Search results for: rural policy

Authors: Soma Sarkar

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A number of authors have recently argued that there are strong links between ecosystem services and sustainable development, particularly development efforts that aim to reduce rural poverty. We see two distinct routes by which the science of ecosystem services can contribute to both nature conservation and sustainable development. First, a thorough accounting of ecosystem services and a better understanding of how and at what rates ecosystems produce these services can be used to motivate payment for nature conservation. At least part of the generated funds can be used to compensate people who suffer lost economic opportunities to protect these services. For example, if rural poor are asked to take actions that reduce farm productivity to protect and regulate water supply, those farmers could be compensated for the reduced productivity they experience. When the benefits of natural ecosystems are explicitly quantified, those benefits are more valued both by the people who directly interact with the ecosystems and the governmental and other agencies that would have to pay for substitute sources of these services if these ecosystems should become impaired. Appreciating the value of ecosystem services can motivate increased conservation investment to prevent having to pay for substitutes later. This approach could be characterized as a ‘‘government investment’’ approach because the payments will generally come from beneficiaries outside of the local area, and a governmental or other agency is typically responsible for collecting and redistributing the funds. Second, a focus on the conservation of ecosystem services could improve the success of projects that attempt to both conserve nature and improve the welfare of the rural poor by fostering markets for the goods and services that local people produce or extract from ecosystems. These projects could be characterized as more ‘‘community based’’ because the goal is to foster the more organic, or grassroots, development of cottage industries, such as ecotourism, or the production of non-timber forest products, that are enhanced by better protection of local ecosystems. Using this framework, we discuss the factors that may have contributed to failure or success for several projects in the district of Purulia, one of the most backward districts of India and inhabited by indigenous group of people. A large majority of people in this district are dependent on environment based incomes for their sustenance. The erosion of natural resource base owing to poor governance in the district has led to the reductions in the household incomes of these people. The scale of our analysis is local or project level. The plight of poor has little to do with the production functions of ecosystem services. But for rural poor, at the local level, the status of ecosystem services can make a big difference in their daily lives.

Keywords: ecosystem services, governance, rural poor, community based natural resource management

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Authors: Muhammad Imran Nisar, Fyezah Jehan, Tauseef Akhund, Sadia Shakoor, Kanwal Nayani, Furqan Kabir, Asad Ali, Anita Zaidi

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Pneumococcal Vaccine -10 (PCV 10) was included in the Expanded Program of immunization (EPI) in Sindh, Pakistan in February 2013. This study was carried out immediately before the introduction of PCV 10 to establish baseline pneumococcal carriage and prevalent serotypes in naso-pharynx of children 3-11 months of age in an urban and rural community in Sindh, Pakistan. An additional sample of children aged 12 to 59 months was drawn from the urban community. Nasopharyngeal specimens were collected from a random sample of children. Samples were processed in a central laboratory in Karachi. Pneumococci were cultured on 5% Sheep Blood Agar and serotyping was performed using CDC standardized sequential multiplex PCR assay on bacterial colonies. Serotypes were then categorized into vaccine (PCV-10 and PCV-13) type and non-vaccine types. A total of 670 children were enrolled. Carriage rate for pneumococcus based on culture positivity was 74% and 79.5 % in the infant group in Karachi and Matiari respectively. Carriage rate was 78.2% for children aged 12 to 59 months in Karachi. Proportion of PCV 10 serotypes in infants was 38.8% and 33.5% in Karachi and Matiari respectively. In the older age group in Karachi, the proportion was 30.6%. Most common serotypes were 6A, 6B, 23F, 19A and 18C. This survey establishes vaccine and non-vaccine serotype carriage rate in a vaccine-naïve pediatric population among rural and urban communities in Sindh province. Annually planned surveys in the same communities will inform change in carriage rate after the introduction and uptake of PCV 10 in these communities.

Keywords: Naso-Pharyngeal carriage, Pakistan, PCV10, Pneumococcus

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Authors: Muhammad Khaliqi, Amzul Rifin, Andriyono Kilat Adhi

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The non-tariff policy could make Indonesian shrimp exports decrease in the international market. This research was aimed to analyze factors affecting Indonesia's exports of shrimp and the impact of SPS and TBT policy on Indonesian shrimp. Factors affecting the exports of Indonesian shrimp were estimated using gravity model. The results showed the GDP of exporters and exchange rate, have a negative influence against the export of Indonesia’s shrimp exports. The GDP of the importers and trade cost have a positive influence against the export of shrimp Indonesia while the SPS policy and TBT don’t affect Indonesia's exports of shrimp in the international market.

Keywords: gravity model, international trade, non-tariff measure, sanitary and phytosanitary, shrimp, technical barriers to trade

