Out of Site out of Mind: Quantifying the Long-term Off-site economic Impacts of Land Degradation in Kenya

This study investigated the private and social returns to Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices with an objective of finding practices that reduce the on-farm and off-farm negative effects of land degradation. The results show that SLM practices have robust profits for farmers raising dairy cows. Farmers without dairy cows realize profits that are sensitive to input and output prices. Adoption of SLM also provides global environmental services whose value is about 10% of the net present value. The results suggest the need to promote SLM practices with multiple uses and consider ways to compensate farmers who offer significant environmental services.Environmental Economics and Policy,

On-site and off-Site long-term economic impacts of soil fertility management practices: The case of maize-based cropping systems in Kenya

"This article analyzes the on-site and off-site economic impacts of various sustainable land management (SLM) practices in Kenya. Long-term trial data are used to establish the relationship between SLM practices and maize yield. The analysis of on-site effects focuses on the profitability of maize production at the farm level, while the examined off-site effects include carbon sequestration and siltation from maize farms, which increase the cost of potable water production. The major contribution of this study is the use of long-term experimental data to estimate the impacts of land management practices on crop yield and consider their off-site benefits and costs. The results of this study show that soil and water conservation (SWC) structures reinforced with leguminous plants are more profitable when the plants are used as fodder, as opposed to situations in which only SWC structures are used. SWC structures reinforced with vegetation had lower maintenance costs, whereas those that were not reinforced with leguminous trees were not profitable over the long-term period. These results suggest that complementary and multipurpose SWC practices are more likely to be adopted compared to non-complementary and/or single-purpose practices. Thus, SWC practices should be promoted as a package of complementary technologies. If it is not feasible to promote a mix of complementary enterprises, high value crops are likely to make SLM practices more profitable. In areas where SLM practices are not profitable, promotion of alternative livelihoods is necessary. Adoption of SLM also provides global environmental services worth 10% of the net present value of the SLM practices over the 50-year period addressed in the present study Finally, the results of this analysis suggest that farmers who offer significant environmental services should be compensated for their efforts." from Author's AbstractAgroforestry, Land degradation, Soil erosion, Sustainable land management, Land management, Economic impacts, maize,

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

institutional framework of in action against land degradation

While econometric and spatial data are increasingly helpful to quantify and locate the extent and costs of land degradation, there is still little understanding of the contextual factors that determine or influence the land users' practices that aggravate or counteract land degradation. In this chapter, we take an institutional economic approach to analyse the persistence of degrading practices, the low adoption of sustainable land management (SLM), or the eventual organisational reaction to land degradation. The chapter reviews four examples of land degradation in different contexts to reveal the multiple driving forces and contextual factors. We then propose a conceptual framework to better understand the incentive structure and factors determining the land users' decision making. A layered analysis of the social phenomena is applied, following Williamson (2000). The chapter shows how actions at different layers can help improve land management. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations for the institutional economic analysis of land degradation

Sustainable Land Management and Technology Adoption in Eastern Uganda

Under the regimes of Idi Amin (1971–79) and Milton Obote (1980–85), Uganda’s economy plunged into a prolonged crisis with negative real growth rates of GDP (Baffoe 2000). In 1987, under Yoweri Musevini, the Ugandan government introduced an economic recovery program in cooperation with the IMF and the World Bank, aiming at market liberalization, privatization, and de-centralization. Although these reforms have had positive effects on the Ugandan economy (the GDP real growth has averaged 6 percent per annum), productivity in the agricultural sector has either stagnated or declined (APSEC 2000). Land degradation is generally seen as a major factor contributing to declining agricultural productivity as well as to poverty and food insecurity. Recent studies in eastern and central Uganda have revealed high negative nutrient balances for most cropping systems (Wortmann and Kaizzi 1998).PRIFPRI1; GRP5; Theme 5; Theme 3; Subtheme 3.2; Governance structures and policy processes; Managing natural resources; Environment and Natural Resource Management; DCA; Land Resource Management for Poverty ReductionEPT

Technological and policy options for sustainable agricultural intensification in eastern Uganda

This article presents a bio-economic household model, which has been developed to assess the potential impacts of agricultural intensification efforts on economic and ecological indicators in eastern Uganda. A study region in the Lake Victoria Crescent was selected with comparative advantages for intensive agricultural production: high agricultural potential, high market access, and high population density. However, current production is characterized by low input-output systems revealing a discrepancy between development opportunities and actual development outcomes. Based on a farmer participatory research approach, production methods were introduced in the study region aimed at fostering sustainable agricultural development. Data from two community surveys, two comprehensive household and plot level surveys, and farm-trial data were used to develop and calibrate bio-economic models for four representative household types. Model scenarios reveal that farm households in eastern Uganda would not pursue sustainable intensification under current socio-economic conditions. The market environment has to be improved substantially, i.e., transaction and transportation costs have to be reduced, innovative credit schemes for smallholders have to be introduced, and alternative forms of labor acquisition have to be promoted, to provide sufficient economic incentives for the adoption of environmentally sound production methods. In addition, agricultural service provision needs to be reformed and more agricultural research is needed for new and better-targeted technologies. Copyright 2006 International Association of Agricultural Economics.

Berlin-Charlottenburg Goethe-Apotheke

<p>Historical questionnaire/s 1924/1948 and index cards, partly selected enclosures regarding the history of a</p><p>German pharmacy, catalogued via Kalliope portal (Historischer Fragebogen 1924/1948 und Karteikarten, ggf.</p><p>gemeinfreie Anlagen zur Apothekengeschichte; als Katalog dient das Nachlassportal Kalliope):</p><p>https://kalliope-verbund.info/DE-611-BF-70963</p><p>[Funktion: Im Findbuch anzeigen]</p><p> </p><p>Please note: The Kalliope catalogue entry might indicate related material in the archival folder which cannot</p><p>be published due to copyright or other legal restrictions (NB: Das Katalogisat bei Kalliope kann auch auf</p><p>Materialien - teils erheblichen Umfangs - verweisen, die aus archiv- oder urheberrechtlichen Gründen nicht</p><p>veröffentlicht werden dürfen).</p&gt