The National Rural Drinking Water Security Pilot Project in India: A Cost–Benefit Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 1750009 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Weis ◽  
Guy Hutton ◽  
Manish Kumar

India categorizes the water situation of more than one-quarter of its governmental units as over-exploited, critical, or semi-critical. Unsustainable water extraction, inefficient use of resources, and the large water demand of the agricultural sector (more than 90%) are among the causes of the worsening state of water resources. In order to assure the access to clean drinking water, the Indian Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation initiated the National Rural Drinking Water Security Pilot Project in 2011. To analyze the costs and benefits of this pilot project, we follow the pretest–posttest control group study design comparing two points in time and two groups (study group and control group). In total, 12 sample villages (consisting of 3,265 households and 20,767 individuals) in two different areas were included. Costs and benefits were captured if they were directly and causally linked with the project. This includes financial and economic costs for individuals and the government, as well as benefits in four major fields: health, economy, environment, and time savings. We found total benefits ranging between USD 420,000 in low performing sites and USD 480,000 in high performing sites. Corresponding costs were between USD 40,000 and 45,000. Adjusted to per capita values, benefits vary between USD 54 and USD 300 and costs between USD 5 and USD 28. Adjusting a 99% confidence interval, the net benefits will vary between approximately USD 150 and USD 400 in the high performing sites and between USD 30 and USD 70 in the low performing sites. The expected benefit-to-cost ratios are 11 in high performing sites and 10 in the low performing sites. Due to the large social return in high as well as in low performing study sites, this paper recommends prolonging and upscaling the interventions evaluated in the pilot project sites.

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Hrudey ◽  
P. Payment ◽  
P.M. Huck ◽  
R.W. Gillham ◽  
E.J. Hrudey

An estimated 2,300 people became seriously ill and seven died from exposure to microbially contaminated drinking water in the town of Walkerton, Ontario, Canada in May 2000. The severity of this drinking water disaster resulted in the Government of Ontario calling a public inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor to address the cause of the outbreak, the role (if any) of government policies in contributing to this outbreak and, ultimately, the implications of this experience on the safety of drinking water across the Province of Ontario. The circumstances surrounding the Walkerton tragedy are an important reference source for those concerned with providing safe drinking water. Although some circumstances are obviously specific to this epidemic, others are uncomfortably reminiscent of waterborne outbreaks that have occurred elsewhere. These recurring themes suggested the need for attention to broad issues of drinking water security and they present the challenge for how drinking water safety can be managed to prevent such tragedies in the future.


Author(s):  
Dr. Sumanta Bhattacharya

Abstract: Smart farming has started taking a dynamic shape in the society , where the farmers are adopting smart farming with increase in the use of technologies like artificial intelligence , remote sensing for cultivation of crops with proper knowledge and information gained through digital market , satellite , farm mapping and climate condition to understand and make correct use of resources , controlling soil ,nutrient , saving water and use of less fertilizers in growing crops . Greenhouse , vertical farming , horticulture have entered the urban sector at a rapid pace to meet the demand of the growing society , smart agriculture has helped us to limit our dependence on water , soil and other chemical fertilizer . Today we produce more fresh , healthy and organic food . We have been successful in countering the climate influence over the food sector and reducing the greenhouse emission caused by agricultural sector or make it to zero emission , with promotion of vertical and indoor farming in the urban , semi urban and rural region, the government have encourage farmers to adopt smart farming what we require is to provide training and knowledge on technology use along with many resources available at a reasonable price for the farmers . Keywords: Smart Farming, farmers, vertical farming, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, technologies, climate, resources


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Yela Aránega ◽  
Rafael Castaño Sánchez ◽  
José Santiago Fernández-Vázquez

