Socio-economic Returns Research Articles

EFFECTS OF FADAMA III PROJECT ON RURAL RICE FARMERS IN YOLA -NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed the effects of Fadama lll on rural rice farmers in Yola-North LGA of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The objectives are to; described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, Estimate the cost and returns of Fadama and non-Fadama participants, to assess the change in output and to assess the change in income among the respondents. One hundred and twenty four (124) respondents were selected from beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the project through multi stage and purposive random sampling. Structured questionnaire were used to obtained data on the Socio-economic characteristics, Cost and Returns, Change in output and Change in income. The data were analysed using Descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reveals that majority of the respondents were males (71.4%) and married (69.6}.These categories of respondents are in their productive ages (30 – 39 and 40 – 49) capable of engaging in farming activities and they account for 64 % whom are the majority. Revenue generated by the beneficiaries is higher than that of the non-beneficiaries as revealed by the Gross margin analysis, likewise the T-test showed the mean Income of the beneficiaries was higher compared to that of the non-beneficiaries even though the difference was not significant at p=0.05 .Despite the fact that the project had made little impact on the living conditions of the beneficiaries, it is recommended that it should be continue in order to ensure sustained income and revenue generation.

Traceability and Authentication of Manila Clams from North-Western Adriatic Lagoons Using C and N Stable Isotope Analysis.

In the Adriatic lagoons of northern Italy, manila clam (Ruditapes philippinarum) farming provides important socio-economic returns and local clams should be registered with the Protected Designations of Origin scheme. Therefore, there is a need for the development of rapid, cost-effective tests to guarantee the origin of the product and to prevent potential fraud. In this work, an elemental analysis (EA) coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) was employed to identify the isotopic fingerprints of clams directly collected onsite in three Adriatic lagoons and bought at a local supermarket, where they exhibited certification. In particular, a multivariate analysis of C/N, δ13C and δ15N in manila clam tissues as well as δ13C in shells and 13C (calculated as δ13Cshell–δ13Ctissues) seems a promising approach for tracking the geographical origin of manila clams at the regional scale.

English

University education enables people to have better socio-economic return, engage in critical reflection of political affairs, social practices, and inequalities which subsequently strengthens democracy. The educational opportunities for disadvantaged people help them to break the vicious cycle of poverty, marginalization, and discrimination by enabling them to improve the social and economic status. The Government of Nepal has enacted the National Higher Education (HE) Policy, but it lags ensuring equitable opportunities for the marginalized community, particularly the Dalit community. Despite the constitutional commitment to provide equitable opportunities for educational development, Dalits who comprise above 13% population have been facing multitudes of exclusion in HE opportunities. Venanzi’s social exclusion perspective has been used to analyze the underrepresentation of Dalits in HE. The ethnocentrism-historically developed ethnic perspective manifested by the National Code of Conduct of Nepal in 1854; the discursive formation-micro-stories that explained the derogatory origin of Dalits and the hegemonic discourse-subtle form of power perpetrated by non-Dalit in system implementation curtail Dalit’s equitable participation in HE. Consequently, Dalits fail to move upward to the socioeconomic status which has impacted the overall development of the country. Mass advocacy and awareness campaign to deconstruct hierarchy-based caste system, data/evidence-based gender and social inclusion policy, increased participation of Dalits in decision-making positions, exploration of caste-related issues through periodic academic research and enactment of subsequent actions, inclusion of Dalit-related issues in HE curriculum, and arranging alternative education for geographically excluded Dalit community may enable Dalits to get HE. Key words: Equity, higher education, social exclusion, historicity, Dalit.