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Authors: Dorota M. Michalak

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The agricultural sector, due to the growing demand for food and over-exploitation of the natural environment, contributes to the deepening of climate change, on the one hand, and on the other hand, shrinking freshwater resources, as a negative effect of climate change, threaten the food security of each country. Therefore, adaptation measures to climate change should take into account effective water management and seek solutions ensuring food production at an unchanged or higher level, while not burdening the environment and not contributing to the worsening of the negative consequences of climate change. The problems of Poland's water management result not only from relatively small, natural water resources but to a large extent on the low efficiency of their use. Appropriate agricultural practices and state solutions in this field can contribute to achieving significant benefits in terms of economical water management in agriculture, providing a greater amount of water that could also be used for other purposes, including for purposes related to environmental protection. The aim of the article is to determine the level of use of water resources in Polish agriculture and the advancement of measures aimed at adapting Polish agriculture in the field of water management to climate change. The study provides knowledge about Polish legal regulations and water management tools, the shaping of water policy of Polish agriculture against the background of EU countries and other sources of energy, and measures supporting Polish agricultural holdings in the effective management of water resources run by state budget institutions. In order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, the author used research tools such as the analysis of existing sources and a survey conducted among five groups of entities, i.e. agricultural advisory centers and departments, agricultural, rural and environmental protection departments, regional water management boards, provincial agricultural chambers and restructuring and modernization of agriculture. The main conclusion of the analyses carried out is the low use of water in Polish agriculture in relation to other EU countries, other sources of intake in Poland, as well as irrigation. The analysis allows us to observe another problem, which is the lack of reporting and data collection, which is extremely important from the point of view of the effectiveness of adaptation measures to climate change. The results obtained from the survey indicate a very low level of support for government institutions in the implementation of adaptation measures to climate change and the water management of Polish farms. Some of the basic problems of the adaptation policy to change climate with regard to water management in Polish agriculture include a lack of knowledge regarding climate change, the possibilities of adapting, the available tools or ways to rationalize the use of water resources. It also refers to the lack of ordering procedures and the separation of responsibility with a proper territorial unit, non-functioning channels of information flow and practically low effects.

Keywords: water management, adaptation policy, agriculture, climate change

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Authors: Thi Phuong Lan Nguyen

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Vietnamese English Language Teacher Education (ELTE) has been changing a lot in response to the rapidly evolving socio-economic context requirements. The Vietnamese government assigns the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) primary tasks to have policy changes to prepare for ELTE development in the globalization and socialization process. Many educational policies have been made to develop ELTE, however, they seem not to address the new global or social demands. The issue is that there are still significant disparities between the national policy and the institutional implementation. This study is to investigate the alignment between ELTE institutional curriculum, pedagogies, and MOET standards. This study used a mixed-method with the data sources from policy documents, a survey, and 33 interviews conducted with the lecturers and administrators from eleven Vietnamese ELTE institutions. The data have been analysed to understand the gap between policy and practice. The initial findings are (i) a low alignment of curriculum and language proficiency standards and (ii) a moderate alignment between curriculum and future-career skills standards. Many pedagogical challenges have been found. In order to address these gaps, it is necessary for the curriculum to be standards-based designed. It is also vital for professional development in order to improve the quality teaching. The study offers multiple perspectives on a complex issue. The study is meaningful not only to educational governance, but also to teaching practitioners, English language researchers, and English language learners. The significance lies in its relevance to English teaching careers across all parts of Vietnam, it yet remains relevant to ELTE in other countries teaching English as a foreign language.

Keywords: alignment, curriculum, educational policy, English language teaching, pedagogy, standards

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Authors: Marco Magasic

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This article examines how a local newspaper’s closure impacts the way everyday people in a rural Australian town are informed about and engage with political affairs. It draws on a two-month focused ethnographic study in the outback town of Lighting Ridge, New South Wales and explores people’s media-related practices following the closure of the towns’ only newspaper, The Ridge News, in 2015. While social media is considered to have partly filled the news void, there is an increasingly fragmented and less vibrant local public sphere that has led to growing complacency among individuals about political affairs. Local residents highlight a dearth of reliable, credible information and lament the loss of the newspaper and its role in community advocacy and fostering people’s engagement with political institutions, especially local government.

Keywords: public sphere, political participation, local news, democratic deficit

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Authors: Sennanda Musa, Ahmed Mutunzi Kitunzi, Gerald Kasigwa, Ismail Kintu

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This paper is an analysis of the empirical relationship between project financing by Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the poverty trends in the context of countries benefiting from IsDB. Specifically, the study seeks to find out whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the project financing dollar amounts by IsDB (PF) and the GNI Per Capita, PPP of 57 countries for the years 2002 to 2021. The research is a longitudinal, desk-top triangulation of correlation, regression, hypothesis-testing employing the linear dynamic panel data GMM model as an estimator of the empirical relationships between the key variables of the study. The study results show that there is a significant positive relationship between the PF dollar amounts from the IsDB and the GNI Per Capita, PPP in these 57 countries. Therefore, countries that receive higher PF dollar amounts from the IsDB, generally have more GNI Per Capita, PPP (less poverty) than their counterparts. It is, therefore, recommendable for countries to formulate policies that facilitate Islamically financed projects to mitigate poverty. This paper develops policy discussions regarding allocation of political attention to the policy topics on poverty mitigation, and their relation to financing projects Islamically, thus generate information on policy choices regarding the Islamic financing alternative.

Keywords: gross-national-income, IsDB-project-financing, public policy, poverty

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Authors: Kara Gianina D. Rosas, Jade Emily L. Tong

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This study assesses the vulnerability of households to food price shocks. Using the Philippines as a case study, the researchers aim to understand how such shocks can cause food insecurity in different types of households. This paper measures the impact of actual food price changes during the food crisis of 2006-2009 on poverty in relation to their spatial location. Households are classified as rural or urban and agricultural or non-agricultural. By treating food prices and consumption patterns as heterogeneous, this study differs from conventional poverty analysis as actual prices are used. Merging the Family, Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) with the Consumer Price Index dataset (CPI), the researchers were able to determine the effects on poverty measures, specifically, headcount index, poverty gap, and poverty severity. The study finds that, without other interventions, food inflation would lead to a significant increase in the number of households that fall below the poverty threshold, except for households whose income is derived from agricultural activities. It also finds that much of the inflation during these years was fueled by the rise in staple food prices. Essentially, this paper aims to broaden the economic perspective of policymakers with regard to the heterogeneity of impacts of inflation through analyzing the deeper microeconomic levels of different subgroups. In hopes of finding a solution to lessen the inequality gap of poverty between the rural and urban poor, this paper aims to aid policymakers in creating projects targeted towards food insecurity.

