Rice Price Stabilization in Madagascar: Price and Welfare Implications of Variable Tariffs

Given the large share of major staples in the budgets of the poor, governments in many developing countries intervene in food markets to limit variation in the prices of staple foods. This paper examines the recent experience of Madagascar in stabilizing prices through international trade and the implications of adjustments in tariff rates. Using a partial equilibrium model, we quantify the overall costs and benefits of a change in import duties for various household groups, and compare this intervention to a policy of targeted food transfers or security stocks.Food Policy, Price Stabilization, Trade, sub-Saharan Africa, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade, Q11, Q17,

Driving and sustaining culture change in Olympic sport performance teams: A first exploration and grounded theory

Stimulated by growing interest in the organizational and performance leadership components of Olympic success, sport psychology researchers have identified Performance Director-led culture change as a process of particular theoretical and applied significance. To build on initial work in this area, and develop practically meaningful understanding, a pragmatic research philosophy and grounded theory methodology were engaged to uncover culture change best practice from the perspective of newly appointed Performance Directors. Delivered in complex and contested settings, results revealed that the optimal change process consisted of an initial evaluation, planning, and impact phase adjoined to the immediate and enduring management of a multi-directional, perception- and power-based social system. As the first inquiry of its kind, these findings provide a foundation for the continued theoretical development of culture change in Olympic sport performance teams and a first model on which applied practice can be based

Transaction costs and agricultural productivity

This paper examines the mechanisms that transmit isolation into poverty in Madagascar using household survey data combined with a census of administrative communes. Given the importance of agriculture to the rural poor, where nine out of ten poor persons is engaged in farming, we concentrate on isolation manifesting itself in the form of high transaction costs such as the cost of transporting agricultural commodities to major market centers. We find that (a) the incidence of poverty in rural Madagascar increases with remoteness; (b) yields of major staple crops fall considerably as one gets farther away from major markets; (c) and the use of agricultural inputs declines with isolation. Simulation results using output from rice production function estimates suggest that halving travel time per kilometer on major highways (feeder roads) will increase primary season rice production by 1.3 (1.0) percent.Rural poor ,rural areas ,Rice production ,Poverty ,Household surveys Madagascar ,

Progesterone Regulation of Endometrial Gene Expression in the Early Pregnant Ovine Uterus

Establishment of pregnancy in ruminants requires blastocyst development to form an elongated filamentous conceptus that produces interferon tau (IFNT), the pregnancy recognition signal, and initiate implantation. Blastocyst growth and development is dependent upon secretions from the uterine endometrium. An early increase in post-ovulatory circulating levels of progesterone (P4) stimulates blastocyst growth and conceptus elongation in ruminants. Microarray analysis was used to identify candidate P4-regulated genes and regulatory networks in the endometrium that govern peri-implantation blastocyst/conceptus growth and development. The first study was conducted to validate effects of P4 and/or pregnancy on expression of candidate genes identified by microarray analysis. The genes included: ANGPTL3, CHGA, CLEC4E, CXCL14, EFNA1, EFNB1, FABP3, IFNG, IL6, LGALS3, PTH, RBP4, SLIT2, SLIT3, and VWF. Early P4 treatment up-regulated CXCL14 gene expression in Day 9 ovine endometrium compared to control endometrium, and FABP3, IFNG, IL6 and LGALS3 in Day 12 early P4-treated ovine endometrium. Expression of ANGPTL3, CHGA, CXCL14, EFNA1, EFNB1, LGALS3 and RBP4 was affected by day of pregnancy. Treatment of ewes with P4+RU486 (P4 receptor antagonist) reduced expression of ANGPTL3, CHGA, EFNA1, EFNB1, FABP3, IFNG, IL6, LGALS3, RBP4, and SLIT2, SLIT3 and VWF in comparison to Day 12 P4-treated endometrium. The second study evaluated expression of genes identified by microarray analysis in endometrium from pregnant and cyclic ewes. Genes evaluated included those from the first study. ANGPTL3, CHGA, CXCL14, EFNA1, EFNB1, IFNG, LGALS3, PTH, RBP4, SLIT2, SLIT3 and VWF were affected by day, status and/or their interaction between Days 10 and 16. Of note, FABP3 increased 21-fold between Days 14 to 18 of pregnancy, and IL6 increased 37-fold between Days 14 to 20 of pregnancy. In situ hybridization analysis detected FABP3 mRNA in both luminal and superficial glandular epithelia of pregnant ewes and trophectoderm, whereas IL6 mRNA was detected in immune cells within uterine luminal epithelium and glandular epithelium and trophectoderm. Collectively, these results identify candidate genes encoding for biologically active molecules that regulate growth and development of the ovine conceptus during the peri-implantation period of pregnancy

Culture change in a professional sports team: Shaping environmental contexts and regulating power

ABSTRACT Although high performing cultures are crucial for the enduring success of professional sport performance teams, theoretical and practical understanding of how they are established and sustained is lacking. To develop knowledge in this area, a case study was undertaken to examine the key mechanisms and processes of a successful culture change programme at English Rugby Union's Leeds Carnegie. Exploring the change process from a 360 degree perspective, semi-structured interviews were conducted with team management, one specialist coach, six players, and the CEO. Analysed and explained through decentred theory, results revealed that culture change was effectively facilitated by team management: a) subtly and covertly shaping the physical, structural, and psychosocial context in which support staff and players made performance-impacting choices, and b) regulating the 'to and fro' of power which characterises professional sport performance teams. Decentred theory is also supported as an effective framework for culture change study

Consumentenperceptie van nanotechnologieën in voedsel en landbouw: een eerste verkenning : eindrapportage

In 2010 is door Wageningen UR (beleidsondersteunend) onderzoek gedaan naar de percepties van Nederlandse consumenten ten aanzien van nanotechnologische toepassingen in voedsel en landbouw. De resultaten van dit onderzoek worden in dit rapport toegelicht

Myanmar: Impacts of the Ukraine and global crises on poverty and food security

Global food, fuel, and fertilizer prices have risen rapidly in recent months, driven in large part by the fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia. Other factors, such as export bans, have also contributed to rising prices. Palm oil and wheat prices increased by 56 and 100 percent in real terms, respectively, between June 2021 and April 2022, with most of the in-crease occurring since February (Figure 1)