Search results for: farm level income

Authors: Marjan Majdi, MohammadAli Moradi, Elham Samarikhalaj

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Income distribution is one of the most topics in macro economic theories. There are many categories in economy such as income distribution that have the most influenced by economic policies. Human capital has an impact on economic growth and it has significant effect on income distributions. The results of this study confirm that the effects of oil revenue and human capital on income distribution are negative and significant but the value of the estimated coefficient is too small in a real sample in period time (1969-2006).

Keywords: gini coefficient, human capital, income distribution, oil revenue

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Authors: Shoji Katagiri

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This paper is to clarify the relationship between ICT and income inequality. To do so, we develop the general equilibrium model with ICT investment, obtain the equilibrium solutions, and then simulate the model with these solutions for some OECD countries. As a result, generally, during the corresponding periods we confirm that the relationship between ICT investment and income inequality is positive. In this mode, the increment of the ratio of ICT investment to the aggregated investment in stock enhances the capital’s share of income, and finally leads to income inequality such as the increase of the share of the top decile income. Although we confirm the positive relationship between ICT investment and income inequality, the upward trend for that relationship depends on the values of parameters for the making use of the simulations and these parameters are not deterministic in the magnitudes on the calculated results for the simulations.

Keywords: ICT, inequality, capital accumulation, technology

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Authors: Sami Adwan, Alaa Alhaj Ismail, Claudia Girardone

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This paper examines the changes in the value relevance of book value of equity and net income of financial firms over the crisis period. It also examines how these changes vary with three variables, namely, fair value exposure, ownership concentration, and regulatory capital ratios. Using a sample of financial firms operating in the European Economic Area over 2005-2011, our findings suggest that the value relevance of book value of equity increases while that of net income decreases during the financial crisis. We find that more exposure to fair value accounting mitigates the impact of the crisis on the value relevance of book value of equity and net income. We also find that more concentrated ownership appears to have a mitigating impact on the changes in the value relevance of both book value of equity and net income in times of financial crisis. Finally, we find evidence that the level of regulatory capital ratios tends to have an attenuating effect on the changes in the value relevance of net income (but not book value of equity) in times of financial crisis.

Keywords: value relevance, financial crisis, financial firms, fair value, ownership concentration, regulatory capital

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Authors: G. H. B. Dilhari, A. A. D. T. Saparamadu

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Sri Lanka is one of the prominent countries for the coir production. The coir is one of the by-products of the coconut and the coir industry is considered to be one of the traditional industries in Sri Lanka. Because of the inherent nature of the coir industry, labourers play a significant role in the coir production process. The study has analyzed the determinants of the income of the household level coir yarn labourers. The study was conducted in the Kumarakanda Grama Niladhari division. Simple random sampling was used to generate a sample of 100 household level coir yarn labourers and structured questionnaire, personal interviews, and discussion were performed to gather the required data. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were performed for mean comparison. The findings revealed that the household level coir yarn industry is dominated by the female workers and it was identified that fewer numbers of workers have engaged in this industry as the main occupation. In addition to that, elderly participation in the industry is higher than the younger participation and most of them have engaged in the industry as a source of extra income. Level of education, the methods of engagement, satisfaction, engagement in the industry by the next generation, support from the government, method of government support, working hours per day, employed as a main job, number of completed units per day, suffering from job related diseases and type of the diseases were related with income level of household level coir yarn laboures. The recommendations as to flourish in future includes, technological transformation for coir yarn production, strengthening the raw material base and regulating the raw material supply, introduction of new technologies, markets and training programmes, the establishment of the labourers’ association, the initiation of micro credit schemes and better consideration about the job oriented diseases.

Keywords: coir yarn, determinants, income, Sri Lanka

Procedia PDF Downloads 277

Authors: Razan Salem

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This study aims to investigate the investment behavior of Arab women (in regards to their herding behavior, risk tolerance, confidence and investment literacy levels). This study aims to investigate the relationship between three demographic factors (age, income, education) and the investment behavior of Arab women. On average, women in the Arab region face several obstacles that limit them from fully participating in stocks investments. In the context, this study focuses on extending the existing literature to include Arab women individuals and their investment behaviors. To achieve the study’s objective, the researcher distributed 600 close-ended online questionnaires to a sample of Arab male and female individual investors in both Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The researcher used quantitative statistical methods (frequency distribution along with the Kruskal-Wallis H Test and the Mann-Whitney U Test) to analyze the 550 questionnaire respondents. The findings indicated that only age, educational level, and annual income level are associated with the investment behavior of Arab women, where age is only negatively associated with their financial risk tolerance levels. Additionally, income level is positively associated with Arab women‘s confidence and investment literacy levels, while educational level is only associated positively with their investment confidence levels. According to annual income, Arab women with lower incomes have lower confidence and investment literacy levels. The limited income level might prevent the sample Arab women from investing in the financial information and advisors that may help in improving their investment literacy levels. Furthermore, Arab women with lower educational levels have lower investment literacy levels and thus, this may limit their stock investments. Overall, the study contributes to the existing literature by focusing directly on examining the investment behavior of Arab women and its association with age, annual income, and education. Generally, there are scarce existing studies that investigate the association of demographic factors with the investment behavior of women only in regards to their herding behavior, risk tolerance, investment confidence, and investment literacy levels (combined), especially Arab women investors.

