Reduced GHG emissions due to compost production and compost use in Egypt

Composting has been acknowledged as an emission reduction methodology by the UNFCCC. The emission reduction reached by a composting project is determined by comparing the composting scenario with the applicable baseline scenario. The objective of this study was on the one hand to clarify the emission reduction methodology of a composting facility in Egypt and on the other hand to extend this methodology with an example to illustrate the effect of compost use on greenhouse gas emissions. In this study, the emissions in a scenario where compost originating from a compost facility near Alexandria is used on a citrus farm in Egypt, were compared with a hypothetical baseline scenario where organic waste is not recycled and chemical fertilizer is used on the farm. The results show that the composting scenario causes significant lower emissions than the baseline scenario. This is mainly due to the avoidance of methane emissions from organic waste dumping, but also emissions due to chemical fertilizer production are avoided. The third reason for lower emission in the composting scenario is soil carbon sequestration. The composting scenario on the other hand also causes extra emissions due the transportation of biomass and fuel use for windrow turning. Although not showed in this study, it must be mentioned that compost has other beneficial effects, like improving soil fertility, improving the buffering capacity and reducing the risk for pathogens

Carbon sequestration potential of reclaimed desert soils in Egypt

The objective of this study was to investigate the carbon storage potential of reclaimed soils under organic management. Agricultural soils are often mentioned as a potential carbon sink. However, until now the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) doesn’t issue certified emission reductions (CERs) for carbon sequestration in soils. This research focuses on carbon stock development of reclaimed desert soils in Egypt. The research was conducted on two farms owned by Sekem, one of which located 60 km north-east of Cairo, and the other one in the Sinai desert. Five agricultural fields of different ages (1-30 years in use) were selected and compared with the surrounding desert. In every field, representative soil samples were collected from 3 line transects, each consisting of 5 sample points. The samples were taken at three horizons; 0-10 cm, 10-30 cm and 30-50 cm, and tested for differences in physical (soil texture and bulk density), and chemical (acidity, salinity and organic carbon levels) properties. The results show that reclaimed desert soils under organic management sequester carbon very rapidly in the first few years after land reclamation, but that this rate decreases after several years, following a logarithmic curve. The increase in soil carbon was first measured in the top soil (0-10 cm) and then in deeper soil layers. The bulk density of the top soil layer decreased at the same time. The results show that in 30 years of organic agriculture, the soil carbon stock increased from 3,9 to 28,8-31,8 tons C/ha, a raise of ca 24,9-27,9 t C/ha. On average, the soil stored 0,9 t C/ha/y in these 30 years. Thus, an atmospheric CO2 reduction of 3,2 tons CO2-equivalents per ha and year had taken place. It is rather unlikely that soil carbon sequestration will be approved by the UNFCCC on the short term as a methodology to mitigate the greenhouse effect. This is due to the fact that the permanency of carbon sequestration in soils is questionable. Issuing carbon credits to farmers in for instance underdeveloped dry land regions that sequester carbon in the soil could function as an incentive for sustainable farming. High organic matter levels reduce irrigation water needs and improve soil fertility, which may be helpful for combating droughts and food scarcity

The Role of Investment Laws in Strengthening Corporate Social Responsibility: Ethiopia’s Investment Regime in Focus

This article investigates the existing investment treaty practice with regard to the respect and incorporation of the social dimension (Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR) of the investments. It is identified that the concept of CSR got momentum at global level since 1960’s under different legal instruments in the form of guidelines, compacts, principles, and code of conducts. These laws are soft laws because they cannot bind the investor to abide by the standards of CSR. As a result, criticism emerged against the existing investment laws and the global community move to respect and incorporate the CSR standards to the operative body of the emerging agreements. After a long debate and challenges, International Investment Agreements (IIAs) started to respect and incorporate the CSR to their main body in different ways as the core obligation of investors and their investments in host state since 2000. IIAs are composed of various instruments which in themselves are pure investment agreements, and others are those which have investment provisions but dealing with trade or other areas of law. It is identified that there is no similarity among the emerging IIAs in a way of incorporating the CSR. Some of these IIAs impose an obligation to comply with CSR standards directly on the investor; where as the other types are imposing an indirect obligation on the investor through the instrumentality of host states. Ethiopia started to conclude BITs with other countries since 1964 and currently there are 35 BITs. Majority of these BITs have no provision which recognize CSR. Only certain BITs of the country which have concluded during 2016-2019 attempt to incorporate CSR as core obligation of investor. The investment proclamation of the country also stipulates the obligation of investors to comply with domestic laws and environmental standards. This shows that the emerging investment laws at global and Ethiopia’s levels in most cases are contributing a lot to strength and promote CSR. Keywords: corporate social responsibility, investor, investment, business firm, investment agreements, standards, etc DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/100-01 Publication date:August 31st 202

