Economic viability of Brazil nut trading in Peru (NRI report no. 2520)

DFID's Forestry Research Programme is funding a three-year project to research the role that ethical trade can play in improving the lives of forest dependent people in developing countries. The project asks fundamental questions about whether such trade can deliver appropriate benefits, how effectively current ethical initiatives operate, and what practical steps can be taken to improve performance. The research summarised in this report forms one of three comparative studies that will address the questions of how current ethical trade practitioners operate in the forest products context and whether the trade brings incremental benefits to forest dependent people. It examines ethical trade of brazil nuts in the context of Candela, an alternative trade organisation operating in Peru. Evidence was gathered on the type of financial improvements that Candela brings to brazil nut collectors, the size of these benefits, and how the organisation manages to deliver them. The research also analyses the international part of the ethical brazil nut trading chain and draws conclusions on the appropriateness of the commodity for ethical trade. The basis for the study is a comparison with the conventional brazil nut trade. A separate study conducted by a social development expert examines the impact that ethical trading has had on the brazil nut collectors in Peru

El mercado laboral español. Influencia del nivel de formación y las diferentes ramas de actividad.

Este documento es un trabajo de investigación del mercado laboral español en los últimos años. Se han recogido los datos más relevantes de la economía española en cuanto a ocupación, actividad y desempleo de los trabajadores en España, su variación en los últimos años y los niveles salariales medios para los trabajadores, en un intento por encontrar una correlación entre dichos indicadores y el nivel de formación de los individuos, así como con la rama de actividad a la que pertenecen los trabajadores. Además, se han estudiado las diferencias entre ambos sexos en el empleo y en los salarios que reciben los empleados. En nuestro estudio se analizan los factores que influyen en las distintas decisiones que tienen que tomar los individuos de cara a prepararse para el mundo laboral, desde el nivel de formación que quieren alcanzar hasta la rama de actividad a la que quieren dedicarse. Todo ello teniendo en cuenta las diferencias entre las numerosas posibilidades de elección que tienen los individuos. En este trabajo se incluyen tablas y gráficos que aportan la información necesaria para el estudio del mercado laboral, con los datos aportados por el INE, que servirán para extraer conclusiones y teorías acerca de los factores que influyen en la decisión de los individuos.<br /

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oil of Species of the Genus Tagetes

This study investigated the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of two species of the genus Tagetes (Tagetes minuta L. and Tagetes elliptica Sm). The essential oil was obtained by steam distillation, and its extraction performance, relative density, refractive index, and solubility in ethanol (70% v/v) were determined. The chemical components were evaluated by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Antioxidant activity was determined by the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrocyl (DPPH) method and the trapping capacity of the ABTS*+ radical cation. In the essential oils of the species Tagetes, it was possible to identify 26 chemical components for the species Tagetes elliptica Sm. and 16 for Tagetes minuta L., both species presented as main components monoterpenes (61%) and sesquiterpenes (44%). The compounds found were β-myrcene, trans-tagetone, β-trans-ocimene, and β-caryophyllene. Essential oils showed a variation in extraction yields and density. The refractive index was higher in the species Tagetes elliptica Sm., finding a high solubility in both species. A variation was found between 1.77 and 2.56 mg/mL of antioxidant activity by the DPPH method and 21.02–41.06 mg/mL for ABTS*+. The essential oils of the species Tagetes elliptica Sm.y and Tagetes minuta L. have bioactive components with antimicrobial and antioxidant potentialities for use for food preservatives

Análisis de la competitividad en la formación de los precios en el mercado mayorista no. 1 "La Parada"

Como se sabe, los mercados mayoristas tienen como función principal contribuir a la formación de los precios de los productos. A través de la centralización de la oferta y su confrontación con la demanda en un contexto de competitividad y eficiencia, se esperaría que el sistema de precios resultante asigne los recursos de manera eficiente. Eligiendo como estudio de caso el Mercado Mayorista No. 1 "La Parada", la investigación intentó evaluar si el proceso de formación de los precios en este mercado se da en un contexto de competitividad y eficiencia. En el análisis de los problemas de competitividad, un tema central es la identificación del grado de concentración del volumen comercializado. Asimismo, es crucial analizar la estructura de costos de comercialización para identificar cuánto del margen bruto apropiado por el mayorista corresponde en realidad a estos costos y cuánto representa utilidades

