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Submitted by Marcus Vinícius Peinado Gomes (mvpgomes@gmail.com) on 2014-09-10T14:57:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Creating Meanings, Changing Contexts_Contested Sustainability in the Brazilian Beef Industry_FINAL VERSION.pdf: 3668174 bytes, checksum: aca1fc1a46fdb4ac7486c8e23ed8e2d9 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by PAMELA BELTRAN TONSA (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2014-09-10T18:22:06Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Creating Meanings, Changing Contexts_Contested Sustainability in the Brazilian Beef Industry_FINAL VERSION.pdf: 3668174 bytes, checksum: aca1fc1a46fdb4ac7486c8e23ed8e2d9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-10T18:31:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Creating Meanings, Changing Contexts_Contested Sustainability in the Brazilian Beef Industry_FINAL VERSION.pdf: 3668174 bytes, checksum: aca1fc1a46fdb4ac7486c8e23ed8e2d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-11 / The objective of this research is to understand how organisations fashion their environment, through analysing why some practices become known as ‘sustainable’ in the Brazilian beef industry. The research engages with the organisational institutionalism literature by pointing the need to account for politics (i.e. actor’s negotiations) and meanings in order to understand how stability and change take place under a situated context (i.e. a particular time and space). The research concludes that the understandings of what could be considerate ‘sustainability’ are the result of actors fashioning their environment through actions and interactions that produce meanings. Following a hegemony approach, such disputes are not only about actors looking for resources’ advantages, but also aimed at protecting or attacking the societal logics that support actors’ dominant position. Moreover, actors exert their agency under the conditions of the present time (i.e. situated context), by drawing on an inherited past in order to produce a future they have envisaged. To analyse such processes, a hegemony approach to actors and societal logics was developed, highlighting the negotiation order, an arena in which actors struggle for hegemony. As an outcome of such negotiations, a focal issue emerges, influencing actors’ discourse and interests, and justifying their initiatives, programmes and technologies developed to address such issue; thus, fashioning consent. Drawing on Critical Realism and Critical Discourse Analysis, the research developed a longitudinal case study supported by public and confidential documents, alongside interviews with experts, in order to examine the sustainability path at the Brazilian beef industry. Three different contexts for agency regarding sustainability were found. In the first one, a silence upon sustainability practices was identified, while the second context emphasised the emergence of Amazon deforestation as a focal issue, due to Greenpeace and MPF agency, forcing the industry to develop a monitoring system to trace its cattle suppliers in order to avoid procurement associated with Amazon deforestation, among other illegal activities. Finally, during the third context, the monitoring system enabled the beef industry to take-over of sustainability, enabling the beef sector to build its legitimacy so as to influence the risks and opportunities associated to the context of sustainability. In terms of societal logics, the Amazon deforestation is denounced as an environmental problem anchored by capitalist logic characteristics, such as risk management, innovation and productivity increase, global supply chain and governance. Although during such attack the profit maximisation rationale is questioned by the imposition of environmental concerns over corporate behaviour, the developed solution draws upon the very same capitalism’s characteristic employed to attack it. As a consequence, a piecemeal change is illustrated by a transformation on the capitalism ‘quantitative efficiency’ – the productivity increase as a result of changing the proportion of resources consumed in the production process in order to avoid Amazon deforestation. However, the capitalism ‘qualitative efficiency’ is being preserved as the ruling dominant groups are still controlling the means of production and their associate resources (i.e. money, power and legitimation). Since such negotiations processes are mediated by the rationale of avoiding businesses risks, profit maximisation, the deep core of capitalist logic, is preserved. Therefore, the ruling groups maintain their hegemony / O