Food Drying/ Production Plant

Tropical Horticulture Enterprises (T.H.E) is a Ugandan initiative that works to add value to fruits, bananas and vegetables. The main out put of this initiative are processed dried fruits, fresh fruits, banana flour and fresh vegetables. T.H.E taps the 22% of banana and fruit loss at farm gate due to failure to access markets timely, besides poor handling knowledge and poor storage facilities in rural agricultural producing areas in the country. The initiative boasts of linkage with farmers and it has a bottom up network through which farmers have benefited in various trainings. The main objective of this initiative is to improve farmer’s incomes through providing an alternative avenue and market access to foods produced and ferried to markets without any value addition. This initiative adds value by way of preservation through sun drying of fruits and bananas. It also vacuum packs fresh fruits and vegetables. The dried bananas are milled into flour which provides an additional food variety to maize flour and rice on the market for the above crops. It promotes employment opportunities in the country due to multipliers effect, boosts nutrition values and maintain food security in the country and the region at large.Farmer, Horticulture, Markets, Uganda, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing,

The role of National Council for Higher Education in Government of Universities in Uganda.

In this paper I will discuss the mandate of the National Council for Higher Education in the government of higher education and the measures Council has so far part in place to carry out its mandate. I will also deal with challenges the Council faces in carrying out its mandate

Applications of systems thinking in integrated solid waste management planning for African cities: the case of Nairobi, Kenya