Keywords: Arab region, demographic factors, investment behavior, women investors

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Authors: Wenjuan Du, Jingtian Bi, Tong Wang, Haifeng Wang

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Grid connection of a large-scale wind farm affects power system small-signal angular stability in two aspects. Firstly, connection of the wind farm brings about the change of load flow and configuration of a power system. Secondly, the dynamic interaction is introduced by the wind farm with the synchronous generators (SGs) in the power system. This paper proposes a method to assess the two aspects of the effect of the wind farm on power system small-signal angular stability. The effect of the change of load flow/system configuration brought about by the wind farm can be examined separately by displacing wind farms with constant power sources, then the effect of the dynamic interaction of the wind farm with the SGs can be also computed individually. Thus, a clearer picture and better understanding on the power system small-signal angular stability as affected by grid connection of the large-scale wind farm are provided. In the paper, an example power system with grid connection of a wind farm is presented to demonstrate the proposed approach.

Keywords: power system small-signal angular stability, power system low-frequency oscillations, electromechanical oscillation modes, wind farms, double fed induction generator (DFIG)

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Authors: G. H. B. Dilhari, A. A. D. T. Saparamadu

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The coir is one of the by-products of the coconut and the coir industry can be identified as one of the traditional industries in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is one of the prominent countries for the coir production. Due to the labour insensitiveness, the labourers are the significant factor in the coir production process. The study has analyzed the determinants and its impact on income of the household level coir yarn labourers. The study was conducted in the Kumarakanda Grama Niladhari division, Galle, Sri Lanka. Simple random sampling was used to generate the sample of 100 household level coir yarn labourers and structured questionnaire, personal interviews and discussion were performed to gather the required data. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis test were carried out. The findings revealed that the household level coir yarn industry is dominated by the female workers and fewer amounts of workers have engaged this industry as the main occupation. In addition to that, elderly participation of the industry is greater than younger participation and most of them engaged as an extra income source. Level of education, the methods of engagement, satisfaction, labour’s children employment in the coir industry, support from the government, method of government support, working hours per day, employed as a main job, no of completed units per day, suffering any job related diseases and type of the diseases were related with income level of household level coir yarn labourers. The recommendations were formulated in respect to these problems including technological transformation for coir yarn production, strengthening of the raw material base and regulating the raw material supply, introduction of new technologies, markets and training programs, the establishment of the labourers association, the initiation of micro credit schemes, better consideration about the job oriented diseases.

Keywords: coir, coir yarn labourers, income, Galle

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Authors: Krzysztof Pomorski

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In the given work we present universal mathematical framework for modeling of cattle farm system that can set and validate various hypothesis that can be tested against experimental data. The presented work is preliminary but it is expected to be valid tool for future deeper analysis that can result in new class of prediction methods allowing early detection of cow dieseaes as well as cow performance. Therefore the presented work shall have its meaning in agriculture models and in machine learning as well. It also opens the possibilities for incorporation of certain class of biological models necessary in modeling of cow behavior and farm performance that might include the impact of environment on the farm system. Particular attention is paid to the model of coupled oscillators that it the basic building hypothesis that can construct the model showing certain periodic or quasiperiodic behavior.

Keywords: coupled ordinary differential equations, cattle farm system, numerical methods, stochastic differential equations

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Authors: E. Kharaishvili

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The paper shows the necessity of farm diversification in accordance with the current trends in agricultural sector of Georgia. The possibilities for the diversification and the corresponding economic policy are suggested. The causes that hinder diversification of farms are revealed, possibilities of diversification are suggested and the ability of increasing employment through diversification is proved. Index of harvest diversification is calculated based on the areas used for cereals and legumes, potatoes and vegetables and other food crops. Crop and livestock production indexes are analyzed, correlation between crop capacity index and value-added per one worker and one ha is studied. Based on the research farm diversification strategies and priorities of corresponding economic policy are presented. Based on the conclusions relevant recommendations are suggested.

