Effects of dual land ownerships and different land lease terms on industrial land use efficiency in Wuxi City, East China

In the current Chinese land administration system, two types of land ownership including state and collective ownership coexist and the industrial land use rights can be transferred between different land lease terms. Previous studies found the significant relationship between land ownerships and lease terms with agriculture land use efficiency, but it is still unclear for the industrial land use efficiency. This study researched the effects of China's dual land ownerships and land lease terms on rural town industrial land use efficiency. Questionnaires of 294 industrial enterprises in Hudai, Qianqiao, and Xibei in Wuxi City, East China, were studied using two multiple linear regression models. The results showed that collective land with incomplete property rights caused land use inefficiency of lower industrial enterprises’ output per hectare of land. The industrial enterprises’ outputs per hectare from collective land were 2.16 million Yuan (0.31 million US dollar) and 2.06 million Yuan (0.30 million US dollar) less than those from state land in these two models, respectively. Different land lease terms negatively correlated with the use efficiency of rural industrial land. The outputs per hectare of industrial enterprises using the long term lease were 1.30 million Yuan (0.19 million US dollar) less than those using the short term lease in model 2. Our results highlight the importance of the integrated urban-rural land system and tailored lease terms of industrial land to increase the utilization efficiency of industrial land

A taxonomy for community-based care programs focused on HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in resource-poor settings

Community-based care (CBC) can increase access to key services for people affected by HIV/AIDS through the mobilization of community interests and resources and their integration with formal health structures. Yet, the lack of a systematic framework for analysis of CBC focused on HIV/AIDS impedes our ability to understand and study CBC programs. We sought to develop taxonomy of CBC programs focused on HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings in an effort to understand their key characteristics, uncover any gaps in programming, and highlight the potential roles they play. Our review aimed to systematically identify key CBC programs focused on HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings. We used both bibliographic database searches (Medline, CINAHL, and EMBASE) for peer-reviewed literature and internet-based searches for gray literature. Our search terms were ‘HIV’ or ‘AIDS’ and ‘community-based care’ or ‘CBC’. Two co-authors developed a descriptive taxonomy through an iterative, inductive process using the retrieved program information. We identified 21 CBC programs useful for developing taxonomy. Extensive variation was observed within each of the nine categories identified: region, vision, characteristics of target populations, program scope, program operations, funding models, human resources, sustainability, and monitoring and evaluation strategies. While additional research may still be needed to identify the conditions that lead to overall program success, our findings can help to inform our understanding of the various aspects of CBC programs and inform potential logic models for CBC programming in the context of HIV/AIDS in resource-limited settings. Importantly, the findings of the present study can be used to develop sustainable HIV/AIDS-service delivery programs in regions with health resource shortages

Revisiting and modelling the woodland farming system of the early Neolithic Linear Pottery Culture (LBK), 5600–4900 B.C

International audienceThis article presents the conception and the conceptual results of a modelling representation of the farming systems of the Linearbandkeramik Culture (LBK). Assuming that there were permanent fields (PF) then, we suggest four ways that support the sustainability of such a farming system over time: a generalized pollarding and coppicing of trees to increase the productivity of woodland areas for foddering more livestock, which itself can then provide more manure for the fields, a generalized use of pulses grown together with cereals during the same cropping season, thereby reducing the needs for manure. Along with assumptions limiting bias on village and family organizations, the conceptual model which we propose for human environment in the LBK aims to be sustainable for long periods and can thereby overcome doubts about the PFs hypothesis for the LBK farming system. Thanks to a reconstruction of the climate of western Europe and the consequent vegetation pattern and productivity arising from it, we propose a protocol of experiments and validation procedures for both testing the PFs hypothesis and defining its eco-geographical area

institutional framework of in action against land degradation

While econometric and spatial data are increasingly helpful to quantify and locate the extent and costs of land degradation, there is still little understanding of the contextual factors that determine or influence the land users' practices that aggravate or counteract land degradation. In this chapter, we take an institutional economic approach to analyse the persistence of degrading practices, the low adoption of sustainable land management (SLM), or the eventual organisational reaction to land degradation. The chapter reviews four examples of land degradation in different contexts to reveal the multiple driving forces and contextual factors. We then propose a conceptual framework to better understand the incentive structure and factors determining the land users' decision making. A layered analysis of the social phenomena is applied, following Williamson (2000). The chapter shows how actions at different layers can help improve land management. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations for the institutional economic analysis of land degradation

Property rights and soil fertility management in Niger

This research was undertaken as a Ph.D. dissertation (Stanford University) in conjunction with the ILCA programme in Niamey, Niger. The objective of the research was similar to that of the World Bank studies: to test how land tenure affects land-improving investment, agricultural productivity and resource management. The standard hypothesis is that land tenure that is non-exclusive insecure or non-transferable will lead to under-investment and depressed factor mobility. It is further hypothesized that this will lead to inefficient agricultural production and over-exploitation of natural resources. Data were collected for the 1990–91 crop year in three villages along a rainfall gradient from 350 mm per year to 600 mm per year. A total of 60 households were interviewed in a one-visit survey. Data were collected for 134 fields farmed by those 60 households. Fields were measured and their location described, conscious manuring was recorded as a binary variable (yes/no), labour input and yields were measured from farmer recall. Bundles of millet and sorghum were added together to derive a measure of crop output. Because of the differences between owned, hawjou and borrowed land, it was possible to test two different arguments about the effects of tenure. One argument is that "security of tenure" affects the expected returns from investments. The second argument is that the transferability of land affects the mobility of factors. Land that is more transferable can be transferred to activities and uses that earn the highest returns. As measured by the average number of years farmed, rights to borrowed land are less secure than rights to hawjou or owned land. Only owned land is transferable

Multisectoral HIV/AIDS approaches in Africa: how are they evolving?

PRIFPRI4; Theme 4; GRP33; Food systems: disaster prevention, relief, and rebuilding after crises; RENEWALDSGD; FCN

Land tenure and agricultural productivity in Ethiopia

This research is being undertaken as an ILCA project with support from the Rockefeller Post-Doctoral Fellowship Programme. There are three objectives. One objective is very similar to that of the World Bank and Niger studies: to determine the effects of land tenure on investment, productivity and efficiency in crop-livestock systems in the Ethiopian highlands. The other objectives are: to identify the factors that influence the evolution of land tenure institutions in general and the Ethiopian land tenure systems in particular; and to quantify the prevalence of different types of land related contracts in Ethiopian agriculture and relate the terms of those contracts to household and land attributes. Ethiopia has a very dynamic land tenure situation that makes it very interesting, but also very difficult, to study

Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Approaches in Africa: How Are They Evolving?

The response to HIV/AIDS in Africa has evolved considerably since the first cases were reported on the continent in the early 1980s. After the initial medical and public health responses through the mid-1990s, there was an enormous expansion in the scope of the strategic approaches and level of political and financial commitment to fight the disease. In the absence of a vaccine or cure, the global response expanded far beyond the traditional confines of the health sector. Perceiving strong links between AIDS and the greater development processes, national and international organs reached out to a wide array of stakeholders to implement a broad multisectoral agenda. This expansion in vision was accompanied by a corresponding development of institutional structures and coordination mechanisms. Efforts to extend, harmonize, and improve the management of the multisectoral response are very much continuing today.PRIFPRI1; GRP33; Theme 4; Subtheme 4.1; Food systems: disaster prevention, relief, and rebuilding after crises; Health, Diet and Nutrition; RENEWALFCN