Status and future pathways of resin tapping in Nepal: Appeal for special attention

Resin tapping was pioneered five decades ago since the Laxmi Tapping industry started tapping in western Nepal in 1973. Resin tapping is acknowledged as a cost-effective, viable, and adjuvant source of income for rural people with the potentiality for payment for ecosystem services (PES) outside the resin tapping period. This paper explores the SWOT analysis of resin tapping and future pathways to improve this enterprise in Nepal. The systematic and comprehensive literature search was conducted in Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Scopus; and PRISMA flowchart summarizes the search strategy of the literature survey. SWOT analysis concludes that resin tapping has more strengths and opportunities, but this enterprise is currently under threat due to the shutting down of many resin enterprises with royalty hikes and no incentive. Poor tapping techniques lead to the depletion of pine resources in the long term, so the weakness of the rill method should be counteracted by the modern, cost-effective, more efficient borehole method practiced in many developed countries for resin production. Implementation of the proper policy framework, provision of incentives for enterprise, and sufficient research to create a knowledge base about resin tapping is an urgent need to minimize threats and pedal this enterprise in the right direction. We insist policymakers and stakeholders adopt the integrated forest-based enterprise approach for enabling environment in resin tapping and recommend nine promising value chain upgrading strategies as pragmatic endorsements to execute this enterprise in the long run.

Nanosilicates in Compatibilized Mixed Recycled Polyolefins: Rheological Behavior and Film Production in a Circular Approach

Currently, plastic packaging represents a global challenge and has become a key point of attention for governments, media and consumers due to the visibility of the waste it generates. Despite their high resource efficiency, the perceived non-recyclability of polymeric films risks precluding them from being a relevant packaging solution in a circular economy approach. In this regard, the aim of this study was to implement a strategy to try closing the loop, via the mechanical recycling of post-consumer flexible packaging of small size (denoted as Fil-s) to obtain new films. In particular, two lots of Fil-s were used, which are PE/PP blends differing for the PP content and the presence of polar contaminants. The suitability for film blowing extrusion of these recycled materials, as such and after the addition of a compatibilizer and/or a lamellar nanosilicate, was evaluated. It was first evidenced that the difficulty of producing blown films with the pristine recycled materials, due to the frequent bubble breakages, occurring even at low draw ratios. Moreover, the shear and extensional rheological behavior of all Fil-s based systems was usefully correlated with their processability features, evidencing the key roles of the nanofiller to stabilize the bubble and of the compatibilizer to ensure a uniform film deformation, avoiding its premature breakage. Even if the adopted upgrading strategies allowed the production of blown films with both types of Fil-s, the different components of the recycled matrices were proven to significantly affect their processability and final film performances.

Industry or Instrument?

The chapter analyzes Spain’s and Korea’s upgrading strategies from the perspective of large banks. The chapter shows that Spain’s and Korea’s approaches were based on two different interpretations of the banking sector. One considered banking as an industry in its own right with high potential for upgrading. The other saw banking as an input for manufacturing. The chapter shows that these two views led to the emergence of a globally competitive banking sector in Spain, but prevented a similar outcome in Korea. The chapter comprises five sections. After the introduction, section 3.2 characterizes the structure of the banking sectorin late industrializing economies and the changes in global banking since the 1980s. Sections 3.3 and 3.4 analyze the role of banking in Spain’s and Korea’s models and how these roles affected the trajectory of Spanish and Korean banks. Section 3.5 takes stock, concludes, and sets the stage for the next chapter.

Services vs. Hardware?

