FARM-AGRIBUSINESS LINKAGES IN SOUTH AFRICA: EMPOWERING DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES THROUGH LINKS WITH AGRIBUSINESS

Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

LINKING AGRIBUSINESS AND SMALL-SCALE FARMERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: IS THERE A NEW ROLE FOR CONTRACT FARMING?

This article examines a new role for contract farming in developing countries in the light of the industrialization of agriculture and the globalization of world markets. A theoretical rationale for contracting in developing countries is developed on the basis of adopting new institutional economic theory for the purpose of matching governance forms to market failure problems and transaction characteristics. The history of contract farming is reviewed, together with the advantages and disadvantages to the various players, for the purpose of developing a list of key success factors, problems and some possible solutions.Agribusiness, Farm Management,

The Global Fight against the Stigma of Schizophrenia

Stigma attached to mental illness is the greatest obstacle to the improvement of the life of people with mental illness and their families. A global campaign hopes to remove this obstacle

The Sources of the Basic Human Needs Mandate

Labor and Human Capital,

Contracting arrangements in agribusiness procurement practices in South Africa

Contracting arrangements in agribusiness procurement practices in South AfricaProcurement, contracting, agro-processing,

Hidradenitis Suppurativa : clinical studies with focus on evaluation

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of mainly unknown aetiology which in most cases involves axillae or groins and that can last for decades. In this thesis different clinical aspects of HS are studied: development of a clinical scoring system, relation to smoking and obesity, outcome of laser surgery, bacteraemia in HS patients and distribution of the neuroendocrine marker protein gene product (PGP) 9.5 in HS skin biopsies. In Paper I the objective is to evaluate the modified Hidradenitis Suppurativa Score (HSS) and to study the impact of BMI and smoking habits on disease severity. Altogether 246 HS patients completed the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire and 115 were scored by HSS. Points were given for regions, types of lesion (nodules, fistulas), total area involved, and whether lesions were separated by normal skin. A positive correlation of fair degree between HSS and DLQI was found, as well as significant higher median scores in more advanced HS, in smokers compared to non smokers and in obese women compared to those of normal weight, respectively. The results indicate that the HSS reflects disease severity, and may be a relevant outcome measure in clinical trials. In Paper II scanner-assisted carbon dioxide laser treatment with subsequent healing by secondary intention is evaluated in 34 HS patients, with in total 67 operating sites. They were interviewed by telephone about recurrences and end results, after a mean follow-up time of 34.5 (range 7 87) months. Four patients had had recurrences in one of the treated areas. In twelve cases, lesions had developed separated from the initial surgical site by >5 cm. Twenty-five patients had flare-ups of HS lesions in another anatomical region. Eight had no symptoms of HS at all during the follow-up period. Mean healing time was 4 (range 3 5) weeks. The conclusion is that scanner-assisted carbon dioxide laser treatment of HS is an efficient treatment, well accepted by the patients. In Paper III the objective is to determine the number and type of bacteria circulating in the bloodstream in HS patients undergoing carbon dioxide laser surgery. Blood samples were taken before, during and after surgery in 21 patients with HS Hurley stage II, and from five healthy controls. Bacterial growth in the first blood sample was found in nine patients, from the second in ten and from the third in six. In one patient, bacteria were detected in all the three samples. The dominating bacteria were coagulase- negative staphylococci, of which most were subtyped as S. warneri. In six patients all samples were negative, which may indicate that the method of surgery itself caused no spread of bacteria. In Paper IV the presence and distribution of the nerve fibre-marker PGP 9.5 is investigated by immunohistochemistry. Biopsies were taken from the groin or axilla of 16 HS patients and 12 healthy controls. The median number of PGP 9.5 positive profiles was decreased in lesional epidermis, yet statistically significant only in the groin. A similar difference was found in lesional dermis of the axilla, whereas in the lesional upper dermis of the groin the median number of profiles was increased. Cells with strong PGP 9.5 immunofluorescence were few or absent in epidermis, but significantly increased in lesional dermal skin of the groin. It is possible that PGP 9.5 positive nerve fibres and cells have pathological roles in HS, but further investigations are needed

Recent research activities in WHO's mental health programme

The mental health programme of WHO has been formulated through a process of consultation within WHO, with other United Nations bodies, with Governments, with the scientific community and with various non-governmental organizations (Sartorius, 1978; WHO, 1983 a; Lambo & Sartorius, in the press

The Effect of Distance to Formal Health Facility on Childhood Mortality in Rural Tanzania, 2005-2007.

Major improvements are required in the coverage and quality of essential childhood interventions to achieve Millennium Development Goal Four (MDG 4). Long distance to health facilities is one of the known barriers to access. We investigated the effect of networked and Euclidean distances from home to formal health facilities on childhood mortality in rural Tanzania between 2005 and 2007. A secondary analysis of data from a cohort of 28,823 children younger than age 5 between 2005 and 2007 from Ifakara Health and Demographic Surveillance System was carried out. Both Euclidean and networked distances from the household to the nearest health facility were calculated using geographical information system methods. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to investigate the effect of distance from home to the nearest health facility on child mortality. Children who lived in homes with networked distance>5 km experienced approximately 17% increased mortality risk (HR=1.17; 95% CI 1.02-1.38) compared to those who lived <5 km networked distance to the nearest health facility. Death of a mother (HR=5.87; 95% CI 4.11-8.40), death of preceding sibling (HR=1.9; 95% CI 1.37-2.65), and twin birth (HR=2.9; 95% CI 2.27-3.74) were the strongest independent predictors of child mortality. Physical access to health facilities is a determinant of child mortality in rural Tanzania. Innovations to improve access to health facilities coupled with birth spacing and care at birth are needed to reduce child deaths in rural Tanzania

Evaluating mental health services. A world perspective

Evaluations of mental health services are much in demand. Their results are supposed to help in improving the quality of mental health care and in making them economically better viable. Yet, world-wide there is: 1) little agreement about the content of terms such as evaluation, mental health service, outcome of an activity although these and other terms are widely used; 2) uncertainty about the best use of results of evaluative research; 3) lack of consensus about who should evaluate what and by what metho