<p>During 2008 we experienced an expansion of large scale investments in foreign farmland. This increasing trend has become a political hot-spot, but there is not much research available within the field. Due to a lack of research it remains a vital task to outline the potential effects of this trend. Drawing on existing ideas from some of the main actors within the field, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the latest G8 summit on agriculture, four main purposes are set out for this paper. First, to outline some of the underlying mechanisms behind the trend is considered crucial for the understanding of the nature of these investments. Second, this paper reviews how these actors’ deals with this trend in relation to one of the core objects in the field of Political Science, namely national sovereignty. Furthermore, this paper examines how existing ideas may affect the global vision of reaching a sustainable development and the global commitment to reduce poverty. Using key concepts of sovereignty, globalization theory, development theory and the green theory as a basis for comparison, this study reaches some interesting findings. Some of the key findings are;</p><p>- The actors, in the scope of this study, have a common understanding of the trend. Joint commitments and actions can therefore be expected from the international community.</p><p>- National sovereignty is not considerd when discussing the regulation of the trend. Furthermore, sovereignty is not equally distributed between rich and poor countries.</p><p>- Based on current ideas about development we will very unlikely be able to reduce poverty and at the same time reach the vision on a sustainable society. The two concepts are currently not compatible.</p>

<p>Det finns idag en stark trend bland företag att outsourca hela eller delar av sin ekonomi-funktion, det vill säga att anlita en extern redovisningsbyrå.<strong> </strong>Sveriges Redovisningskonsulters Förbund, SRF, har idag 4 500 auktoriserade redovisningskonsulter som medlemmar. Dessa anlitas av mer än 200 000 företag. Denna ökande trend har givit upphov till en helt ny och unik problematik kring hur granskningen av dessa företag ska gå till. Det finns i dagsläget en revisionsstandard, <em>RS 402: Revisorns övervägande vid revision av företag som anlitar servicebyråer</em>, som föreskriver att revisorn ska ta hänsyn till hur redovisningsbyrån påverkar företagens redovisningssystem och interna kontroll.</p><p> </p><p>Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ flerfallsstudie vars syfte är att undersöka vilka ställningstaganden revisorn ställs inför vid revision av företag som outsourcar ekonomifunktionen. Enligt uppsatsens utredningsmodell är revisorns viktigaste ställningstagande huruvida utlagda funktioner är väsentliga för företagets interna kontroll över finansiell rapportering. Om de bedöms väsentliga ska revisionsbevis i form av en RS 402 inhämtas eller då detta saknas test av uppdragstagarens kontroller genomföras. Den empiriska undersökningen visar dock att de revisorer som arbetar med små företag bedömer redovisningskonsultens kunskaper vara det viktigaste ställningstagandet. Få av dessa revisorer har kommit i kontakt med RS 402 i det praktiska arbetet.</p><p> </p><p>En ny revisionsstandard på området, ISAE 3402, håller dock på att utarbetas av International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) och förväntas införas tidigast under hösten 2009. Uppsatsen utreder även hur revisionsprocessen kommer att påverkas av införandet av den nya standarden. Den största förändringen i jämförelse med RS 402 förväntas bli att ledningen av servicebyrån på uppmaning av kundföretaget ska lämna ett intyg som försäkrar att de uppgifter man lämnat om företagets rutiner och kontroller är riktiga. Uppsatsförfattarna tror dock att det kommer att dröja flera år innan vi ser en ökning av dessa intyg och utlåtanden som beskriver redovisningsbyråns interna kontroll, då det finns en stor motvilja bland små företag, revisorer som reviderar dessa företag och redovisningsbyråer att omge sig med mer byråkrati.    </p>