The majority of solid waste generated by urban living cannot be assimilated in the city environment,and initial improvements in urban cleanliness and health were only realized when organized wastecollection and disposal outside of city limits was introduced in Europe in the late 19th century.Sanitary landfills were later invented to reduce the environmental effects of large unsecureddumpsites, it is now however increasingly being shown that this too as a waste management strategyoffers a worse environmental footprint than material and energy recovery and recycling (Cherubini et01., 2009). Modern approaches to solid waste management, collectively referred to as Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM), therefore increasingly incorporate strategies to reduce wastegeneration and to encourage re-use and recycling of materials, and recovery of energy; with landfilling as a last option for residual waste. This represents a shift in waste management paradigmsfrom a focus on collection for disposal, to an increasing integrated interest in the entire waste chainfrom waste generation to material and energy recovery and recycling, and to safe residual treatmentand disposal. The increasing acceptance of Mebratu's (1998) cosmic interdependence model as amore realistic conceptualisation of our world and how its natural, social, and economic spheresinteract however implies that sustainable waste management design needs to take a further leapinto a systems discourse, and cannot be considered in isolation of a rigorous understanding of thesystemic interactions of the social and economic circumstances unique to particular areas. This callsfor a greater understanding of how ISWM principles fit within the social and economic contexts ofgiven areas; an analytical gap that can be filled through the use of systems thinking and systemsbasedtools to multi-dimensionally investigate, and articulate the structures and relationships thatoften underlie complex situations. While systems thinking has found wide application in thesustainability sciences as a prerequisite to building truly sustainable systems (for example Capra,2002 and Hjorth & Bagheri, 2006), it has as yet found little application in waste management analysisand designs, which have evolved from simple problem-oriented to ""integrated"" engineeringmethods. In response to dire solid waste conditions in Nairobi, the government of Kenya agreed in 2009 tocollaborate with UNEP to develop an ISWM Strategy for Nairobi. The project was initiated in March2009, and a National Task Team was established to oversee the development of the plan along with ateam from the University of Cape Town, of which the author was part. The core elements of theresulting Nairobi City ISWM Strategy (CCN & UNEP, 2010) were finalised in April 2010 and included,alongside the formal use of the UNEP ISWM planning methodology, some application of systemsanalysis. These systems analyses could however only be partially developed due to project deliverytime constraints, and this dissertation extends these analyses to completion and explores theirimplications for ISWM in Nairobi.Systems based tools from the research area of system dynamics were applied to systematicallystructure the waste problem and situation in Nairobi, and to develop conceptual causal loop modelsarticulating the solid waste system in Nairobi as a whole. This enabled the highlighting of inherentwaste system strengths and weaknesses in Nairobi, system drivers, leverage points, behaviouralarchetypes, and resulting implications for ISWM planning in Nairobi. The insights generated wereused to inform an examination of whether the intervention strategies finally developed in theNairobi ISWM Strategy Plan (CCN & UNEP, 2010) were adequate at a fundamental level andsufficiently relevant. It was also determined that the bulk of Nairobi's solid waste is organic, and thatthe material recycling and reuse capacity in the city is a key system driver in its waste management towards ISWM, of which organic waste valorization comprises a significant part. It was therefore ofinterest to determine the current capacity, and potential for expansion of organic waste valorizationin the city towards amplifying material recycling as a system driver towards ISWM.The application of a systems based analysis of Nairobi's waste management identified the presenceof ten system drivers of varying nature and flexibility, through which to influence the achievement ofISWM objectives in the city. Potential system leverage points in Nairobi's waste sector were alsoidentified and allowed the development of additional systemic interventions through which largewaste sector changes towards ISWM may be achieved with relatively small inputs. The solid wastemanagement scene in Nairobi was also found to involve a combination of two systems archetypes asdefined by Braun (2002): a 'Success to the successful' trend of private waste collection relative to theCity Council, embedded within a larger 'Tragedy of the Commons' trend - the commons being thecity's economic, human, and natural capital; and implicitly its potential revenue base for collectionservice providers, whose tragic diminishing for all will be the inevitable result if the current operationand disposal practices of both the private collectors and the City Council continue. The interventionsproposed in the Nairobi ISWM Strategy (CCN & UNEP, 2010) were found to have targeted many ofthe fundamental causes leading to the current solid waste situation in Nairobi, due in part to thepartial use of systems analysis in their development by the author; additional insights were howevergenerated from the completed systems analysis discussed in this dissertation. These highlight a needfor the development of policy consistent with eight extra systemic interventions, six of which may beconsidered critical to the success of ISWM efforts in Nairobi.The latter focus on the potential of organic waste valorization to amplify Nairobi's material recyclingcapacity as a waste system driver towards ISWM revealed that there is a leakage of 14% to 23% of allwaste in the city due to organic waste degradation at open dumps or collection points. There is acurrent interest in the use of such organic wastes as animal feed in Nairobi City, and this userepresents a promising but seemingly under tapped organic waste valorisation potential that is likelyto gain in importance in future. Bulk compost production from organic waste is uneconomical underthe present market conditions in the city, and does not currently offer a rational option for the bulkvalorisation of organic wastes in Nairobi. The anaerobic digestion of organic waste for energyhowever shows potential to achieve radically improved organic waste valorisation levels in the city,and from techno-economic modelling undertaken of potential medium scale biogas-to-energy plantinvestments, seems feasible at the current biogas energy feed-in tariffs of 6 KShs/kWh (17-19 US Cents/kWh) and an organic waste tipping fee of KShs. l/kg organic wastetreated, is recommended to achieve more attractive investment payback periods of under five yearsfor especially private investors, and generally agrees with feed-in tari

Creation of the Next Generation of Thinkers and Innovators: Doctoral Training in Ugandan Universities

This paper underlines the need for researchers and innovators trained at the doctoral level in Uganda. Making reference to various sources, it estimates thenumber of PhD holders in the country. This is with the conclusion that the number is too small for the country’s development aspirations, notably Vision 2040. Thereafter, the paper discusses the state of postgraduate training in the country, with specific reference to the doctoral level. Recommendations for reducing the dearth of PhD holders are made. Keywords: Doctoral training; Knowledge workers; Research for developmen

(R1503) Numerical Ultimate Survival Probabilities in an Insurance Portfolio Compounded by Risky Investments