objetivo desta pesquisa é compreender de que forma as organizações moldam seu ambiente, analisando por que algumas práticas tornam-se reconhecidas como ‘sustentáveis’ na indústria de carne bovina brasileira. O estudo dialoga com a literatura de institucionalismo organizacional ao apontar a necessidade de considerar a política (i.e. as negociações entre atores) e significados, a fim de entender como a estabilidade e a mudança institucional ocorrem em um contexto situado (i.e. em um tempo e espaço específicos). A pesquisa conclui que os entendimentos sobre o que poderia ser reconhecido como ‘sustentabilidade’ são o resultado de atores moldando o seu ambiente por meio de ações e interações que produzem significados. Seguindo uma abordagem de hegemonia, essas disputas não são apenas entre os atores que procuram vantagens recursivas, mas também procuram defender ou atacar as lógicas sociais que apoiam a posição dominante dos atores. Além disso, os atores exercem sua agência sobre as condições no presente (i.e. contexto situado), com base em um passado herdado e com o objetivo de produzir um futuro que eles imaginam. Para analisar tais processos uma abordagem de hegemonia entre atores e lógicas sociais foi desenvolvida para destacar a ordem de negociação, uma arena em que os atores lutam pela hegemonia. Como resultado de tais negociações, uma questão focal emerge, influenciando o discurso e interesses dos atores, bem como justificando as iniciativas, programas e tecnologias sobre tal questão; construindo, portanto, o consenso. Baseando-se em Realismo Crítico e Análise Crítica do Discurso, a pesquisa desenvolveu um estudo de caso longitudinal suportado por documentos públicos e confidenciais e entrevistas com especialistas, para examinar o caminho da sustentabilidade na indústria de carne bovina brasileira. Identificou-se três contextos diferentes para agência em relação à sustentabilidade. Enquanto no primeiro verifica-se um silêncio sobre práticas de sustentabilidade, o segundo enfatiza a emergência do desmatamento da Amazônia como uma questão focal, devido à agência do Greenpeace e MPF que força a indústria a desenvolver um sistema de monitoramento que rastreie seus fornecedores de gado de modo a evitar compra de suprimentos associadas ao desmatamento da Amazônia, dentre outras atividades ilegais. Finalmente, durante o terceiro contexto, o sistema de monitoramento permite que indústria de carne bovina se aproprie da sustentabilidade, assim o setor da carne passa a construir a sua legitimidade para influenciar sobre os riscos e oportunidades associadas ao contexto da sustentabilidade. Em termos de lógicas sociais, o desmatamento na Amazônia foi denunciado como um problema ambiental, nesta indústria, ancorado em algumas características da lógica do capitalismo, como a gestão de riscos, inovação e aumento da produtividade, cadeia de fornecimento global e governança. Embora este ataque questione a racionalidade da maximização racional lucro, impondo restrições ambientais para o comportamento das empresas, a solução desenvolvida é também ancorada sobre as mesmas características do capitalismo empregadas para atacá-lo. Como consequência, uma mudança gradual é ilustrada por uma transformação na ‘eficiência quantitativa’ do capitalismo, o aumento da produtividade devido à mudança da proporção de recursos consumidos para produção e à preocupação em evitar o desmatamento da Amazônia. No entanto, a ‘eficiência qualitativa’ do capitalismo é preservada uma vez que os grupos dominantes no poder ainda estão controlando os meios de produção e os recursos a eles associados (i.e. dinheiro, poder e legitimidade). Uma vez que estes processos de negociações são mediados pela racionalidade de se evitar risco aos negócios, consequentemente, a maximização do lucro, o núcleo duro da lógica do capitalismo é preservado. Portanto, os grupos dominantes mantêm sua hegemonia.

The study was conducted in four rural communities of the Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The objective of the study was to determine the contribution of beef cattle farming to the income of communal households in Chief Luthuli Municipality. Data were analysed descriptively. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the factors that affect the contribution of beef cattle to income in the study area. It was found that beef cattle farming in the communal areas studied were practiced equally by women (50%) and men (50%). Over 50.5% of respondents were over 51 years old and 9.5% of youth participated in beef cattle farming. The literacy rate among respondents in the study area was 55%, including Grade 11 or below, Grade 12 and post matric education. Approximately 48% of the respondents relied on pension income, while 28.5% reported that the main source of income in their households came from a combination of beef cattle production and pension. 