Det finns idag en stark trend bland företag att outsourca hela eller delar av sin ekonomi-funktion, det vill säga att anlita en extern redovisningsbyrå. Sveriges Redovisningskonsulters Förbund, SRF, har idag 4 500 auktoriserade redovisningskonsulter som medlemmar. Dessa anlitas av mer än 200 000 företag. Denna ökande trend har givit upphov till en helt ny och unik problematik kring hur granskningen av dessa företag ska gå till. Det finns i dagsläget en revisionsstandard, RS 402: Revisorns övervägande vid revision av företag som anlitar servicebyråer, som föreskriver att revisorn ska ta hänsyn till hur redovisningsbyrån påverkar företagens redovisningssystem och interna kontroll.   Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ flerfallsstudie vars syfte är att undersöka vilka ställningstaganden revisorn ställs inför vid revision av företag som outsourcar ekonomifunktionen. Enligt uppsatsens utredningsmodell är revisorns viktigaste ställningstagande huruvida utlagda funktioner är väsentliga för företagets interna kontroll över finansiell rapportering. Om de bedöms väsentliga ska revisionsbevis i form av en RS 402 inhämtas eller då detta saknas test av uppdragstagarens kontroller genomföras. Den empiriska undersökningen visar dock att de revisorer som arbetar med små företag bedömer redovisningskonsultens kunskaper vara det viktigaste ställningstagandet. Få av dessa revisorer har kommit i kontakt med RS 402 i det praktiska arbetet.   En ny revisionsstandard på området, ISAE 3402, håller dock på att utarbetas av International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) och förväntas införas tidigast under hösten 2009. Uppsatsen utreder även hur revisionsprocessen kommer att påverkas av införandet av den nya standarden. Den största förändringen i jämförelse med RS 402 förväntas bli att ledningen av servicebyrån på uppmaning av kundföretaget ska lämna ett intyg som försäkrar att de uppgifter man lämnat om företagets rutiner och kontroller är riktiga. Uppsatsförfattarna tror dock att det kommer att dröja flera år innan vi ser en ökning av dessa intyg och utlåtanden som beskriver redovisningsbyråns interna kontroll, då det finns en stor motvilja bland små företag, revisorer som reviderar dessa företag och redovisningsbyråer att omge sig med mer byråkrati.

During 2008 we experienced an expansion of large scale investments in foreign farmland. This increasing trend has become a political hot-spot, but there is not much research available within the field. Due to a lack of research it remains a vital task to outline the potential effects of this trend. Drawing on existing ideas from some of the main actors within the field, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The World Bank, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the latest G8 summit on agriculture, four main purposes are set out for this paper. First, to outline some of the underlying mechanisms behind the trend is considered crucial for the understanding of the nature of these investments. Second, this paper reviews how these actors’ deals with this trend in relation to one of the core objects in the field of Political Science, namely national sovereignty. Furthermore, this paper examines how existing ideas may affect the global vision of reaching a sustainable development and the global commitment to reduce poverty. Using key concepts of sovereignty, globalization theory, development theory and the green theory as a basis for comparison, this study reaches some interesting findings. Some of the key findings are; - The actors, in the scope of this study, have a common understanding of the trend. Joint commitments and actions can therefore be expected from the international community. - National sovereignty is not considerd when discussing the regulation of the trend. Furthermore, sovereignty is not equally distributed between rich and poor countries. - Based on current ideas about development we will very unlikely be able to reduce poverty and at the same time reach the vision on a sustainable society. The two concepts are currently not compatible.

Foreign animal disease outbreaks can cause substantial economic losses. Policy makers need information on both the vulnerability of the food supply to disease epidemics and the impacts of alternative protection actions. This research focused on the assessment of the U.S. agricultural sector and human vulnerability to a Rift Valley Fever (RVF) outbreak and the value of a select set of alternative disease control strategies. RVF is a vector-borne, zoonotic disease that affects both livestock and humans; thus both animal and human consequences of an outbreak were examined. This research was conducted in two parts. Livestock impact assessment used an integrated epidemic/economic model to examine the extent of RVF spread in the animal population and its consequences plus the outcome of implementing two different control strategies: emergency vaccination and larvicide vector control. The number of infected, aborted, and dead animals is best controlled by coupling vaccination along with larvicide, but results in the second highest median national welfare loss. Therefore, careful decisions must be made as to what actions should be taken. Total national producer welfare is reduced with each scenario, and is more severe than the total national welfare loss (producer, consumer, and processor together). Consumer welfare is increased with each scenario due to a drop in prices of some commodities, and in some instances, an increase in supply as well. The majority of the national welfare loss can be attributed to the producers' and processors' loss in welfare. The highest damages are seen in the regions of the outbreak such as the South Central (SC). Other regions such as the Corn Belt, Lake States, and South East regions also see high damages due to price changes. The outbreak did not have substantial price effect on dairy products, but did have noticeable price changes for live cattle such as heifer calves, stocked yearling, and dairy calves. Prices for substitutes such as pork, chicken, and turkey experienced a price reduction, which can also be a factor resulting in consumer welfare gains. Human impact assessment utilized an inferential procedure for estimating the human consequences which comprise of a cost of illness calculation to assess the dollar cost of human illnesses and deaths, as well as a Disability Adjusted Life Year calculation to give an estimate of the burden of disease on public health as a whole. With potential costs above $2 billion for human illness, and with this number not accounting for loss or damages to other sectors of the economy, it can be highly probable that investing in a human vaccination campaign can be cost-effective and possibly cost-reducing. This cost along with the economic loss of the agriculture sector suggests substantial potential losses to the U.S. if this hypothetical situation were to become reality. Combining total loss estimates from the cost of illness and ASM models, potential damage of a RVF outbreak could range from 121 million to 2.3 billion US 2010$. The results of this study show the economic damages of an outbreak in the livestock population being much greater relative to the outbreak in the human population (roughly 16 times greater). It should be pointed out that both cost estimates are most likely under estimated. The animal outbreak is not incorporating all susceptible livestock (e.g. hogs and goats), and the human illness is not incorporating other damages to society (e.g. damages due to loss of tourism). By providing estimates on the potential economic outcomes, policy makers can better choose where, when, and how to invest their resources.

