Changes in the agro-technique cultivation of barley as an adaptation to climate change.

Agricultural crops productivity depends on the optimum degree of genetic factors, climate, soil and the level of agro-technology. These factors are changing constantly. The study is focused in a multi-year analysis of the climatic indicators in the region of Korça, by analysing the impact of these changes on the performance of morphological, physiological and production indicators of barley cultivars. The experimental part of the study identified the most suitable barley cultivars and planting period in response to climate changes. The observed data for the time period 2018–2021, and their comparison with a 30-year range period 1961–1990, indicated an increase by 1.8°C of the average atmosphere temperature. During the years of the study, the annual average amount of precipitation has shown not significant changes, but is observed less rainy days with high intensity. The application of the integrated Bagnoulus & Gaussen method indicated that the drought period has increased. From the study it is concluded that climatic factors affect the development of plants not separately but integrated. The period with the greatest influence of ecological factors on the production of different genotypes of barley occurs in the months May – June, a period where the plant is in the ripening stage. The main factor identified, in terms of adaptation to climate change, is the planting of barley in October compared to March, applied in previous practices. Different barley genotypes manifest different degrees of response to climate changes

Youth Employment Programmes: What Works in Rural Settings?

Youth employment challenges are much more severe in rural areas than urban areas in developing countries. This rapid review looks at available evidence on the extent to which youth employment interventions work in rural settings, particularly in terms of employment creation for rural youth. Very little evidence is available on the effectiveness of individual employment interventions in rural settings, but the evidence shows that skills training interventions - the most widely used youth employment programmes - have worked to improve employment outcomes of rural youth. Key findings relating to supply-side employment interventions include: Skills training, particularly when combined with other interventions such as life skills development and internship, increased employment and earnings outcomes among rural youth. Skills training alone might have limited positive outcomes; Employment matching services, including job fairs, improved employment and earnings outcomes in rural areas; Providing incentives for job searches, such as lowering transport and migration costs, show positive employment and income effects for rural youth. Key findings relating to demand-side employment interventions include: There was little evidence to evaluate the effect of financial support interventions on employment outcomes. Only one impact evaluation study on microfinance schemes was found, which showed no effect on employment creation for existing small firms in rural settings; An individual study showed the positive effect of business development services on business creation and earnings of rural businesses. There were limited studies on the causality between business support services and employment outcomes in rural settings; Wage subsidy interventions and public employment services showed positive employment outcomes for rural populations. These interventions also provided opportunities to disadvantaged rural youth for skills formation and increased their employability. Key findings relating to entrepreneurship promotion interventions include: Overall, entrepreneurship programmes, mainly financing and business skills training, had positive impacts on rural start-ups. Finance is a critical determinant for business creation for rural youth. The interventions were effective when targeting poor and disadvantaged young people; Technical and vocational training increased business start-ups for rural youth only if they were combined with financing; The combination of business skills training with business advisory services and financial support led to positive effects on self-employment in rural settings. Overall, there is a significant lack of evidence about what works to support rural youth employment. There are few rigorous evaluations of rural programmes relative to the increasing number of such initiatives. Only a few studies disaggregate the findings by location. Differences in content, length and intensity of the interventions in different local conditions all make it difficult to reach a consensus regarding how effective each intervention is. There are also many other interventions and policies that affect labour market outcomes such as infrastructure development and regulatory reforms, which have significant methodological challenges for evaluations to establish causality with job creation outcomes. Therefore, the results cannot be generalised and early findings on what works are inconclusive

TOWARD A CO-VIVIAL COMMUNITY: HOPES FOUND IN THE FRIENDSHIP AMONG PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY LABELS

This is a qualitative study of friendships among people with intellectual disability labels in two countries - the United States and Japan. As a field to study friendships among adults with intellectual disability label, I gained access to two sheltered workshops ( The Farm in the U.S. and The Kapu Kapu in Japan) and conducted participant observation, through which I wished to identify broader, multiple, and more humane ways to define competence and human value that could validate people labeled intellectually disabled whose humanity and citizenship are often doubted by dominant standards in industrialized societies. In addition to resisting social standards and presenting broader meanings of participation and competence, the informants of this study seemed to try to resist giving significant authority to the concepts of competence and utility in relation to human worth and to build community that does not question who should or should not be the valid members of the community. The observed communities helped me to imagine a different, more just world, and were characterized as co-vivial (a term coined by a Japanese philosopher to mean live with different others convivially ). The informants of this study cultivated co-vivial communities by staying connected, seeing others as irreplaceable individuals, being responsive to others, being open to interdependent way of life, and affirming every existence unconditionally

