Risk Mitigation through Diversified Farm Production Strategies: The Case in Northern Mozambique

Mozambique, like many other parts of the low-income world, faces perennial challenges with food security. With a rapidly growing population and arable land on the decline, sustainable agriculture is vital to managing the already depleted natural resources of Sub-Saharan Africa more effectively while increasing food security. Food security issues for subsistence farmers in most low-income countries are a product of endogenous (crop yields) and exogenous (currency fluctuations as many agricultural inputs are imported) factors. In Mozambique the value of the local currency, meticals, has decreased by approximately 50% since January 2015 compared to the U.S. dollar. While this makes exporting products out of Mozambique more attractive in a relative sense, it negatively effects those industries which rely on imported inputs such as animal feed and inorganic fertilizer. In response to this exogenous currency crisis, research was conducted in Nampula, Mozambique during the summer of 2016 on a method for implementing crop diversification to reduce the risk that accompanies the devaluation of the metical. This research was undertaken on a poultry operation which is heavily dependent on imported maize and soya. Similar to the market structure of the poultry industry in the United States, all birds are grown by individual out growers who typically also have small plots of land to farm. Objectives for the project included 1) perform on-site crop production evaluations, 2) determine profitability for various row crops, and 3) simulate alternative production practices to increase crop profitability. Of the crops grown (tomatoes, maize, and cabbage), maize required the least labor, lowest initial investment, and the highest probability of breaking even. This research concluded that if poultry producers in Mozambique who rely on imported feed grew maize simultaneously it would reduce the dependency on imported maize and reduce income variability associated with exogenous currency fluctuations. Implementing a program such as this could increase revenue streams as well as reduce variability, thereby enhancing regional food securit

Risk Mitigation through Diversified Farm Production Strategies: The Case in Northern Mozambique

Mozambique, like many other parts of the low-income world, faces perennial challenges with food security. With a rapidly growing population and arable land on the decline, sustainable agriculture is vital to managing the already depleted natural resources of Sub-Saharan Africa more effectively while increasing food security. Food security issues for subsistence farmers in most low-income countries are a product of endogenous (crop yields) and exogenous (currency fluctuations as many agricultural inputs are imported) factors. In Mozambique the value of the local currency, meticals, has decreased by approximately 50% since January 2015 compared to the U.S. dollar. While this makes exporting products out of Mozambique more attractive in a relative sense, it negatively effects those industries which rely on imported inputs such as animal feed and inorganic fertilizer. In response to this exogenous currency crisis, research was conducted in Nampula, Mozambique during the summer of 2016 on a method for implementing crop diversification to reduce the risk that accompanies the devaluation of the metical. This research was undertaken on a poultry operation which is heavily dependent on imported maize and soya. Similar to the market structure of the poultry industry in the United States, all birds are grown by individual out growers who typically also have small plots of land to farm. Objectives for the project included 1) perform on-site crop production evaluations, 2) determine profitability for various row crops, and 3) simulate alternative production practices to increase crop profitability. Of the crops grown (tomatoes, maize, and cabbage), maize required the least labor, lowest initial investment, and the highest probability of breaking even. This research concluded that if poultry producers in Mozambique who rely on imported feed grew maize simultaneously it would reduce the dependency on imported maize and reduce income variability associated with exogenous currency fluctuations. Implementing a program such as this could increase revenue streams as well as reduce variability, thereby enhancing regional food securit

Environmental Issues in Animal Agriculture

Environmental Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries, Q0, F2, Q25, Q30, R52,

The economic ecology of small businesses in Oxfordshire

Report by the Oxfordshire Economic Observatory (OEO) for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), Oxfordshire Branch

Receipt, Lawton L. Pratt - Mrs. Hattie [Illegible]

Receipt of payment: Proof of payment to Lawton L. Pratt, Funeral Director and Licensed Embalmer, for embalming and service of body. Handwritten notations on back Date: May 20, 192

