'Contract farming is conventionally thought of as a form of industrial organization that helps to overcome high monitoring, supervision, and environmental mitigation costs incurred from ensuring a reliable and uniform-quality supply (from the standpoint of integrators) and high capital and small-scale input and service purchase costs (from the standpoint of individual farmers). But contract farming is also a private sector vertical coordination response to the changing demand for certifying the more...
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'Important gaps remain in delivering on the global commitments in the areas of aid, trade, debt relief, and access to new technologies and to affordable essential medicines. A recently released report by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force identifies these gaps in detail and provides recommendations to all major stakeholders on how to address these gaps.'
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'Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.
The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.'
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‘Functional or health-enhancing foods are food-type products that influence specific physiological functions in the body, thereby providing benefits to health, well-being or performance, beyond regular nutrition, and are marketed and consumed for this value added property. This review has indicated some critical success factors in the functional foods sector and suggested some of the common challenges faced by the sector in
developing countries.’(pdf:95pages)
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'There is enough evidence now that the Structural Adjustment Programs initiated by the World Bank have been associated with severe reduction in food subsidies in a large number of countries.' Madhura Swaminathan shares her concerns about the implications of World Bank and the IMF narrow targeting of food subsidies. By reducing the poverty line to an alarming level, the government, under the influence of international financial institutions, abandons millions of Indians to starvation.Author of se more...
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'What are the impacts of the increasing spread of biofuels on access to land in producer countries, particularly for poorer rural people? Biofuels could revitalise rural agriculture and livelihoods – or, where there are competing claims on land – exclude poorer land and resource users. This study documents current knowledge on current and potential impacts of commercial biofuel production for access to land in Africa, Latin America and Asia, charting both negative experiences and promising a more...
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This research began with a study of pesticide residues in agricultural crops imported into the US, primarily from Latin American countries, and as reported by the US Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program. The results suggest that farmers and consumers in developing countries are exposed to higher levels of toxic pesticides compared to higher income countries. The following research then explored the determinants of pesticide use in Brazil using municipal-level agricultural censu more...
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