Labour Standards and Firm Growth

This helpdesk review has drawn primarily on evidence from systematic reviews and synthesis studies focused on (i) the impact of labour standards on labour/firms’ performances and (ii) policies and programmes from other governments/development actors that promote beneficial effects of labour standards on firms. This review provides examples of policies and programmes from governments and development organisations that support businesses to improve their financial performance while improving standards compliance and work practices. There are five key findings identified in this review. First, there are three approaches to encourage firms to improve working conditions while increasing firm profit: facilitating, partnering and endorsing. Second, many programmes have facilitated supplier factories to improve working conditions through technical assistance and awareness raising interventions while demonstrating the beneficial effects on firms. Third, programmes have also partnered with multinational companies and global brands to enhance their labour practices as well as their reputation and brand values. Fourth, there are initiatives to endorse decent work practices through benchmarking, rating and ranking better performance businesses. Fifith, key lessons learned from supply chain interventions highlight the importance of: expanding scope and coverage of supporting firms, tailoring programmes to specific needs based on detailed need assessments, facilitating social dialogues, engaging multinationals to improve their sourcing practices and enhance intervention outreach, ensuring sustainability by strengthening national capacity and evaluating the impact of interventions

Exploring Attitudes Toward Euthanasia Among Shelter Workers and Volunteers in Japan and the U.S.

Conflicts between foreign and Japanese volunteers concerning decisions to euthanize animals that are in terminal condition were noted during anecdotal observation by this author at a Japanese animal rescue shelter. Thus, this research was undertaken to explore attitudes of shelter staff in Japan. As a point of comparison, U. S. shelter workers were also interviewed. Twenty current or former shelter workers (16 participants from Japan and 4 participants from the U.S.), ranging in age from 20 to 65, were interviewed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the Japanese participants; e-mail and/or Skype were used to conduct the interviews with the participants living in the U.S. Grounded theory was employed to analyze the interview data. The analysis suggested that euthanasia is a difficult and emotional process for all of the participants, and many of them have experienced the Caring-Killing Paradox (Arluke, 1994: Arluke & Sanders,1996: Reeves et al., 2005.) Both Japanese and U.S. participants indicated that euthanasia is a humane option to eliminate prolonged suffering of animals, and when their quality of life is greatly diminished. Most of them agree that euthanizing animals for space and behavioral reasons may not be fair and should be avoided. There is a subtle yet notable characteristic among Japanese participants. They seem to be rather unsure about euthanasia in practice, while agreeing with and understanding its principle of eliminating suffering. This became more apparent when it comes to their pets. In short, it seems that there was some disparity between what they believe and what they actually do. In contrast, participants in the U.S. seemed to express, with confidence, that euthanasia is a humane option in certain cases for both shelter and owned companion animals. More research is needed to determine what influences this subtle difference, if it stems from cultural, religious or other factors

The Role of Regional Financial Centres for Development Finance

International and regional financial centres facilitate the flow of international investments in developing countries. This review provides a brief summary of evidence available on the role of selected regional financial centres in mobilising investment finance toward low- and middle-income countries. It also provides a synthesis of the literature on the role of international financial centres (IFCs) for development finance. Where available, it provides country case studies that illustrate an overview of the selected centre’s role in investment mobilisation to developing countries. Overall, the financial centres contribute to enhancing public and private investment in developing countries. This report has looked in particular at studies and data of 11 regional financial centres: Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Malta, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa and Turkey. Among the selected examples, South Africa and Mauritius appear to be important regional financial centres providing a large share of their investments in Africa and Asia

Economic Impacts of Foreign Aid in Fragile States

This report reviews available studies that evaluate the effects of international aid on the local economic conditions. It is presented in an annotated bibliography style that describes the key findings and methodology. It includes studies that analyse direct and/or indirect economic effects of local spending or operations within a country, and focus on fragile and conflict-affected countries. Given the time available for this review, it covers relevant studies that have been published since 2010. Twelve key studies are examined in this report. Five of the studies primarily focus on local spending of aid agencies and analyse their economic impacts (Koch & Schulpen, 2018; UNDP & UNHCR, 2015; Ramachandran & Walz, 2015; Durch, 2010; Carnahan et al., 2006). Five studies examine indirect economic effects of the presence of aid agencies (Bove & Elia, 2017; Caruso et al., 2017; Beber et al., 2016; Mosel & Henderson, 2015; Mvukiyehe & Samii, 2010). Two studies describe the economic impacts using qualitative case studies through perception surveys (Rolandsen, 2015; Ammitzbøll, & Tychsen, 2010). Only one study, by Ramachandran and Walz (2015), focuses on the overall spending of donors within a country, while other studies examine the spending from one or few interventions and agencies. These studies analyse different levels of economic outcomes: individual, sectoral and macro levels