60.5% of the respondents were found to have more than 20 years of beef cattle farming experience, while 36.5% have between one and twelve years’ experience. The majority of the respondents (80%) grazed their cattle on the mountainside, 14.5% said they used communal grazing and 5.5% grazed their animals in their backyard. It was also found that 50% of respondents maintained up to ten head of cattle and the other 50% had more than ten cattle in their herds. Of the households that sold their beef cattle, 77% earned R 10,000 or less per annum while 23% earned between R 11,000 and R 60,000 per annum. Beef cattle farming were therefore found to constitute 19% of household income in the communal areas in Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality. The independent variables which collectively have a statistically significant influence on the income from beef cattle production at 5% level of significance were: number of beef cattle (t = 16.8, P < 0.000) and age at mortality (t = -2.59, P< 0.010). The number of beef cattle has a positive and statistically significant effect and mortality age a negative effect. It was concluded that the 19% contribution to household income coming from beef cattle farming in the study area was to be expected in light of the fact more than half (50.5%) of the respondents were older than 51 years old and 48% of respondents relied on pensions as a source of income. The danger is that because beef cattle farming in the study area have been marginalised as an agricultural activity, the rural poor are decreasingly engaging in beef cattle production as a source of income. / Agriculture / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-12-07Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:52:28Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lourenco_atc_me_sjrp.pdf: 715101 bytes, checksum: f6eda809d57aeb01f984d341986bcc68 (MD5) / Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores Y de Cooperacion / A bovinocultura de corte apresenta importância e crescimento de destaque no agronegócio brasileiro, liderando desde 2004 as exportações mundiais de carne bovina. Algumas áreas podem e devem evoluir para que o Brasil se consolide como sinônimo de carne bovina segura, de alta qualidade e com produtos de alto valor agregado. Neste sentido, este trabalho propôs avaliar o uso do ultrassom de alta intensidade para reduzir a carga microbiana em derivado de carne bovina sem o uso de temperaturas extremas, necessárias no tratamento térmico convencional. Considerando que a tecnologia de ultrassom disponível está relativamente bem adaptada para alimentos fluidos, estudou-se o efeito letal do ultrassom de alta intensidade sob pressão (manossonicação – MS) e em combinação com temperatura e pressão (manotermossonicação - MTS) na redução de Listeria monocytogenes em extrato de carne bovina diluído. Os tratamentos variaram quanto à amplitude da onda gerada com intensidades de potência transferida ao meio variando entre 92 e 240 W (ou 4 W/ml e 10,4 W/ml), pressão entre 1,0 a 4,0 bar e temperatura entre 40 a 60 o C. Os resultados foram expressos em função do tempo para a redução de um ciclo logarítmico ou 90% da população inicial de microrganismos (valor D). Os tratamentos proporcionaram até 4 ciclos de redução logarítmica da Listeria monocytogenes no extrato de carne bovina. Os menores tempos de redução logarítmica obtidos foram D MS de 1,12 minutos, determinado a 240 W (10,4 W/ml) e 3,5 bar, e DMTS de 0,16 minutos a 162 W, 2,5 bar e 60ºC. A manotermossonicação mostrou forte influência da temperatura do tratamento, com 2 ciclos de redução logarítmica em 5 minutos a 40 o C e 4 ciclos em 40 segundos a 60 o C, demonstrando um efeito sinérgico significativo ao redor de 60% entre... / The beef cattle industry is an important sector of economic growth on Brazilian agribusiness, leading, since 2004, the world beef exports. Some areas can and should evolve to consolidate Brazil as a synonym of high quality safe beef and high value-added products. This research project proposed to evaluate the use of ultrasound to reduce microbial load on a beef by-product without the use of extreme temperatures, usually required in conventional thermal treatments. Considering that the ultrasound technology is relatively well adapted to fluid foods, the lethal effect of high intensity ultrasound under pressure (manosonication - MS) and temperature (manothermosonication - MTS) was investigated to reduce Listeria monocytogenes in diluted