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Youth Labour Market Assessment: Sri Lanka - 2018
No full textThe Youth Labour Market Assessment takes an in-depth look at youth employment and unemployment in Sri Lanka. This report examines 4 gaps; skills gap, aspirations gap, information gap and the structural gap, which are used to explain the paradox of high youth unemployment in a country which has a large number of job opportunities available presently. Bridging these gaps, especially in the high growth sectors in Sri Lanka is a priority for policymakers. Analysis from a primary survey of 2,000 youth and 211 employers are the main data source for the report. The report provides detailed insights on unemployed youth, constrained youth, employed youth, gender and entrepreneurship training. An abridged version of the full report is also made available, and provides key findings and recommendations that are pertinent to the private sector, donor community and vocational training providers. The report was produced for YouLead, a USAID-funded youth employability and business startup programme working to improve youth employability outcomes by addressing bottlenecks in the technical and vocational education and training sector in Sri Lanka
Data-Driven Optimisation of Irrigation Dose Using Machine-Learning Ensembles for Sustainable European Agriculture
No full textThis study focuses on predicting irrigation doses using digital technologies and statistical modelling to enhance water resource management in agriculture. Conducted as part of the CODECS project in the semi-arid Nitra region of Slovakia, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of various irrigation systems and to develop predictive models for optimal irrigation doses. The methodology integrates environmental sensor data, agronomic models, and machine learning techniques, utilizing IoT sensors alongside Valley and Irriga control software. A significant challenge was the incompatibility of heterogeneous data from different sources, leading to the creation of a unified method-ology for data collection, validation, and analysis. Analytical tools, such as ex-ploratory data analysis, correlation techniques, and regression models, were employed to identify key factors affecting irrigation efficiency, including precipitation, temperature, soil moisture, and energy consumption. The findings aim to inform sustainable irrigation strategies that reduce water usage, enhance crop productivity, and safeguard soil resources under changing climatic con-ditions
Mapeos alimentarios: aportes antropológicos para pensar cartografías colectivas en una organización campesina argentina
No full textThe objective of this research is to recover the construction and realization of a type of social cartography, called “food mapping”, by an Argentine peasant organization. Its nomination as “mapping” does not explicitly refer to a geographical place, but it allows to account for the way in which people situate themselves in the world and transform it, based on their food. This mapping is carried out mainly in the horticultural areas of La Plata and Buenos Aires (Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina), epicenters of food production, along with other localities in the country. From an anthropological and ethnographic approach and perspective, two techniques were used: i) the reading of the maps according to the frequency of the preparations mentioned in them, and ii) the observant participation and participant observation during the realization of the maps. The technique of counting the frequency of food and beverages on the maps shows that 8.3% of the preparations are natural, 74.9% are processed; 16.8% are ultra-processed, and almost 42% of the total are regional or typical. It also allows us to observe continuities and transformations in food consumption, such as the recreation of regional foods in new contexts, as well as the massive incorporation of ultra-processed preparations. From the field analysis, the discussion on the territorialization / deterritorialization and personalization/de-personalization of food; the productive, access and consumption processes linked to them; and the affective, family and collective memories that nestle in them are recovered. It is concluded that the implementation of this cartography exceeds its initial purposes, of reflection on food consumption in an individualized manner, to become a tool to characterize and reconstruct the transformations of the entire agri-food model. At the same time, it provides an epistemology that discusses a certain Argentine “peasant fiction”, by placing the subjects that produce food in a leading role in social history
Orville Lothrop Freeman -- Addresses, Statements, Etc., 1967
No full textRemarks by Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman to Farmer Cooperative Service Symposium on Non-Farmer Business: Problems for Farmer Cooperatives, University of Maryland, College Park, 6:30 p.m. (EDT), May 8, 1967: I want no one to misunderstand me when I speak of family farming. I'm not talking about subsistence farming. I'm not talking about retirement farming. I am talking about [the] farm — where the family provides most of the labor around the place; — where the family makes the major management decisions; — where the family gets most of its income from producing commodities for commercial markets; — where modern scientific and technological practices are efficiently applied; — where the family, in doing so, earns an income that is adequate — by city standards — to compensate for its labor, management, and investment. This is the kind of farming — family farming — whose continued success I ask you co-op leaders to assure
Evaluation of Climate Smart Agrifood System Innovations (From Screening to Scaling): A Tour of Good Practice
No full textClimate change and food insecurity require agrifood systems that are both productive and resilient. Climate-Smart Innovations (CSIs) offer practical solutions, yet their successful identification, evaluation, and scaling remain challenging. This guide presents a structured framework for advancing CSIs from early identification to large-scale impact. Developed for the USDA-funded Regional Agricultural Innovation Network (RAIN) project and grounded in the Research for Development (R4D) paradigm, the guide outlines five interconnected phases: Screening, Feasibility Assessment, Field Testing, Scaling Up/Out, and Impact Assessment. RAIN’s adapted “5S” model places particular emphasis on designing viable business models and engaging private-sector actors to support scaling. Across phases, the framework integrates technical, economic, institutional, and social considerations to ensure CSIs are relevant, adoptable, and sustainable—especially for smallholder farmers. The guide provides researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with a practical roadmap for translating climate-smart innovations into scalable, resilient agrifood system solutions