Bijen op het landbouwbedrijf: Werken aan een bijvriendelijker platteland

Bijen en landbouw zijn onlosmakelijk met elkaar verbonden vanwege bestuiving van veel gewassen. Vruchten, groenten, zaden en noten zijn veelal afhankelijk van bestuiving door bestuivende insecten, waaronder bijen. Maar het gaat niet goed met de bijen. Wereldwijd, maar ook in Nederland, hebben veel wilde bijensoorten het moeilijk. Ook de meest bekende gedomesticeerde bijensoort, de honingbij (Apis mellifera), kampt met problemen. In deze brochure geven we achtergrondinformatie over de levenswijze van bijen, bestuiving en hoe we het platteland weer bijvriendelijker kunnen maken. Want bijen leveren de agrarische sector, en dus de maatschappij, een onmisbare “ecosysteemdienst”. Aan de hand van praktische voorbeelden en tips laten we zien welke elementen niet mogen ontbreken voor bijen en wat u zelf kunt doen om uw landbouwbedrijf bijvriendelijk in te richten

Diversifood: werken aan meer diversiteit in het voedselsysteem: Met een casus over De teelt en verwerking van ‘oergranen’ afkomstig van natuurakkers.

De uitgangsmaterialen, zaden, zijn een belangrij­ke basis van plantaardige voedselsystemen. Binnen Diversifood (2015-2019) is gewerkt met heterogene uitgangsmaterialen, zoals populaties en landrassen, met als doel om diversiteit binnen gewassen te sti­muleren en om lokale, biologische voedselsystemen te ontwikkelen. Het selectieproces was daarbij open­baar, zodat boeren en tuinders vrije toegang hadden tot de zaden. In deze brochure leest u over de ach­tergronden van het Diversifood-project en over de resultaten van veldproeven met eenkoorn, emmer- en rivettarwe, afkomstig uit Europese zadenbanken

Bijen horen er Bij: Bijen zorgen voor de vruchtzetting en verrijken het leven op het BoerenBedrijf

Bijen zijn onlosmakelijk verbonden met de landbouw. Ze zorgen voor de bestuiving en dus vruchtzetting, daarnaast produceren bijen honing. Daarom horen bijen thuis op het landbouwbedrijf. Odin-imkerij neemt het voortouw en helpt bd-boeren bij het verzorgen van bijenvolken op het bedrijf. Wat kan de boer zelf doen voor de integratie van bijenvolken op het bedrijf

Bijen en bestuiving: Boer en honingbij zijn onlosmakelijk verbonden

Wat is de bijensterfte, wat zijn de oorzaken en waarom is het belangrijk voor boeren? En wat kunnen biologische boeren ertegen doen

HUBUNGAN ANTARA LAMA BEKERJA DAN KEBIASAAN MEROKOK DENGAN KAPASITAS VITAL PARU PADA POLISI LALU LINTAS KEPOLISIAN RESORT KOTA MANADO

Kapasitas vital paru (KVP) merupakan jumlah udara maksimal, atau juga disebut suatu kombinasi peristiwa-peristiwa sirkulasi paru atau menyatakan dua atau lebih volume paru yaitu alun nafas, volume cadangan respirasi dan volume residu. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk menganalisis hubungan antara lama bekerja dan kebiasaan merokok dengan kapasitas vital paru pada polisi lalu lintas kepolisian resort kota Manado. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode analitik observasional dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Sampel penelitian diambil dengan cara Purposive Sampling yaitu sebanyak 40 responden. Pemeriksaan kapasitas vital paru dilakukan menggunakan alat spirometer, lama bekerja dan kebiasaan merokok dengan alat ukur kuesioner. Hasil Penelitian dengan menggunakan chi-square yaitu Tidak terdapat hubungan antara lama bekerja dengan KVP dengan nilai p value 0,224 dan Tidak terdapat hubungan antara kebiasaan merokok dengan  KVP  dengan nilai p value sebesar 0,426. Kata Kunci: Kapasitas Vital Paru, Lama Bekerja, Kebiasaan Merokok ABSTRACTLung vital capacity (KVP) is the maximum amount of air, or also called a combination of pulmonary circulation events or states two or more lung volumes, namely the breath square, respiratory reserve volume and residual volume. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between length of work and smoking habits with vital lung capacity in the police traffic police resort city of Manado. This study used an observational analytic method with a cross sectional approach. The research sample was taken by Purposive Sampling as many as 40 respondents. Examination of vital lung capacity was carried out using a spirometer, length of work and smoking habits with a questionnaire measuring instrument. The results of the study using chi-square is that there is no relationship between the length of work with KVP with a p value of 0.224 and there is no relationship between smoking habits and KVP with a p value of 0.426.  Keywords: Lung Vital Capacity, Lenght of work, Smoking Habit

Aanleg en onderhoud van akkerranden: Onkruid de baas blijven

Deze brochure geeft praktische tips over de aanleg en het beheer van akkerranden. Akkerranden zijn functioneel op het landbouwbedrijf omdat ze schuilplaatsen, overwinteringsplekken en voedsel bieden voor nuttige insecten die helpen bij de plaagbeheersing. Akkerrandenbeheer past binnen geïntegreerde plaagbeheersing op het akkerbouwbedrijf maar in de praktijk lopen veel telers tegen praktische problemen aan. De ervaringen zijn daarom gebundeld in deze brochure met de do’s en don’ts voor akkerrandenbeheer