Micro-simulations of a dynamic supply and use tables economy-wide Leontief-based model for the South African economy

Background: South Africa has not fully recovered from the 2008 global recession. The World Bank has predicted that South Africa will be one of the worst performers in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 with tepid growth of 1.3% which is far below the National Development Plan targets growth of 5.4% required a year to reduce unemployment, create decent jobs and generate enough revenue for social development. Aim: We aim to examine whether changes in the components of final demand (changes in government spending, household consumption expenditure, exports, investment spending) have a considerable effect on the sector's gross value added, job creation and tax revenue generation and whether there were changes in the exogenous final demand in die post-recession period. Setting: We focus on building supply and use tables based on 62 different sectors of the South African economy. Methods: An economy-wide Leontief multiplier-based model calibrated on a supply and use framework and a micro-simulation model is used to assess post-recession trends in macroeconomic, labour and fiscal multipliers for South Africa. Results: The simulations show that during the post-recession era, the effect of exogenous shock in the economy, like an increase in investment spending, although positive, yields a smaller return in terms of tax revenue, job creation and economic growth. At sector level, the results show that the inter-industry links and industry-consumer links have therefore weakened. Conclusion: Our findings imply that the persisting low growth trajectory associated with weaker inter-industry linkages could be exacerbated, while the fiscal austerity measures associated with weaker forward and backword tax linkages could be prolonged. We recommend government should follow a priorities-based spending policy that yields optimal socioeconomic returns.

A Dream Deferred: African American Women's Diminished Socioeconomic Returns of Postponing Childbearing from Teenage to Adulthood.

Brookings Institution has identified postponing childbirth from teenage to adulthood as a major strategy that is needed for upward social mobility of women. However, according to the Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs), the associations between aspirations, investments, behaviors, and socioeconomic position (SEP) may be diminished for marginalized groups such as African Americans. To extend the existing knowledge on the MDRs, the current study had two aims: First to compare White and African American women for the association between postponing childbearing to adulthood and SEP in a national sample of American women. Second, to test correlates of postponing childbearing to adulthood and SEP at birth with long term outcomes 15 years later when the child was 15 years old. For this longitudinal study, data came from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (FFCWS), a national longitudinal prospective study in the United States (US) that followed an ethnically diverse sample of women from childbirth for 15 years from 1998 to 2016. For the first aim, this study included 2679 women composed of 723 Whites and 1956 African Americans. For the second aim, among 1842 individuals who had available data 15 years later, we measured various economic, behavioral, and mental health outcomes when the child was 15 years old. For aim 1 we ran linear regression. Postponing childbearing to adulthood was the independent variable. The dependent variable, SEP (poverty) was treated as a continuous measure with higher score indicating more poverty. Confounders included marital status and delivery characteristics. For the aim 2, we ran Pearson correlation test (exploratory analysis) to test if baseline SEP correlates with future outcomes. Postponing childbearing from adolescence to adulthood was associated with higher SEP in adulthood, net of all confounders including marital status and education. We found a significant interaction between postponing childbearing from adolescence to adulthood and race on SEP, suggesting that the economic reward of postponing childbearing may be weaker for African American women than for White women. Although postponing the age at childbirth is a recommended strategy for women who wish to maximize their chance of upward social mobility, this strategy may be associated with smaller economic returns for African American women than White women. The results can also be interpreted as MDRs in investments in terms of a postponing childbearing. In a fair society, the same investment should be similarly rewarded across diverse racial groups. In the reality, however, the US society differently rewards White and African American women who postpone childbearing. Research should explore the roles of social stratification, blocked opportunities, and concentrated poverty in explaining the unequal return of such an investment for African American and White women.

The Price of the Ticket: Health Costs of Upward Mobility among African Americans.

There is a growing literature that has documented diminishing health returns on upward social mobility among Black Americans. Due to historical policies and practices, upward social mobility is often an arduous, isolating process for Black Americans, especially as they navigate predominately white educational and workplace settings. This paper advances the literature in several meaningful and innovative ways. The goal of this paper is to provide a qualitative account of the health costs of upward social mobility and describe how these costs could diminish health returns despite greater levels of socioeconomic resources. Focus groups and surveys were the data collection methods for the study. Inclusion criteria for the study were that respondents identified as African American or Black, were 24 years or older and had completed college. The total sample was 32 college-educated Black men (n = 12) and women (n = 20). The mean age for men was 39 (range = 26–50) and 33 years of age (range = 24–59) for women. Key findings highlighted in this paper include (1) hypervisibility and subsequent vigilance; (2) uplift stress; and (3) health costs associated with social mobility. The sum of these stressors is posited to affect multiple health outcomes and elucidate the mechanisms through which socioeconomic returns on health are diminished.