Government authority can, for public benefit purpose, take private ownership of land by compulsory purchase. Primary aim of this study is how to protect private land owners rights in spite of governments power of acquiring land. Bangladesh, as for details study, is a most densely populated country in the World. International best standards of practicing guidelines by FAO-UN, FIG and WB as well as other countries practice have reviewed from different perspectives. From theory, early stage negotiations, market value of property plus other damages, opportunity of involvement of all parties, protection of agricultural land , removal services all of those are the thorny of legal challenges to adopt into a new legislation in Bangladesh. Empirically, field study has conducted by way of interviewing from selected different projects in Bangladesh including largest project Padma Multiple Bridge. Huge destitute of land, unplanned city expansion, unsustainable development of infrastructure and environmental damage are remained as significant issues of sustainable development of land management. Analysis shows that Bangladesh has been losing 1% of agriculture land which related to the national employment and food production. 100% of the affected people wants to resettlement by the authority. There is clearly misusing of legal rights by the government authority: firstly, by using inequitable Acquisition and Requisition of Immovable Property Ordinance, 1982; no protection has been giving for religious place and graveyard under Antiquities Act, and Article 42(2) of Constitution also imposing unfair curtailment of rights for getting fair compensation. Finally, some recommendations have given for enacting a new legislation including planning permission, extended notice period, public meeting and review, agricultural land exempted, resettlement, valuation by valuers, in time compensation payment and right to Appeal.

No description available.