Keywords: farm diversification, diversification index, agricultural development policy

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Authors: Nsikan Affiah, Kayode Osungbade, Williams Uzoma

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Malaria remains one of the major killers of humans worldwide, threatening the lives of more than one-third of the world’s population. Some people refers it to; a disease of poverty because it contributes towards national poverty through its impact on foreign direct investment, tourism, labour productivity, and trade. At the micro level, it may cause poverty through spending on health care, income losses, and premature deaths. Unfortunately, malaria is a disease that affects both low-income household and its high-income counterpart, but low-income households are still at greater risk because significant part of the available monthly income is dedicated to various preventive and treatment measures. The objective of this study is to estimate direct and indirect cost of malaria treatment in households in a section of South-South Region (Akwa Ibom State) of Nigeria. A cross-sectional study of Six Hundred and Forty (640) heads of households or any adult representative of households in three local government areas of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria from May 1-31, 2015 were ascertained through interviewer-administered questionnaire adapted from Nigerian Malaria Indicator Survey Report. The clustering technique was used to select 640 households with the help of Primary Health Care (PHC) house numbering system. Using exchange rate of 197 Naira/USD, result shows that direct cost of malaria treatment was 8,894.44 USD while the indirect cost of malaria treatment was 11,012.81 USD. Total cost of treatment made up of 44.7% direct cost and 55.3% indirect cost, with average direct cost of malaria treatment per household estimated at 20.6 USD and the average indirect cost of treatment per household estimated at 25.1 USD. Average total cost for each episode (888) of malaria was estimated at 22.4 USD. While at household level, the average total cost was estimated at 45.5 USD. From the average total cost, low-income households would spend 36% of monthly household income on treating malaria and the impact could be said to be catastrophic, compared to high-income households where only 1.2% of monthly household income is spent on malaria treatment. It could be concluded that the cost of malaria treatment is well beyond the means of households and given the reality of repeated bouts of malaria and its contribution to the impoverishment of households, there is a need for urgent action.

Keywords: direct cost, indirect cost, low income households, malaria

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Authors: Hurgesa Hundera, Samuel Shibeshibikeko, Tarike Daba, Tesfaye Ganamo

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The study aimed at examining the ongoing adaptation strategies used by smallholder farmers in response to climate variability in Boset district. It also assessed the socioeconomic factors that influence the choice of adaptation strategies of smallholder farmers to climate variability risk. For attaining the objectives of the study, both primary and secondary sources of data were employed. The primary data were obtained through a household questionnaire, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and observations, while secondary data were acquired through desk review. Questionnaires were distributed and filled by 328 respondents, and they were identified through systematic random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model were applied in this study as the main analytical methods. The findings of the study reveal that the sample households have utilized multiple adaptation strategies in response to climate variability, such as cropping early mature crops, planting drought resistant crops, growing mixed crops on the same farm lands, and others. The results of the binary logistic model revealed that education, sex, age, family size, off farm income, farm experience, access to climate information, access to farm input, and farm size were significant and key factors determining farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate variability in the study area. To enable effective adaptation measures, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource, with its regional bureaus and offices and concerned non–governmental organizations, should consider climate variability in their planning and budgeting in all levels of decision making.

Keywords: adaptation strategies, boset district, climate variability, smallholder farmers

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Authors: Evangeline Mbah, Margret Okeke, Agbo Joseph

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Agriculture was primarily a rural activity in Nigeria, but due to increasing demand for food and jobs for many urban dwellers, it became necessary for urban households to embark on farming as a means of improving household food security and additional income for economic empowerment. Urban agriculture serves as a veritable tool for poverty reduction among people living in urban areas mostly low-income earners and unemployed. The survey was conducted to identify key challenges encountered by households in Makurdi metropolis of Benue state, Nigeria who are engaged in urban agriculture. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of respondents used for the study. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean score and standard deviation. Results show that a greater percentage (46.0%) of the respondents engaged in cultivation of leafy vegetable, 22.0% cultivated cassava, 21.0% planted sweet potato, 18.0% cultivated tomato while 56.0% reared poultry, 23.0% kept goat, among others. Sources of agricultural information indicated by the respondents were family members/relations (85.0%), friends/neighbours (73.0%), radio (68.0%), extension agents (57.0%), etc. Major challenges encountered by the respondents in urban agriculture include inadequate size of farmland (M= 2.72), lack of access to credit facilities (M= 2.63), lack of funds (M= 2.50), high cost of labour (M= 2.49), insecurity of lands (M= 2.46), theft of crops at maturity (M= 2.38), lack of farm inputs such as improved varieties of seeds, fertilizer and exotic breeds of livestock (M= 2.23), destruction of crops by stray farm animals (M= 1.96), among others. The study recommends that there is a need for adequate provision of farm inputs by the government at all levels at a subsidized rate in order to reduce the cost of production and enhance optimum productivity.

