Contracting arrangements in agribusiness procurement practices in South Africa

Contracting arrangements in agribusiness procurement practices in South AfricaProcurement, contracting, agro-processing,

Economic Imperialism and Oligopolization of Trade in the Gold Coast: 1886-1939

This article will deal with the mechanisms of the economic takeover of the Gold Coast, between approximately 1885 and 1939. Two aspects of the takeover are dealt with: the progressive oligopolization of trading, shipping, and banking in the colony, and the influence which oligopolistic British firms exerted on government policy. The oligopolization resulted in the underdevelopment of the African trading class and its inability to develop into a genuine capitalist class; while the pursuance of a government policy dedicated to maintaining Ghana\u27s role as a peripheral import-export economy resulted in the internal economic underdevelopment of the colony

Maple Syrup Value Systems and Value Chains - Considering Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Perspectives

Harvested from both intensive sugar maple stands and diverse mixed forest ecosystems across Ontario, maple syrup is an important rural and Aboriginal non-timber forest product that contributes to social, economic and environmental sustainability. This paper presents our ongoing work to map Ontario’s maple syrup value system from two different perspectives, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. In the economic sense, analyses of value systems are useful for members to identify the opportunities and challenges they are facing to advance industry growth and innovation. In the social and environmental sense, these analyses provide a window into how different worldviews and belief systems can lead to more effective and sustainable maple production. A value system is the inter-connected network of firms and activities that comprise an industry from the supplier to the consumer that is focused on quality and efficiency rather than costs. In this project, we pushed the boundaries of the traditional business approach, to incorporate sustainable development thinking and re-imagine the mapping according to Aboriginal ways of knowing. We undertook thirty four interviews representing Aboriginal and rural industry members and other key informants. We compare and contrast the rural and Aboriginal models of the value systems and conclude by providing insights useful for community forestry operations

Climate change policy distortions in the wood and food market

The widespread shift of Australia’s wood products industry away from native forests to an agricultural regime–wood plantations–has enhanced forestry industry competitiveness. Wood now competes against food for agricultural land, water and other resources (including government support). New plantings have increased substantially since the mid 1990s via plantation managed investment schemes (MIS), arousing protest in the traditional agricultural sector and claims of unfair government policy treatment. This claim is investigated in an analysis that integrates the taxation treatment of plantation MIS with economics and forestry industry knowledge. Three methods are developed, and applied, to estimate the plantation MIS tax-based subsidy. Preliminary estimates indicate a tax-based subsidy to forestry through plantation MIS of between $0.9-1.2 billion over the five years ending 2008. The estimated subsidy is then incorporated in the Productivity Commission’s calculations of the effective rate of assistance (ERA) to industry groups from tariff, budget outlay and tax-based government policy. The ERA to Forestry & logging in 2008 was estimated to be 41.8 per cent: government assistance is equivalent to 42 per cent of Forestry & logging’s unassisted value added. The estimated plantation MIS tax based subsidy accounted for 77 per cent of the assistance. Assistance to Forestry & logging exceeds substantially the assistance (including drought related payments) to food growers: 7.2 per cent to Grain, sheep & beef and 17.3 per cent to Dairy cattle farming (a significant proportion was assistance that ceased in April 2008). A detailed examination of Australia’s proposed climate change policy concerning the land use sector indicates that agricultural resource use distortions created through plantation MIS arrangements are lightly to intensify.Environmental Economics and Policy,

The feasibility of an international tropical plywood futures contract

This paper explores the potential for futures contracts in tropical (hardwood) plywood, one of the few major internationally traded commodities for which there is no yet a futures market. Commodity characteristics and market structures and practices that have an impact on the feasibility of a futures market are examined in detail, and conclusions drawn as to the way forward if one wishes to create such a market.commodity futures market, plywood