Farmer organization, collective action and market access in Meso-America:

"The global agricultural economy is changing. Commodity prices are declining, and producers increasingly supply complex value chains. There is growing interest in how farmers can benefit from emerging market opportunities. Farmers are encouraged to produce high value crops and engage in value-adding activities such as agro-processing. Farmer organization and collective action are often seen as key factors in enhancing farmers' access to markets. Often too little attention is directed at a) the most appropriate types of organization, b) whether the public and/or private sector is best placed to support their formation, and c) the conditions necessary for ensuring their economic viability. This paper reports on research in Mexico and Central America that explored these issues for commodity maize and high value vegetables respectively. The benefits of farmer organization are more evident in the vegetable sector characterized by high transaction costs associated with market access. The research suggests that farmer organizations established by and directly linked to supermarkets may be more economically sustainable as opposed to organizations supported by non-governmental organizations. However, the most representative vegetable producer organizations in both Honduras and El Salvador include fewer than 5 percent of total horticultural producers. This is due to producer organizations' limited business skills and non-replicable organizational models for linking producers to markets. There is less incentive for maize farmers to organize themselves to access output markets as the transaction costs associated with market access are relatively low: there are so many buyers and sellers that farmer organizations would have little impact on, for example, prices. The benefits of farmer organization are clearer when it comes to accessing credit, seed, and fertilizer. Farmer organization is a critical factor in making markets work for the poor particularly in high value products, but the role and timing of the substantial public and private investment needed to establish and maintain these organizations is poorly understood." authors' abstractSmall-scale farmers, maize, High value agricultural products, Pro-poor growth, business development services, value chains, Collective action, small farms, Markets,

Creatividad publicitaria

Los procesos publicitarios se han visto modificados por la irrupción de las tecnologías de la comunicación en la comunicación comercial. Los sistemas tradicionales centran la actividad publicitaria en los medios de comunicación como son prensa, radio y televisión. Sin embargo, la llegada y generalización de internet supone una transformación de los procesos creativos de la publicidad debido a la creciente importancia de los usuarios como prosumer.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Massachusetts Marine Trades Workforce Assessment 2005

In 2005, a partnership between the South Coastal Workforce Investment Board, the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association, Massasoit Community College and the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston, developed and distributed a survey focused on the status, needs and future challenges faced by marine businesses in the South Coastal region of Massachusetts. The Urban Harbors Institute analyzed the responses and prepared this report to present the results. The overall aims of the 2005 Marine Trades Workforce Assessment Survey were: to determine the extent of the marine industry’s labor needs in the South Coastal region of Massachusetts; to ascertain which skill sets are most in demand and for which there is a lack of qualified people; to assess the state of recreational marine employers; to identify the current and future challenges faced by the industry; to ascertain the needs for formal training and certification; to ascertain the most favorable types of training and the seasons when such training should be offered; to develop a statistical foundation for future initiatives; and, to compile crucial information to help stabilize the marine industry in Massachusetts and encourage it to grow. Additionally, it was hoped that the survey would provide data that could be used to help dispel some of the myths or misconceptions that some have about the marine industry in general and, in particular in Massachusetts. A total of 90 surveys were successfully delivered to marine and marine-related businesses within the study area. As the survey was largely focused on the labor needs within the industry, the majority of those businesses targeted were ones that would be expected to require personnel with particular skills unique to the marine industry. However, a smaller number of “marine-related” businesses were also surveyed as it was felt that while they may not require personnel with these particular skill sets, they could provide addition unique insight into the status of the industry and the challenges it may face in the future. After a significant follow-up effort, a response rate of almost 47% was achieved. While the report contains the full analysis and results, the key findings are presented below. These are followed by a number of recommendations, which were developed through a series of meetings between representatives of the partner organizations

Looking beyond loss and damage: Reframing insurance to promote adaptation and resilience

In much of the developing world, climate change is expected to increase the risk from extreme weather events, and scaling insurance is vital to enhance agricultural risk management and adaptation among the rural poor. Insurance program impacts however too often claim impacts based on the number of farmers insured, or total payouts made; instead of documenting livelihood impacts, and/or addressing key challenges that hamper impacts on resilience. A mix of stakeholder expertise is required to design, evaluate and scale insurance programs that have the potential to enhance resilience among the rural poor. We highlight the contribution that agricultural research-for-development (AR4D) can play to help strengthening scaling efforts and evaluating the impacts of insurance on resilience

A Sociolinguistic Perspective on Language and Gender Issues

Este estudio de investigación tiene como objetivo analizar aspectos de lenguaje y género dentro del marco sociolingüístico, con el fin de contrastar diversas investigaciones relacionadas con las diferencias entre sexos a la hora de hablar mediante la presentación de estudios que refutan los anteriores. Además se busca desmitificar algunos dichos populares y estereotipos consolidados en nuestra sociedad, teniendo como consecuencia la existencia y permanencia del sexismo, que se analizará desde el punto de vista sociolingüístico, examinando estudios de lenguaje y género desde sus inicios, comparando diversas investigaciones con el fin de alcanzar una conclusión final: no existe ningún principio Universal.This investigation is aimed at dealing with gender issues within the sociolinguistic field. The main objective is to contrast several sociolinguistic investigations regarding women and men´s differences in speech by providing opposite studies which refute the previous ones.Other issues such as the approaches employed in gender studies from their beginning will be explored, by providing a variety of examples to clarify and support some theories or assumptions. On the whole this survey will deal with the trajectory of gender studies since their origins, by contrasting several studies with the aim of arriving at a conclusion: there is no Universal Principle

Building pathways out of poverty through climate smart agriculture and effective targeting

A focus of agricultural development is climate smart agricultural technologies and practices (CSA). Development practitioners invest in scaling these to have wider impact. Ineffective targeting stymies CSA’s contribution to poverty reduction by excluding many of the poor and/or including those for whom agriculture is not a pathway out of poverty. We propose the need to recognise differentiated livelihood pathways within smallholder agriculture, linked to farmers’ differential capacity to engage in climate risk management. A farmer and livelihoods typology provides a framework to improved targeting of CSA and to identifying where alternative interventions, such as social protection, are more appropriate

Climate-smart agriculture and non-agricultural livelihood transformation

Agricultural researchers have developed a number of agricultural technologies and practices, known collectively as climate-smart agriculture (CSA), as part of climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Development practitioners invest in scaling these to have a wider impact. We use the example of the Western Highlands in Guatemala to illustrate how a focus on the number of farmers adopting CSA can foster a tendency to homogenize farmers, instead of recognizing differentiation within farming populations. Poverty is endemic in the Western Highlands, and inequitable land distribution means that farmers have, on average, access to 0.06 ha per person. For many farmers, agriculture per se does not represent a pathway out of poverty, and they are increasingly reliant on non-agricultural income sources. Ineffective targeting of CSA,hence, ignores small-scale farming households’ different capacities for livelihood transformation, which are linked to the opportunities and constraints afforded by different livelihood pathways, agricultural and non-agricultural. Climate-smart interventions will often require a broader and more radical agenda that includes supporting farm households’ ability to build non-agricultural-based livelihoods. Climate risk management options that include livelihood transformation of both agricultural and non-agricultural livelihoods will require concerted cross-disciplinary research and development that encompasses a broader set of disciplines than has tended to be the case to date within the context of CSA

The Achilles heel of climate-smart agriculture

Climate-adapted agriculture needs to be equitable and inclusive to overcome trade-offs with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The challenge is to acknowledge power imbalances and socio-economic inequalities and to empower farmers to embrace change in ways that lead to positive agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood transformation