Analysis of the Resource Management Ability by Catfish Farmers in Nigeria: A Case of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State

The study was on the analysis of the resource management ability by catfish farmers in Nigeria: A case of Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State. The study focused on the five objectives which investigated the socioeconomic characteristics, costs and net returns, production function, determinants of the returns, resource use efficiency of the farmers, and the challenges facing fish farmers. Data for the study was collected from a cross-section of 240 randomly selected catfish farmers using a well-structured questionnaire and facial interview. The study was able to reveal that male (72.1%) farmers dominated the industry. The study recorded an average age, household size, level of education, farming experience, and output as 46 years, 11 people, 11 years, 13 years and 5.297 tons respectively. Fish farming was profitable with a net returns of 5,057.02 USD and returns on investment of 1.82 implying 1.82 USD returns upon every USD investment. The double-log was the lead functional form for the production functions, pond size (2.64)**, utilities (1.99)**, fingerlings (2.92)***, fertilizer (-1.97)**, and labour (-3.31)*** were the significant production factors. The ratio of Marginal Value Product (MVP) to Marginal Factor Cost (MFC) was less than one for all the resources used apart from fingerlings cost which was greater than one. The relationship between net returns and socioeconomic variables, semi-log was the lead equation and sex, farming experience, level of education, household size, and primary occupation were the significant variables. Furthermore, the study identified the following grey areas inherent in fish farming in the area to include; high cost of feed among others.

School-Family-Community Partnerships and Its’ Influence on Students ‘Achievement in Public Secondary Schools in Ilemela Municipal, Tanzania

Education is an investment which brings socio-economic return to the person and nation at large. In implementing various strategies to improve student development and academic outcomes, it is important to include all key stake holders by fostering close schools, family and community partnerships, and not only teachers and administrators, but also family and community members. These partnerships improve schools and lead to student’s success in academic and social arena. In Tanzania public secondary schools, family and community partnerships is considered to be low and students’ performance in academic and discipline continues to be poor compared to schools with strong family community partnerships. Therefore, the objectives of this study were; to identify the existing school-family-community partnerships in public secondary school in Ilemela Municipal, to investigate whether school-family-community partnerships in public secondary schools influence students ‘achievement in Ilemela Municipal and to find out if there are any challenges facing of school-family-community partnerships implementation in public secondary schools in Ilemela Municipal. The study employed a mixed research methods where questionnaires and interview were used to collect data. The total sample size was 141; respondents involved were teachers, heads of school, students, District Education Officer, and family and community members. Descriptive statistics analysis and thematic analysis was used, and the findings revealed that there are few and poor School-family community partnerships. The study found out that, partnerships have great influence on students ‘achievement. Furthermore, the study found various challenges which face the implementation of school-family-community partnerships in public secondary schools in Ilemela district. The study recommends that The Ministry of education and vocational training the Ministry of education to make policy reforms to encourage a national wide involvement of families and community in school development activities to ensure quality provision of education which will enhance best returns in socio-economic such as industrialized economy.

How Can African Nations Effectively Develop a Space Industry? Positioning Ghana Using the Dual Double Diamond Model

Abstract Although the economic and socioeconomic returns of space-based applications have been well documented in space-faring nations, African nations are yet to leverage space-assets effectively....

The considerable environmental benefits of seaweed aquaculture in China

Coastal water eutrophication and resource depletion have become serious issues in many coastal regions of the world. Seaweed aquaculture in Chinese coastal waters is a very important industry. This work assessed the major environmental benefits of seaweed cultivation, mapped the spatial distributions of various species and analyzed their environmental impacts during 2015 in China. This study found that seaweed aquaculture had brought in considerable environmental benefits, including the removal of about 75,563 t of nitrogen and 9592 t of phosphate from coastal waters, the sequestration of about 539,555 t of carbon, the absorption of 1,980,167 t of CO2, the release of 1,440,612 t of O2 into coastal waters, and the production of 5809 t of Iodine. In addition, seaweed cultivation saved approximately 29,313 t of chemical fertilizers, 1873 t of pesticide and 62,492 ha of farmland compared with terrestrial vegetable cultivation. These results demonstrate that Chinese seaweed aquaculture has turned the pollutants that cause eutrophication into nutrients, which generates considerable environmental benefits as well as socio-economic values. However, seaweed species, as well as coastal water qualities, vary by regions, spatial management of seaweed farms related to the coastal water quality is necessary. In the eutrophic coastal waters, more seaweed species that are highly capable of removing nitrogen and phosphate should be cultivated. Besides, the potentially negative effects of seaweed farming should also be considered before performing spatial management to ensure the healthy development of seaweed industry. As Chinese seaweed production continues to boom, it is a unique opportunity to strengthen the seaweed industry and to reach a win–win situation that both gains considerable environmental benefits and generates substantial socio-economic returns. This is also a promising way for other coastal developing nations/regions to follow.

