Trade issues background paper: sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT)

International trade in fish and fishery products has grown rapidly over the last twenty years. Export values have risen from US$15 billion in 1980 to US$56 billion in 2001. In the same period the developing countries’ share of total exports has risen from 40% to 50%, with net receipts from fish trade by developing countries increasing from less than US$4 billion to almost US$18 billion. Imports are concentrated strongly in the USA, Europe and Japan, with developed countries absorbing 80% of total world imports (Lem, 2003). However, the increasingly complex requirements for food safety assurance and traceability set by major markets, particularly in Europe and North America represents a threat to existing exporters and a “barrier” to new entrants. Increasingly stringent quality standards can create a bias in favour of countries with a highly developed infrastructure and larger suppliers with greater resources. It is in the economic and national interests of fish exporters from developing countries to ensure they supply acceptable products to maintain their export earnings as well as their commercial reputation

Grease to the wheel or a spanner in the works? An investigation of office and industrial occupier displacement and property market filtering in Tyne & Wear using the chaining technique

The research uses a chaining technique to study the scale and impact of the displacement of office and industrial occupiers in the Tyne and Wear conurbation. The status and origin of occupiers of 20 office and industrial developments, promoted or assisted by the public sector, have been recorded to determine the distance that they have moved and the number of net new jobs generated. Property chaining reveals the extent to which the filtering effect has resulted in reoccupation of buildings and permits the quantification of the amount of property remaining vacant and its location. Analysis of the recorded chains has revealed that more than half of all occupiers on assisted schemes have relocated within the Tyne and Wear area and one in three occupier chains generated by such relocations result in vacant property elsewhere within the metropolitan area. The displacement of employment and economic activity within the conurbation can be mapped and could be used to inform the action of public agencies to reduce or ameliorate the negative side-effects of their intervention. The chaining technique proves an elegantly simple and robust technique by which to determine the scale and distribution of occupier displacement in property markets

Summary report on 'Globalisation and seafood trade legislation: The effect on poverty in India'

The Department for International Development of the UK Government (DFID) Post Harvest Fisheries Research Programme (PHFRP) is endeavouring to improve the livelihoods of poor fish producers, processors and traders and develop strategies which will improve the post-harvest utilisation of fish in a sustainable way for these stakeholders. India is a target country for this programme along with Bangladesh, Uganda and Ghana. Under the programme a number of research projects have been funded which, in a variety of ways, attempt to bring a greater understanding of the problems associated with post-harvest fisheries development in these countries and alleviate any problems that might exist now and in the future

Sustainable NGO/CBO Agricultural Marketing Initiatives. Project evaluation report. 1 January 2001 - 31 May 2003

The project purpose is to develop commercially sustainable and replicable agricultural and processing interventions by community-based organisations (CBOs) and non-government organisations (NGOs) which improve the livelihoods of resource-poor and remote farmers. Special emphasis is given to enhancing access to food crop markets. The potential role of NGOs and CBOs in agricultural marketing is largely unrealised. Capacity building in a number of areas is therefore required to bridge the gap between existing knowledge and practice. NGOs must improve their understanding of marketing systems; recognise that certain forms of interaction between poor farmers and the commercial sector may serve social goals; and be able to identify and assess intervention opportunities. They must also have the capacity to address production and post-harvest issues in an integrated manner, to develop appropriate monitoring and evaluation systems, and to implement well-thought exit strategies. Focused workshops and seminars can play an important awareness-raising role and can contribute to strengthening contact networks, but significant capacity building can only be achieved through targeted training initiatives. Partnerships can also prove instrumental in enhancing capacity and contributing to the scaling-up and replication of marketing initiatives

A scoping study on the functioning of commodity markets

Commodity production, whether for export or for domestic and subsistence consumption, plays a dominant role in sustaining the livelihoods of many millions of small producers throughout the developing world, as well as greatly influencing the incomes received by intermediaries, processors and governments. Over the past fifteen years, the liberalisation of commodity markets in many countries has had a major impact on smallholder operations and created many new challenges. While market liberalisation and the associated new international policy environment has created many opportunities for commodity sector participants, the price and financial risks have increased and new systems are needed to reduce the severe constraints to smallholder development and improve their livelihoods. Extensive research has shown that in many countries there is still relatively little understanding of the new marketing conditions and problems faced by smallholder commodity producers and intermediaries. The major objectives of this scoping study are: a) to identify the opportunities and constraints created by the liberalisation and globalisation of commodity markets, particularly for the smallholder sector (Part 1 ); (b) to provide an initial assessment of possible options and solutions to overcome these marketing constraints within the current international policy environment and thus improve the functioning of markets (Part 2); (c) to outline areas and strategies for possible future work aimed at improving the functioning of markets in favour of smallholders and, thus, improving their livelihoods

