meals, castor oil, poultry, dairy products, spices, sesame and niger seeds, and processed food, fruits, and vegetables is much higher indicating Gujarat's revealed comparative advantage in these product categories. Some important features of the exports activity in Gujarat are: Only 20 per cent are pure traders in the export business. Only a quarter of the units have ‘export house’ or upward status for special benefits. More than 40 per cent of the exporting units have come up after 1991–92. Two-thirds of the exporters belong to small and medium enterprises. Export intensity of Gujarat's agricultural sector is about 12 per cent. Agri-exports represent excess supply and hence highly volatile and fluctuating activity over time. Agri-exports are price elastic. Agri-exports would be highly responsive to exchange rate depreciation. In recent years, Gujarat's agriculture shows considerable dynamic characteristics in contrast to the gloomy official income estimates in the sector. Nineteen out of 30 crops show significant positive time trend in area while five crops show significant negative trend. The cropping pattern in Gujarat has been shifting away from the low value traditional crops to high value commercial crops with business and export potential. A detailed consideration of yield rates of different crops in the state and other states over the past three decades indicates a realistic potential of 5 per cent per annum growth rate for agriculture in Gujarat over the next eight to ten years. In order to ensure exclusive and regular supply to the export market, quality standards have to be according to the foreign destination and not the domestic market. This calls for large-scale production, assured input supplies, good logistics, infrastructural facilities, R&D activities, and technological upgradation. This involves giving priority to investments in several infrastructural facilities and agricultural R&D besides perfecting agricultural land market and encouraging contract farming in the state.

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Replicative Senescence-Associated Gene Expression Changes In Human MSPCs Independent of Genomic Variations

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v116.21.4775.4775 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 116 (21) ◽

pp. 4775-4775

Author(s):

Katharina Schallmoser ◽

Christina Bartmann ◽

Eva Rohde ◽

Simone Bork ◽

Christian Guelly ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Cell Culture ◽

Bone Marrow ◽

Large Scale ◽

Replicative Senescence ◽

Genomic Stability ◽

The State ◽

Efficient Treatment ◽

The Impact

Abstract Abstract 4775 Background: Based on promising experimental studies with mesenchymal stem and progenitor cells (MSPCs) multiple clinical trials have been initiated. In previous studies we have observed genomic stability of MSPCs after efficient short-term expansion in a humanized GMP compliant system with pooled human platelet lysate (pHPL) replacing fetal bovine serum (FBS) as the cell culture supplement (Schallmoser K. and Strunk D., Journal of Visualized Experiments (32) DOI: 10.3791/1523, 2009). Notably, depending on culture protocols, an extensive propagation with highly variable cell culture duration may be necessary to yield enough MSPCs for therapy. The decline in proliferation rates of MSPCs in the course of the different long-term expansion procedures may indicate a propensity for replicative senescence which may hamper long term functionality in vivo. We have therefore initiated a molecular profiling of senescence-associated regulated genes to determine the state of senescence before MSPC transplantation. Methods: Human bone marrow-derived MSPCs were cultured following a highly efficient two-passage protocol (primary culture of unseparated bone marrow and subsequent large scale expansion; Schallmoser K. et al., Tissue Engineering 14:185-196, 2008) compared to conventional serial passaging in three different growth conditions with regularly more then four passages to obtain comparable final cell numbers. Culture media were either supplemented with FBS in different concentrations or pHPL. Gene expression changes were tested by microarray analysis and selected targets were reanalyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. The genomic stability of MSPCs after long-term culture was determined by array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). Results: Despite high proliferation rate large scale expanded MSPCs showed genomic stability in array CGH. Long-term MSPC growth induced similar gene expression changes in MSPCs irrespective of isolation and expansion conditions. In particular, genes involved in cell differentiation, apoptosis and cell death were up-regulated, whereas genes involved in mitosis and proliferation were down-regulated. Furthermore, overlapping senescence-associated gene expression changes were found in all MSPC preparations. The genomic copy number variations detected in MSPCs of early and late passages in all culture conditions did not coincide with differentially expressed genes. Conclusion: Our data indicate that MSPC expansion can induce gene expression changes independent of isolation and FBS-supplemented as well as FBS-free expansion conditions. A panel of genes will be presented that might offer a practicable approach to assess MSPC quality with regard to the state of replicative senescence in advance of therapeutic application. Determining the impact of senescence acquired during cell expansion on the therapeutic potential of MSCPs for both immune modulation and organ regeneration may help to develop more efficient treatment strategies. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Documentary data and the study of the past droughts: an overview of the state of the art worldwide

10.5194/cp-2018-118 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rudolf Brázdil ◽

Andrea Kiss ◽

Jürg Luterbacher ◽

David J. Nash ◽

Ladislava Řezníčková

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

State Of The Art ◽

The State ◽

Drought Indices ◽

Documentary Evidence ◽

Instrumental Observations ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Epigraphic Evidence ◽

