scholarly journals Characterizing cassava farmer typologies and their seed sourcing practices to explore opportunities for economically sustainable seed business models in Rwanda

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fleur Kilwinger ◽  
Samuel Mugambi ◽  
Rhys Manners ◽  
Marc Schut ◽  
Silver Tumwegamire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Seed Quality ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
New Variety ◽  
Seed Sources ◽  
Value Propositions ◽  
Planting Materials ◽  
Seed Sourcing

The overdependency on local cassava varieties and informal seed sources by farmers in Rwanda has contributed to the spread of cassava viral diseases. The use of improved planting materials made available through formal seed sources, that assure seed quality, is one way to prevent future disease outbreaks. In order to increase the availability of, and farmers access to, such materials there is increasing interest to develop seed business models. This study aims to understand seed sourcing practices of different farm typologies to inform the development of tailored seed business models. A total of 390 farmers were interviewed and the collected data was analyzed into clusters, resulting in seven farm typologies. Seed sourcing strategies, seed replacement dynamics and purchasing behavior of these typologies were explored via a seed tracing study. We find that more commercial oriented farmers have better access to formal seed sources. Nevertheless, the majority of farmers in all typologies accessed new varieties and quality cassava seed via informal channels. At both formal and informal sources, cash investments in seed were mainly made by the categories of better-off farmers, and were one-time investments to acquire a new variety. Based on farmers current seed sourcing practices, clarifications on the differences between farmers and their willingness-to-pay, the roles of seed degeneration, cost-benefit analysis, value propositions and profit formulas seem important requirements for the further development of viable cassava seed business models. We conclude that tailoring seed business models can have a high potential as it acknowledges differences among farmers, but that careful coordination is needed to ensure that one approach or intervention does not contrast with and/or undermine the others.

scholarly journals Legal Technologies in Action: The Future of the Legal Market in Light of Disruptive Innovations

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Hongdao ◽  
Sughra Bibi ◽  
Asif Khan ◽  
Lorenzo Ardito ◽  
Muhammad Khaskheli
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Legal Services ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Disruptive Technologies ◽  
Legal Market

Legal technologies (digital solutions to providing legal services) have turned into the essential element of competition among legal-market stakeholders. This study highlights the competitive superiority of legal services based on the concept of innovative disruptive technologies in comparison to traditional firms. For this purpose, the present study identified several trends in the evolution of the legal tech market (i.e., changing landscapes of legal business, delivery models, legal-market segments, and disruptive technologies); moreover, qualitative content analysis has been conducted to provide sound grounds for cost-benefit analysis. Furthermore, cost-benefit analysis makes a comparison of the monetary, social and psychological costs, benefits of legal technologies and traditional firms from clients’ and lawyers’ viewpoints. This has been, in fact, neglected by extant research. Based on these analyses, a new model for legal business has developed to highlight how potential advancements can take place in legal practices. Our findings reveal that legal technologies make legal services more affordable and easily accessible, while helping lawyers to develop innovative solutions and a relaxed working environment. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on service innovation with a focus on how new services and business models have been developed in the legal market as a result of digital technologies. Eventually, this study adds theoretical and practical implications to the research discussing the advent of legal technologies.

Socio-Economic Impact Assessment and Business Models for Integrated eCare

2014 ◽  
pp. 136-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reinhard Hammerschmidt ◽  
Ingo Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Probabilistic Methods ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Service Development ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Rigorous Results ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Socio Economic Impact

Putting into place ICT-supported, integrated health and social care services means that a multitude of stakeholders are affected by changes to their working process and often to their economic performance. In this chapter, the authors describe their approach to assessing integrated eCare services to enable care integrators in making strategic decisions during development and early operation. The approach is founded on cost-benefit analysis. It stands out from other assessment frameworks in that it 1) allows identifying and addressing stakeholders that lose through the service and thus may become strong veto players, 2) allows monitoring of the actual and prospective service development over time, 3) includes non-financial factors that in many cases have a major impact on the behaviour of a stakeholder, and 4) provides probabilistic methods for achieving rigorous results from data of varying quality. Following an exemplary integration case developed from one of their pilot projects, the steps of the assessment process are described, including an exemplary interpretation of the analytic results and their application in practice. The chapter concludes with an outlook on future work.

scholarly journals Sustainability Framework for Assessing Urban Freight Transportation Measures

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eftihia Nathanail ◽  
Lambros Mitropoulos ◽  
Ioannis Karakikes ◽  
Giannis Adamos
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Freight Transportation ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Urban Freight ◽  
Policies And Measures ◽  
Urban Freight Transportation ◽  
Urban Consolidation

Abstract The salient scope of this paper is to enable the knowledge and understanding of urban freight transportation and provide guidance for implementing sustainable policies and measures in a city. To achieve this goal, an evaluation framework for city logistics policies and measures is developed, which demonstrates the complexity of urban freight transportation systems, through selected performance indicators, taking into account divergent stakeholders’ interests, conflicting business models and operations. Evaluation follows a hierarchical process; sustainability disciplines (economy and energy, environment, transportation and mobility, society), applicability enablers (policy and measure maturity, social acceptance and users’ uptake), multiple criteria and indicators, capturing the lifecycle impact of policies and measures and multiple stakeholders. Apart from the multicriteria context, the framework embeds methodologies, including, Impact Assessment, Social Cost Benefit Analysis, Transferability and Adaptability, and Risk Analysis. To demonstrate its applicability a case study is set for the City of Graz assessing the establishment of an Urban Consolidation Center. Results show that there is an overall improvement of 2.2% in the Logistics Sustainability Index when comparing before and after implementation cases of the Urban Consolidation Center.

The Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis for Evaluating Efficiency of Public Investment Projects (The Case of Sochi-2014 Winter Olympic Games)

2011 ◽  
pp. 57-78
Author(s):  
I. Pilipenko
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Investment Efficiency ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Step Method ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
The Usa

The paper analyzes shortcomings of economic impact studies based mainly on input- output models that are often employed in Russia as well as abroad. Using studies about sport events in the USA and Olympic Games that took place during the last 30 years we reveal advantages of the cost-benefit analysis approach in obtaining unbiased assessments of public investments efficiency; the step-by-step method of cost-benefit analysis is presented in the paper as well. We employ the project of Sochi-2014 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Russia to evaluate its efficiency using cost-benefit analysis for five accounts (areas of impact), namely government, households, environment, economic development, and social development, and calculate the net present value of the project taking into account its possible alternatives. In conclusion we suggest several policy directions that would enhance public investment efficiency within the Sochi-2014 Olympics.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document