Cattle marketing policy in Lesotho

The Lesotho cattle industry is characterized by overstocking, range degradation, low marketed offtake, low fertility, and high mortality. The overstocking situation is paradoxically accompanied by an ownership pattern which leaves many households with an insufficient number of cattle for draught purposes, and the abscence of a large commercial beef sector. In this setting a number of analysis have suggested that the increased provision of market outlets would allow Basotho to sell surplus culled animals which would in turn promote reduced stocking and increased productivity. Regardless of the effect of marketing on the stocking rate, the current low levels of commercial marketing may be symptomatic of certain structural flaws which limit market performance. Modifications of the marketing system may be in order to enhance performance. What form these modifications should take, and their likely consequences, are the policy issues addressed in this case study of the Lesotho cattle marketing system. This paper presents an overview of the current production - marketing system, alternative conceptual frameworks, appropriate conceputal frameworks for Lesotho, and includes conclusions and implications

Evaluating the relationships between property rights, risk technology and productivity in sub-Saharan Africa

This document reports the results of a small meeting of social scientists from ILCA and IFPRI held at ILCA. The workshop was conceived to summarize the results of studies previously conducted by ILCA and others, to identify priorities for future research; to provide guidance for future research - problems, methodology, locations, and resource requirements, and to consider specific proposals for future research and evaluate the areas of complementarity and/or overlap with other past or current projects. Sessions 1 & 2 review past research conducted by ILCA, the Land Tenure Centre and the World Bank. Session 3 links past research conducted in Niger with research now in progress in Ethiopia. Session 4 summarises two ILCA studies that are currently in progress and an IFPRI study that is in the planning stage. Session 5 introduces a new project proposed as a collaborative venture between ILCA and IFPRI

Using the economic surplus model to measure potential returns to international livestock research. The case of trypanosomosis vaccine research

This study illustrates how productivity impacts resulting from livestock research can be measured using a herd simulation model, how the results of this model can be extended spatially using geographic information systems (GIS) to determine the potential increase in livestock production that would result from adoption of a new technology, and how an economic surplus model can be used to value the estimated productivity impacts. The particular problem examined is trypanosomosis in cattle in Africa, and the potential research product is a multi-component vaccine. The results suggest that the potential benefits of trypanosomiasis control, in terms of meat and milk productivity alone are worth over US$ 700 million per year in Africa. The methodology developed in this study can be used to measure the benefits of alleviating constraints to livestock production and the potential returns to research and development approaches addressing those constraints. The results of this study will assist in research priority setting and have highlighted the need for further research aimed at better understanding who the beneficiaries of the vaccine will be, and how it will reach them

Mouse Chromosome 11

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46996/1/335_2004_Article_BF00648429.pd

Curvature-bias corrections using a pseudomass method

Momentum measurements for very high momentum charged particles, such as muons from electroweak vector boson decays, are particularly susceptible to charge-dependent curvature biases that arise from misalignments of tracking detectors. Low momentum charged particles used in alignment procedures have limited sensitivity to coherent displacements of such detectors, and therefore are unable to fully constrain these misalignments to the precision necessary for studies of electroweak physics. Additional approaches are therefore required to understand and correct for these effects. In this paper the curvature biases present at the LHCb detector are studied using the pseudomass method in proton-proton collision data recorded at centre of mass energy √(s)=13 TeV during 2016, 2017 and 2018. The biases are determined using Z→μ + μ - decays in intervals defined by the data-taking period, magnet polarity and muon direction. Correcting for these biases, which are typically at the 10-4 GeV-1 level, improves the Z→μ + μ - mass resolution by roughly 18% and eliminates several pathological trends in the kinematic-dependence of the mean dimuon invariant mass

Momentum scale calibration of the LHCb spectrometer

For accurate determination of particle masses accurate knowledge of the momentum scale of the detectors is crucial. The procedure used to calibrate the momentum scale of the LHCb spectrometer is described and illustrated using the performance obtained with an integrated luminosity of 1.6 fb-1 collected during 2016 in pp running. The procedure uses large samples of J/ψ → μ + μ - and B+ → J/ψ K + decays and leads to a relative accuracy of 3 × 10-4 on the momentum scale