Keywords: poverty, food inflation, agricultural households, non-agricultural households, net consumption ratio, urban poor, rural poor, head count index, poverty gap, poverty severity

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Authors: Sankhanil Das, Arunava Dasgupta, Keya Mitra

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This paper investigates the relationship between natural ecological systems and modern urban morphology. Over years, ecological conditions represented by natural resources such as natural landforms, systems of water, urban geography and land covers have been a significant driving factor of how settlements have formed, expanded and functioned. These have played a pivotal role in formation of the community character and the cultural identity of the urban spaces, and have steered cultural behavior within these settings. Such cultural behaviors have been instrumental in transforming mere spaces to places with meaning and symbolism. The natural process of city formation is principally founded upon the idea of balance and harmony, mostly in a subconscious manner. Reimaging such processes of natural evolution, this paper systematically builds a development model that generates a balance between environment and development, with specific focus on the Urban-Rural fringe areas in the Temple Town of Puri, in Eastern India. Puri represents a unique cross section of ecological landscape, cultural practices and religious symbolism with a very rich history and a vibrant heritage. While the city centre gets more and more crowded by tourists and pilgrims to accommodate related businesses, the original residents of Puri relocate to move towards the urban peripheral areas for better living conditions, gradually converting agricultural lands into non agricultural uses. This rapid spread into the rural hinterland is devoid of any connection with the rich cultural identity of Puri. These past four decades of ‘development’ has been at the cost of 810 Hectares of ecological Lake systems in the region. Invaluable ecological resources at urban rural edges are often viewed as hindrances to development and conceptualized as taking away from the image of the city. This paper attempts to understand the language of development over years on existing natural resources through topo-analysis and proposes a sustainable approach of development using different planning tools, with ecological resources as the pivotal factor of development.

Keywords: livability, sustainable development, urbanization, urban-rural edge

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Authors: Sujit Kumar

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Historicity of inter-caste relations can be traced in the early stages of evolution of rural community in the Indian society. These have witnessed vicissitudes during long drawn interactions between caste groups. Inter-caste relations evolved in a more organized form in the guise of Jajmani system. This is a system of permanent and hereditary inter-caste relations and gives a kaleidoscopic view of socio-economic relations among various caste groupings. Universality of its prevalence in rural India for centuries is well recognized and documented. But it has been undergoing metamorphic change in some regions and changing at a slower pace in the others during post-independence period. An empirical study was conducted with the objectives to know whether Jajmani system is in vogue in the rural areas and type and intensity of socio-economic ties among different caste categories and to find out the change in inter-caste relations, if any owing to industrialization and modernization. Information was elicited from 225 respondents using interview schedule designed for this purpose. It is discernible that in majority of cases, inter-caste social relations which find better expression on the occasions like marriage, death, birth and festivals etc. among Brahmins and lower castes vis-à-vis other caste categories have grown weak. The data further unearth that economic relations as maintained on the occasions of marriage, sacred thread ceremony, mundan sacrament, birthday, death, yajna, katha, routine hair cut, manufacture and repair of various iron, earthen, wooden and leather articles between members of higher castes (general category) and lower castes (scheduled castes) are moderate but weak in case of Other Backward Classes vis-à-vis all other caste categories. Overwhelming majority of informants believe that decline in hereditary occupations, depreciation of old products and services and their availability from the market being made by industry are main reasons in descending order for change in inter caste relations. Modernization, westernization, industrialization, transportation and communications, growing materialism and consumerism together have brought change in relations among caste groups affecting about a billion population inhabiting rural India.

Keywords: inter-caste, Jajmani, sacrament, Yajna

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Authors: Mohammad Aynal Haque

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Under the international cooperation — Paris Agreement — countries outline their self-determined policy ambition for emissions reduction in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as a key to addressing climate change globally. Although practically all countries commit themselves to reach the Paris landmark (below 20 C) globally, some act as climate leaders, others behave as followers, and others turn out to be climate laggards. As a result, there is a substantial variation in ‘emissions reduction targets’ across countries. Thus, a question emerges: What explains this variation? Or why do some countries opt for higher while others opt for lower ‘emissions reduction targets toward global mitigation efforts? Conceptualizing the ‘emissions reduction targets by 2030’ outlined in NDCs by each country as the climate policy ambition (CPA), this paper explores how certain national political, economic, environmental, and external factors play vital roles in determining climate policy ambition. Based on the cross-country regression analysis among 168 countries, this study finds that democracy, vulnerability to climate change effects, and foreign direct investment have substantial effects on CPA. The paper also finds that resource capacity has a minimal negative effect on CPA across developed countries.

Keywords: climate change, Paris agreement, international cooperation, political economy, environmental politics, NDCs

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Authors: Niranjan Devkota , Ram Kumar Phuya, Durga Lal Shreshta

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This paper estimates cost and benefit of adoption of climate change adaptation options available to the rural rice farmers of Nepal. Adoption of adaptation strategies, intensity of use of adaptation options, identification of labor and non-labor cost and finally per unit cost and benefit analysis of climate change adaptation were made. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to source respondents for the study and used structured questionnaire techniques to collect data from 773 households from seven districts; 3 from Terai and 4 from Hilly region of Nepal. The result revealed that there are 13 major adaptation options rice farmers practice in order to protect themselves from climatic risk. Among the given adaptation options, the first three popular adaptation options practiced by rice farmers are (i) increasing use of chemical fertilizer (60.93%) (ii) use of climate smart verities (49.29%) and (iii) change in nursery date (32.08%). Adaptation cost is obvious, based on that, the first three costly adaptation options are the alternative irrigation practice which incurred average cost of US $69.95 (US$ 1 = 102.84 Nepalese Rupees) followed by a denser plantation of local seeds ($ 20.69) and using climate smart varieties ($ 18.06). 88% farmers practiced more than one adaptation strategies on the same farm with the aim of reducing the effect of extreme climatic conditions. Total cost and revenue revealed that per unit total cost ranges from $28.34 to $32.79 whereas per unit total revenue ranges $33.4 to $49.02. Surprisingly, it is observed that farmers who do not adopt any adaptation options are able to receive highest income from per unit production. As Net Present Value (NPV) is positive and Benefit Cost Ration (BCR) is greater than one for every adaptation options that indicates the available adaptation options are profitable to the rice farmers.

