A REVIEW OF LEAN CONCEPT AND ITS APPLICATION TO SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN THE UK

The UK Government has recognised the importance of the construction industry in achieving the overall goals of sustainable development. Therefore the Government has put several policies and strategies in place to achieve a more sustainable construction. Sustainable construction is considered as the application of sustainable practices and sustainable development principles to the activities of the construction sector. Lean construction is a new production philosophy which has the potential of bringing innovative changes in the construction industry. The Lean principles focus on the minimisation of both material and process wastes which in turn contribute to sustainable construction in terms of energy consumption and improvement in health and safety etc. This study aims at exploring the concept of sustainable construction and examines how the lean approach can impact on the sustainability practices within the construction industry. The study uses literature review to achieve the stated aim. The findings revealed that the application of lean construction principle, tools and methods have direct contributions to the attainment of sustainable practices within the construction industry. However, the study postulates that the better understanding of lean concept, proper implementation and integration of lean and sustainability concepts are required for lean construction to contribute to sustainable construction. Keywords: Lean construction, Sustainable Construction, Sustainabilit

Assessment of Central Bank Intervention on Rice Production in Kwara State, Nigeria: A Case-study of Anchor Borrower's Program

Agriculture is a major source of livelihood and the main engine of economic growth in developing countries therefore the development of agricultural production is a public priority but most farmers are poor, hence there is gap in cash resources which blocks the adoption of new technologies innovation and credit is needed to fill the gap in Nigeria .Therefore, this study was carried out to assess anchor borrower s programme a central bank of Nigeria's intervention on rice production in Kwara State, Nigeria. Data for the data were sourced primarily from rice producers with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The findings reveal that 88.1% of the beneficiaries breached the agreement and refuse to deliver their produce to the Anchor Borrowers Programme due some reasons and their average estimated yield per hectare of paddy rice for all beneficiaries was 3.94 metric tons per hectare. Anchor Borrowers Programme had a positive effect on the income of the beneficiaries. Therefore the study recommended that the governments must intervene with subsidized lending (seeking no profit, amortizing high transaction costs, spreading the risk on a national basis),since most borrowers in rural areas are small farmers (i.e. poor), low cost credit responds to poverty alleviation considerations . Acknowledgement