Analysis of Rice Exports in ASEAN Plus Three Countries

Rice is the most consumed commodity in Asia. The high demand for rice consumption requires the supply of Rice to meet domestic food needs in each country. This study aims to analyze the factors that affect rice exports in selected ASEAN Plus Three countries. The countries selected in this study include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Laos, China, Japan and South Korea. The method used is panel data spatial econometrics—the data used from 2005 to 2020. The research data were obtained from various sources, including the World Trade Organization, ASEAN statistics, World Trade Organization and WITS. The results show the factors that significantly affect GDP, production and exchange rates

Towards a better understanding of global land grabbing: an editorial introduction

ESR

Analysis of Empirical Relationship among Agricultural Lending, Agricultural Growth and Non-Performing Loans in Nigerian Banking System

Increasing levels in Non-Performing loans (NPLs) which has remained an area of great concern contributed to issue of declining agribusiness activities in Nigeria in the 1990s and thereafter. The study examined non-performing loans relationship with agricultural lending and agricultural productivity from 1980 to 2015 in Nigeria. Time series data obtained from CBN were analyzed using, Granger causality test, Pearson correlation, and co-integration as well as error correction models. The empirical analyses revealed that, bilateral Granger causality existed between loans and advances granted to agricultural sector and non-performing loans in Nigeria. Also, growth in GDP has a positive and significant correlation with NPL in Nigeria. In the long run, NPL is positively related to agricultural productivity, growth in the GDP and value of loans and advances offered to agricultural sector. Whereas, in the short run, NPL reacted significantly to the negative influence of interest rate and positive impact of GDP growth rate. The adjustment coefficient of 52% was discovered for the NPL long run equation in Nigeria. It is recommended that short and long- term banking reform policies be adopted to reduce fluctuations in NPLs in the banking system and efforts should be geared towards increased participation of specialized financial institutions as to accelerate investments in agriculture sector

The role of a pluralistic extension system in enhancing agriculture productivity in Mozambique

This paper presents an overview of the characteristics and roles of key role-players involved in agricultural development in Mozambique. As in many other countries worldwide, extension service provision is characterised by the multiple service providers responding to the needs and demands of farmers. This is unlike in the recent past when agricultural services were mainly delivered by the public sector.The 25 years of public extension have been characterised by different degrees of progress. Supporting extension policy was developed and amended as required during this period, which impacted positively on farmer coverage (number of districts operating) as well as the number of farmers served per extensionist. The expansion of public extension services created new challenges for the delivering of extension services. Within the pluralistic extension system of Mozambique, NGO’s and private commodity extension organisations play an important role in supporting smallholder farmers.To be able to learn from the different experiences in offering extension by the various service providers is only possible through effective communication and sharing of experiences between public, NGO’s and private extension service providers. Despite some local based initiatives seeking to enhance collaboration between public and NGOs extension, no official extension platform (multi stakeholder) at national level exists which can take care of the coordination and management of the pluralistic extension system

Brazilian frozen concentrated orange juice : the folly of unfair trade cases

Brazil dominates the international market for frozen concentrated orange juice. By the mid 1980s, Brazil accounted for about 80 percent of world exports of the product. Brazilian producers supplied more than 94 percent of U.S. imports of the product in the 1980s and accounted for 50 percent of sales in the U.S. market. The dynamism of the Brazilian industry is attributable to Brazil's comparative advantage and to the series of climate shocks to Florida's orange groves. In Brazil, the industry is largely in the hands of four large firms, who sell 80 percent of their products to a few large U.S. firms, at significant price rebates. Florida orange growers, beset by import competition and climate shocks, turned to unfair trade laws for protection in the early 1980s, relying on them increasingly as a substitute for safeguard actions. Because of Brazil's interventionist trade policies, the prevailing U.S. belief was that any Brazilian industry was guilty of unfair trade practices until proven innocent. Unfair trade actions have had a particularly negative impact on their supposed beneficiary, the U.S. citrus industry. The antidumping cases were used to protect orange growers at the expense of U.S. juice processors. Their effect has been to strengthen the oligopoly-oligopsony relationship between Brazilian producers and their U.S. partners, further hindering the competition prospects in the world market for frozen concentrated orange juice.Water and Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT

The Asta-Ja Environmental and Natural Resources Policy Framework (Asta-Ja ENRPF) for Sustainable Development in Nepal

Effective policy measures are necessary for sustainable utilization, conservation, and development of environmental and natural resources. In order to formulate effective policies, it is important to have a theoretically grounded, holistic, inclusive, science-based, collaborative, forward looking, and systematic policy framework. This paper presents the Asta-Ja Environmental and Natural Resource Policy Framework (Asta-Ja ENRPF) consisting of Asta-Ja policy guidelines and the Asta-Ja policy cycle for sustainable environmental and natural resources development and socioeconomic transformation in Nepal

Root crops agroforestry for greening the sustainability of green revolution

Green revolution started at mid of twentieth century was the answer of anxiousness reminded by Malthusian that food scarcity problems in relation with population growth. In concurrence with exploitation of fossil fuel for agriculture mechanization as well as agrochemicals in the form of inorganic fertilizer and pesticide, green revolution by introducing high yielding varieties of cereals and grains was able to nourish the world population by increasing productivity. Indeed, from beginning of mechanization with fossil fuel based as advised by Rudolf Diesel then Arrhenius would be affected to the release of CO2 to the atmosphere and consequently exaggerating climate change as suffered by current and future generations. Under green revolution based on cereals and grains affected forest conversion into open agricultural land, because both commodities are sun-loving crops, which are hate to the shade. On the other hand, to slow the severity of climate change natural forest must be conserved tightly. Entering third millennium demand of food production with ecologically friendly is stronger. Hence, green revolution needs to be amended into greener perspectives. Thus, implementation of agro-forestry into wide range of agro-ecological zone is urgently innovated. Fortunately, shade tolerant of root crops has significant advantage to be developed under agro-forestry. Under shade of forest canopy at basal forest strata, root crops are able to sequester CO2 to be converted into carbohydrate and other compounds to provide food for the dweller. Back to nature is not only a slogan, with root crops under agro-forestry is a reality; fresh root up to 30 t ha-1 can be harvested yearly as the source of food and renewable fuel as well. This potential is very worthy to improve and greening the existing green revolution to be more sustainable.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 8 (1): 26-37, June, 201

Governance and net-import dependency on food and agricultural products in Sub-Saharan Africa: does any causality exist?

Though most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are agricultural-based, the region is a net importer of food and agricultural products and experiences the highest level of food insecurity globally. The government have a joint goal of achieving a favourable balance of trade and food security; hence this study examines the causal relationship between quality of governance and net-import dependency on food and agricultural products for 25 SSA countries during the period 1995-2015. Principal component analysis is employed to develop a governance index based on the six worldwide governance indicators and a multivariate panel vector error correction framework applied to infer causality in the short and long run. The results reveal that a higher governance index is correlated with a lower net-import dependency ratio and the relationship is statistically significant. Evidence of unidirectional causality running from governance to net-import dependency is reported in 14 SSA countries, mainly in the long run. In conclusion, improving governance quality could support reduced food and agricultural net-import dependency through promoting agriculture production, exports and consequently reduced trade deficits in the long run. Hence, governance reforms in the region should be placed at the heart of the agricultural development agenda

It Takes a Village: UN Peace Operations and Social Networks in Post-conflict Environments

Why civil society organizations (CSOs) so often are unable to make a difference during the transition process to peace despite the widespread recognition of their potential role in fostering peace? I argue that the involvement and contributions of local civil society organizations and women’s organizations (WOs) in post-conflict peacebuilding should be understood in terms of social networks and connections that emerge in the peacebuilding process. Both linking and bridging social capital shape social interactions essential for successful post-conflict reconstruction. Yet, external actors often implement policies that strengthen hierarchical networks at the expense of horizontal networks; thus, undermining the creation of bridging social capital. To explore the types of networks that emerge in post-conflict reconstruction I use semi-structured interviews conducted in Liberia. The evidence suggests that emerging horizontal networks are more robust in areas where local communities and women have a tradition of organizing. However, these networks remain fairly unstable. The assistance is mostly channeled centrally strengthening hierarchical ties and leading to distortions in the distribution of resources. This type of external intervention has negative implications and hinders bridging social networks even when these networks are present