Supply Chain Analysis of the Muscovado Sugar Industry in Antique, Philippines

In recent years, there is a growing preference for natural and healthy products resulting to increase in market demand for muscovado sugar in the domestic market and markets abroad. The Province of Antique, Philippines, used to be the key producer of muscovado sugar in the 1960s, producing 70% of the country’s total muscovado sugar. Production of muscovado sugar has declined, attributed to factors like domination of refined sugar in the over-all sugar industry, decline in volume and quality of sugar due to neglect, inefficient milling practices, and underdeveloped milling channels. This paper documents the muscovado sugar supply chain in the province of Antique to provide basis for policy makers and industry players towards industry revitalization and eventually increasing its level of competitiveness. Data was gathered using key informant interviews and expert opinion. In addition, surveys were conducted in 7 sugarcane-producing municipalities in Antique with 79 respondents, determined using a two-stage random sampling. The paper maps out the supply chain of muscovado sugar in Antique showing the actors, key processes, flow of product, payment and information, logistics issues and concerns, and external influences along the chain. Appropriate recommendations were made in accordance to the objective of increasing the industry’s level of performance and competitiveness. Specific participant-anchored and process-based strategies are recommended

Benchmarking Sugarcane Production and Management Technology for Muscovado Sugar in the Province of Antique, Western Visayas, Philippines

Long-term sustainability of industries such as an agri-food production system is essential in the light of pressures to satisfy diverse customer needs, comply with government regulations, and to maintain core competency as in response to stiffer market competition. This has led to the identification of best management practices for highly critical and important commodities as the case of muscovado sugar. This paper attempts to gauge the performance of sugarcane production and management technology for use in muscovado sugar production in the province of Antique vis-á-vis process-specific levels of sugarcane production technology as categorized by the Sugar Regulatory Administration. A survey was conducted in 7 sugarcane-producing municipalities in the Province of Antique with 79 respondents selected using two-stage random sampling. Results show that the industry is at par when it comes to best management practices along the areas of planting practices, planting material selection, closing in timing, harvesting practices, trash management, shuttle shaving, and variety programming. The industry in the province lags behind along the areas of soil preparation and fertilizer application. It is recommended that all interventions geared towards improving the industry performance be anchored on evidence-based research findings. Moreover, it is further recommended that to improve productivity in sugarcane production, the industry in Antique must capitalize on its strengths while working towards the improvement of critical areas mentioned

Tax and volunteering: empirical evidence to support recommendations to solve the current problems surrounding the tax treatment of volunteers’ reimbursements and honoraria in New Zealand

On I November 2007 the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Revenue asked for submissions on ways to simply the current law on the taxation of reimbursement and honoraria paid volunteers in the non-profit sector. A number of proposals were outlined in a Inland Revenue Department issues paper released on 1 November. This working paper presents the results of a survey of 1537 individuals and 224 organisations who replied to a web based questionnaire that was conducted in August and September 2007. The results have been used to support a number of recommendations towards simplification and clarification of current tax law

Tax and volunteering: empirical evidence to support recommendations to solve the current problems surrounding the tax treatment of volunteers’ reimbursements and honoraria in New Zealand

On I November 2007 the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Revenue asked for submissions on ways to simply the current law on the taxation of reimbursement and honoraria paid volunteers in the non-profit sector. A number of proposals were outlined in a Inland Revenue Department issues paper released on 1 November. This working paper presents the results of a survey of 1537 individuals and 224 organisations who replied to a web based questionnaire that was conducted in August and September 2007. The results have been used to support a number of recommendations towards simplification and clarification of current tax law

Carbon Dioxide Emissions and the Macroeconomy: Evidence from the ASEAN Region

This paper examined the effects of income, trade, and foreign direct investments (FDI) on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries for the period of 1970–2011 using the panel corrected standard errors (PCSE) estimation method. The results of the study were consistent with the environmental Kuznet’s curve (EKC) hypothesis – CO2 emissions increase as per capita GDP increases up to a certain income threshold, beyond which further increase in income is accompanied by lower emissions. However, the threshold per capita GDP (estimated to be USD 20,017) is way above the income levels of the ASEAN countries (with the exception of Brunei and Singapore). This suggests that most of the ASEAN region will still be in the upward-sloping portion of the EKC for several more years, and this necessitates an economic growth strategy that includes a stringent program to curb CO2 emissions. Nonetheless, both trade and FDIs do not significantly contribute to CO2 emissions in the ASEAN region, auguring well for the trade- and FDI-oriented development strategies adopted by most ASEAN member countries. Since low-carbon technologies and production methods are owned by high-income investing countries, trade and FDI can also be encouraged to facilitate and hasten the transfer of low-carbon technologies to the fast-developing countries of the ASEAN region

College Choice in the Philippines

This descriptive and correlational study examined the applicability of major U.S. college choice factors to Philippine high school seniors. A sample of 226 students from a private school in Manila completed the College Choice Survey for High School Seniors. Cronbach's alpha for the survey composite index was 0.933. The purposes of this nonexperimental, quantitative study were (1) to describe the relative importance of major college choice factors (as identified in U.S. research) to Philippine high school seniors, and (2) to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in the importance ascribed to these factors, according to students' demographic attributes. For all statistical analyses, SPSS 16.0 software was used. To address the first purpose, the mean and standard deviation were calculated for each college choice factor addressed in the survey. To address the second purpose, ANOVAs, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were run, in order to study the relationship between each of the major college choice factors and students' demographic attributes. This study found that all of the major U.S. college choice factors were important, to some degree, in the Philippine context. Other factors were added based on pilot studies. This study also found that some of the U.S.-literature-generated demographic choice attributes functioned similarly in the Philippine setting (e.g. academic ability, gender), while others did not (e.g. educational level of fathers and of mothers). Moreover, students' academic ability was the primary demographic attribute, accounting for statistically significant differences in assessment of the importance of college choice factors for most (12 out of 13) of the factors. The major U.S. college choice factors appear to be important to Philippine private high school students. Two choice attributes (academic ability, gender) appear to apply to private high school students in the Philippines, while the attributes of father's and mother's education levels do not appear to apply. Among Philippine private high school students, academic ability may account for differences in assessment of the importance of college choice factors. Using a survey method alone to study college choice is limiting. Future studies should utilize a variety of methods to collect data and should involve several schools

