Economic Consequences of Different Institutional Structures for the Cotton Sector in West and Central Africa: Evidence from Burkina Faso

In West and Central African countries parastatal vertical coordination is used to control both the input and output markets. The decline of cotton yields and subsequent decline of the parastatals' performance in the late 1990s called for reforms. This thesis assesses the potential economic effects of different institutional structures for the parastatals in West and Central Africa, using the characteristics of the cotton sector in Burkina Faso. The thesis is based in the concept of economic surplus. A structural system is developed to measure the potential economic outcomes of three market alternatives to parastatal vertical coordination. Results demonstrate that when a parastatal is allowed to exercise market power, it extracts rents from the farmers maximizing the parastatal's economic surplus. The primary beneficiaries of the privatization of the cotton sector in West and Central African countries are the farmers, as a result of the higher price received in the output market. The parastatal extracts more from the output market than from the input market. With partial privatization farmers are better off when they receive the competitive cotton price, even when the parastatal exercises monopoly control of the input market, extracting rents from the farmers, than they are when the parastatal exercises monopsony in the output market (cotton buying) and farmers procure inputs in the competitive market.Agricultural Economic

Fatty acids composition in South African freshwater fish as indicators of food quality

Lipid classes and fatty acid composition of three commercially important freshwater fish species Oreochromis mossambicus (Mozambique tilapia), Clarias gariepinus (African catfish) and Cyprinus carpio (carp) obtained from an aquaculture, different river systems and fish markets from different provinces in South Africa were investigated. Fatty acids were extracted from the fish fillets through the Folch extraction method (using chloroform: methanol at the ratio of 2:1). Generally, tilapia fish species was found to be the richest in fatty acid composition. In all fish species analysed, palmitic acid (16:0) was found to be the most abundant fatty acid ranging from 18.24 to 21.84%. Appreciable quantities of essential polyunsaturated fatty acid such as docosahexaenoic (DHA) (22:6 n-3, 3.92 to 6.16%), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (20:5 n-3, 1.91 to 2.92%) and arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6, 7.19 to 8.50%) were also found. Observations show that fish species obtained from Gauteng Province are richer in fatty acids compared to those in Limpopo Province. The study points out that all fish species investigated contain appreciable levels of Omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and are therefore suitable for an unsaturated low-fat diet. This is important especially for poor communities who cannot afford to get a balanced diet, rich in some essential fatty acids.Therefore, it is important to determine the nutritional value of local fish, since it significantly contribute to a healthy diet in rural communities.Keywords: fatty acid composition, lipids, freshwater fish, Omega -3 and Omega-6, polyunsaturated fatty acids, EPA, DH

Biological Rhythms of Pancreatic Secretion in Young Pigs with empahasis to the time around weaning

When the time structure (chronome) of pancreatic secretion was studied after weaning in 5-week-old pigs, the zero-amplitude (no-rhythm) assumption was rejected for the about-weekly (circaseptan, CS) and about-half-weekly (circasemiseptan, CSS) chronome components. When the data were assessed individually on a day-to-day basis, a 24-hour component was suggested (P<.10) for the variables measured in the pancreatic secretion. The circadian pattern showed a gradually increasing range of oscillation. Group results by population-mean cosinor analysis failed to demonstrate a statistically significant circadian and ultradian variation, mostly because of large inter-individual differences.No statistically significant circadian variation could be demonstrated either for plasma concentrations of insulin, glucose, glucagon or Immunoreactive Cationic Trypsin (IRCT). In 7-week-old pigs fed three times a day and kept in dim, white light, the pancreatic secretion exhibited a pattern characterised by distinct meal-related secretions, and by non-food-stimulated secretions. In animals that were later transferred to a regimen of 12 hours of light alternating with 12 hours of darkness (LD12:12), there was no distinct response of the pancreatic secretion to the meal given during the dark span. Apart from the anticipated circadian rhythm demonstrable by single cosinor analysis on a group basis, prominent 8-hour and an about 3.43-hour components were statistically significant. These data indicate that the circadian variation of exocrine and endocrine pancreatic secretion, glucose and IRCT immediately after weaning, at five weeks of age is still developing and is not yet synchronized among the different piglets fed ad libitum. Pancreatic secretions become circadian periodic by the 7th (but not by the 5th) week of age when their response to a standard meal also becomes circadian-stage dependent

Areas of Inquiry : Guiding FSSD practitioners at the beginning of a change initiative towards sustainability

This research aims to support sustainability practitioners at the beginning of a change initiative towards sustainability to increase the success of the change. Moving towards sustainability is a complex journey and requires radical and structural transformational change in companies. Mutual understanding of the company and the practitioner is required to design a suitable change process. Existing tools related to sustainability, change management, corporate analysis and assessment were analyzed. In addition, practitioners in organizational change and sustainability were interviewed. Identified were eight Areas of Inquiry for the practitioner to focus on at the initial stage of an engagement: Vision; Purpose and Commitment; Urgency, Importance and Business Case; Level of Integration of Sustainability; Business Goals and Strategy; Culture and Capacities; Communication and Stakeholder Engagement; Measurement and Reporting. These areas form a platform for dialogue to guide sustainability practitioners in gaining understanding of the organizational change capacities and sustainability within the company and, in doing so, contributes to addressing the sustainability challenge at large