Administrative Evidence

Abstract. The use of documentary evidence to investigate past climatic trends and events has become a recognised approach in recent decades. This contribution presents the state of the art in its application to droughts. The range of documentary evidence is very wide, including: general annals, chronicles, and memoirs, diaries kept by missionaries, travellers and those specifically interested in the weather, the records kept by administrators tasked with keeping accounts and other financial and economic records, legal-administrative evidence, religious sources, letters, marketplace and shopkeepers' songs, newspapers and journals, pictographic evidence, chronograms, epigraphic evidence, early instrumental observations, society commentaries, compilations and books, and historical-climatological databases. These come from many parts of the world. This variety of documentary information is evaluated with respect to the reconstruction of hydroclimatic conditions (precipitation, drought frequency and drought indices). Documentary-based drought reconstructions are then addressed in terms of long-term spatio-temporal fluctuations, major drought events, relationships with external forcing and large-scale climate drivers, socio-economic impacts and human responses. Documentary-based drought series are also discussed from the viewpoint of spatio-temporal variability for certain continents, and their employment together with hydroclimate reconstructions from other proxies (in particular tree-rings) is discussed. Finally, conclusions are drawn and challenges for the future use of documentary evidence in the study of droughts are presented.

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Agricultural land losses aper 1990 in the Liberec Region

Geografie ◽

10.37040/geografie2018123020253 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 123 (2) ◽

pp. 253-278 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zbyněk Janoušek

Keyword(s):

Real Estate ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Arable Land ◽

The State ◽

Identification System ◽

Regional Structure ◽

Political Factors ◽

Real Estate Register

The use of Czechia’s landscape was repeatedly changed, especially by political factors. After 1989, there were large-scale processes of property return, privatization and transformation of the economy and society. In 2003, before entry into EU, approximately 300,000 hectares of agricultural land were not used economically. This was evidently an impact of a tremendous fragmentation of the holdings in the early 1990s as well as large differences between the structure of owners of land and its real users (tenants). A mere 62% of arable land (and 78% of agricultural land in all), registered in the Cadastre of Real Estate (register of owners) is also included in the Land Parcel Identification System (register of users). This disharmony between the cadastral data and the state in the terrain prompted us to focus our attention on this state. We analyze the driving forces which brought it about as well as the size and regional structure of such differences.

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Bayesian probabilistic forecasting with large-scale educational trend data: a case study using NAEP

Large-scale Assessments in Education ◽

10.1186/s40536-021-00108-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

David Kaplan ◽

Mingya Huang

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Large Scale ◽

Population Level ◽

The United States ◽

The State ◽

Probabilistic Forecasting ◽

Term Trend ◽

Trend Data ◽

Long Term Trend

AbstractOf critical importance to education policy is monitoring trends in education outcomes over time. In the United States, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has provided long-term trend data since 1970; at the state/jurisdiction level, NAEP has provided long-term trend data since 1996. In addition to the national NAEP, all 50 states and United States jurisdictions participate in the state NAEP assessment. Thus, NAEP provides important monitoring and forecasting information regarding population-level academic performance of relevance to national and international goals. However, an inspection of NAEP trend reports shows that relatively simple trend plots are provided; and although these plots are important for communicating general trend information, we argue that much more useful information can be obtained by adopting a Bayesian probabilistic forecasting point of view. The purpose of this paper is to provide a Bayesian probabilistic forecasting workflow that can be used with large-scale assessment trend data generally, and to demonstrate that workflow with an application to the state NAEP assessments.

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The Political Economy of Commercial Agricultural Land in Ethiopia

PanAfrican Journal of Governance and Development (PJGD) ◽

10.46404/panjogov.v1i1.1362 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 49-60

Author(s):

Siyum A. Mamo ◽

Abiot D. Habte

Keyword(s):

Political Economy ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

The State ◽

Leadership Role ◽

Critical Examination ◽

The Political ◽

Agricultural Lands ◽

Group Relations

This paper provides a critical examination of the political economy of commercial agricultural land in Ethiopia, taking a case from the peripheral State of Gambella where the Anyuaa and the Nuer ethnic groups interact. Since 2002, the government of Ethiopia has pursued a controversial investment approach that promotes large-scale investment dominated by FDI while officially denouncing the current wave of the neoliberal economic discourse. Such investment ventures in the State of Gambella have put significant agricultural lands under a long-term lease to foreign developers. The central argument of this study lies in the point that, in a political economy avenue where practices contradict official state ideology, mechanized agricultural developments face failure beyond adverse social and ecological crises. Under the guise of the political economy of development where the state takes in hand the responsibility for playing a leadership role, private developers cannot easily find a space for leverage for making productive investments. Rather, such ventures as the case of Gambella tend to institute land alienation of the rural indigenous poor who are already marginalized because of their double-peripheral positions – a manifestation of South in the South. The consequence of both inter-group relations and the environment is catastrophic. The paper concludes that the influence of (trans)national companies on indigenous communities living especially in fragile environments continues to be disconcerting whereas the conflation of the neoliberal inspiration in the peripheral regions appears to be disguising while leaving the local environment and inter-group relations at stake. Thus, the Ethiopian government should recognize the contradiction between its official ideology and the investment practices in agricultural lands overtaken by (trans)national developers.