beef extract. The intensities of the treatments varied according to the amplitude of wave generated, at power level of energy transferred to the medium varying from 92 W and 240 W (or 4 W/ml and 10.4 W/ml), pressure from 1.0 to 4.0 bar, and in the temperature range of 40 to 60 o C. The results were expressed in terms of the time required for one log cycle reduction or 90% of the initial microorganism population reduction (D-value). The treatments resulted up to 4 log-cycles reduction of Listeria monocytogenes in beef extract. The shortest logarithmic reduction times obtained were DMS of 1.12 minutes, determined at 240 W (10.4 W/ml) at 3.5 bar, and a DMTS of 0.16 minutes at 162 W, 2.5 bar and 60ºC. The manothermosonication showed a strong influence of treatment temperature, with a 2-log cycle reduction in 5 minutes at 40 o C, and a 4-log cycle reduction in 40 seconds at 60 o C demonstrating a significant synergic effect around 60% between 50 o C and 60 o C. Within the experimental operational conditions used, the manosonication and manothermosonication showed to be effective... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Orientador: Roger Darros-Barbosa / Banca: José Antonio Gomes Vieira / Banca: Ricardo Tokio Higuti / Resumo: A bovinocultura de corte apresenta importância e crescimento de destaque no agronegócio brasileiro, liderando desde 2004 as exportações mundiais de carne bovina. Algumas áreas podem e devem evoluir para que o Brasil se consolide como sinônimo de carne bovina segura, de alta qualidade e com produtos de alto valor agregado. Neste sentido, este trabalho propôs avaliar o uso do ultrassom de alta intensidade para reduzir a carga microbiana em derivado de carne bovina sem o uso de temperaturas extremas, necessárias no tratamento térmico convencional. Considerando que a tecnologia de ultrassom disponível está relativamente bem adaptada para alimentos fluidos, estudou-se o efeito letal do ultrassom de alta intensidade sob pressão (manossonicação - MS) e em combinação com temperatura e pressão (manotermossonicação - MTS) na redução de Listeria monocytogenes em extrato de carne bovina diluído. Os tratamentos variaram quanto à amplitude da onda gerada com intensidades de potência transferida ao meio variando entre 92 e 240 W (ou 4 W/ml e 10,4 W/ml), pressão entre 1,0 a 4,0 bar e temperatura entre 40 a 60 o C. Os resultados foram expressos em função do tempo para a redução de um ciclo logarítmico ou 90% da população inicial de microrganismos (valor D). Os tratamentos proporcionaram até 4 ciclos de redução logarítmica da Listeria monocytogenes no extrato de carne bovina. Os menores tempos de redução logarítmica obtidos foram D MS de 1,12 minutos, determinado a 240 W (10,4 W/ml) e 3,5 bar, e DMTS de 0,16 minutos a 162 W, 2,5 bar e 60ºC. A manotermossonicação mostrou forte influência da temperatura do tratamento, com 2 ciclos de redução logarítmica em 5 minutos a 40 o C e 4 ciclos em 40 segundos a 60 o C, demonstrando um efeito sinérgico significativo ao redor de 60% entre... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The beef cattle industry is an important sector of economic growth on Brazilian agribusiness, leading, since 2004, the world beef exports. Some areas can and should evolve to consolidate Brazil as a synonym of high quality safe beef and high value-added products. This research project proposed to evaluate the use of ultrasound to reduce microbial load on a beef by-product without the use of extreme temperatures, usually required in conventional thermal treatments. Considering that the ultrasound technology is relatively well adapted to fluid foods, the lethal effect of high intensity ultrasound under pressure (manosonication - MS) and temperature (manothermosonication - MTS) was investigated to reduce Listeria monocytogenes in diluted beef extract. The intensities of the treatments varied according to the amplitude of wave generated, at power level of energy transferred to the medium varying from 92 W and 240 W (or 4 W/ml and 10.4 W/ml), pressure from 1.0 to 4.0 bar, and in the temperature range of 40 to 60 o C. The results were expressed in terms of the time required for one log cycle reduction or 90% of the initial microorganism population reduction (D-value). The treatments resulted up to 4 log-cycles reduction of Listeria monocytogenes in beef extract. The shortest logarithmic reduction times obtained were DMS of 1.12 minutes, determined at 240 W (10.4 W/ml) at 3.5 bar, and a DMTS of 0.16 minutes at 162 W, 2.5 bar and 60ºC. The manothermosonication showed a strong influence of treatment temperature, with a 2-log cycle reduction in 5 minutes at 40 o C, and a 4-log cycle reduction in 40 seconds at 60 o C demonstrating a significant synergic effect around 60% between 50 o C and 60 o C. Within the experimental operational conditions used, the manosonication and manothermosonication showed to be effective... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