D. Tech. (Food Service Management, Department of Hospitality, Tourism and PR Management, Faculty of Human Sciences)|, Vaal University of Technology| / Background South Africa is one of the developing countries faced with the co-existence of undernutrition and overnutrition, often experienced within the same household. On the one hand, hunger, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies are linked to poverty and household food insecurity. Simultaneously, South Africans are exposed to ‘nutrition in transition’, where overweight and chronic diseases of lifestyle, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and cancer are on the rise as part of the overnutrition profile. Sound nutrition is important throughout the lifecycle to combat under- and overnutrition and nutrition-related diseases. In urban areas, the grandmother or another senior female family member is often responsible for caring for the children in the household during the day. This includes physical, emotional and nutritional care. It is therefore essential for the caregiver to have good nutrition knowledge, to provide not only in her own needs, but also in those of the children. A nutrition education programme is one strategy for improving the nutrition knowledge of caregivers of children. Objective The primary objective in this study was to develop, tailor, implement and evaluate a nutrition education programme (NEP) for Sesotho-speaking females and caregivers of children in the Boipatong Township in the Vaal Region of South Africa and to test its impact in the short and longer term. Nutrition knowledge regarding four South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) was empirically tested before and after the intervention and then compared to a control group. In addition, dietary intake was assessed to detect any changes after the intervention in the medium term. Methodology In this both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were applied. Two frameworks, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Framework of Malnutrition (2004) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Framework for Nutrition Education (1997), gave structure to the planning, implementation and evaluation of the research project. This study’s nutrition education programme was based on a socio-ecological model to guide behavioural change in terms of healthy food choices. In the preparation phase, a situational analysis was performed by means of a cross-sectional analytical design using descriptive statistics. Socio-demographic and self-reported health information was obtained. Nutrition knowledge, based on the South African food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs), was measured, and dietary intake was assessed and compared with the estimated average requirements (EARs) for their age categories. Phase two, the formulation phase, used an experimental design. The acceptability and understanding of the existing national nutrition education (NE) material for individuals with low living standards (LSM) was investigated in this phase of the nutrition education programme (NEP). A culturally tailored booklet was developed in English, translated into Sesotho, pilot tested and implemented as part of the nutrition education programme. Lesson plans were developed and pilot tested. A non-randomised control trial was used in the implementation and evaluation phases. The effect of the nutrition education programme on nutrition knowledge was quantitatively measured in a pre- and post-test design at each discussion session in the short term, using paired t-tests in the experimental group of caregivers. The evaluation phase tested the impact of the nutrition education in the longer term. Nutrition knowledge was measured quantitatively in a before-after intervention test design by means of a self-completed structured questionnaire, based on the four South African FDBGs included in the programme. A control group who was not subjected to any intervention was used to complete the same questionnaire before and after the intervention in the same time period as the experimental group. In the experimental group, dietary intake was assessed before and after the intervention to detect changes in dietary intake. No dietary intake was measured in the control group, as changes could be attributed to influences beyond the control of this study. Two randomly selected focus groups of the experimental group were run to provide deeper insight into their perceptions regarding the acceptability and understanding of the NEP and NE material. Results The situational analysis of the preparation phase revealed a poor community that displayed typical patterns of nutrition in transition, at risk of malnutrition. The median age of the sample of caregivers was 44 years (IQR 32-62). Income and consumption poverty was confirmed by 80.5 percent of households spending R300 or less on food, with 75 percent of households having between four and seven people living in the dwelling. Dietary results were indicative of food poverty and poor food choices, possibly due to monetary constraints. A low energy intake (median 5323 kJ/day; IQR 3369-7949), was observed. Only 13.9 percent reached the estimated energy requirement (EER) of 7855 kJ per day for their age category. The overall mean average requirements of the diet was 0.7 but the possiblity of micronutrient deficiencies could not be excluded with a MAR of 0.6 for vitamins and minerals respectively. The median nutrition knowledge was 50 percent (IQR 42-54%) The lowest score was obtained for the FBDG ‘Enjoy a variety of food’ (33.4%; 95% CI 1.1), followed by the FBDG on animal protein (40.3%; 95% CI 1.0). It was decided to augment these two FBDGs with the plant protein FBDG (54.3%; 95% CI 1.8). Despited a relatively good knowledge measured in the caregivers, none of the plant protein food items appeared in the top 20 food items most frequently consumed. The formulation phase included the testing of existing nutrition education material. Messages were well understood (60.5%). However, caregivers found the images contained in the pamphlets and the design of the pamphlets confusing. A definite need was identified for new, culturally acceptable NE material in the caregivers’ home language, Sesotho (74%). During the implementation phase the lectures were presented and the change in the short-term nutrition knowledge of the FBDGs was measured at every session by means of a pre-post-test design. The median age of the caregivers was 63 years (52-78). A significant change in nutrition knowledge was found for each FBDG in terms of the mean number of questions answered correctly by the participants between the results of each pre- and post-test. In the evaluation phase, the impact of the NEP was measured in the Boipatong experimental group and compared, regarding nutrition knowledge, to a control group in the longer term (three months after completion of the intervention). Median nutrition knowledge before the intervention was 49 percent (IQR 46-57) compared to 70 percent (IQR 68-73) after the intervention – an increase of 21 percent. In contrast, the control group showed an increase of only five percent. The results showed that the eating habits of many of the caregivers still fell substantially short of internationally recognised standards (estimated energy requirement (EER) and estimated average requirement (EAR)), and this could contribute to undernutrition as well as to an increased risk of diet-related chronic disease. A median kilojoule intake of 4788 kJ (IQR 3415-6596) per day before and 4651 kJ (IQR 3369-6664) per day after the intervention was registered. Carbohydrate foods remained an important source of energy. Calcium presented a major concern, as none of the participants reached the EAR despite a slight increase in the intake of milk (volume and frequency) after the intervention, as validated by the top 20 food lists and as measured by a nutrient average requirement (NAR) of 0.1 to 0.7 before and after the intervention respectively. The mean average requirements (MAR) remained relatively stable, at 0.7 (median) before the intervention and 0.6 after the intervention. The NEP thus had an insignificant positive effect on dietary intake, except for calcium, iodine and vitamin C intake, which showed significant increases. No relationships could be found between the MAR as an indicator of dietary quality and nutrition knowledge. However, this does not mean that an NEP is not a suitable strategy. Changes in food choices and dietary intake should be measured in the longer term, since lifestyle changes are challenging to adopt when people, especially those in deprived communities, do not have the financial means to make healthy food choices. Conclusion When planning nutrition education strategies to improve the health status of communities in deprived areas, one is faced with the difficulty of households with a low socio-economic status and poor dietary intake, which increases the risk of food and nutrition insecurity. The nutrition education programme, developed, tailored and implemented as an intervention strategy to address an identified need of caregivers, was effective in improving nutrition knowledge. Four of the South African dietary guidelines were used in the nutrition education programme tailored to the specific profile that emerged from the situational analysis and the development of supportive nutrition education material. Lesson plans and the Sesotho and English booklets are available for use in other nutrition education programmes. The study contributed to the understanding of food choices of the urban community of Boipatong as well as of the nutrient inadequacies observed. Nutrition knowledge alone is not enough to bring about changes in food choices when the means to do so are lacking. Poverty and nutrition are closely linked and thus difficult to separate.