Keywords: climate change, adaptation options, cost benefit analysis, rural rice farmers, Nepal

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Authors: Alonge Isaac Olusola

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Taking a cue from countries such as China and Japan, there is no doubt that the teaching and learning of Mother Tongue ( MT) or Language of Immediate Environment (LIE) is a potential source of development in every country. The engine of economic, scientific, technological and political advancement would be more functional when the language of instruction for teaching and learning in schools is in the child’s mother tongue. The purpose of this paper therefore, is to delve into the genesis of the official recognition given to the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages at national level with special focus on Yoruba language. Yoruba language and other Nigerian languages were placed on a national pedestal by a Nigerian Educational Minister, Late Professor Babatunde Fafunwa, who served under the government of General Ibrahim Babangida (1985 – 1993). Through his laudable effort, the teaching and learning of Nigerian languages in schools all over the nation was incorporated officially in the national policy of education. Among all the Nigerian languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were given foremost priorities because of the large population of their speakers. Since the Fafunwa era, Yoruba language has become a national subject taught in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in Nigeria. However, like every new policy, its implementation has suffered several forms of criticisms and impediments from governments, policy makers, curriculum developers, school administrators, teachers and learners. This paper has been able to arrive at certain findings through oral interviews, questionnaires and evaluation of pupils/students enrolment and performances in Yoruba language with special focus on the South-west and North central regions of Nigeria. From the research carried out, some factors have been found to be responsible for the successful implementation or otherwise of Yoruba language instruction policy in some schools, colleges and higher institutions in Nigeria. In conclusion, the paper made recommendations on how the National Policy of Education would be implemented to enhance the teaching and learning of Yoruba language in all Nigerian schools.

Keywords: language of immediate environment, mother tongue, national policy of education, yoruba language

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Authors: Nasiru Medugu Idris

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This research is aimed at assessing the vulnerability of climate change to rural communities (farmers, herdsmen and fishermen) in Nigeria with the view to study the underlying causes and degree of vulnerability to climate change and examine the conflict between farmers and herdsmen as a result of climate change. This research employed the use of quantitative and qualitative means of data gathering techniques as well as physical observations. Six states (Kebbi, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Osun, Ebonyi, and Akwa Ibom) have been selected on the ground that they are key food production areas in the country and are therefore essential to continual food security in the country. So also, they also double as fishing communities in order to aid the comprehensive study of all the effects on climate on farmers and fishermen alike. Community focus group discussions were carried out in the various states for an interactive session and also to have firsthand information on their level of awareness on climate change. Climate data from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency over the past decade were collected for the purpose of analyzing trends in climate. The study observed that the level of vulnerability of rural dwellers most especially farmers, herdsmen and fishermen to climate change is very high due to their socioeconomic, ethnic and historical perspective of their trend. The study, therefore, recommends that urgent step needs to be put in place to help control natural hazards and man-made disasters and serious measures are also needed in order to minimize severe societal, economic and political crises; some of which may either escalate to violent conflicts or could be avoided by efforts of conflict resolution and prevention by the initiation of a process of de-escalation. So this study has recommended the best-fit adaptive and mitigation measures to climate change vulnerability in rural communities of Nigeria.

Keywords: adaptation, farmers, fishermen, herdsmen

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Authors: Nuzhat Sultana M. B.

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Children are high-risk population in terms of food born illnesses. Food safety and security are the most important aspect of the success of midday meal programmes. Improper holding temperatures, cross-contamination and poor personal hygiene of food handlers are the main causes for the prevalence of pathogenic microbes in the food servicing areas. Two hundred and fifty preschool children in the age of 3 to 6 years from urban and rural anganwadies (pre school center) of Beed district were selected. Nutritional status of preschool children were assessed by anthropometrical and clinical measurement. The study assessed the food safety and security with the help of personal hygiene and other safety measures maintained by the food personnel working for midday meal programme, supplying mid meals to children in govt. anganwadies (pre school center). The hygiene level, sanitary condition and microbial quality of food and water, pathological health examination of food handlers were assessed with the help of checklist. A questionnaire was designed to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practices of food handlers. Results of the study show that the nutritional and health status of rural and urban preschool children was very poor. Many of the food handlers were not aware of general knowledge and hygiene practices to be followed during food preparation areas. An intervention programme of education and importing training at workplaces has shown a positive impact on the outcome of safety and security practices and safe, hygienic practices of food handlers at workplace.

