Analysis of Grain Traders’ Performance in Ethiopia: The Case of Contribution of Social Capital

This article examines the performance of 206 grain traders in 20 markets found in Amhara, Tigray, Oromiya and SNNPR of Ethiopia. The study adopts Fafchamps and Minten (1999) approach and used multiple regression model. The study identified that financial capital (working capital), social capital (using intermediary at the time of sale and customer relationship), human capital (farming experience) and transaction cost (having mobile, Oromiya and SNNPR) affected traders’ performance. The findings suggested adding working capital through different means (like access to credit through micro finance institutes, banks, etc.) with planned and market assessment, establishing licensed and well organized brokerage strengthen traders business relationship with regular customers in a formal or informal way, farmer-trader linkages are recommended through the dissemination of information (e.g. workshops) and training on quality and production management, establish and strengthen, a reliable, permanent,  public domain market information and other infrastructure are important to enhance traders performance, in turn encourage farmers to produce more and maximize benefit from grain market. Keywords: Ethiopia, social-capital, performance, customer-relationship, marketing-margi

Evidence from SNNPR, Ethiopia

Non-PRIFPRI3; GRP27; CRP2MTID; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Macrophage activation is responsible for loss of anticontractile function in inflamed perivascular fat

Objective— The aim of this study was to determine whether macrophages dispersed throughout perivascular fat are crucial to the loss of anticontractile function when healthy adipose tissue becomes inflamed and to gain an understanding of the mechanisms involved. Methods and Results— Pharmacological studies on in vitro small arterial segments from a mouse model of inducible macrophage ablation and on wild-type animals were carried out with and without perivascular fat using 2 physiological stimuli of inflammation: aldosterone and hypoxia. Both inflammatory insults caused a similar loss of anticontractile capacity of perivascular fat and increased macrophage activation. Aldosterone receptor antagonism and free radical scavengers were able to restore this capacity and reduce macrophage activation. However, in a mouse deficient of macrophages CD11b-diptheria toxin receptor (CD11b-DTR), there was no increase in contractility of arteries following aldosterone incubation or hypoxia. Conclusion— The presence and activation of macrophages in adipose tissue is the key modulator of the increase in contractility in arteries with perivascular fat following induction of inflammation. Despite multiple factors that may be involved in bringing about the vascular consequences of obesity, the ability of eplerenone to ameliorate the inflammatory effects of both aldosterone and hypoxia may be of potential therapeutic interest. </jats:sec