THE EFFECTS OF FARM PRICE SUPPORT POLICIES: HOW LEVEL IS THE PLAYING FIELD FOR GRAIN PRODUCERS IN NAMIBIA?

In Namibia historically high levels of support to the commercial farm sector have been reduced in recent years in line with general market liberalisation trends. However some support remains. At the same time more attention has been paid to supporting the previously neglected communal sector. The avowed aim of politicians is to ensure that grain producers in Namibia operate “on a level playing fieldâ€. This paper examines to what extent the policy support playing field has been levelled for all major types of grain producer in Namibia. A methodology is introduced for developing a common measure of the effects of price support across grain producers with subsistence and commercial objectives and across scales of operation ranging from 1 hectare to 300 hectares under grain crops. The finding show that the bulk of grain producers in Namibia, who farm most of the grain area, remain seriously disadvantaged compared to the fewer, larger farms. Ongoing discussions on outsourcing government support services to small farmers is likely to result in the playing field becoming more uneven and other compensating measures will need to be taken if politicians and decision makers are serious about “evening the playing field for allâ€.Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

ESTIMATING RELATIVE MAGNITUDES OF COMPONENTS OF FARM PRODUCTION IN SEMI-SUBSISTENCE FARMING: THE CASE OF KAVANGO

Output from the non-formal, traditional or semi-subsistence sector is usually estimated on the basis-marketed production only. It is therefore often underestimated in national statistics and information on the relative importance of different sources of farm-household production is either not attempted or is unreliable. This paper provides an estimation of the magnitude and relative contribution of different production and consumption components for different farm-household types in Kavango. Some of the practical and conceptual issues involved are discussed, as well as the implications of the results obtained for development planning.Farm Management,

Electrostatic propulsion system with a direct nuclear electrogenerator Patent

Nuclear electric generator for accelerating charged propellant particles in electrostatic propulsion syste

New federalism : problems or opportunities for rural America?

2005 Annual report, Center for the Study of Rural AmericaRural areas ; Budget

The effect of microstructure and strength on the fracture toughness of an 18 Ni, 300 grade maraging steel

Fractography and metallographic sectioning were used to investigate the influence of microstructure and strength on the fracture toughness (KIc) and fracture mechanism of an 18 Ni, 300 grade maraging steel. Increased yield strength from 1442 to 2070 MN/m squared through precipitation hardening results in a KIc loss from 143 to 55 MN/m superscript 3/2. Ti (C,N) Ti2S, and TiC inclusions in sizes from 1 to 8, 1 to 15, and 0.1 to 2 microns respectively serve as sites for void nucleation and lead to fracture by the dimpled rupture process in all strength levels considered. TiC nucleated dimples occupy more than half the fracture in all conditions. Void nucleation rate and resultant number of dimples per unit area of fracture increase with increasing yield strength. Average dimple size decreases with increasing strength and/or overaging which follows from the decreasing amount of stable void growth measured by sectioning tensile specimens. Void growth is assisted by crack branching along a path of TiC inclusions. Coalescence occurs in the highest strength materials by a combination of TiC void nucleation and premature separation at strengthening precipitates