Keywords: urban, agriculture, household, challenges, Makurdi, Nigeria

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Authors: Li Sheng

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Based on an extended post-Keynesian model, we find that the association between the savings rate and income inequality is negative if savers’ funds are borrowed by spending households for consumption but positive if savings are channeled to investing firms for production. A negative association, such as the one that exists in the U.S., hinges on an income illusion created by an asset bubble and cheap credit. Thus, financial globalization leads consumption and income inequality to diverge, and the divergence is more extreme if lower-income groups have higher debt ratios. A positive association, such as the one that exists in China, relates to liquidity constraints faced by consumers such that consumption inequality closely follows income inequality. Our results imply that income inequality must be reduced in both types of countries to increase savings in deficit economies with negative associations and to reduce savings in surplus economies with positive associations.

Keywords: savings rate, income inequality, financial globalization, global imbalances

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Authors: Nasser Hosseini

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Energy cycle is one of the essential points in agricultural ecosystems all over the world. Corn is one of the important products in Khoy city. Knowing input energy level and evaluating output energy from farms to reduce energy and increase efficiency in farms is very important if one can reduce input energy level into farms through the indices like poisons, fertilization, tractor energy and labour force. In addition to the net income of the farmers, this issue would play a significant role in preserving farm ecosystem from pollution and wrecker factors. For this reason, energy balance sheet in corn farms as well as input and output energy in 2012-2013 were researched by distributing a questionnaire among farmers in various villages in Khoy city. Then, the input energy amount into farms via energy-consuming factors, mentioned above, with regard to special coefficients was computed. Energy was computed on the basis of seed corn function, chemical compound and its content as well. In this investigation, we evaluated the level of stored energy 10792831 kcal per hectare. We found out that the greatest part of energy depended on irrigation which has 5136141.8 kcal and nitrate fertilizer energy with 2509760 kcal and the lowest part of energy depended on phosphor fertilizer, the rate of posited energy equaled 36362500 kcal and energy efficiency on the basis of seed corn function were estimated as 3.36. We found some ways to reduce consumptive energy in farm and nitrate fertilizer and, on the other hand, to increase balance sheet. They are, to name a few, using alternative farming and potherbs for biological stabilizing of nitrogen and changing kind of fertilizers such as urea fertilizer with sulphur cover, and using new generation of irrigation, the compound of water super absorbent like colored hydrogels and using natural fertilizer to preserve.

Keywords: corn (KSC704), output and input, energy efficiency, Khoy city

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Authors: Je-Seok Shin, Wook-Won Kim, Jin-O Kim

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The offshore wind farm needs to be designed carefully considering economics and reliability aspects. There are many decision-making problems for designing entire offshore wind farm, this paper focuses on an inner grid layout which means the connection between wind turbines as well as between wind turbines and an offshore substation. A methodology proposed in this paper determines the connections and the cable type for each connection section using K-clustering, minimum spanning tree and cable selection algorithms. And then, a cost evaluation is performed in terms of investment, power loss and reliability. Through the cost evaluation, an optimal layout of inner grid is determined so as to have the lowest total cost. In order to demonstrate the validity of the methodology, the case study is conducted on 240MW offshore wind farm, and the results show that it is helpful to design optimally offshore wind farm.

Keywords: offshore wind farm, optimal layout, k-clustering algorithm, minimum spanning algorithm, cable type selection, power loss cost, reliability cost

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Authors: Kollie B. Dogba, Willis Oluoch-Kosura, Chepchumba Chumo

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In Liberia, many of the agricultural households cultivate cassava for either sustenance purposes, or to generate farm income. Many of the concentrated cassava farmers reside in Nimba, a north-eastern County that borders two other economies: the Republics of Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea. With a high demand for cassava output and products in emerging Asian markets coupled with an objective of the Liberia agriculture policies to increase the competitiveness of valued agriculture crops; there is a need to examine the level of resource-use efficiency for many agriculture crops. However, there is a scarcity of information on the efficiency of many agriculture crops, including cassava. Hence the study applying an output-oriented method seeks to assess the economic efficiency of cassava farmers in Nimba County, Liberia. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to generate a sample for the study. From 216 cassava farmers, data related to on-farm attributes, socio-economic and institutional factors were collected. The stochastic frontier models, using the Translog functional forms, of production and revenue, were used to determine the level of revenue efficiency and its determinants. The result showed that most of the cassava farmers are male (60%). Many of the farmers are either married, engaged or living together with a spouse (83%), with a mean household size of nine persons. Farmland is prevalently obtained by inheritance (95%), average farm size is 1.34 hectares, and most cassava farmers did not access agriculture credits (76%) and extension services (91%). The mean cassava output per hectare is 1,506.02 kg, which estimates average revenue of L$23,551.16 (Liberian dollars). Empirical results showed that the revenue efficiency of cassava farmers varies from 0.1% to 73.5%; with the mean revenue efficiency of 12.9%. This indicates that on average, there is a vast potential of 87.1% to increase the economic efficiency of cassava farmers in Nimba by improving technical and allocative efficiencies. For the significant determinants of revenue efficiency, age and group membership had negative effects on revenue efficiency of cassava production; while farming experience, access to extension, formal education, and average wage rate have positive effects. The study recommends the setting-up and incentivizing of farmer field schools for cassava farmers to primarily share their farming experiences with others and to learn robust cultivation techniques of sustainable agriculture. Also, farm managers and farmers should consider a fix wage rate in labor contracts for all stages of cassava farming.

