Impact of certification on fruit producers in the Sao Francisco Valley in Brazil

Producers and exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables from developing countries like Brazil are increasingly required to demonstrate the safety and traceability of their produce up to the consumption stage. In fact, the Brazilian export market is still relatively underdeveloped, with an export share of only 2.4% of the total produced volume. However, certification may also have the effect of a non-tariff trade barrier, undermining the capability and financial ability of especially small-scale farmers in exporting to international markets. This study, therefore, aims at providing an economic analysis of certification on mango and grapes producers. A survey of 303 grapes and mango farmers was conducted in 2006 in the Juazeiro and Petrolina regions of the Sao Francisco Valley in Brazil. Certified and non-certified farmers as well as those in process to obtain certification were included in the sample. Empirical analysis using a logit model shows that grapes farmers have higher probability to certify than mango growers. There are two variables which have a positive and significant effect: education and experience. However, small-scale farms, the dependency on non-agricultural income and a trust-based arrangement have a negative but significant effect.Certification, fruits, logit model

The Crisis Impact on the Labour Market

The aim of this paper is to discuss the impact of the current global economic crisis on the labour market, including the risk that the recession will be followed by a jobless recovery that contributes to a lost generation of young people in the workforce. The crisis affects different sectors in different ways, but the impact also varies according to age, gender, skills level and type of contract. Although it had a more significant effect on the private sector of the economy, the crisis’s impact on the broader public sector is also obvious. Migrants, both legal and illegal, are particularly vulnerable during crises because they are typically not being provided the same level of employment protection as native workers and hence they are the first to lose their jobs during an economic downturn.economic crisis, unemployment, young workers, migrant

Sustainable Development Concerning with Mankind’s Climate Changes

Mankind has witnessed many outstanding weather happenings which determined radical climate changes and thus, the draught is expected further to grow. Many experts, academics and scientists all over the continents have strongly called for attention about the importance of saving the water, either for housing and industrial consumers. According to the February - 2007 UNO Report, Terra is the subject of an accelerated global heating process, firstly due to the carbon emissions. Several decades further the climate changes will continue even if, theoretically, these emissions could partly be stopped. As one of the official UNO’s institutions, the World Meteorology Organisation certified the global heating and alerts about another worrying phenomenon,namely the soil disaster.environment, climate changes, global warming, greenhouse effect, sustainable development, EU policy on the environment, climate protection

Adoption of Free Open Source Geographic Information System Solution for Health Sector in Zanzibar Tanzania

\ud The study aims at developing in-depth understanding on how Open Source Geographic Information System technology is used to provide solutions for data visualization in the health sector of Zanzibar, Tanzania. The study focuses on implementing the health visualization solutions for the purpose of bridging the gap during the transition period from proprietary software to the Free Open-Source Software using Key Indicator Data System. The developed tool facilitates data integration between the two District Health Information Software versions and hence served as a gateway solution during the transition process. Implementation challenges that include outdated spatial data and the reluctance of the key users in coping with the new Geographical Information System technologies were also identified. Participatory action research and interviews were used in understanding the requirements for the new tool to facilitate the smooth system development for better health service delivery.\u

Success stories in genomic medicine from resource-limited countries

In recent years, the translation of genomic discoveries into mainstream medical practice and public health has gained momentum, facilitated by the advent of new technologies. However, there are often major discrepancies in the pace of implementation of genomic medicine between developed and developing/resource-limited countries. The main reason does not only lie in the limitation of resources but also in the slow pace of adoption of the new findings and the poor understanding of the potential that this new discipline offers to rationalize medical diagnosis and treatment. Here, we present and critically discuss examples from the successful implementation of genomic medicine in resource-limited countries, focusing on pharmacogenomics, genome informatics, and public health genomics, emphasizing in the latter case genomic education, stakeholder analysis, and economics in pharmacogenomics. These examples can be considered as model cases and be readily replicated for the wide implementation of pharmacogenomics and genomic medicine in other resource-limited environments

Protecting the Environment – a Vital Issue in the Contemporary World

Today’s worldwide concern regarding environment issues is by no means a passing fancy of no substance but a vital problem of epic proportions. Although tons of research performed since the last decades of the 20th Century have sufficiently proved the causes and effects of our environment problems, the perfect solution to undo them all will probably never be found. Contemporary legislation everywhere is sparing no efforts in trying to best meet the new realties imposed by this situation and to constantly adapt to emerging factors.environment, environment law, environment protection, pollution, ecology

IT&C during the Crisis

The development of the IT&C has been exceptional in the history of industrial changes and the telecommunication revolution leads to a decrease of the price of telecommunication services and equipment. The huge volume of information change the way of functioning of the markets, restructuring of economic activities and to opening of new opportunities for creating wealth by exploiting the available information. The analysis of informational society during a crisis period implies examining the specific philosophical and methodological problems that appeared while using them and especially the philosophy of the Internet, the philosophy of principally open systems.telecommunication revolution, restructuring of economic activities, exploiting the available information, functioning of the markets, a crisis period, open systems

Contextual barriers to mobile health technology in African countries: a perspective piece

On a global scale, healthcare practitioners are now beginning to move from traditional desktop-based computer technologies towards mobile computing environments[1]. Consequently, such environments have received immense attention from both academia and industry, in order to explore these promising opportunities, apparent limitations, and implications for both theory and practice[2]. The application of mobile IT within a medical context, referred to as mobile health or mHealth, has revolutionised the delivery of healthcare services as mobile technologies offer the potential of retrieving, modifying and entering patient-related data/information at the point-of-care. As a component of the larger health informatics domain mHealth may be referred as all portable computing devices (e.g. mobile phones, mobile clinical assistants and medical sensors) used in a healthcare context to support the delivery of healthcare services