PurposeThe present research seeks to increase the resilience of the employees of a company dedicated to the harvesting of oranges to reduce stress levels and eating disorders in the work environment.Design/methodology/approachThe mindfulness and outdoor training tools are used in order to become aware of personal purpose and role, accept situations and face daily conflicts. After the delivery of a designed mindfulness and outdoor training program of six (6) weeks, the results obtained after the application of the methodology are presented to a sample of 119 employees from the distribution sector and a control group that does not undergo to the program. Through a resilience questionnaire designed by the authors and the external evaluation of the higher command, it is analysed how it acts as a measurement model to obtain a report composed of 30 items. The evaluation questionnaire measures the general tendency to show low or high resilience and tolerance for frustration.FindingsThe results show that there are improvements in resilience capacity by 30%, with a higher level of significance in women than in men. In conclusion, resilience greatly influences business success.Originality/valueWorkers who have learned to take on new challenges and adapt to the new environment are more likely to lead work teams and promote in the organisation. It is detected that their technical training does not matter so much, but that their emotional intelligence (EI) has more impact, gaining greater confidence in themselves to adapt to uncertain environments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Weis ◽  
Guy Hutton ◽  
Manish Kumar

Abstract India hosts two-thirds of the global population defecating in the open and faces a worrying trend of districts declared ‘water scarce’. This paper aims to assess the costs and health benefits of sanitation interventions undertaken by the National Rural Drinking Water Security Pilot Project in India between 2012 and 2015. To achieve this goal, a pretest–posttest control group study was undertaken in two study areas located in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh states. Full software and infrastructure costs were included as well as health endpoints, sourced from primary health centers. In Karnataka, latrine coverage of households increased from 16% to 59% in villages with high level of interventions, and from 7% to 18% in villages with lower levels of intervention. In Uttar Pradesh, coverage increased from 33% to 70% in high intervention villages and from 27% to 39% in the low intervention villages. We found health-related net benefits of USD 13 and USD 10 per person per year and benefit/cost ratios of 2.5 and 5.0 in Karnataka Uttar Pradesh, respectively. Given the positive economic returns on the intervention in culturally heterogeneous sites of southern and northern India, this intervention has potential for bringing significant benefits to the Indian population.


Author(s):  
Eman A. Al-Rekabi ◽  
Dheyaa K. Alomer ◽  
Rana Talib Al-Muswie ◽  
Khalid G. Al-Fartosi

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of turmeric and ginger on lipid profile of male rats exposed to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide H2O2 at a concentration of 1% given with consumed drinking water to male rats. Methods: 200 mg/kg from turmeric and ginger were used, and the animals were treatment for 30 days. Results: the results showed a significant increase in cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), whereas it explained a significant decrease in high density lipoprotein (HDL) of male rats exposed to oxidative stress when compared with control group. the results showed a significant decrease in cholesterol, triglycerides, (LDL), (VLDL), whereas it explained a significant increase in (HDL) of rats treated with turmeric and ginger at dose 200 mg/kg when compared with male rats exposed to oxidative stress.


1973 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-437
Author(s):  
Sarfaraz Khan Qureshi

In the Summer 1973 issue of the Pakistan Development Review, Mr. Mohammad Ghaffar Chaudhry [1] has dealt with two very important issues relating to the intersectoral tax equity and the intrasectoral tax equity within the agricultural sector in Pakistan. Using a simple criterion for vertical tax equity that implies that the tax rate rises with per capita income such that the ratio of revenue to income rises at the same percentage rate as per capita income, Mr. Chaudhry found that the agricultural sector is overtaxed in Pakistan. Mr. Chaudhry further found that the land tax is a regressive levy with respect to the farm size. Both findings, if valid, have important policy implications. In this note we argue that the validity of the findings on intersectoral tax equity depends on the treatment of water rate as tax rather than the price of a service provided by the Government and on the shifting assumptions regard¬ing the indirect taxes on imports and domestic production levied by the Central Government. The relevance of the findings on the intrasectoral tax burden would have been more obvious if the tax liability was related to income from land per capita.


1987 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-417
Author(s):  
Sarfraz K. Qureshi

Intersectoral terms of trade play a cruc1al role in determining the sectoral distribution of income and resource allocation in the developing countries. The significance of intra-sectoral terms of trade for the allocation of resources within the agricultural sector is also widely accepted by research scholars and policy-makers. In the context of planned development, the government specifies production targets for the agricultural sector and for different crops. The intervention of government in the field of price determination has important implications for the achievement of planned targets. In Pakistan, there is a feeling among many groups including farmers and politicians with a rural background that prices of agricultural crops have not kept their parities intact over time and that prices generally do not cover the costs of production. The feeling that production incentives for agriculture have been eroded is especially strong for the period since the early 1970s. It is argued that strong inflationary pressures supported by a policy of withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural inputs have resulted in rapid increases in the prices paid by agriculturists and that increases in the prices received by farmers were not enough to compensate them for the rising prices of agricultural inputs and consumption goods.