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This study attempts to identify factors responsible for determining differences in the productivity of cattle managed by communal and private livestock farmers in the southern region of Botswana during 1999/2000. It is hypothesised that herd productivity and investment in southern Botswana are higher on private ranches than on open access communal grazing land. This study is important because livestock, especially cattle, contribute significantly to the livelihood of farmers in Botswana. Cattle are a major source of meat, milk and draught power, and provide a store of wealth that protects against inflation and which can easily be converted into cash. Cattle production is also an important source of employment in the rural economy of Botswana. Furthermore, the export of beef is a major source of foreign exchange earnings, and cattle account for 80 percent of agriculture's contribution to Botswana's gross domestic product. A stratified random sample survey of communal and private livestock farmers was conducted in the southern region of Botswana from August 1999 to May 2000 with the assistance of four enumerators. The sample survey data were used to compute descriptive statistics and to estimate the parameters of a block recursive regression model. The model postulated relationships between agricultural credit, investment in fixed improvement, investment in operating inputs and herd productivity. Some of the equations are estimated with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and some with Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) to account for likely correlation between endogenous explanatory variables and the error term. Descriptive statistics show that levels of investment and herd productivity are higher on private farms than on open-access communal grazing. Private farmers are also better educated, more liquid, and have larger herd sizes, but do not differ from their communal counterparts in terms of age, gender, race or household size. The regression results show that (a) respondents with secure tenure and larger herds use more agricultural credit than those who rely on open access communal grazing land to raise cattle; (b) secure land tenure, higher levels of liquidity and use of long-term credit promote investment in fixed improvements to land; (c) liquidity from short-term credit and wage remittances supports expenditure on operating inputs; and (d) herd productivity increases with greater investment in fixed improvement and operating inputs. Herd productivity is therefore positively (but indirectly) influenced by secure land tenure. It can therefore be inferred that government should (a) uphold private property rights to land where they already exists; (b) privatise open access grazing to individual owner operators where this is politically, socially, and economically feasible; and (c) where privatisation to individuals is not feasible, government should encourage users to convert the grazing into common property by subsidising the costs of defining user groups and the boundaries of their resources, and enforcing rules limiting individual use of common property. This first-step in a gradual shift towards more secure tenure should be followed by the conversion of user groups to non-user groups organized along the lines of investor-owned firms where members exchange use rights for benefit and voting rights in a joint venture managed by an expert. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Text in English / Cow size influences biological efficiency of individual animals, which influences herd composition and stock flow. This in turn influences the economic efficiency of the herd. This research followed the thread from animal size, to biological efficiency, to economic efficiency for beef cattle production under a typical production system in semi-arid South Africa. Cattle were grouped into three groups namely small, medium and large cattle, with mature weights of 300kg, 450kg and 600kg respectively. The net energy requirements of individual cattle were calculated for maintenance, growth, lactation and foetal production, for each of the three sizes. Growth rates, milk yield, reproduction rates, and management practices were assumed from existing research. Next the stock flow for a herd of small, medium and large cattle were calculated from the above. Income