Keywords: economic efficiency, frontier production and revenue functions, Nimba County, Liberia, output-oriented approach, revenue efficiency, sustainable agriculture

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Authors: Panasbodee Thachaopas, Duangdorm Gamnerdsap, Waraporn Inthip, Arissara Pungpa

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LDD’s IM Farm or Land Development Department’s Integrated Management Farm is the agricultural simulation application developed by Land Development Department relies on actual data in simulation game to grow 12 cash crops which are rice, corn, cassava, sugarcane, soybean, rubber tree, oil palm, pineapple, longan, rambutan, durian, and mangosteen. Launching in simulation game, players could select preferable areas for cropping from base map or Orthophoto map scale 1:4,000. Farm management is simulated from field preparation to harvesting. The system uses soil group, and present land use database to facilitate player to know whether what kind of crop is suitable to grow in each soil groups and integrate LDD’s data with other agencies which are soil types, soil properties, soil problems, climate, cultivation cost, fertilizer use, fertilizer price, socio-economic data, plant diseases, weed, pest, interest rate for taking on loan from Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), labor cost, market prices. These mentioned data affect the cost and yield differently to each crop. After completing, the player will know the yield, income and expense, profit/loss. The player could change to other crops that are more suitable to soil groups for optimal yields and profits.

Keywords: agricultural simulation, smart farmer, web application, factors of agricultural production

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Authors: Fahad Suleiman

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Agriculture has been the mainstay of the nation’s economy in Nigeria. It provides food for the ever rapidly increasing population and raw materials for the industries. People especially the rural dwellers are gainfully employed on their crop farms and small-scale livestock farms for income earning. In farming, availability of funds and time management are one of the major factors that influence the system of farming in Nigeria in which mathematical science knowledge was highly required in order for farms to be managed effectively. Farmers often applied mathematics, almost every day for a variety of tasks, ranging from measuring and weighing, to land marking. This paper, therefore, explores some of the ways math is used in farming. For instance, farmers use arithmetic variety of farm activities such as seed planting, harvesting crop, cultivation and mulching. It is also important in helping farmers to know how much their livestock weighs, how much milk their cows produce and crop yield per acres, among others.

Keywords: agriculture, application, economic, farming, mathematics

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Authors: Karolína Vozková, Matěj Kuc

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Net fee and commission income is one of the key elements of a bank’s core income. In the current low-interest rate environment, this type of income is gaining importance relative to net interest income. This paper analyses the effects of bank and country specific determinants of net fee and commission income on a set of cooperative banks from European countries in the 2007-2014 period. In order to do that, dynamic panel data methods (system Generalized Methods of Moments) were employed. Subsequently, alternative panel data methods were run as robustness checks of the analysis. Strong positive impact of bank concentration on the share of net fee and commission income was found, which proves that cooperative banks tend to display a higher share of fee income in less competitive markets. This is probably connected with the fact that they stick with their traditional deposit-taking and loan-providing model and fees on these services are driven down by the competitors. Moreover, compared to commercial banks, cooperatives do not expand heavily into non-traditional fee bearing services under competition and their overall fee income share is therefore decreasing with the increased competitiveness of the sector.

Keywords: cooperative banking, dynamic panel data models, net fee and commission income, system GMM

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Authors: Nik Smits, Stijn Goeminne

