Morality and institutions: an exploration

This paper explores the question of how culturally varying views of ‘morality’, ‘fairness’ and ‘justice’, particularly those held by the rural poor in developing countries, influence the way people evaluate,work within, use and (sometimes) resist, economic institutions – especially the institutions that emerge or are actively promoted during ‘development’ (market-oriented or otherwise)? It reviews the way this and related questions have been dealt with in a wide range of subjects, including social anthropology, institutional economics, economic sociology, experimental economics, and the study of rural protest. It then discusses how insights about morality and its interactions with institutions could be incorporated more widely into our understanding of the relationship between institutions and development and, in particular, whether we should begin to understand moralities as part of the wider domain of informal institutions which interact with formal institutions to shape behaviours

'Responsible companies' and African livestock-keepers: acting, teaching but not learning?

There is some evidence that companies, both multinational and African, operating from motivations that can be very broadly labelled "Corporate Social Responsibility", can make real and significant contributions to pastoral development and that useful development dialogues can be held with them. But three case studies, from Uganda, Ethiopia and Senegal, also suggest that companies operating in "CSR" mode show a systemic tendency to attempt to teach proper engagement with markets, and remarkably little readiness to learn how pastoralists and other livestock-keepers wish to engage with markets, and what constrains them from doing so. When allied with the intrinsic complexity of livestock-keepers' objectives and constraints in production and marketing, this tendency to teach rather than learn severely limits the potential development contribution of CSR

The innovation trajectory of sleeping sickness control in Uganda: Research knowledge in its context (Discussion Paper 08)

This paper documents the way in which the "Stamp Out Sleeping Sickness" (SOS) Campaign in Uganda made use of research knowledge to have large-scale impact on the livelihoods and health of rural people in its target area. The SOS campaign mobilised private and public resources to control the deadly disease of human sleeping sickness, using mass treatment of cattle to destroy trypanosomes, the parasites that cause human sleeping sickness but also live in cattle, and insecticidal spraying of cattle to control the tsetse flies that are vectors of both human sleeping sickness and the related disease of trypanosomiasis in cattle. The research knowledge used to create the SOS campaign was communicated through a variety of formal and informal channels, within a web of institutional and personal connections between the main actors. This paper provides a detailed description of the SOS Campaign in order to consider the complex ways in which research knowledge can be put to policy use, and the complex factors that facilitate or encourage that process

Using deep learning to understand and mitigate the qubit noise environment

Understanding the spectrum of noise acting on a qubit can yield valuable information about its environment, and crucially underpins the optimization of dynamical decoupling protocols that can mitigate such noise. However, extracting accurate noise spectra from typical time-dynamics measurements on qubits is intractable using standard methods. Here, we propose to address this challenge using deep learning algorithms, leveraging the remarkable progress made in the field of image recognition, natural language processing, and more recently, structured data. We demonstrate a neural network based methodology that allows for extraction of the noise spectrum associated with any qubit surrounded by an arbitrary bath, with significantly greater accuracy than the current methods of choice. The technique requires only a two-pulse echo decay curve as input data and can further be extended either for constructing customized optimal dynamical decoupling protocols or for obtaining critical qubit attributes such as its proximity to the sample surface. Our results can be applied to a wide range of qubit platforms, and provide a framework for improving qubit performance with applications not only in quantum computing and nanoscale sensing but also in material characterization techniques such as magnetic resonance.Comment: Accepted for publication, 15 pages, 10 figure

Pastoralism and climate change:clarifying research and policy agendas(with particular reference to the Horn of Africa)

This presentation discusses several problems in current discussion of the impact of climate change on pastoralists, especially the tendency towards a dichotomous discourse opposing views of pastoralists as victims and as adapters par excellence. The presentation proposes a broader and more nunaced view of impacts and adaptive capacity

Climate change, agriculture and Fairtrade: identifying the challenges and opportunities

This paper presents the findings of a study commissioned by the UK's Fairtrade Foundation on the implications of climate change for agricultural producers in Fairtrade value chains

Integrated control of vector-borne diseases of livestock--pyrethroids: panacea or poison?

Tick- and tsetse-borne diseases cost Africa approximately US$4-5 billion per year in livestock production-associated losses. The use of pyrethroid-treated cattle to control ticks and tsetse promises to be an increasingly important tool to counter this loss. However, uncontrolled use of this technology might lead to environmental damage, acaricide resistance in tick populations and a possible exacerbation of tick-borne diseases. Recent research to identify, quantify and to develop strategies to avoid these effects are highlighted

Climate Variability and Change Impact on Crop Production: Evidence from Ghana

This paper explores the impact of climate variability and/or change on two major crop yields (cassava and maize) and cash crop (cocoa) in two districts in different agroecological zones - Atwima Mponua (Semi-Deciduous Forest Zone) and Ejura-Sekyeredumase (Transition Zone) of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. A comparative-case mixed-methods research design was adopted for the study, involving household survey questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews with key informants to discuss farmers’ perceptions about changes in climate and impact on crop yields. Three hundred participants were involved in the study - 150 from each district. The study also used time series panel data approach to analyse the impact of climate variables (mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures; and total rainfall) on the three crops over the period 1992 - 2014.Farmers perceived changes in the weather patterns - mainly increasing temperature and erratic and low rainfall. Besides, farmers had observed invasion of weeds; and dryness of aquatic habitats (especially, during dry periods); and loss of major staples. The findings from the analysis of secondary data corroborate farmers’ perceptions about changes in climate and its negative impacts on cassava and maize yields for the past 20-30 years. However, qualitative feedback about impact of climate variables on cocoa yield conflicted with the findings of analysis of secondary data. The findings from this study can form a basis for policy makers to develop region specific adaptation policies to address climate change impacts on crops studied and extend it to other crops. Keywords: Climate variability and change; Vulnerability; Food crop; Cash crop. DOI: 10.7176/JEES/12-12-03 Publication date: December 31st 202