Using contingent valuation to assess the prospects for local participation in public good provision: The case of trypanosomiasis control in Ethiopia

This study is conducted with a general objective of evaluating contingent valuation as a method for assessing the willingness of people at a site in the Ghibe Valley of Ethiopia to contribute labour, time and money to tsetse control. The more specific objectives of the case study were to evaluate the breadth of local support for tsetse control; to determine the acceptability of different mechanisms for enhancing local participation in the finance and operation of the tsetse control programme; and to identify groups likely to play leadership roles or be obstacles to proposed control programmes. Topics of discussion include African animal trypanosomiasis and its control; and factors affecting willingness to contribute. The paper also looks into the contingent valuation method and research design

Impact of trypanosomiasis on African agriculture

African animal trypanosomosis constrains agricultural production in areas of Africa that hold the continent's greatest potential for expanded agricultural production. Previous studies indicate that the incidence of trypanosomosis: (i) reduces calving rates by 1-12 percent in tolerant breeds and by 11-20 percent in susceptible breeds of cattle; (ii) increases calf mortality by 0-10 percent in tolerant breeds and by 10-20 percent in susceptible breeds of cattle; (iii) reduces milk offtake from trypanotolerant cattle by 10-26 percent; and (iv) reduces lambing and kidding rates by 4-38 percent. At the herd level, it is estimated that the incidence of trypanosomosis reduces cattle offtake by 5-30 percent, milk offtake by 10-40 percent, and the work performance of oxen by 33 percent. The risk of trypanosomosis also shapes farmers choices about livestock purchases, sales and overall herd size. The evidence from a small number of field studies suggests that farmers in areas of high trypanosomosis also shapes farmers choices about livestock purchases, sales and overall herd size. The evidence from a small number of field studies suggests that farmers in areas of high trypanosomosis risk keep 25-60 percent as many cattle as farmers in nearby areas of low risk. Impacts on other livestock species vary greatly depending upon the management system and level of susceptibility. Overall it has been estimated that trypanosomosis reduces the density of cattle by 37 percent in the sub-humid zone and 70 percent in the humid zone. The indirect effects of trypanosomosis risk on land use and agricultural production can be inferred from focused field studies and aggregate-level studies that have examined the relationship between livestock and crop production more generally. In mixed farming systems where trypanosomosis is so severe that it constrains the number of oxen that farmers own, it can reduce the average area planted per household by as much as 50 percent. By generally constraining farmers from the overall benefits of livestock to farming -- less efficient nutrient cycling, less access to animal traction, lower income from milk and meat sales, less access to liquid capital -- trypanosomosis reduces both yields and areas cultivated. It is estimated that the elasticity of livestock stock with respect to total agricultural production is about 0.20: a 50 percent reduction in livestock population would reduce the total production of agricultural output by 10 percent

The multiple products, functions and users of natural resource systems

This paper presents an analytical framework for guiding studies of the use and management of natural resource systems in which: (i) several goods and services of value are produced; (ii) resource users have multiple objectives vis-a-vis collective management of the natural resource system; and (iii) sub-groups of resource users are distinguished by their property rights, endowments and preferences. The framework is motivated and validated by reference to rangeland systems in Africa. Several implications for research and policy emerge

Potential economic impacts

This paper explores the potential for future economic impacts to arise from the current and future research activities of international agricultural research centres. Special attention is given to the livestock-related research conducted by ILCA. Unfortunately a method for quantifying potential economic impacts has not been well-developed to date. Most analysis have simply applied ex post methods and have thus ignored a fundamental difference between ex post and ex ante analysis: the past is known with certainity while the future is fraught with uncertainities. This section presents a model of potential economic impacts under uncertainity that is appropriate for ex ante analysis. Particular attention is given to the production of knowledge, technique development, technique adoption, policy formulation, research capacity of NARS, flexibility in research strategies, and measures of potential economic impacts. Presents one case study on the value of options created by ILCA's development of the single-ox yoke, harness and plough