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Despite the extensive literature on the relation between crime and migration, not much is known about how crime affects the tax capacity of local communities. This paper empirically investigates whether the Flemish local income tax base yield is sensitive to changes in the local crime level. The underlying assumptions are threefold. In a Tiebout world, rational voters holding the local government accountable for the safety of its citizens, move out when the local level of security gets too much alienated from what they want it to be (first assumption). If migration is due to crime, then the more wealthy citizens are expected to move first (second assumption). Looking for a place elsewhere implies transaction costs, which the more wealthy citizens are more likely to be able to pay. As a consequence, the average income per capita and so the income distribution will be affected, which in turn, will influence the local income tax base yield (third assumption). The decreasing average income per capita, if not compensated by increasing earnings by the citizens that are staying or by the new citizens entering the locality, must result in a decreasing local income tax base yield. In the absence of a higher level governments’ compensation, decreasing local tax revenues could prove to be disastrous for a crime-ridden municipality. When communities do not succeed in forcing back the number of offences, this can be the onset of a cumulative process of urban deterioration. A spatial panel data model containing several proxies for the local level of crime in 306 Flemish municipalities covering the period 2000-2014 is used to test the relation between crime and the local income tax base yield. In addition to this direct relation, the underlying assumptions are investigated as well. Preliminary results show a modest, but positive relation between local violent crime rates and the efflux of citizens, persistent up until a 2 year lag. This positive effect is dampened by possible increasing crime rates in neighboring municipalities. The change in violent crimes -and to a lesser extent- thefts and extortions reduce the influx of citizens with a one year lag. Again this effect is diminished by external effects from neighboring municipalities, meaning that increasing crime rates in neighboring municipalities (especially violent crimes) have a positive effect on the local influx of citizens. Crime also has a depressing effect on the average income per capita within a municipality, whereas increasing crime rates in neighboring municipalities increase it. Notwithstanding the previous results, crime does not seem to significantly affect the local tax base yield. The results suggest that the depressing effect of crime on the income basis has to be compensated by a limited, but a wealthier influx of new citizens.

Keywords: crime, local taxes, migration, Tiebout mobility

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Authors: David Ahiamadia, Ramilan Thiagarajah, Peter Tozer

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In Sub Saharan Africa, farm typologies have been used as a practical way to address heterogeneity among farming systems which is mostly done by grouping farms into subsets with similar characteristics. Due to the complexity in farming systems among farm households, it is not possible to formulate policy recommendations for individual farmers. As a result, this study employs a multivariate statistical approach using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) coupled with cluster analysis to reduce heterogeneity in a 615-household data set from the Africa Rising Baseline Evaluation Survey for 25 farming communities in Northern Ghana. Variables selected for the study were mostly socio-economic, production potential, production intensity, production orientation, crop diversity, food security, resource endowments, and climate risk variables. To avoid making some individuals in the subpopulation worse off when aclimate risk intervention is broadly implemented, the findings of the study also account for diversity in climate risk perception among the different farm types identified and their response strategies towards climate risk. The climate risk variables used in this study involve the most severeclimate shock types perceived by the household, household response to climate shock type, and reason for crop failure (i.e., maize, rice, and groundnut). Eventually, four farm types, each with an adequate level of homogeneity in climate risk perception and response strategies, were identified. Farm type 1 and 3 were wealthy with a lower degree of climate risk perception compared to farm type 2 and 4. Also, relatively wealthy farmers used asset liquidation as a climate risk management strategy, whereas poor farmers resorted to engaging in spiritual activities such as prayers, sacrifices, and divine consultations.

Keywords: smallholder, households, climate risk, variables, typologies

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Authors: Julian E. Abuso, Alberto T. Paala Jr.

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The creation of settlement farm schools at the outset of American colonization of the Philippines was not a matter of accident; rather, their establishment was a major component of a grand plan on public education based on the benevolent assimilation policy of the United States. This argument is illustrated by the case of Villar Settlement Farm School, a school for the Aetas as a non-Christian tribal community in 1907. The study aims to: (1) identify and describe the antecedents for the establishment of Settlement Farm School, (2) explicate the cultural conflicts encountered by Aetas in school, (3) appraise the consequences of education as acculturation among Aeta population. The study made use of the following: historical data based on primary and secondary sources and life histories from primary informants. The Settlement Farm School for the Aetas was borne out of the American’s change in policy from military to civilian authority, recognition of education as a tool for benevolent assimilation. The narratives of informants manifested resistance to certain aspects of the educational process.

Keywords: settlement farm school Aetas, tribe, colonial education, Aeta, non-Christian tribal community

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Authors: M. H. Abedi, A. Jalilvand

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The economic development benefits of wind energy may be the most tangible basis for the local and state officials’ interests. In addition to the direct salaries associated with building and operating wind projects, the wind energy industry provides indirect jobs and benefits. The optimal planning of a wind farm is one most important topic in renewable energy technology. Many methods have been implemented to optimize the cost and output benefit of wind farms, but the contribution of this paper is mentioning different types of service providers and also time of installation of wind turbines during planning horizon years. Genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the problem. It is observed that an appropriate layout of wind farm can cause to minimize the different types of cost.