Keywords: food, health, preschool children, safety, security

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Authors: Indra Bahadur Chand

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This paper will focus on the need for development and application of global protocols and policy in planning, designing, development, and management of systems of eco-towns and eco-villages so that sustainable development will be assured from the perspective of environmental, economical, peace, and harmonized social dynamics. This perspective is essential for the development of civilized and eco-friendly human settlements in the town and rural areas of the nation that will be a milestone for developing a happy and sustainable lifestyle of rural and urban communities of the nation. The urban population of most of the town of developing economies has been tremendously increasing, whereas rural people have been tremendously migrating for the past three decades. Consequently, the urban lifestyle in most towns has stressed in terms of environmental pollution, water crisis, congested traffic, energy crisis, food crisis, and unemployment. Eco-towns and villages should be developed where lifestyle of all residents is sustainable and happy. Built up environment of settlement should reduce and minimize the problems of non ecological CO2 emissions, unbalanced utilization of natural resources, environmental degradation, natural calamities, ecological imbalance, energy crisis, water scarcity, waste management, food crisis, unemployment, deterioration of cultural heritage, social, the ratio among the public and private land ownership, ratio of land covered with vegetation and area of settlement, the ratio of people in the vehicles and foot, the ratio of people employed outside of town and village, ratio of resources recycling of waste materials, water consumption level, the ratio of people and vehicles, ratio of the length of the road network and area of town/villages, a ratio of renewable energy consumption with total energy, a ratio of religious/recreational area out of the total built-up area, the ratio of annual suicide case out of total people, a ratio of annual injured and death out of total people from a traffic accident, a ratio of production of agro foods within town out of total food consumption will be used to assist in designing and monitoring of each eco-towns and villages. An eco-town and villages should be planned and developed to offer sustainable infrastructure and utilities that maintain CO2 level in individual homes and settlements, home energy use, transport, food and consumer goods, water supply, waste management, conservation of historical heritages, healthy neighborhood, conservation of natural landscape, conserving bio-diversity and developing green infrastructures. Eco-towns and villages should be developed on the basis of master planning and architecture that affect and define the settlement and its form. Master planning and engineering should focus in delivering the sustainability criteria of eco towns and eco village. This will involve working with specific landscape and natural resources of locality.

Keywords: eco-town, ecological habitation, master plan, sustainable development

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Authors: Anwaar Ahmed, Muhammad Bilal Khurshid, Samuel Labi

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The effect of trucks on the level of service is determined by considering passenger car equivalents (PCE) of trucks. The current version of Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) uses a single PCE value for all tucks combined. However, the composition of truck traffic varies from location to location; therefore a single PCE-value for all trucks may not correctly represent the impact of truck traffic at specific locations. Consequently, present study developed separate PCE values for single-unit and combination trucks to replace the single value provided in the HCM on different freeways. Site specific PCE values, were developed using concept of spatial lagging headways (the distance from the rear bumper of a leading vehicle to the rear bumper of the following vehicle) measured from field traffic data. The study used data from four locations on a single urban freeway and three different rural freeways in Indiana. Three-stage-least-squares (3SLS) regression techniques were used to generate models that predicted lagging headways for passenger cars, single unit trucks (SUT), and combination trucks (CT). The estimated PCE values for single-unit and combination truck for basic urban freeways (level terrain) were: 1.35 and 1.60, respectively. For rural freeways the estimated PCE values for single-unit and combination truck were: 1.30 and 1.45, respectively. As expected, traffic variables such as vehicle flow rates and speed have significant impacts on vehicle headways. Study results revealed that the use of separate PCE values for different truck classes can have significant influence on the LOS estimation.

Keywords: level of service, capacity analysis, lagging headway, trucks

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Authors: Anyi Katherine Garzon Robles, Luis Carlos Gomez Florez

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Since the advent of the Internet, the use of Information Technologies (IT) has increased exponentially. The field of informatics and telecommunications has put on the table countless possibilities for the development of different socio-economic activities, promoting a change of social paradigm and the emergence of the so-called information and knowledge society. For more than a decade, the Colombian government has been working on the incorporation of IT into the public sector through an e-government strategy. However, to date, many technological gaps has not yet been identified in the country to our knowledge, especially in rural areas and far from large cities, where factors such as low investment and the expansion of the armed conflict have led to economic and technological stagnation. This paper presents the research results obtained from the execution of a research project, which was approach from a qualitative approach and a methodological design of a participatory action research type. This design consists of nine fundamental stages divided into four work cycles. For which different strategies for data collection and analysis were established. From which, a methodology was obtained for the identification of technological gaps and the measurement of the level of technological acceptance in the rural sector, based on the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) model, as a previous activity to the development of IT solutions framed in the e-government strategy in Colombia. The result of this research work represents a contribution from academia for the improvement of the country's technological development and a guide for the proper planning of IT solutions aimed at promoting a close relationship between government and citizens.

Keywords: E-government, knowledge society, level of technological acceptance, technological gaps, technology acceptance model

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Authors: Anne Gesare Timu, Megan Sheahan, Andrew Gache Mude, Rupsha Banerjee

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Women headed households are among the most vulnerable to negative climatic shocks and are often left poorer as a result. Credit provision has been recognized as one way of alleviating rural poverty and developing poor rural households’ resilience to shocks. Much has been documented about credit demand in small-holder agriculture settings in Kenya. However, little is known about demand for credit among pastoral women. This paper analyzes the determinants of demand for credit in the pastoral regions of Marsabit District of Northern Kenya. Using a five wave balanced panel data set of 820 households, a double hurdle model is employed to analyze if shocks, financial literacy and risk aversion affect credit demand among female and male headed households differently. The results show that borrowing goods on credit and monetary credit from informal market segments are the most common sources of credit in the study area. The impact of livestock loss and financial literacy on the decision to borrow and how much to borrow vary with gender. While the paper suggests that provision of credit is particularly valuable in the aftermath of a negative shock and more so for female-headed households, it also explores alternatives to the provision of credit where credit access is a constraint. It recommends further understanding of systems and institutions which could enhance access to credit, and particularly during times of stress, to enable households in the study area in particular and Northern Kenya in general to invest, engage in meaningful development and growth, and be resilient to persistent shocks.