Learning together through international collaboration in teacher education in Malaysia. Report of a project to develop a Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Primary Mathematics

Copyright University of Hertfordshire, School of Education 2011Learning together through international collaboration in teacher education in Malaysia is the report of an enterprising partnership between the University of Hertfordshire, UK, the Ministry of Education Malaysia and two Institutes of Teacher Education in Malaysia. Working collaboratively with colleagues in Malaysia, the University of Hertfordshire School of Education designed, validated, supported and quality assured a Bachelor of Education (Honours) degree programme for initial teacher training for a single cohort of 120 students over four years. All the students graduated in 2010. Learning together through international collaboration in teacher education in Malaysia provides a record of the project itself. It also documents in-depth insights from contributors to the project in two main areas: the collaborative approach to working together and issues relating to learning and teaching, including the Action – Reflection – Modelling (ARM) pedagogical approach, which underpinned the degree programme. Senior managers, teacher educators and lecturers share some of their learning from working together to develop and implement the new degree programme. Student teachers voice some experiences from their school placements. They describe how they used ARM; highlight some of the benefits of the approach and identify some of the challenges associated with introducing a different pedagogy in schools as they were 'learning to teach'. There are glimpses of 'lively and attractive' classes in which 'pupils enjoy and feel comfortable to learn' and 'are eager to answer my questions'. School mentors provide additional insights into the student teachers' learning and teaching practice. The richness of the contributions is reflected in the many quotations included in the report. The successful completion of this project was due to the dedication and expertise of many contributors. The findings documented in this report are relevant for all those engaged in international collaboration and teacher education.Final Published versio

Institutional Dynamics of the Native Chicken Industry in Western Visayas, Philippines

The native chicken industry is an important component of the Philippine economy, particularly in Western Visayas. Dominated largely by small farm households, it continuously faces issues concerning supply availability and sustainability attributed to high mortality and low productivity. This paper examined the governance of the native chicken industry in Western Visayas. It describes the scales of operation of native chicken industry in the region; the different stakeholders involved and their roles; their manner of interactions, as well as the legal framework that shaped the native chicken industry of the country in general and the region in particular. This study uses data collected from secondary sources such as reports of various agencies as well as primary data from focus group discussions conducted in the five provinces of the region. The results indicate that the native chicken industry in Western Visayas has two scales of operation: the multitude backyard native chicken raisers and few organized commercial raisers. The industry is apparently fragmented. There are several policies, laws, and legal provisions promoting the development and sustainability of the native chicken industry. Spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture with the cooperation of other national government agencies, local government units, and civil society organizations, numerous programs and projects have been initiated and implemented to cater to the native chicken industry. The main challenge is the overlapping and duplication of services due to lack of coordination among agencies. The paper suggests that there is a need for institutional strengthening and harmonization of interventions. A seamless institutional dynamic redounds a favorable environment for the native chicken industry to flourish

Profitability Analysis of the Muscovado Sugar Farms

Given the escalating hype for organic-based food, the growing adherence to health-conscious lifestyles, and the increasing consumer preference for natural and healthy products, the market demand for muscovado sugar both at domestic and global markets is rising. The Western Visayas Region (Region VI) is the Philippines’ top producer supplying 32.5% of the country’s total commodity output. Production systems for muscovado farming in the region is divided into two: (1) the highly fragmented, backyard level, and privately owned and managed farms exemplified by farms in Antique, and (2) the vertically integrated, centrally managed, and champion-led farms in Capiz, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental. With the growing competition from the other muscovado-producing provinces, it is imperative to increase the level of competitiveness. Producer-respondents were drawn from the list provided by their respective Provincial Agriculture Offices. Data was gathered by purposive sampling using a structured questionnaire and documentation matrix. The experts in a forum that was attended by industry participants validated the result. Results show that profitability is higher among vertically integrated, centrally managed, and champion-led farms. Minimal variability in farm profitability was noted between adaptors of organic and conventional farming technologies. In addition, consolidation of farms is justified based on its ability to increase profitability, especially for farms that are highly fragmented. Results further imply that big land holdings are deemed competitive be it run by big individual or corporate players. Moreover, consolidation results to efficiency in the delivery of technical services, compliance to meeting market requirements, as well as standardized products, among the many other benefits

Polyaniline In Situ Grafted to Graphene Sheets

Graphene is one of the most promising allotropes of carbon with wide applications in nanotechnology. Modification of graphene by chemical means can further expand its uses. Here, liquid-exfoliated graphene is functionalized with p-aminophenyl moiety using p-nitrophenyl diazonium salts which were diazotized in situ then reduced by tin(II) chloride. The aminophenyl-graphene thus produced is further modified to form polyaniline-graphene (PANI-GNH) by in situ oxidative graft polymerization of aniline using ammonium peroxydisulfate as oxidizing agent. The properties of the PANI-GNH were compared with polyaniline/graphene blends by Raman, infrared and UV-Visible spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Indeed, PANI-GNH registered different spectrochemical and electrochemical properties compared with the physically blended PANI and GNH, a manifestation of the effect of chemical grafting on the overall property of the modified graphene