Keywords: renewable energy, wind farm, optimization, planning

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Authors: Nabeeha Hassan Abdel Jalil, Lulwa Saeed Al Badi, Mouza Ghafan Alkhyeli, Khaja Mohteshamuddin, Ahmad Al Aiyan, Mohamed Elfatih Hamad, Robert Barigye

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The present study was done to elucidate the prevalence of enzootic bovine leucosis (EBL) in the UAE, the seroprevalence rates of EBL in dairy herds from the Al Ain area, Abu Dhabi (AD) and indigenous cattle at the Al Ain livestock market (AALM) were assessed. Of the 949 sera tested by ELISA, 657 were from adult Holstein-Friesians from three farms and 292 from indigenous cattle at the AALM. The level of significance between the proportions of seropositive cattle were analyzed by the Marascuilo procedure and questionnaire data on husbandry and biosecurity practices evaluated. Overall, the aggregated farm and AALM data demonstrated a seroprevalence of 25.9%, compared to 37.0% for the study farms, and 1.0% for the indigenous cattle. Additionally, the seroprevalence rates at farms #1, #2 and #3 were 54.7%, 0.0%, and 26.3% respectively. Except for farm #2 and the AALM, statistically significant differences were noted between the proportions of seropositive cattle for farms #1 and #2 (Critical Range or CR=0.0803), farms #1 and #3 (p=0.1069), and farms #2 and #3 (CR=0.0707), farm #1 and the AALM (CR=0.0819), and farm #3 and the AALM (CR=0.0726). Also, the proportions of seropositive animals on farm #1 were 9.8%, 59.8%, 29.3%, and 1.2% in the 12-36, 37-72, 73-108, and 109-144-mo-old age groups respectively compared to 21.5%, 60.8%, 15.2%, and 2.5% in the respective age groups for farm #2. On both farms and the AALM, the 37-72-mo-old age group showed the highest EBL seroprevalence rate while all the 57 cattle on farm #2 were seronegative. Additionally, farms #1 and #3 had 3,130 and 2,828 intensively managed Holstein-Friesian cattle respectively, and all animals were routinely immunized against several diseases except EBL. On both farms #1 and #3, artificial breeding was practiced using semen sourced from the USA, and USA and Canada respectively, all farms routinely quarantined new stock, and farm #1 previously imported dairy cattle from an unspecified country, and farm #3 from the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa. While farm #1 provided no information on animal nutrition, farm #3 cited using hay, concentrates, and ad lib water. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first serological evidence of EBL in the UAE and as previously reported, the seroprevalence rates are comparatively higher in the intensively managed dairy herds than in indigenous cattle. As two of the study farms previously sourced cattle and semen from overseas, biosecurity protocols need to be revisited to avoid inadvertent EBL incursion and the possibility of regional transboundary disease spread also needs to be assessed. After the proposed molecular studies have adduced additional data, the relevant UAE animal health authorities may need to develop evidence-based EBL control policies and programs.

Keywords: cattle, enzootic bovine leukosis, seroprevalence, UAE

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Hend Almaseb

Abstract:

Gottman proposed a model of marital conflict with three phases: Agenda-Building, Arguing, and Negotiation. Among a sample of 520 married Kuwaiti women, this study examined the relationship between these phases and the following demographic variables: Level of education, Family income, Health, Occupation, and Tribal affiliation. In addition, the study 1) investigated the marital conflict phases the participants reported having experienced or are currently experiencing and 2) identified the variables that predict one of these conflict phases. The results showed a significant relationship between the following: 1) the Agenda-Building phase and Health; 2) the Arguing phase and Family income, Occupation, and Tribal Affiliation; and 3) the Negotiation phase and Level of education. In addition, a linear regression shows a substantial correlation between the two predictor variables (Level of education and Health problems) and the Agenda Building and Negotiation phases and 5) another substantial correlation between Family income and Arguing.

Keywords: clinical social work, Kuwait, marital conflict, women

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Denys Osipenko, Jonathan Crook

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Because of the variety of the card holders’ behaviour types and income sources each consumer account can be transferred to a variety of states. Each consumer account can be inactive, transactor, revolver, delinquent, defaulted and requires an individual model for the income prediction. The estimation of transition probabilities between statuses at the account level helps to avoid the memorylessness of the Markov Chains approach. This paper investigates the transition probabilities estimation approaches to credit cards income prediction at the account level. The key question of empirical research is which approach gives more accurate results: multinomial logistic regression or multistage conditional logistic regression with binary target. Both models have shown moderate predictive power. Prediction accuracy for conditional logistic regression depends on the order of stages for the conditional binary logistic regression. On the other hand, multinomial logistic regression is easier for usage and gives integrate estimations for all states without priorities. Thus further investigations can be concentrated on alternative modeling approaches such as discrete choice models.