2018 ◽  
pp. 16-31
Author(s):  
Tatyana Denisova

For the first time in Russian African studies, the author examines the current state of agriculture, challenges and prospects for food security in Ghana, which belongs to the group of African countries that have made the most progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals adopted by UN member states in 2015 with a view of achieving them by 2030. The SDGs include: ending poverty in all its forms everywhere (Goal 1); ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture (2); ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages (3), etc. These goals are considered fundamental because the achievement of a number of other SDGs – for example, ensuring quality education (4), achieving gender equality (5), ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns (12), etc. – largely depends on their implementation. Ghana was commended by the world community for the significant reduction in poverty, hunger and malnutrition between 2000 and 2014, i.e. for the relatively successful implementation of the first of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, 2000–2015) – the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. However, SDGs require more careful study and planning of implementation measures. In order to achieve the SDGs, the Government of Ghana has adopted a number of programs, plans and projects, the successful implementation of which often stumbles upon the lack of funding and lack of coordination between state bodies, private and public organizations, foreign partners – donors and creditors, etc., which are involved in the processes of socioeconomic development of Ghana. The author determines the reasons for the lack of food security in Ghana, gives an assessment of the state of the agricultural sector, the effective development of which is a prerequisite for the reduction of poverty and hunger, primarily due to the engagement of a significant share (45%) of the economically active population in this sector. The study shows that the limited growth in food production is largely due to the absence of domestic markets and necessary roads, means of transportation, irrigation and storage infrastructure, as well as insufficient investment in the agricultural sector, rather than to a shortage of fertile land or labor.


Author(s):  
L. Gamko ◽  
T. Tarinskaya

It is known that necessary to replace the components of organic acids, which are part of acidifiers when drinking water to poultry in order to prevent the adaptation of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract. In the poultry industry organic acids are widely used, which are used as acidifiers to preserve the properties of water consumed. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the efficiency of broiler meat production when using acidifying agents of drinking water Aquasafe and Veleguard. The experimental part of the work has been performed in JSC “Kurinoe Tsarstvo-Bryansk” broiler area “Roshcha” in the Pochepsky district. The object of research was the livestock of broiler chickens cross Cobb 500 at floor housing. The effect of water acidifiers on meat productivity has been studied. Groups of chickens have been formed on the principle of pairs-analogues. Broiler chickens of experimental groups have been separated from the main livestock by a grid in the corner of the room for 100 heads in each group. It has been found by a result of research to be optimal dose usage of acidifying agents water Aquasafe and Veleguard to drink to broiler chickens. The positive effect of these acidifiers on the digestion of crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, contributing to the effective use of nitrogen, which led to an increase in the intensity of growth, young animals’ livability and improved feed conversion. Slaughter yield in the control group was 55,1 %, and in the experimental group 57,2 and 58,4 %, which was by 2,1 and 3,3 % higher with the same level of metabolic energy and nutrients. In chickens that consumed acidifi ers more intensively used nutrients feed for deposition in the body of the components of the carcass, which affected the production. A positive impact of acidifying agents Aquasafe and Veleguard on meat quality in broiler chickens has been found.


Author(s):  
Vanya Slavchevska ◽  
Susan Kaaria ◽  
Sanna Liisa Taivalmaa

Male outmigration from rural, primary agricultural areas and the globalization of agri-food systems have both been linked to a significant increase in women’s work and responsibilities in agriculture, a phenomenon referred to as the ‘feminization of agriculture’. While the term has been broadly used to bring attention to the increasing number of women, relative to men, in agricultural employment, little attention has been paid to what the ‘feminization of agriculture’ means for women’s empowerment and their roles in agriculture more generally. Similarly, there is no clear understanding of how this will impact the agricultural sector and what the consequences for food and water security are. This chapter reviews the global evidence surrounding the “feminization of agriculture” and provides a critical discussion of the implications for women’s empowerment and for food and water security.


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