Keywords: female headed households, pastoralism, rural financing, double hurdle model

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Authors: Rian Diana, Naufal Muharam Nurdin, Faisal Anwar, Hadi Riyadi, Ali Khomsan

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The use of traditional medicine (herbs and medicinal plants) are common among Indonesian people especially the elderly. Few study explore the use of medicinal plants in middle aged people. This study aims to collect information on the use of medicinal plants in middle aged people in rural areas. This cross sectional study included 224 subjects aged 45-59 years old and conducted in Cianjur District, West Java in 2014. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect information about preference in treatment of illness, the use of medicinal plants, and their purposes. Information also recorded plant names, parts used, mode of preparation, and dosage. Buying drugs in stall (83.9%) is the first preference in treatment of illness, followed by modern treatment 19.2% (doctors) and traditional treatment 17.0% (herbs/medicinal plants). 87 subjects (38.8%) were using herbs and medicinal plants for curative (66.7%), preventive (31.2%), and rehabilitative (2.1%) purposes. In this study, 48 species are used by the subjects. Physalis minima L. 'cecenet', Orthosiphon aristatus Mic. 'kumis kucing', and Annona muricata 'sirsak' are commonly used for the treatment of hypertension and stiffness. Leaves (64.6%) are the most common part used. Medicinal plants were washed and boiled in a hot water. Subject drinks the herbs with a different dosage. One in three middle aged people used herbal and medicinal plants for curative and preventive treatment particularly hypertension and stiffness. Increasing knowledge about herbal or medicinal plants dosage and their interaction with medical drugs are important to do.Doses vary between 1-3 glasses/day for treatment and 1-2 glasses/months for prevention of diseases.

Keywords: herbs, hypertension, medicinal plants, middle age, rural

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Authors: Solomon Tagesse

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This study has been conducted on “Migration and Policy Dedication in Ethiopia: A Study of Migration of Hadiya People,” which was aimed at scrutinizing the reason for Hadiya people's migration from Ethiopia to the Republic of South Africa. Basically, a qualitative research approach has been employed to address the justified problem and to achieve the objectives stated accordingly. The purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed to identify the study sites and respondents for the study. Field observations, interviews, focus group discussions and recording of data were used as instruments to collect data. It has been observed that lack of jobs and peer pressure, lack of interest to learn and work, scarcity and low wages were push factors; whereas job opportunity and better income; the existence of families, relatives and friends pull factors. Communication, transportation, the existence of brokers, etc., were also found to be intermediary factors. Based on the findings, recommendations and policy suggestions have been made in specific areas of the study.

Keywords: migration, reason, migrant, households

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Authors: Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Shalheh, Elham Rostami, Seyed Majid Mousavi, Somayeh Shirin Jani

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The aim of this research was to evaluate the potential of Rogbeh village located in Khanafereh, Shadegan city functions in Khuzestan also is the feasibility to build infrastructure and appropriate spaces to attract tourists as well as creating jobs and transforming the village institute of ecotourism in the region. It seems that the village has the potential for developing rural tourism with careful planning, and with regard to job creation and economic recovery programs, social-cultural and environmental-ecological accompanied will be welcomed by the people. Therefore, we can provide a strategy for developing tourism and achieving sustainable advancement of rural tourism. Based on researches carried out and according to regional climate differences and the position of the Rogbeh Village toward the lagoon, this research can be used by other researchers to develop and manage tourism.

Keywords: Shadegan Lagoon, Iranian villages, tourism industry, local architecture, Rogbeh village, landscape design, ecology

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Authors: Kiran Kumar Gellaboina, Padmaja Kaja

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Agricultural Education and Research in India needs a transformation to serve the needs of the farmers and that of the nation. The fact that Agriculture and allied activities act as main source of livelihood for more than 70% population of rural India reinforces its importance in administrative and policy arena. As per Census 2011 of India it provides employment to approximately 56.6 % of labour. India has achieved significant growth in agriculture, milk, fish, oilseeds and fruits and vegetables owing to green, white, blue and yellow revolutions which have brought prosperity to farmers. Many factors are responsible for these achievement viz conducive government policies, receptivity of the farmers and also establishment of higher agricultural education institutions. The new breed of skilled human resources were instrumental in generating new technologies, and in its assessment, refinement and finally its dissemination to the farming community through extension methods. In order to sustain, diversify and realize the potential of agriculture sectors, it is necessary to develop skilled human resources. Agricultural human resource development is a continuous process undertaken by agricultural universities. The Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) coordinates and promotes agricultural research & education in India. In India, agricultural universities were established on ‘land grant’ pattern of USA which helped incorporation of a number of diverse subjects in the courses as also provision of hands-on practical exposure to the student. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) established through the legislative acts of the respective states and with major financial support from them leading to administrative and policy controls. It has been observed that pace and quality of technology generation and human resource development in many of the SAUs has gone down. The reason for this slackening are inadequate state funding, reduced faculty strength, inadequate faculty development programmes, lack of modern infrastructure for education and research etc. Establishment of new state agricultural universities and new faculties/colleges without providing necessary financial and faculty support has aggrieved the problem. The present work highlights some of the key issues affecting agricultural education and research in India and the impact it would have on farm productivity and sustainability. Secondary data pertaining to budgetary spend on agricultural education and research will be analyzed. This paper will study the trends in public spending on agricultural education and research and the per capita income of farmers in India. This paper tries to suggest that agricultural education and research has a key role in equipping the human resources for enhanced agricultural productivity and sustainable use of natural resources. Further, a total re-orientation of agricultural education with emphasis on other agricultural related social sciences is needed for effective agricultural policy research.