and expenses as commonly used in the research area were calculated from the stock flow. Gross profit above allocated costs were subsequently calculated for the three herds under the above-mentioned conditions. When assuming similar reproduction and growth rates for small, medium and large mature cattle, the following results were obtained: more heads of small cattle could be held on a set resource base, but the total live weight of a herd of large cattle that could be held on the same resource base was greater. This was mostly due to proportionately lower maintenance energy requirements in the herd of large cattle. In the simulation in this study, maintenance energy requirements for the herd of large cattle was 71.2%, compared to 72.0% for the herd of medium cattle and 73.1% for the herd of small cattle. Income from the herd of small cattle was the lowest, as less kilograms of beef were available to sell. Allocated costs for the herd of small cattle were the highest, due to a large number of expenses being charged per head of cattle. As a result, the herd of large cattle were more economically efficient than their smaller counterparts. Income above allocated costs for the herds of large, medium and small cattle were R1,182,865, R1,085,116 and R946,012 respectively. Larger cattle generally have a lower reproduction rate under similar conditions. No equation exists that directly links size to reproduction rates, especially considering the vast number of variables that influences reproduction rates. However, in the form of scenarios, it could be calculated that, given a reproduction rate of 80% for mature small cattle, when reproduction rates of large cattle were 24.7% lower than that of small cattle and the reproduction rates of medium cattle were 15.4% lower than that of small cattle, the large and medium herds became less profitable than the small herd. Smaller cattle mature faster than larger cattle which provides the opportunity for early breeding. When small cattle were bred early, at 15 months, at a calving rate of only 44.5% it was more profitable than when the same cows were bred at 24 months. When medium cattle were bred at 15 months, a calving rate of 37.0% was needed to be more profitable than when they were bred at 24 months. Even when the herd of small cattle were bred at 15 months with a reproduction rate of 100%, it could still not match the profitability of the herd of large cattle bred at 24 months given the reproduction rates of all other classes of animals were similar. When the herd of medium cattle were bred at 15 months, at a calving rate of 53.7%, it matched the profit of the herd of large cattle that were bred at 24 months, when the reproduction rates of other classes were equal. Scenarios were considered were feed intake was limited. When feed was limited to a specific amount, smaller cattle were more biologically efficient and cattle with potential for small mature sizes would grow to a larger size than cattle with potential for medium and large mature sizes. When feed was limited by a factor of the calculated energy requirements of small, medium and large cattle, large cattle were more effective. This is because large cattle use proportionately less energy for maintenance, which allows more energy to be allocated to growth, lactation and foetal production. When energy was limited to an amount per unit of metabolic weight, small cattle were more efficient than medium and larger cattle in the growth and production phases. Small, medium and large cattle were equally efficient (or inefficient) in the maintenance and lactation phases. Energy requirements of cattle in South Africa are commonly calculated using the Large Stock Unit (LSU). The LSU typically overestimates energy requirements for cattle, except in the lactation phase. When using the LSU to match small, medium or large cattle to a resource base, the LSU overestimates energy requirements of large cattle proportionately more than that of small and medium cattle. This is excluding the lactation phase, where energy requirements for all three sizes are underestimated and that of large cattle underestimated proportionately more. There are more considerations when matching cow size to managerial practices. A smaller body size is a natural adaptation to a semi-arid environment and this adaptation can be expressed in different ways. The number of animals on a resource base has implications on management practices. Having more heads of cattle on a resource base increases genetic variation of the herd, allowing for genetic progress to be made faster than in herd of fewer cattle. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M.Sc. (Agriculture)