Les outils de simulation sont des moyens pour faciliter la mise en place d'une production sur les Machines Outil à Commande Numérique, ces outils sont devenus très courants dans l'industrie et, par conséquent, dans l'éducation. Plusieurs problèmes importants émergent, telles que des questions d’ordre pédagogique, des aspects liés à l’ergonomie des interfaces, le coût d'acquisition de l'équipement et d'adaptabilité des étudiants aux multitudes de logiciels de fabrication assistée par ordinateur, de ce fait le problème de la sélection du logiciel est soulevé dans l'éducation afin d'assurer une efficacité des processus d'enseignement et d'apprentissage des étudiants.Cette thèse est conduite dans l’objectif d’étudier une méthodologie pour sélectionner un logiciel de FAO qui pourrait être efficace en tant que support d’apprentissage de la FAO en premier cycle des universités techniques, des écoles d’ingénieurs et autres établissements similaires. Les facteurs déterminants l’efficacité des étudiants utilisant un logiciel dans leurs apprentissages de la FAO ont été déduits du cadre théorique de la thèse qui s’est basé sur la théorie de l’activité. Cette théorie prend en considération le contexte global de cette activité d’enseignement-apprentissage de la FAO à savoir l’étudiant, l’artefact, le professeur, l’établissement et la communauté des éditeurs de logiciels.Le traitement statistique des données recueillies à travers les réponses d’un échantillon de 50 étudiants ont été élaboré dans le but de confirmer nos hypothèses sur les principaux critères d'évaluation de logiciel de simulation en éducation. / Simulation tools as means to facilitate setting up a production have become very common in industry and, therefore, in education. Among several significant problems, like pedagogical issues, the cost of equipment acquisition and the adaptability of students to the multitude of Computer-Aided Manufacturing, it is raise in education the problem of selecting software in order to ensure maximum effectiveness of teaching process and students learning.This research study was designed to investigate a methodology to select CAM software that could be effective as a support of CAM learning in university, taking into account different features of CAM learning. We determine the student effectiveness in learning factors of CAM software and further, determine the relationship between the different main factors. The research was conducted using a questionnaire submitted to 50 students attending the second academic year of Mechanical Design and Production. The study provides results from empirical test of these relationships and provides criteria for evaluation simulation of software in education.

The objective of this study is to conduct a cost/effectiveness analysis of the computation of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) in the peninsular of Florida. A meteorological station on the Fort Meade Mine in Polk County, Florida was used to provide data for the calculation of ETo. Five ETo equations were tested to determine the accuracy and cost/effectiveness to the fully measured ASCE Penman-Monteith (Full ASCE-PM) equation on daily, monthly, and annually time steps. The ETo equations ranged in amounts of parameters from the Full ASCE-PM to the Hargreaves. The energy terms accounted for approximately 90% of the total ETo flux. Solar radiation alone also accounted for approximately 90% of the total ETo flux. The highest cost-effectiveness ratios were equations that were able to accurately estimate values without relying on expensive meteorological equipment and/or omitted terms that had a lesser influence on the magnitude of ETo. The seasonal variability in the climate and consequently the emphasis of each meteorological parameter on ETo will create seasonal errors in the reduced sets of the ETo equations. Large seasonal errors were associated with temperature based ETo equations, while solar radiation based ETo equations accurately preserved the seasonal trends. At least in Florida, solar radiation is the key driving force in both the magnitude and the seasonality of ETo.