Keywords: agriculture, challenges, education, research

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Authors: Valeda Dent

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This study explores reading and library factors related to secondary school student academic outcomes in rural areas in Uganda. This mixed methods study utilized quantitative data collected as part of a more extensive project to explore six student factors in relation to students’ school, library, and home environments. The Kitengesa Community Library in Uganda (www.kitengesalibrary.org) served as the site for this study. The factors explored for this study include reading frequency, library use frequency, library access, overall grade average (OGA), and presence and type of reading materials in the home. Results indicated that both reading frequency and certain types of reading materials read for recreational purposes are correlated with higher OGA. Reading frequency was positively correlated with student OGA for all students.

Keywords: rural village libraries, secondary school students, reading, academic achievement

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Authors: Yumei Han, Ling Li, Naiqing Song, Xiaoping Yang, Yuping Han

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Educational think tank is agreeably regarded as significant part of a nation’s soft power to promote the scientific and democratic level of educational policy making, and it plays critical role of bridging educational research in higher institutions and educational policy making. This study explores the concept, functions and significance of educational think tank in China, and conceptualizes a three dimensional framework to analyze the approaches of transforming research-based higher institutions into effective educational think tanks to serve educational policy making in the nation wide. Since 2014, the Ministry of Education P.R. China has been promoting the strategy of developing new type of educational think tanks in higher institutions, and such a strategy has been put into the agenda for the 13th Five Year Plan for National Education Development released in 2017.In such context, increasing scholars conduct studies to put forth strategies of promoting the development and transformation of new educational think tanks to serve educational policy making process. Based on literature synthesis, policy text analysis, and analysis of theories about policy making process and relationship between educational research and policy-making, this study constructed a three dimensional conceptual framework to address the following questions: (a) what are the new features of educational think tanks in the new era comparing traditional think tanks, (b) what are the functional objectives of the new educational think tanks, (c) what are the organizational patterns and mechanism of the new educational think tanks, (d) in what approaches traditional research-based higher institutions can be developed or transformed into think tanks to effectively serve the educational policy making process. The authors adopted case study approach on five influential education policy study centers affiliated with top higher institutions in China and applied the three dimensional conceptual framework to analyze their functional objectives, organizational patterns as well as their academic pathways that researchers use to contribute to the development of think tanks to serve education policy making process.Data was mainly collected through interviews with center administrators, leading researchers and academic leaders in the institutions. Findings show that: (a) higher institution based think tanks mainly function for multi-level objectives, providing evidence, theoretical foundations, strategies, or evaluation feedbacks for critical problem solving or policy-making on the national, provincial, and city/county level; (b) higher institution based think tanks organize various types of research programs for different time spans to serve different phases of policy planning, decision making, and policy implementation; (c) in order to transform research-based higher institutions into educational think tanks, the institutions must promote paradigm shift that promotes issue-oriented field studies, large data mining and analysis, empirical studies, and trans-disciplinary research collaborations; and (d) the five cases showed distinguished features in their way of constructing think tanks, and yet they also exposed obstacles and challenges such as independency of the think tanks, the discourse shift from academic papers to consultancy report for policy makers, weakness in empirical research methods, lack of experience in trans-disciplinary collaboration. The authors finally put forth implications for think tank construction in China and abroad.

Keywords: education policy-making, educational research, educational think tank, higher institution

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Authors: Etienne Gatera

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Many studies have been conducted on SDT. Most of them focus on developed countries because of influencing factors such as; education, health, labor force, female labor force participation, industrialization, urbanization and migration. However, this thesis project paper aims to assess the impact of the total fertility rate (TFR) on the trends of the SDR in Rwanda. We will mainly be based in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Rwanda is located in East Africa, with approximately 13 million inhabitants. Thus, after the 1994 Tutsi genocide. The population growth rate exploded out of control with 6.17 children per woman in 1995. However, it's declined to 4.2 in 2014-2015 and declining to 4.1% in 2019-2020. Respectively with 3.4 children per woman in urban areas and 4.3 in rural areas. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda. Rwanda's population is expected to continue to grow for the rest of the century and reach 33.35 million people in 2099, with 2.1 children per woman in 2050. However, this project document aims to demonstrate the impact of the TFR on SDT trends in Rwanda. Thus, the decline in the TFR in Rwanda began with the introduction of family planning practices, which now account for 47.5% in 2019. Childbearing with three children for rural women compared to two children in the city, the increase in Divorce and separation caused by the behavior called "Kuza n'ijoro" or "coming at night" similar to cohabitation in developed countries. The decline in remarriage is caused by single mothers behavior who prefer to raise their children rather than remarry. Therefore, the study used probability sampling with (Stratified random sampling) method with a survey questionnaire of 1067 respondents in the 5 Districts (3 in rural areas and two in urban areas), with the target group of women Age between 15-49. The study demonstrated that the age of marriage in rural areas is two years higher than in urban areas. Divorce is more common in urban is with 6.2% with 5.2% in rural areas. However, separation is more common in rural areas than in urban areas, with a lower rate of 3%, due to the higher system called "Kuza n'ijoro" or "come at night", similar to cohabitation in developed countries. The study revealed that more than 85% of divorced people prefer to remain single, which confirms the low remarriage rate. Childbearing has started to decrease, especially for young singles in urban areas, due to the economic situation, with national statistics showing that unemployment in the youth community is still 16% higher. Therefore, the study concluded by confirming the hypothesis based on the results of the TFR indicators such as marriage, remarriage, divorce, separation, divorce, Kuza n'ijoro, childbearing] and abortion. The study consists of four sections, an introduction and background, a review of the literature, a description of the data and methodology, an analysis of the data, discussion results and a conclusion.

