African Regional Integration: Implications for Food Security

This report looks at the African regional trade, regional integration agreements (RIAs) and the implications for food security. An overview is presented on the present state of African regional integration and the determinants of regional trade in agriculture and food commodities. In particular the study focuses on eight target countries, related RIAs and a set of strategic food commodities. The evidence presented in this study shows that African countries have made progress in opening up agriculture and food trade with partner countries. With, the exception of Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique, the effective applied tariff rates for regional trade partners are substantially lower than the (MFN) rates applied to world trade partners. Nonetheless, regional trade in agriculture and food only increased marginally between 1990 and 2009, and is relatively low in comparison with other developing regions. The weak state of soft and hard infrastructure, rather than high trade tariffs, seem to be the cause of thi

Simple bounds for queueing systems with breakdowns

Computationally attractive and intuitively obvious simple bounds are proposed for finite service systems which are subject to random breakdowns. The services are assumed to be exponential. The up and down periods are allowed to be generally distributed. The bounds are based on product-form modifications and depend only on means. A formal proof is presented. This proof is of interest in itself. Numerical support indicates a potential usefulness for quick engineering and performance evaluation purposes

Simple and insensitive bounds for a grading and an overflow model

Simple and intuitively obvious lower and upper bounds are suggested for a specific grading and an overflow model. The bounds are based on product-type modifications and are insensitive. Numerical support indicates a potential usefulness for quick engineering purposes

KLEVER: An experiment to measure \boldmath{BR(KL→π0νν‾){\rm BR}(K_L \to \pi^0 \nu \overline{\nu})} at the CERN SPS

The KLEVER experiment aims to measure ${\rm BR}(K_L \to \pi^0 \nu \overline{\nu})$, supplementing the ongoing NA62 measurement of ${\rm BR}(K^+ \to \pi^+ \nu \overline{\nu})$, to provide new input on CKM unitarity and potentially new physics. KLEVER is undergoing continuous development, with particular efforts focused on the design of the target and the beamline. As described here, adaptations are required relative to the K12 beamline in its current format, and a series of simulations has been performed to ensure that an adequate particle flux can be achieved while simultaneously suppressing problematic backgrounds.Comment: Published under licence CC-BY in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS) by IOP Publishing Ltd, proceedings of 6th Symposium on Prospects in the Physics of Discrete Symmetries, DISCRETE 2018, 26-30 Nov. 2018, Vienna, Austri

Industrial Policy and Technology Diffusion: Evidence from Paper Making Machinery in Indonesia

technology diffusion, Indonesia

Ecology and power in the periphery of Maasina : the case of the Hayre in the nineteenth century

This article explores political tensions between successive nineteenth-century rulers of the inland delta of the Niger in central Mali (the Fulbe Diina of Hamdullahi and the Futanke successors of al-Hajj Umar) and the pastoral interests of the Fulbe chiefdoms on their eastern periphery, in a region known as the Hayre. A close study of changing forms of local governance and natural resource management demonstrates that although different strategies were employed by the Fulbe and Futanke states to control the Hayre, the internal dynamics of the region can only partly be explained by the influence of these central powers