Keywords: multinomial regression, conditional logistic regression, credit account state, transition probability

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: Dorjana Nano

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Financial literacy has become on focus of many research studies. Family household is found to influence students’ financial literacy. The purpose of this study is to explore whether financial literacy of Albanian students is associated with their family household. The main objectives of this research are: i) firstly, to evaluate how financial literate are Albanian university students; ii) secondly, to examine whether the financial literacy differs based on the level of students family income; and iii) finally, to draw some conclusions and recommendations in order to improve student’s financial literacy. An instrument, comprised of personal finance and personal characteristics is administered to 637 students in Albania. The constituency of the survey is tested based on the dimension reduction and factor analyzing techniques. The One Way Welch ANOVA and multiple comparison techniques are utilized to analyze the data. The results indicate that student’s financial literacy is influenced by their family income.

Keywords: financial literacy, household income, smart decisions, university students

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Gabriella Vermeulen

Abstract:

This paper applies a Bourdieusian lens to a Limpopo Citrus farm referred to as Malapeng in order to understand how conflict and authority are reproduced in Malapeng in the larger context of the South African agricultural industry. The South African citrus industry is an export industry, with South Africa being the second largest exporter of citrus in the world. Agriculture in South Africa has undergone extensive liberalisation since 1994, and many historical patterns, such as the racial divide in agriculture and the exploitation of black workers, are still continuously reproduced on farms in South Africa. This chapter looks at the institution of the ‘farm bank’ on Malapeng, which provides loans to workers whose livelihood strategies have been otherwise limited both by the larger agricultural context they are a part of and by the owner of Malapeng. By discussing the role of farm banks in a conflict between two permanent workers, the chapter illustrates how various oppositional discourses are strategically emphasised or de-emphasised at different times by the actors on Malapeng depending on their immediate goals. Farm bank proves to be a nexus of various discourses on Malapeng as the actors on Malapeng all construct farm bank in different (and often contradictory) terms in order to explain their influence and responsibility on Malapeng. The findings of the paper are based on data collected during fieldwork for an MA dissertation and are based on observation and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2021.

Keywords: agriculture, South Africa, capital, labour

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Fazlul Hoque, Tahmina Akter Joya, Asma Akter, Supawat Rungsuriyawiboon

Abstract:

Rice is the staple food in Bangladesh, and therefore, self-sufficiency in rice production remains a major concern. However, Bangladesh is experiencing insufficiency in rice production due to high production cost and low national average productivity of 2.848 ton/ha in comparison to other rice-growing countries in the world. This study aims to find out the profit efficiency and determinants of profit efficiency in Boro rice cultivation in Manikganj and Dhaka districts of Bangladesh. It also focuses on technology adoption and effect of technology adoption on profit efficiency of Boro rice cultivation in Bangladesh. The data were collected from 300 households growing Boro rice through face to face interviews by one set structured questionnaire; Frontier Version 4.1 and STATA 15 software were employed to analyze the data according to the purpose of the study. Maximum likelihood estimates of the specified profit model showed that profit efficiency of the farmer varied between 23% and 97% with a mean of 76% which implied as 24% of the profit is lost due to a combination of technical and allocative inefficiencies in Boro rice cultivation in the study area. The inefficiency model revealed that the education level of the farmer, farm size, variety of seed, and training and extension service influence the profit inefficiency significantly. The study also explained that the level of technology adoption index affects profit efficiency. The technology adoption in Boro rice cultivation is influenced by the education level of the farmer, farm size and farm capital.

Keywords: farmer, maximum likelihood estimation, profit efficiency, rice

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Sumanta Kumar Saha, Jie Qin

Abstract:

This study analyzes the impact of financial inclusion on gender inequality in 126 countries belonging to different income groups during the 2005–2019 period. Due to its positive influence on poverty alleviation, economic growth, women empowerment, and income inequality reduction, financial inclusion may help reduce gender equality. This study constructs a novel composite financial inclusion index and applies both fixed-effect panel estimation and instrumental variable approach to examine the impact of financial inclusion on gender inequality. The results indicate that financial inclusion can reduce gender inequality in developing and low- and lower-middle-income countries, but not in higher-income countries. The impact is not always immediate. Past financial inclusion initiatives have a significant influence on future gender inequality. Financial inclusion is also significant if the poverty level is high and women's access to financial services is low compared to men. When the poverty level is low, or women have equal access to financial services, financial inclusion does not significantly affect gender inequality. The study finds that compulsory education and improvement in institutional quality promote gender equality in developing countries apart from financial inclusion. The study proposes that lower-income countries use financial inclusion initiatives to improve gender equality. Other countries need to focus on other aspects such as promoting educational support and institutional quality improvements to achieve gender equality.

Keywords: financial inclusion, gender inequality, institutional quality, women empowerment

Procedia PDF Downloads 105