Since the 1990s, the number of intensive dairy farms in Iran has rapidly increased to supply milk to the growing cities. As a result, total production of milk has increased, but scarcities still exist in some regions of the country. Since resources such as feedstuffs are limited, and considerable investment will be required to establish these new farms, the question of production efficiency in Iranian dairy farming seems an important one. Measuring the level of production efficiency, determining the sources of inefficiency, and proposing possible ways of improving the efficiency of the intensive dairy farms are the main aims of this study. In addition to simple measures of partial productivities and profitabilities, a stochastic transcendental frontier production function was estimated, using a single-stage approach to measure overall technical efficiency and its components, and a frontier profit function was used to measure the economic efficiency of individual intensive dairy farms. The latter function was evaluated first with the current distorted prices of milk and concentrates as well as the market prices of other dairy inputs and outputs. However, this frontier led to overestimation of economic efficiency due to ignoring input-price and output-price inefficiencies. To deal with this problem, the frontier was re-evaluated with expected prices defined as fractions of the observed prices of inputs and outputs. In order to investigate the way in which farmers combine dairy inputs, an index of allocative efficiency was also calculated and discussed. All the indices were then compared between the farms specified by factors such as herd size, proportion of pure cattle, etc. The results showed that production efficiency of the intensive dairy farms in Iran can be improved by expanding the proportion of purebred animals, particularly in large farms, and by using as much of the existing capacity of farms as possible.

Government has been influential in substantially changing land management in England since WWII and currently aims to help farmers to become more sustainable. A five year project in Norfolk worked with 31 , farmers, 13 communities, and many partner organisations to define and measure the sustainability of land management on each farm holding. Substantial variation in the sustainability of land management was discovered. Farmers themselves defined a number of key factors aff~cting their land management, including social capital. Using a locally adapted World Bank technique (SoCAT) to measure social capital, all 31 farmers engaged with the measurement process showed a rapid, instinctive grasp of the concept. Spearman's Rank Correlation coefficient revealed a strong, positive association between the overall sustainability of land management and all aspects of social capital (r=0.687, p<O.Ol). Patterns of correlation between the two variables guided qualitative data collection using a grounded theory approach. Six plausible mechanisms by which social capital might affect land management were identified using quantitative and qualitative methods. These were: i) 'Buy-Out': effective partnerships with government agencies to achieve policy outcomes; ii) Commodity Markets: farmers' changing relationships with their buyers; iii) Unwritten, Unspoken: how norms of rural conduct affect public good provision; iv) Village Engagement: noblesse oblige, prestige and local people; v) Social learning: creativity and exclusion amongst farmers; vi) The Dating Game: social failures in cooperation. Four of the six mechanisms assisted some, but not all, farmers to become more sustainable. This in tum led to increasing polarisation between the most- and least-sustainable farms. Trials to increase bonding, bridging and linking social capital were successful. Low-cost methods involving a range of local stakeholders, operating at a domestic scale and using women to overcome conflict were more successful than better-resourced methods operating with larger, homogenous groups of farmers. Policy makers should learn to use social capital (and overcome social deficit) to assist farmers' transitions towards more sustainable land management.

No description available.

In 1975, Laszlo presented a paper on how advance information about basic and critical trends concerning universal human needs, as well as needs due to cultural and developmental factors, could be beneficial in international decision-making at the highest level. This idea has much appeal and forms the 'raison d'etre' of this research. To appreciate and test the full implications of Laszlo's paper, much practical and theoretical work would need to be done. In this research, a partial analysis of some of Laszlo's ideas has been carried out. The work is limited to testing his ideas concerning the building and use of mathematical models of certain sectors and of a particular format. As such its objectives are limited in scope and clearly represent only a part of the work that is necessary to fully assess Laszlo's ideas. In keeping with Laszlo's ideas, a System Dynamics model of the Nigerian agricultural/food sector was built and was used to forecast Nigeria's future food need and domestic food supply in terms of calories and protein over the next twenty-six years. In carrying out this work, some problems were encountered. However, it was found that Laszlo's ideas can in principle be applied successfully to the sector chosen and methods for overcoming some of the problems have been identified. Detailed conclusions have been drawn from this case study and a deeper understanding of the implications of Laszlo's ideas has been obtained. In general, it is recommended that Laszlo's ideas are worth pursuing and should be subjected to further testing in identified areas. Finally and separately from the testing of Laszlo's ideas, the specific model developed for the agricultural/food sector can, in its own right, be of direct use to the Nigerian Government in its current planning. This System Dynamics model together with an analysis of its shortcomings is presented in detail.

The political economy of forest use in Bangladesh provides the context for an analysis of social forestry (hereafter, SF) programmes of the government. SF is viewed in this thesis within the wider history of forest use and not as an isolated technical strategy for afforestation. The history is marked by a progressive emphasis on commercial interests. The consequences have been: the monetization of forest use; downgrading of the scope for community management of forests; the curtailment of local rights; and the systematic alienation of local people from forest management. These particular attributes of commercialization have added fuel to conflict between the state and local communities. Public antipathy to the state's role in forest commercialization undermined the state's attempt to continue public sector forestry management singlehandedly. Some form of public participation was required. SF was launched with the stated goal of empowering local communities in forest management and as an answer to alienation problem. But SF's achievements have been insignificant. Its marginal performance can be attributed to an unfavourable political-economic environment (referred to in the thesis as 'the frame'). The 'frame' includes the rural power structures; public policies and government offices; local government institutions; land ownership and tenurial arrangements; market (for forests products) and commercial agents; and international donor agencies. SF's performance is regulated by these variables, which are generally not conductive to achieving its lofty goals. Although the stated goals remain largely unrealised, SF does, however, further certain strategic but nonetheless tacit interests of the national government and international donors.

Food is a need for all communities. Food security and development planning is a current issue of investigation in the Third World, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, due to recent famines. In these countries, development planning has been criticized on the grounds of its alienation from the local environments and its failure to achieve food security for the growing population. This thesis investigates the food problem in arid Sudan and examines the situation in the White Nile region as a suitable case study. The investigation of this problem was on indicators, such as food production, food marketing, food consumption, and environmental change to verify the hypothesis that there is a food problem in arid Sudan, similar to that in arid Sub-Saharan Africa, and demonstrates the inappropriate development planning in the Sudan. Investigation makes clear that the food problem is more evident in the rainland areas of the region and gives further evidence of the failure of Sudanese planning in its arid lands. Of the eleven chapters, chapter one is an overview of the food problem in the Sudan and Sub-Saharan Africa, and discusses research methodology. Chapter two reviews Sudanese planning and the research hypotheses, whilst chapter three applies development theory to the Sudanese situation. Chapter four examines the Afro-Asian experience in food production and concludes with lessons for the Sudan to ponder in the White Nile region. Chapter five investigates the development process of the White Nile region and related problems, particularly of food supply. Chapters six to ten are respectively devoted to an investigation of food production, marketing, and consumption in relation to the environment and survival strategies. Chapter eleven includes the main research findings and suggests a solution of the food problem in arid Sudan.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.