Orbiter CCTV video signal noise analysis

The amount of steady state and transient noise which will couple to orbiter CCTV video signal wiring is predicted. The primary emphasis is on the interim system, however, some predictions are made concerning the operational system wiring in the cabin area. Noise sources considered are RF fields from on board transmitters, precipitation static, induced lightning currents, and induced noise from adjacent wiring. The most significant source is noise coupled to video circuits from associated circuits in common connectors. Video signal crosstalk is the primary cause of steady state interference, and mechanically switched control functions cause the largest induced transients

Improving Patient Experience in Hospital Settings: Assessing the Role of Toolkits and Action Research through a Process Evaluation of a Complex Intervention

This article presents a process evaluation of the implementation and refinement of a patient experience toolkit (PET) by action researchers in six hospital wards in the English National Health Service (NHS). An initial assumption that health care professionals (HCPs) would use PET to improve patient experience proved unrealistic due to staff and service pressures. However, the action researchers' facilitation of PET and their support during the implementation of quality improvement efforts filled in for HCPs' lack of time. The findings suggest that the PET can be a successful guide for skilled facilitators working with HCPs, although excessive staff pressures should be avoided. Toolkits designed for implementation by HCPs should, therefore, be used sparingly; a more appropriate target audience may be facilitators. Furthermore, while the potential of action research is confirmed by this evaluation, HCPs' time to engage in service improvement is found to moderate the success of this increasingly prominent methodology

Advancing Complexity Theory in Health Services Research: The Logic of Logic Models

Background: Logic models are commonly used in evaluations to represent the causal processes through which interventions produce outcomes, yet significant debate is currently taking place over whether they can describe complex interventions which adapt to context. This paper assesses the logic models used in healthcare research from a complexity perspective. A typology of existing logic models is proposed, as well as a formal methodology for deriving more flexible and dynamic logic models. Analysis: Various logic model types were tested as part of an evaluation of a complex Patient Experience Toolkit (PET) intervention, developed and implemented through action research across six hospital wards/departments in the English NHS. Three dominant types of logic model were identified, each with certain strengths but ultimately unable to accurately capture the dynamics of PET. Hence, a fourth logic model type was developed to express how success hinges on the adaption of PET to its delivery settings. Aspects of the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (PARIHS) model were incorporated into a traditional logic model structure to create a dynamic “type 4” logic model that can accommodate complex interventions taking on a different form in different settings. Conclusion: Logic models can be used to model complex interventions that adapt to context but more flexible and dynamic models are required. An implication of this is that how logic models are used in healthcare research may have to change. Using logic models to forge consensus among stakeholders and/or provide precise guidance across different settings will be inappropriate in the case of complex interventions that adapt to context. Instead, logic models for complex interventions may be targeted at facilitators to enable them to prospectively assess the settings they will be working in and to develop context-sensitive facilitation strategies. Researchers should be clearas to why they are using a logic model and experiment with different models to ensure they have the correct type

Increasing Profitability of Small Scale Orchard Producers through Optimizing Replacement Rate: The Case Study of Ghana

This study sets out to empirically estimate the optimum annual replacement rate and age of cocoa trees in order to maximize the net present value of four common cocoa production systems. The study examines the costs and returns of four common cocoa production systems in Ghana associated with changes in cocoa prices, fertilizer prices, inflation rates, and labor prices. While this study focuses on cocoa, the methodology is applicable to any perennial crop. This study uses empirical yield curves and cost of production data from Ghana to determine when and what percentage of a cocoa orchard should be replaced annually to maximize net present value of revenues over time. Successive versions of the model are solved to determine how input and output price changes affect optimal replacement rates and replacement ages. Producers in both high- and low-income countries are reluctant to cull still productive assets, such as trees that are diminishing in yield over time. The Excel based model developed in this study could provide extension personnel with a simple yet powerful tool to illustrate to producers the benefits of systematic tree replacement. This study provides strong evidence of the benefits of replacing trees at the optimal time and rate.Cocoa, Replacement Rate, Net Present Value (NPV), Production Economics, Q01, Q15, Q32,