Leopold Letter: A Newsletter of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Fall 2014

The Leopold Center was created by the Iowa Legislature as part of the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act of 1987. The Leopold Center believes contribute to a healthy ways of thinking about markets for Iowa farmers, a better understanding of local ecosystems, public policies and economic practices, and partnerships with consumers

A meta-analysis of rates of return to agricultural R & D: ex pede Herculem?

IFPRI has long argued that spending on agricultural research constitutes a sound investment in poverty reduction and agricultural and economic growth, through improvements in productivity. This argument is based partly on the reported evidence of high rates of return to agricultural research, typically believed to be in the range of 40–60 percent per year. Yet there continues to be controversy over whether these figures are to be believed, and over what they actually indicate. This study represents the first attempt to take a comprehensive look at all the available evidence on rates of return to investments in agricultural R&D since 1953, and the only attempt to do so in a formal statistical fashion. This report has compiled and documented the literature in ways that make it more accessible and more useful to other researchers and policymakers, as well as others interested in the evidence. The analysis reveals some systematic patterns and some sources of biases that make it easier to interpret the evidence and draw meaningful conclusions. (Excerpted from Summary by Per Pinstrup-Andersen)Development projects Evaluation., Agricultural research, Statistics., Agricultural economics and policies,

Social capital and the integration of processes in the supply chain management in the real sector in Colombia

This research evaluates the relationship of social capital with the integration of processes in the supply chain management in companies of the real sector in Colombia, mediated by their organizational size and the uncertainty of the environment. For this purpose, 232 companies associated to the real sector in Colombia were surveyed and with the information obtained, multivariate analysis of structural equations was made with the SPSS and AMOS tools. As a result, there is a significant direct relationship between social capital and the integration of processes in the supply chain management, thus social capital was identified as a fundamental determinant in efforts to integrate the supply chain, unlike the mediating variables analyzed (size and uncertainty of the environment).Esta investigación evalúa la relación del capital social (CS) con la integración de los procesos en la gestión de cadenas de abastecimiento (SCI) en empresas del sector real en Colombia, mediada por las variables del tamaño organizacional (S) y la incertidumbre del entorno (UE). Para esto, se encuestaron 232 directivos de empresas asociadas al sector real en Colombia y con la información obtenida se realizó análisis multivariante de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) con la herramienta SPSS y AMOS. Como resultado, se evidencia una relación directa significativa del CS sobre la SCI. Las variables mediadoras no registran significancia en el análisis.Tesi

Identificación de las prácticas porcinas en granjas de la región Andina central de Colombia

The Colombian Swine Industry (CSI) has high pork carcass imports from the US due to the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) signed. The CSI is aimed at supplying domestic demand because not all departments are free of swine fever. In fact, pig farmers are focused on controlling the feeding costs and biosafety, and increasing the birth rate. The problem of the CSI is the search to increase profitability and eliminate intermediaries to be able to reach the consumer directly. This study is descriptive, and aims to identify the state-of-the-art of worldwide practices compared to the central Andean region of Colombia (CARC). For this, a measurement instrument was designed to identify the CSI practices, and the results were used to identify the improvement points for the CARC region. This instrument was validated with ten experts in terms of content, and these were not considered in the sampling. The results were obtained through a probabilistic sampling for a finite population comprised of pig farms located in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Tolima, and Huila. The identified population was 191 pig farmers located in the CARC, and the sample calculated to be surveyed, was 50 pig farmers; however, the response rate was higher, and the measurement instrument was applied to 53 pig farmers. As a result, pig farmers want to create new business lines, but there is no trust with competitors. Besides, there is a deficit in technology, infrastructure, public policies, and economic incentives.La industria porcina colombiana (IPC) presenta altos niveles de importaciones de carne de cerdo en canal desde EE. UU. debido a los tratados de libre comercio, y está orientada a abastecer la demanda interna, ya que no todos los departamentos están libres de fiebre porcina. Los porcicultores se enfocan en controlar los costos de la alimentación y la bioseguridad y en aumentar la tasa de natalidad. El problema de la porcicultura colombiana radica en la búsqueda por aumentar la rentabilidad y eliminar los intermediarios para llegar directamente al consumidor final. El objetivo de este estudio descriptivo fue identificar la aplicación de las prácticas globales respecto a las de la región Andina central de Colombia (RACC). Para esto, se diseñó un instrumento de medición a fin de determinar las prácticas de la IPC y los resultados se utilizaron para definir estrategias de mejora. El contenido del instrumento se validó con siete expertos no considerados en el muestreo. Los resultados se obtuvieron mediante una muestra probabilística con población finita para las fincas porcinas localizadas en los departamentos de Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Tolima y Huila. La población identificada en la RACC fue de 191 porcicultores, y la muestra calculada para la entrevista fue de 50 fincas. No obstante, la tasa de respuesta fue más alta y se logró aplicar el instrumento de medición en 53 fincas porcinas. Se encontró que los porcicultores desean crear nuevas líneas de negocio, pero no tienen confianza en la competencia y existe un déficit en tecnología, infraestructura, políticas públicas e incentivos económicos