This chapter examines Spain’s and Korea’s upgrading strategies from the perspective of the telecommunications services and telecommunications equipment sector (henceforth information and communications technologies or ICT). The chapter emphasizes the link between the identities and preferences of Spain’s and Korea’s governments and characterizes two types of governments: generalists and techno-industrial. The two types of governments are connected to public preferences for upgrading in complex services and manufacturing respectively. The chapter consists of five sections. Following the chapter’s introduction, section 4.2 describes the forces shaping the transformation of the ICT industry in the 1980s and situates Spain’s and Korea’s firms. Sections 4.3 and 4.4 connect the characteristics of Spain’s and Korea’s generalist and techno-industrial governments to the two countries upgrading patterns. Section 4.5 sets the two outcomes in comparative perspective, concludes, and prepares the stage for the next chapter.

The Argument Extended

This chapter presents a more general view of the book’s argument. It uses mini-cases to explore additional aspects of Spain’s and Korea’s strategies. It also relies on a short, counterfactual comparison with Brazil to discuss three factors that enabled these countries to succeed where other late industrializing economies failed. In the case of Spain, the chapter underscores the role of path dependence. It also shows that although the characteristics of a national economy shaped upgrading strategies they did not determine them and alternative options leading to different productive structures were indeed possible. In the case of Korea, the chapter highlights the systemic aspects of upgrading strategies and the synergies derived from that country’s particular approach. The chapter consists of five sections. Following the introduction, sections 6.2 and 6.3 flesh out additional details of Spain’s and Korea’s experiences. Section 6.4 compares Spain’s and Korea’s experiences with Brazil’s. Section 6.5 concludes with a summary of the role of coordination in Spain’s and Korea’s upgrading.

A Study of Lacquerware Industry’s Upgrading and Sustainability Strategies from the Perspective of GVCs—Using China Fuzhou Lacquerware Industry as Example

To discover how the lacquerware industry realizes its core competency, it is important to explore its upgrading strategies in the global value chains. The purpose of this study is to discuss the upgrading strategies applied during the lacquerware industry’s four economic stages and the approach to realize the industry’s sustainability. Results show that (1) OEM enterprises reach process upgrading with four strategies, ODM enterprises reach product upgrading with five strategies, OBM enterprises reach functional upgrading with four strategies, and OSM enterprises reach chain upgrading with two strategies; (2) the lacquerware industry‘s main elements in SSCM include the long-standing relations, reprocessing of defective products, employing the local community, and participation in regional and transregional development initiatives, wherein the design sector is the main link in the SSCM of the lacquerware. The result and implications provided by this study can serve as a reference for other lacquerware and local traditional handicraft industries that are seeking to upgrade and achieve sustainability during their economic development.

Value Chain Analysis of Large Cardamom in Taplejung District of Nepal

This study assessed the value chain analysis of large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb) in Taplejung district, Nepal and explored the functional linkage and upgrading strategies among the key value chain actors. One hundred and sixty farmers were surveyed purposely along with 5 local and district level traders, 5 regional level traders and exporters and 5 enablers who were sampled using rapid market appraisal in March 2018. The study presents a comparative analysis among large holders (n=72) and smallholders (n=88) large cardamom farmers using SPSS and MS-Excel. The majority of farmers used suckers as propagating materials which was a major source of disease conduction. 62.5% of farmers adopted traditional dryers for curing, which reduced the quality of large cardamom whereas about 30% of them used improved dryers for curing that enhanced quality. The majority of farmers had not adopted value addition practices like tail cutting, grading and packaging which were carried out at trader level. Large cardamom prices were normally determined by the export market of India. The average land area of large cardamom per household was 21.56 ropani with 36.74 ropani for the large landholder farmers and 9.14 ropani for the smallholders. The key problems faced by farmers and traders were high price swing, lack of disease-free propagating materials, reliance on the Indian market, aged orchards, shrinking productivity, and minimal collaboration among the chain actors. Therefore, adoption of Good Management Practices (GMPs)- upgraded bhattis, transfer of tail cutting technology and storage management, along with value addition activities like grading (color and size), tail cutting and packaging need to be adopted with strong adherence to export quality. This study revealed that necessary action needs to be taken to maintain a high level of collaboration among the value chain actors thereby increasing the value chain efficiency of Nepalese large cardamom.