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Phytochemical Treatment of Surface Waters Based on Powder Extracts of Almond Seeds Moringa Oleifera Lam in kenge, DRC

“Water is life,” it is said, but the quality of water is just as essential as that of food consumed by the population to ensure their good health and achieve good socio-economic returns.

Indústria de celulose e o avanço da silvicultura do eucalipto na fronteira agrícola da Amazônia maranhense

Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar o processo recente de avanço da silvicultura do eucalipto na fronteira agrícola da Amazônia Legal maranhense. Considera-se a reprodução de modelos históricos de apropriação e mercantilização da área por grandes projetos econômicos minero-agro-exportadores, em especial, o aumento de áreas de plantio de eucalipto decorrente da implantação de unidade fabril da Suzano Papel e Celulose no município de Imperatriz, estado do Maranhão, em 2009. Quanto à metodologia, além de produção cartográfica e mapeamento da cadeia produtiva de papel e celulose e sua dinâmica no Maranhão, são apresentados dados relativos à evolução da monocultura do eucalipto. Os dados obtidos reiteram a compreensão sobre os impactos de grandes empreendimentos agroextrativistas na Amazônia, voltados para a produção de commodities de exportação a partir da pilhagem irrestrita de recursos naturais com pouco retorno socioeconômico local.

Monetarizing the social value: theory and evidence

Over the last decade important efforts were made to integrate economic and social value in organizations within a unic report. This is significant because it reflects greater interest and demands in society concerning not just economic but social responsibilities of organizations.However, social organizations are finding problems to give value to their social contribution, mainly due to the prominence of financial economic indicators; which curiously only have instrumental value in this type of entities.The aim of this paper is to develop a social accounting model that allows incorporating the social value, in its monetized form, employing accounting standards; with the economic one. It is not possible to monetize full social value with this model, although it does show economic value with social impact, socio-economic return and specific social value.Application of this model makes possible the quantitative and monetized comparison of integrated value between companies, which would involve more efficient decision-making based on symmetry and more complete information (private organizations), more efficiency in consumption or investment decisions (private individuals) and efficient indicators for establishing public policies (public administration). Overall, it could prove to be a basic and valuable component of business reputation.

HIGHER EDUCATION AS A FACTOR OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY

The article analyzes the basic indicators of higher education and explores the impact of higher education on the socio-economic development of Ukraine. Using econometric modeling, the influence of higher education on the Ukrainian economy at the macro level is analyzed. It was revealed that among the analyzed factors characterizing higher education at the macro level, the greatest positive impact on the dynamics of Ukraine’s GDP is exerted by state investments in higher education. In addition, during the study, an analysis of the impact of higher education on the economy of Ukraine at the micro level was carried out. According to the results of this analysis, a low level of socio-economic returns from higher education for the population is established in comparison with the EU countries. Key words: higher education, management of higher education, human capital, labor market, economic development, social and economic inequality.

Enhancing the Connectivity of Bangladesh with ASEAN in Doing Business in Asia

In this paper, we analyze the prospect of the economic diplomacy of Bangladesh in engaging with ASEAN and its potential benefits. Bangladesh has enormous human resources and is a fast growing country in the South Asian region. Bangladesh has achieved high economic progress and reduced its poverty rate drastically due to export-led growth. However, maintaining the economy’s past growth performance becomes increasingly challenging. Therefore, Bangladesh needs to develop a strategic action plan for diplomatic engagement to focus on trade growth and diversity with ASEAN. To this end, Bangladesh needs to link with Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway in the desired path; reduce dependence on a single market as sustainable export development policy; and establish initiatives to streamline bilateral trade development. Although it is difficult for Bangladesh to create a win-win economic deal with each ASEAN member, an entire bloc backed by economic integration is relatively easy for a new trade vision. Bangladesh should agree in its aims and purposes, observe fundamental principles, and collaborate with the ASEAN community. It needs to adopt and enforce a results-oriented regional orientation policy to realize sustained socioeconomic returns from economic diplomacy with ASEAN.