Probability of ultimate survival is one of the central problems in insurance because it is a management tool that may be used to check on the solvency levels of the insurer. In this article, we numerically compute this probability for an insurer whose portfolio is compounded by investments arising from a risky asset. The uncertainty in the celebrated Cramér-Lundberg model is provided by a standard Brownian motion that is independent of the standard Brownian motion in the model for the risky asset. We apply an order four Block-by-block method in conjunction with the Simpson rule to solve the resulting Volterra integral equation of the second kind. The ultimate survival probability is arrived at by taking a linear combination of some two solutions to the Volterra equations. The several numerical examples show that the results are accurate and reliable. The method performs well even when the net profit condition is violated

Capital Structure and The Profitability of Listed Retail Firms

The South African retail sector continues to experience a decline in sales and returns amidst growing external competition and a drop in consumer confidence stemming from the recent credit downgrades in the country. Yet, firms in this sector appear to maintain high debt to equity levels. This study investigated whether the capital structure practices of these firms influence their profitability. A Panel data methodology, using three regression estimators, is applied to a balanced sample of 16 retail firms listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) during the period 2008-2016. The analysis estimates functions relating capital structure composition with the return on assets (ROA). Results reveal a statistically significant but negative relationship between all measures of debt (short-term, long-term, total debt) with profitability, suggesting a possible inclination towards the pecking order theory of financing behaviour, for listed retail firms. Additionally, retail firms are highly leveraged yet over 75% of this debt is short-term in nature. Policy interventions need to investigate the current restrictions on long-term debt financing which offers longerterm and affordable financing, to boost returns. While this study’s methodology differs slightly from earlier studies, it incorporates vital aspects from these studies, and simultaneously specifies a possible model fit.  This helps to capture unique but salient characteristics like the transitional effects of debt financing on firm profitability.  It therefore delivers some unique findings on the financing behaviour of retail firms that both in form policy change, while stimulating further research on the phenomenon.&nbsp

Analysis of financial literacy and its effects on financial inclusion in Uganda

The paper investigates whether financial literacy influences financial inclusion in Uganda on the premise that there are currently few to no studies that investigate this causality and the general lack of consensus on an appropriate measure for financial literacy. It uses data from the FinScope (2018) consumer survey on Uganda and applies Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to construct a composite financial literacy index of the adult bankable population (16 years and older). The index is then regressed - alongside other demand-side control variables, against a measure of financial inclusion using logistic models. Our measure of financial literacy significantly and positively affects financial inclusion in Uganda even in the presence of variables like age, gender, income, and education. Individuals who make financial ends meet, plan for their financial future welfare, seek financial advice, and are receptive towards technology, are 'ceteris paribus', more likely to be financially included than not. Technology and mobile money adoption enhance financial inclusion while more men are financially included than women. While the dataset is limited to demand-side variables of Uganda and cannot be generalised, comparative cross-country studies with robust datasets are needed to provide further insights. The paper advances a novel approach for measuring financial literacy for developing economies while contributing to efforts to standardize an international measure. It also provides empirical insights to support the notion that financial literacy should be addressed more holistically and recommends this approach for improving financial inclusion in Uganda and globally

Dividend Maximization Under a Set Ruin Probability Target in the Presence of Proportional and Excess-of-loss Reinsurance

We study dividend maximization with set ruin probability targets for an insurance company whose surplus is modelled by a diffusion perturbed classical risk process. The company is permitted to enter into proportional or excess-of-loss reinsurance arrangements. By applying stochastic control theory, we derive Volterra integral equations and solve numerically using block-by-block methods. In each of the models, we have established the optimal barrier to use for paying dividends provided the ruin probability does not exceed a predetermined target. Numerical examples involving the use of both light- and heavy-tailed distributions are given. The results show that ruin probability targets result in an improvement in the optimal barrier to be used for dividend payouts. This is the case for light- and heavy-tailed distributions and applies regardless of the risk model used