Keywords: Kuza n'ijoro, Rwanda, second demographic transition (SDT), total fertility rate (TFR)

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Authors: Brian Yulianto, Syachrial, Saeful Aziz, Anggita Clara Shinta

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Indonesia, with a population of about two hundred and fifty million people in quantity, indicates the outstanding wealth of human resources. Hundreds of millions of the population scattered in various communities in various regions in Indonesia with the different characteristics of economic, social and unique culture. Broadly speaking, the community in Indonesia is divided into two classes, namely urban communities and rural communities. The rural communities characterized by low potential and management of natural and human resources, limited access of development, and lack of social and economic infrastructure, and scattered and isolated population. West Java is one of the provinces with the largest population in Indonesia. Based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2015 the number of population in West Java reached 46.7096 million souls spread over 18 districts and 9 cities. The big difference in geographical and social conditions of people in West Java from one region to another, especially the south to the north causing the gap is high. It is closely related to the flow of investment to promote the area. Poverty and underdevelopment are the classic problems that occur on a massive scale in the region as the effects of inequity in development. South Cianjur and Tasikmalaya area South became one of the portraits area where the existing potential has not been capable of prospering society. Tri Dharma College not only define the College as a pioneer implementation of education and research to improve the quality of human resources but also demanded to be a pioneer in the development through the concept of public service. Bandung Institute of Technology as one of the institutions of higher education to implement community service system through collaborative community work program "one of the university community" as one approach to developing villages. The program is based Community Service, where students are not only required to be able to take part in community service, but also able to develop a community development strategy that is comprehensive and integrity in cooperation with government agencies and non-government related as a real form of effort alignment potential, position and role from various parties. Areas of western Java in particular have high poverty rates and disparity. On the other hand, there are three fundamental pillars in the development of rural communities, namely economic development, community development, and the integrated infrastructure development. These pillars require the commitment of all components of community, including the students and colleges for upholding success. College’s community program is one of the approaches in the development of rural communities. ITB is committed to implement as one form of student community service as community-college programs that integrate all elements of the community which is called Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic.

Keywords: development in rural area, collaborative, student community service, Kuliah Kerja Nyata-Thematic ITB

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Authors: Ronelle Prinsloo

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Teenage pregnancy in South African schools is a growing concern. In South Africa, many young female learners end their schooling permanently, not because they have completed their studies, but due to pregnancy. The admission policy of public schools is determined by the governing body of such a school, and this policy can determine that a pregnant leaner may not attend school during pregnancy and for a certain period after the birth of the child. This can be seen as an infringement of the rights of the teenage mother to be allowed to attend school. It can also be argued that this conflicts with the best interest of the child as well as the rights of the governing body to determine policy in accordance with the mandate as given to them by the parents and community served by the school. A pregnant learner can argue that the admission policy of a school is discriminatory if it does not allow the pregnant learner to continue her schooling. She may also argue that she is being unfairly discriminated against based on gender because in many instances, the baby’s father is still allowed to go to school. The Constitution (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996), provides in section 9, that everyone is equal before the law; it goes on to provide that equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms and provides those grounds on which one may not be discriminated against including, gender, sex, and pregnancy. Schools should be encouraged to re-enroll students if they have a support system available to assist with the necessary childcare when they attend school. To dramatically increase the number of young people enrolled in alternative pathways such as Further Education and Training or Adult Basic Education and Training must be provided. In addition, alternative systems must offer viable exit opportunities for participants by cohering with further education and economic opportunities.

Keywords: admission policy, Constitution of South Africa, human rights, teenage pregnancy

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Authors: Mohammed Benlemlih

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Using a sample of 22,839 US firm-year observations over the 1991-2012 period, we find that high CSR firms pay more dividends than low CSR firms. The analysis of individual components of CSR provides strong support for this main finding: five of the six individual dimensions are also associated with high dividend payout. When analyzing the stability of dividend payout, our results show that socially irresponsible firms adjust dividends more rapidly than socially responsible firms do: dividend payout is more stable in high CSR firms. Additional results suggest that firms involved in two controversial activities -the military and alcohol - are associated with low dividend payouts. These findings are robust to alternative assumptions and model specifications, alternative measures of dividend, additional control, and several approaches to address endogeneity. Overall, our results are consistent with the expectation that high CSR firms may use dividend policy to manage the agency problems related to overinvestment in CSR.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, dividend policy, Lintner model, agency theory, signaling theory, dividend stability

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Authors: Flavio Gazzani

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Nitrogen is an important agricultural input that is critical for the production. However, the introduction of large amounts of nitrogen into the environment has a number of undesirable impacts such as: the loss of biodiversity, eutrophication of waters and soils, drinking water pollution, acidification, greenhouse gas emissions, human health risks. It is a challenge to sustain or increase food production and at the same time reduce losses of reactive nitrogen to the environment, but there are many potential benefits associated with improving nitrogen use efficiency. Reducing nutrient losses from agriculture is crucial to the successful implementation of agricultural policy. Traditional regulatory instruments applied to implement environmental policies to reduce environmental impacts from nitrogen fertilizers, despite some successes, failed to address many environmental challenges and imposed high costs on the society to achieve environmental quality objectives. As a result, economic instruments started to be recognized for their flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The objective of the research project is to analyze the potential for increased use of market-based instruments in nitrogen control policy. The report reviews existing knowledge, bringing different studies together to assess the global nitrogen situation and the most relevant environmental management policy that aims to reduce pollution in a sustainable way without affect negatively agriculture production and food price. This analysis provides some guidance on how different market based instruments might be orchestrated in an overall policy framework to the development and assessment of sustainable nitrogen management from the economics, environmental and food security point of view.

Keywords: nitrogen emissions, chemical fertilizers, eutrophication, non-point of source pollution, dairy farm

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