Lithological and Structural Control on Italian Mountain Geoheritage: Opportunities for Tourism, Outdoor and Educational Activities

AbstractMountain landscapes are generated by the interplay of endogenous and exogenous processes, whose reciprocal importance changes over times. The Italian relief reflects a high geomorphodiversity and an overview on iconic mountain landscapes, representative of the lithological-structural diversity of the Italian relief, is presented. The study cases, located along Alps and Apennines and in the Sardinia island, are exemplary for the comprehension of the role of the substratum in shaping mountain landscapes and of the deriving risk scenario. Moreover, mountain landscapes are characterized by a high potential for use in terms of: i) ideal open-air natural laboratories for multidisciplinary educational purposes including geological-geomorphological, historical and ecological topics; ii) possibility of specific outdoor activities that take advantage of outdoor sports (e.g., climbing, canyoning, speleology). These feasible and versatile opportunities favour the enhancement of such environments under different perspectives as well as the involvement of local communities and the socio-economic return deriving from mountain geoheritage management.

Turning delivery of ecosystem services into a deliverable of ecosystem restoration

That ecological restoration helps restore natural capital and ecosystem services (ES) of value to human and societal well‐being is generally well‐accepted. But quantification of these societal benefits is sorely lagging our recognition that they exist. This may be the result of methodological concerns and/or philosophical objections to the monetization of nature's services; it may also be the result of practical challenges in monitoring that already plague restoration. In this article, I argue that, regardless of whether or not restoration efforts come to rely on formal systems of payment for ES, we should be doing a better job of rigorously quantifying the socioeconomic returns of our work. Recognizing the substantial obstacles to this effort, I suggest some possible ways to overcome them.

Africa’s Space Technology Investment and Socio-Economic Returns: The Case of Nigeria

Scientific and technological advances and innovations are fundamental to sustained economic and human development. Space exploration programs offer significant potential socio-economic benefits. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, space programme is considered to be less necessary than many other governmental initiatives, particularly in the context of sustainable development. This paper takes a look at space technology investment in Africa and application of space technology in solving socio-economic problems in the continent with a special focus on Nigeria. Also, the paper identified some challenge faced in the Nigerian space programme and made some suggestion. Nigeria must take advantage of innovations in space technology to utilize space and the by-products of space technology to make significant strides in optimizing the resources of socio-economic development and solve national problems in consonance with the global sustainable development agenda.

Offsetting legal deficits of native vegetation among Brazilian landholders: Effects on nature protection and socioeconomic development

The Brazilian native vegetation supports essential ecosystem services and biodiversity for the global society, while land use competition may intensify around the increasing needs for food, fibre and bioenergy. The Brazilian Forest Act of 2012 amplified a market-based mechanism for offsetting native vegetation deficits in private farmlands. This mechanism enables a large-scale trading system allowing landholders to offset their own deficits of native vegetation by purchasing certificates associated with a surplus of native vegetation from other landholders. This mechanism is an alternative for the more expensive restoration of native vegetation on own land. The launching of the mechanism now depends on specific regulations at state level, which may include geographical restrictions for offsetting deficits. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects in nature protection and socio-economic development of different offsetting implementation alternatives. Our findings suggest that in a business-as-usual scenario the offsetting mechanism may have little or no additional effects on protection of native vegetation, because most of the offsetting is likely to take place where native vegetation is already protected by prevailing legislations. We concluded that it is possible to maximise environmental and socio-economic returns from the offsetting mechanism without undermining productive land. This would be possible if regulations ensure additionality in nature protection while enabling a self-sustaining mechanism for income generation for small-scale family farmers in the poorest region of Brazil, protecting biodiversity and counteracting major trade-offs between ecosystem services.

English

English