Assessment of needs and feasibility of commercial production of tropical fruits and vegetables for diversified exports in Ethiopia and Sudan

Diversification into the production and export of horticultural crops is a strategy increasingly adopted by developing countries to enhance incomes, employment and foreign exchange earnings. However, a relatively small number of countries dominate exports of horticultural products from Sub-Saharan Africa and for most African countries the horticulture export sector has remained very small and/or has experienced severe bottlenecks to expansion. The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is financing projects to assist Least Developed Countries in the diversification of their commodity exports. As part of this programme, the CFC is funding this pilot project in Ethiopia and the Sudan to assess the needs and feasibility of developing commercial production of high value tropical fruit and vegetable products based on these countries' comparative advantage. The purpose of this report is to identify and prioritise the various capacity building measures that need to be devised and developed to overcome these constraints and thus facilitate an expansion of fruit and vegetable exports. The aim is to advise the relevant international and national institutions on modalities to adopt in order to strengthen the existing horticultural strategy in Ethiopia and Sudan and thus reduce poverty while enhancing the livelihood benefits accruing. The report has five chapters. The first is an introduction, while aspects of horticultural production and trade in Ethiopia and Sudan are discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 respectively. Chapter 4 reviews the international market situation looking specifically at European Union and Middle East markets. Chapter 5 contains conclusions and recommendations of the study. In addition, there are 7 Annexes, covering methodology, contacts and itinerary, workshops in Sudan and Ethiopia, detailed production and trade data, and materials consulted

Scoping study on the prospects for sustainable tree crop development in Sub-Saharan Africa. A paper prepared for the World Bank

The objectives of this short scoping study are to identify key issues for development of the tree crop sector particularly smallholder production, and to draw attention to opportunities for World Bank funding of tree crop initiatives as a focus for possible productive investment in Sub-Saharan Africa, and for in-depth examination in a wider study. The study looks particularly at issues relevant to new crop development/replanting and those arising from liberalisation

Globalisation, seafood industry and livelihoods

Fish production, whether for export or for domestic and subsistence consumption, plays a major role in sustaining the livelihoods of many millions of producers, intermediaries, and processors in developing countries. Many of the world’s poor live in coastal communities where fishing and associated activities are often a key source of income, consumption and growth. In India alone there are an estimated nearly 6 million people dependent on the fishery sector (Rao and Prakash, 1999). Over the past fifteen years, “globalisation” and the associated liberalisation of markets in many countries has had a major impact on the fisheries sector and created many new challenges. While market liberalisation and the associated new international policy environment has created many opportunities for fishery sector participants, the range of risks and constraints has increased with a resultant impact on livelihoods, in particular the poor

Learning from the experts: enabling and studying DIY development of location-based visitor experiences

In this paper we show how -- with the aid of enabling technology -- creative Location Based Experiences can be developed for visitors by non-technical professionals from the cultural heritage sector. We look at how these "Place Experts" approach and adopt web technologies to create and publish experiences including the roles they take on, the processes they adopt, and the way they appropriate the technology. We describe our short and long-term research engagements with the cultural heritage sector over the last three years and introduce Wander Anywhere, the website developed to enable this research. We find that place experts typically follow a four stage process in their engagement with location-based experiences, moving from comprehension to translation, development and finally approval. We suggest implications for the processes and technologies that might be employed by others seeking to support a similar type of engagement

A comparison of center of pressure variables recorded during running in barefoot, minimalist footwear, and traditional running shoes in the female population

In recent years, barefoot running and running in minimalist footwear as opposed to running in traditional running shoes has increased in popularity. The influence of such footwear choices on center of pressure (COP) displacements and velocity variables linked to injuries is yet to be understood. The aim of this study was to investigate differences between COP variables, linked to injuries measured in barefoot running, a minimalist running shoe, and with traditional running shoes and conditions during running in a healthy female population. Seventeen healthy female participants were examined. Participants performed five footfalls in each footwear condition while running at 12km/h±10% over a pressure plate while COP variables were recorded at 500Hz. The results suggest that minimalist running shoe COP characteristics were similar to those of barefoot runners, with various significant differences reported in both groups compared to runners with the traditional running shoe