Endogenous institutional innovation and agroindustrialization on the Peruvian coast

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of endogenous institutional innovations that have recently emerged in the agroindustrial zone of Chincha, on the coast of Peru. These innovations include: (1) contracts between agroindustrial firms and large farmers, introduced by the firms themselves to assure timely delivery and compliance with strict requirements implied by the emerging demanding quality and safety standards for agro-export of processed asparagus; (2) management services exchanged for labor supervision and land collateral in share tenancy contracts between a management company and &quot;farmer companies&quot; of small cotton farmers. These contracts introduced by the management company illustrate those described theoretically by Eswaran and Kotwal [Am. Econ. Rev. 75 (3), 352-367]. The nature and importance of these institutional changes are twofold: (1) They were induced institutional innovations driven by the requirements of agroindustrialization itself. (2) Together they had ambiguous employment and income impacts (tending to the negative). On the one hand, the emergence of asparagus and firm-farm contracts reduced employment through exclusion of small farms and shifts to capital-intensive crops. On the other hand, the reinforcement of smallholder cotton and the emergence of farmer companies increased employment and income of smallholders. The institutional innovation allowed them to reduce risk and increase profits and thus access some of the benefits of agroindustrialization and globalization. While processing firm-farm contracts are common in Peru, as is the presence of NGOs bringing subsidized credit, the private management firm innovation is rare and new in Peru and apparently also in the region, and of great interest. In fact, policymakers and NGOs have recently discovered that this innovation is taking place and are asking hard questions about whether this innovation can and will be diffused. The interest in the private for-profit institutional change is sharpened by growing doubts about how economically sustainable and widespread a response NGO help can be to small farmers in maintaining their participation in income-enhancing agroindustrialization. Moreover, with changes in land laws and markets the fluidity of the situation is apparent, with agroindustrial firms even starting to ask themselves whether contracts with large farms are necessary and best

Endogenous institutional innovation and agroindustrialization on the Peruvian coast

This paper presents an analysis of endogenous institutional innovations that have recently emerged in the agroindustrial zone of Chincha, on the coast of Peru. These innovations include: (1) contracts between agroindustrial firms and large farmers, introduced by the firms themselves to assure timely delivery and compliance with strict requirements implied by the emerging demanding quality and safety standards for agro-export of processed asparagus; (2) management services exchanged for labor supervision and land collateral in share tenancy contracts between a management company and "farmer companies" of small cotton farmers. These contracts introduced by the management company illustrate those described theoretically by Eswaran and Kotwal [Am. Econ. Rev. 75 (3), 352-367]. The nature and importance of these institutional changes are twofold: (1) They were induced institutional innovations driven by the requirements of agroindustrialization itself. (2) Together they had ambiguous employment and income impacts (tending to the negative). On the one hand, the emergence of asparagus and firm-farm contracts reduced employment through exclusion of small farms and shifts to capital-intensive crops. On the other hand, the reinforcement of smallholder cotton and the emergence of farmer companies increased employment and income of smallholders. The institutional innovation allowed them to reduce risk and increase profits and thus access some of the benefits of agroindustrialization and globalization. While processing firm-farm contracts are common in Peru, as is the presence of NGOs bringing subsidized credit, the private management firm innovation is rare and new in Peru and apparently also in the region, and of great interest. In fact, policymakers and NGOs have recently discovered that this innovation is taking place and are asking hard questions about whether this innovation can and will be diffused. The interest in the private for-profit institutional change is sharpened by growing doubts about how economically sustainable and widespread a response NGO help can be to small farmers in maintaining their participation in income-enhancing agroindustrialization. Moreover, with changes in land laws and markets the fluidity of the situation is apparent, with agroindustrial firms even starting to ask themselves whether contracts with large farms are necessary and best.© 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V

Comercialización agrícola en el Perú

"Relativo el apoyo del CIID brindado durante los últimos años a su Area de Análisis de Políticas Macroecónomicas y Sectoriales