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Ohio's Large Scale Experiment on Integrated Care: Results and Implications for Long-Term Services Reform

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1750 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 454-454

Author(s):

Matt Nelson ◽

Robert Applebaum ◽

John Bowblis

Keyword(s):

Acute Care ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Large Scale ◽

The State ◽

Term Care ◽

Dual Eligible ◽

Group Members ◽

Scale Experiment ◽

Services And Supports

Abstract Implemented through five health plans, Ohio’s MyCare demonstration began in 2014 and was designed to coordinate primary, acute care, behavioral health and long-term services in the major urban areas of the state. Individuals who are dually eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare and who reside in specified geographic regions must enroll into a managed MyCare plan. MyCare beneficiaries are assigned to two primary categories: community well and those needing long-term services and supports (LTSS). Individuals receiving the integrated MyCare intervention were expected to have lower acute care hospitalizations, lower long-term nursing home use, better longevity and lower overall health and long-term care costs. Using a propensity score matching design, the evaluation compared MyCare enrollees to comparison group members in non-MyCare counties of the state, using Medicaid and Medicare claims data. The 120,000 MyCare program participants represented about half of the dual eligible individuals in the state.

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The Problems of Investment and Crediting of the Ukrainian Agricultural Enterprises at the Level of Macroeconomics: Foreign Experience

Central Ukrainian Scientific Bulletin. Economic Sciences ◽

10.32515/2663-1636.2021.6(39).37-46 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 37-46

Author(s):

Tetyana Reshytko ◽

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Financial Support ◽

Large Scale ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Developed Countries ◽

The State ◽

Investment Climate ◽

Agricultural Producers ◽

Agricultural Enterprises ◽

Private Investments

The article deals with the problems of financial support to the agricultural producers in Ukraine, which mostly perform from their own resources, which is insufficient for self-financing. This fact makes agricultural enterprises hope for support from the state and presupposes the development of banking and partnership forms of crediting. The framework of state support to agricultural producers and the implementation of private investments in the development of agricultural enterprises are revealed. There have been given the examples of successful private investments, which provide not only the manufacturing of high quality products, but also the employment of farmers. The main directions of financial support for production and employment of the rural population in the EU member states are shown. The need to create a favorable investment climate in the agricultural and non-agricultural spheres, in the development of rural areas is indicated. It has been investigated that radical changes are required to establish the positive dynamics of investment processes. First of all, it concerns the introduction of a real market for agricultural land, which will stop the outflow of investors from the industry, expand the banks’ interest in financing agriculture, and allow direct and legal involvement of these lands in the investment process. In order to solve the problem of rural residents’ employment, there is a need to improve the investment climate in the agricultural and non-agricultural spheres. In this regard, the experience of developed countries is interesting, where investment by the state budget is an important factor in social reproduction, a source of modernization and expansion of fixed capital, a means of stimulating its accumulation. The establishing of financial support for social infrastructure in rural areas will stop the reduction and closure of social facilities, increase the range and quality of services, improve the living conditions of farmers, promote small business, create additional jobs and reduce the migration of productive rural forces to cities and abroad. The problem of investment support to the development of agriculture and rural areas is large-scale, nationwide, and requires the consolidation of efforts of all levels and spheres of production, society, public authorities and economic management.

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Regulatory and legal support of land reform in Ukraine

Balanced nature using ◽

10.33730/2310-4678.2.2021.237986 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 24-34

Author(s):

А. Zaika

Keyword(s):

Public Relations ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Land Reform ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Legal Regulation ◽

The State ◽

Reform Implementation ◽

Historical Retrospect ◽

Further Development

The process of formation of the normative and legal support of land-agrarian reform in Ukraine in historical retrospect is covered. It is established that the cause of the main problems in the reform implementation is the presence of Soviet vestiges in the legislation and politics of Ukraine. It was looked into the state of lack of full institutionalization of constitutional land norms and the existence of a long-term moratorium on the sale of agricultural land, which negatively affected economic growth, investment, technology and production, the environment and living standards in rural areas, as well as their role in thriving corruption and shadow economy in the state. A qualitatively new stage of regulatory and legal regulation of the agricultural land market, which began in 2020 with the adoption of the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Circulation of Agricultural Land» and related regulations, is analyzed. Conclusions are made on the need and motivation for further development of legislation in the field of regulation of the market land and public relations. The necessary directions for further reform and expansion of the regulatory framework are outlined.

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