A Bayesian Total Factor Productivity Analysis of Tropical Agricultural Systems in Central-Western Africa And South-East Asia

This paper computes and analyses total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates for tropical agricultural systems in Central-Western Africa and South-East Asia. Two regions that despite sharing common agro-ecological conditions, have pursued different adoption rates of green revolution technology and have reported dissimilar yields per hectare. A panel data set is constructed for the period 1987-2007 from the FAOSTAT database. A Bayesian stochastic frontier model with country specific temporal variation in technical efficiency is estimated. Technical efficiency estimates reveal that there is substantial room for improvement in both continental sub-sets and that TFP estimates show on average larger rates of growth for South-East Asian countries as compared to Central-Western African countries. Results indicate that TFP is mostly driven by technical change and countries such as Benin, and Gambia display catch-up.Bayesian Inference, Stochastic Production Frontier, Time Varying Technical Inefficiency, Total Factor Productivity Growth, Tropical Agricultural Systems, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis, C15, D24, O47,

A Bayesian Total Factor Productivity Analysis of Tropical Agricultural Systems in Central-Western Africa And South-East Asia

This paper computes and analyses total factor productivity (TFP) growth rates for tropical agricultural systems in Central-Western Africa and South-East Asia. Two regions that despite sharing common agro-ecological conditions, have pursued different adoption rates of green revolution technology and have reported dissimilar yields per hectare. A panel data set is constructed for the period 1987-2007 from the FAOSTAT database. A Bayesian stochastic frontier model with country specific temporal variation in technical efficiency is estimated. Technical efficiency estimates reveal that there is substantial room for improvement in both continental sub-sets and that TFP estimates show on average larger rates of growth for South-East Asian countries as compared to Central-Western African countries. Results indicate that TFP is mostly driven by technical change and countries such as Benin, and Gambia display catch-up. Keywords: Bayesian Inference, Stochastic Production Frontier, Time Varying Technical Inefficiency, Total Factor Productivity Growth, Tropical Agricultural Systems JEL Classification: C15, D24, O47JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

An Overview of (International) Large-Scale Land Transactions (LSLT) in the context of Food Security

The present report provides an overview of the scale, speed, drivers, key players and main expected consequences in terms of food security of the recent wave of (international) large-scale land transactions (LSLT´s) which has taken place at world level in the past years. This task is particularly challenging because a universal definition of what constitutes a ¨large¨ land investment as well as the potential advantages and disadvantages to all involved parties at different levels are not straightforward. Moreover, large-scale land transactions usually present different traits depending on the region in which they take place. Similarly, there is a wide range of investors with what appears to be (at first glance) rather different objectives. An added difficulty is related to the availability of reliable data (IFPRI, 2009). In order to overcome these obstacles, three basic steps were taken: i) Assess whether and how the wave of land deals is a new phenomenon, provide a working definition in order to identify actors and motives in both global and regional scenarios, ii) Understand why this new wave of LSLT´s emerged and establish a connection to food security challenges iii) Reflect on the theoretical and empirical consequences of LSLT´s at productivity, environmental and social level.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Influence of local fullerene orientation on the electronic properties of A3C60 compounds

We have investigated sodium containing fullerene superconductors Na2AC60, A = Cs, Rb, and K, by Na-23 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at 7.5 T in the temperature range of 10 to 400 K. Despite the structural differences from the Rb3C60 class of fullerene superconductors, in these compounds the NMR line of the tetrahedrally coordinated alkali nuclei also splits into two lines (T and T') at low temperature. In Na2CsC60 the splitting occurs at 170 K; in the quenched cubic phase of Na2RbC60 and Na2KC60 we observe split lines at 80 K. Detailed investigations of the spectrum, spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxation as well as spin-echo double resonance (SEDOR) in Na2CsC60 we show that these two different tetrahedral sites are mixed on a microscopic scale. The T and T' sites differ in the orientation of first-neighbor C60 molecules. We present evidence that the orientations of neighboring molecules are uncorrelated. Thermally activated molecular reorientations cause an exchange between the T and T' sites and motional narrowing at high temperature. We infer the same activation energy, 3300 K, in the temperature range 125 to 300 K. The spin lattice relaxation rate is the same for T and T' down to 125 K but different below. Both the spin-lattice relaxation rate and Knight shift are strongly temperature dependent in the whole range investigated. We interpret this temperature variation by the effect of phonon excitations involving the rigid librational motion of the C60 molecules. By extending the understanding of the structure and molecular dynamics of C60 superconductors, these results may help in clarifying the effects of the structure on the superconducting properties.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR

Crop-Specific EU Aid and Smallholder Food Security in Sierra Leone

The article analyses the viability of promoting crop-specific programs as a mean to improve smallholder net farm income and food security. The case study explores the relevance of European Union Stabilisation of Export Earnings (STABEX) funds in supporting Sierra Leone’s agricultural development agenda. By analysing the drivers of food security for a number of targeted smallholders in the two most important agricultural zones of Sierra Leone, it is possible to compare the suitability of crop-specific support (in rice, cocoa and coffee) versus general aid programs (public infrastructure, on and off farm diversification opportunities, sustainable practices, access to productive assets, etc.). The results indicate that crop diversification strategies are widespread and closely related to risk minimisation and enhanced food security among smallholders. Similarly, crop-specific programs mainly focusing on commercialisation tend to overlook important constraints associated to self-consumption and productivity

Charge-Stripe Order and Superconductivity in Ir1−xPtxTe2\mathrm{Ir_{1-x}Pt_xTe_2}

A combined resistivity and hard x-ray diffraction study of superconductivity and charge ordering in $\mathrm{Ir_{1-x}Pt_xTe_2}$, as a function of Pt substitution and externally applied hydrostatic pressure, is presented. Experiments are focused on samples near the critical composition $x_c\sim 0.045$ where competition and switching between charge order and superconductivity is established. We show that charge order as a function of pressure in $\mathrm{Ir_{0.95}Pt_{0.05}Te_{2}}$ is preempted - and hence triggered - by a structural transition. Charge ordering appears uniaxially along the short crystallographic (1,0,1) domain axis with a $\mathrm{(\frac{1}{5},0,\frac{1}{5})}$ modulation. Based on these results we draw a charge-order phase diagram and discuss the relation between stripe ordering and superconductivity.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures: Accepted in Scientific Report

Facilitating an area-based development approach in rural regions in the Western Balkans

The present report covers an exercise where a defined development approach (ABD) has been tested in a rural cross border case study area in the Western Balkans. The aim is to draw lessons both for continuing implementation of the ABD in this particular area and more generally initiating it in the Western Balkans. Concretely, the UNDP Area-Based Development (ABD) approach is targeting specific geographical areas characterised by a particular complex development problem (setting it apart from surrounding areas), through an integrated (multi-sector), inclusive (community versus particular groups or individuals), participatory (bottom-up) and flexible (responsive to changes) approach. This approach has been implemented in the pilot case of the Drina valley – Tara Mountain area (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia. As a result of 6 months of interaction among stakeholders, 4 priority development themes were identified in tourism, rural development (with a special focus on agriculture), SME and entrepreneurship and environmental protection. This pilot case allowed drawing relevant lessons for the implementation of ABD to what concerns the area delineation process, the bottom-up process, the top-down accompanying framework and the institutional / legal framework. Lastly, 7 other rural cross border areas within the Western Balkans region have been identified as potential ABD target areas .JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leones ranks amongst the poorest countries in the world in terms of per capita GDP, due to several factors. Concerning the agricultural sector and more specifically smallholders, which constitute the big majority of farmers, inadequate tools, land preparation, infrastructure and limited access to markets and inputs, adding to very low labour productivity, cause that smallholders operate far below their productive potential, with crop production remaining primarily driven by (semi)subsistence households generating very little income. Consequently, Sierra Leone's subsistence farming system is characterised by a highly inefficient input/output mixes as well as high pre harvest and post harvest losses. Farmers lack access to yield-increasing inputs (such as improved tools) and face limited ability to invest in economic activities not only due to credit shortage but also to village-level institutional arrangements which do not support using land as collateral for loans. Lastly, reduced cash-income keeps smallholders particularly vulnerable to remain in the poverty-trap. The present report analyses the results of a survey of 604 smallholders in 5 districts in the Northern and Eastern regions of Sierra Leone carried out in 2009 when the EU STABEX-funded projects were concluding. The purpose is on the one hand, to improve knowledge and understanding of the agri-economic and social conditions of rural areas in Sierra Leone, and on the other hand to provide a general assessment of aid programmes financed in this area by the 8th European Development Fund. For this reason, the regions selected for the survey were those representatives of the main agricultural areas of the country where support was provided: the Northern region largely dominated by rice farmers, and the Eastern region where rice farmers are also engaged in coffee and cocoa production under agro-forestry plots. While rice (main staple food) production is expected to comply with food security objectives, coffee and cocoa (main export commodities) are high value export commodities which push economic growth. Consequently, both types of crops are considered relevant in contributing to the country's development. The results of the economic analysis indicate that rice production, which largely covers own household consumption, is far below its potential due to high losses, low productivity and labour-intensity of farming, particularly in the Northern region. On the other hand, coffee and cocoa production in the Eastern region was found to be economically profitable, generating income for most of those smallholders who cultivate those crops. Regarding farm households' characteristics and income, strong regional differences between the poorer North and relatively wealthier East were observed and reflected throughout all factors analysed: yields, household size, sources of farming income, magnitude of losses and productivity. Households in the Eastern region who produce coffee and cocoa, also dispose on average of more family labour, more land and higher income compared to households in the Northern Region. Rice was recognized as being an imperative component for food security while the high market value of coffee and cocoa confirmed both commodities as important sources of income and foreign currency. Qualitative data from the survey indicated that the STABEX aid programmes were perceived as adequate in terms of their technical nature as well as regarding infrastructure and organizational improvements. However, the amount of aid was deemed altogether insufficient considering the number of households requiring assistance. In this sense, the responses to perceived adequacy do not evaluate the measure itself, but rather the amount provided in relation to local needs as understood by the recipients. Based on this analysis a set of recommendations for the policy are drawn.JRC.J.4-Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Econom

Optimized unconventional superconductivity in a molecular Jahn-Teller metal

Understanding the relationship between the superconducting, the neighboring insulating, and the normal metallic state above Tc is a major challenge for all unconventional superconductors. The molecular A3C60 fulleride superconductors have a parent antiferromagnetic insulator in common with the atom-based cuprates, but here, the C603– electronic structure controls the geometry and spin state of the structural building unit via the on-molecule Jahn-Teller effect. We identify the Jahn-Teller metal as a fluctuating microscopically heterogeneous coexistence of both localized Jahn-Teller–active and itinerant electrons that connects the insulating and superconducting states of fullerides. The balance between these molecular and extended lattice features of the electrons at the Fermi level gives a dome-shaped variation of Tc with interfulleride separation, demonstrating molecular electronic structure control of superconductivity

A New Species of Chromis (Teleostei: Pomacentridae) from Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and Salas y Gomez, Chile

A new species of Chromis (Teleostei: Pomacentridae) is described from three specimens collected at 90 m depth in a mesophotic coral ecosystem at Rapa Nui, Chile. Chromis mamatapara, new species, can be distinguished from its congeners by the following combination of characters: dorsal-fin rays XIV,13–14; pectoral-fin rays 18–19, third from top of fin longest; tubed lateral-line scales 18; total gill rakers on first arch 30–32; vertebrae 11þ15; and by coloration of living specimens, especially the presence of a single, pronounced, white spot, roughly the same diameter as the orbit, located where the posterior base of the dorsal fin intersects the caudal peduncle. The most similar DNA barcode (mitochondrial COI gene), among those available, is Chromis tingting from Japan (3.5% uncorrected divergence); however, C. mamatapara, new species, also superficially resembles other species for which sequences are unavailable for comparisons, including C. okamurai from Japan and C. struhsakeri from Hawaii. Due to the high geographic isolation and consequently high endemism in the Rapa Nui region, we believe that C. mamatapara, new species, is endemic to mesophotic ecosystems of Rapa Nui, Isla Salas y Gomez, and nearby seamounts, a discovery that contributes to the high endemism of the region and thus the need for conservation efforts