Wady i zalety wskaźnika cen towarów i usług konsumpcyjnych – szacunki obciążenia
Full text linkThe article deals with the problem of a measurement bias related to the consumer price index (CPI) for Poland. According to the authors, the bias is due to two basic factors: a substitution effect and the use of plutocratic weights for calculating the price index. The research was conducted comparing the CPI index published in Poland with superlative indices and a democratic index. The calculations were made on the basis of data from the 2005-2009 period. The research did not confirm the occurrence of an upward bias for the CPI index, the authors say, and the results point to a slight underestimation of the CPI as a result of the substitution effect and the use of plutocratic weights: by 0.1 and 0.3 percentage points respectively. The negative bias resulting from the substitution effect is an atypical result in the context of research for other countries. A deeper analysis revealed that this situation may be explained in two ways, the authors say. On the one hand, the lack of overestimation may be due to frequent changes in the structure of weights used to calculate the CPI, which leads to better adaptation of the indicator to changes taking place in the structure of consumption. On the other hand, the prices of consumer goods and services—which are subject to relatively stable demand—grew at a faster rate than the CPI index in the analyzed period, and a positive rate of growth has been observed in real household incomes over the past decade. In turn, the examination of the “plutocratic gap” revealed that the CPI (plutocratic) index for Poland is lower than the democratic index, the authors say. They conclude that the result of the examination of the “plutocratic gap” is compatible with research for other countries
Nierównowaga finansów publicznych w krajach Unii Europejskiej
Full text linkThe article aims to estimate the current level of public finance sustainability in the European Union, taking into account the starting fiscal position, the possibility of withdrawing fiscal impulses, the future costs of population aging, and possible financial market responses. The author achieves this objective by using an indicator method similar to that used by the European Commission. However, this method has been modified by diversifying projected GDP growth rates and public debt interest rates, Gajewski says. The assumption is that the interest rate may vary depending on the response of financial markets to the debt-to-GDP ratio. The author demonstrates that almost all EU countries have lost their medium- and long-term fiscal sustainability. Greece and Ireland appear to be the worst off among the analyzed countries, Gajewski says. Both these economies suffer from a high structural budget deficit and potentially high costs of population aging. Most other countries will also be forced to make strong fiscal adjustments to achieve primary surpluses far exceeding those in the period before the financial crisis. The calculations also show that Sweden, Estonia and Bulgaria boast the highest levels of public finance sustainability in the European Union, the author concludes
Mierzenie kapitału społecznego
Full text linkCelem artykułu jest krytyczna analiza istniejących wskaźników kapitału społecznego, połączona z próbą przedstawienia ogólnych rekomendacji odnośnie jego pomiaru. Artykuł opiera się na analizie dostępnej literatury, w tym: a) tekstów poświęconych definiowaniu i konceptualizacji kapitału społecznego, b) opracowań o charakterze metodologicznym dotyczących problemów z operacjonalizacją kapitału społecznego oraz c) przykładowych prac empirycznych wykorzystujących różnego rodzaju mierniki kapitału społecznego. W pierwszej części omówione są podstawowe trudności związane z mierzeniem kapitału społecznego. Druga część obejmuje zestawienie najważniejszych, wykorzystywanych w badaniach empirycznych, metod pomiaru kapitału społecznego oraz ich słabych i mocnych stron. Jak okazuję się, brakuje standaryzacji w zakresie stosowanych wskaźników kapitału społecznego, co wynika nie tylko z różnic w jego konceptualizacji, ale również z charakteru badanych zjawisk, silnie uzależnionych od kontekstu. Główną rekomendacją jest zachowanie ostrożności podczas doboru wskaźników kapitału społecznego, które powinny być zgodne z przyjętą w danych realiach badawczych, możliwie konkretną definicją kapitału społecznego. W wielu przypadkach oznacza to potrzebę odejścia od budowania wskaźników na bazie dostępnych danych wtórnych, na rzecz przeprowadzenia nowych badań empirycznych, np. inspirowanych omówionymi w artykule metodami analizy sieci społecznych, czy też generatorami pozycji i zasobów. W celu tworzenia coraz trafniejszych i rzetelniejszych wskaźników kapitału, m.in. poprzez doskonalenie pytań używanych w kwestionariuszach, można uzupełniać metody ilościowe elementami badań jakościowych. Co więcej, kapitał społeczny jest pojęciem wielowymiarowym i jako taki nie daje się podsumować pojedynczym wskaźnikiem, natomiast warto podejmować próby identyfikowania różnych wymiarów kapitału społecznego oraz badania związków zachodzących między tymi wymiarami
Determinanty polityki pieniężnej Ludowego Banku Chin
Full text linkThe article discusses the results of an empirical analysis of the determinants of monetary policy in China during the period of January 2000 to September 2010. The analysis was conducted using models of ordered dependent variables. The research took into account eight possible variables that could significantly influence the likelihood of changes in the annual deposit rate and the required reserve rate for the six largest banks: (1) real annual GDP growth in China; (2) the consumer price index (CPI); (3) the increase/decrease of real estate prices in the 35 largest urban areas in China; (4) the growth of retail sales of consumer goods; (5) the growth of China’s foreign reserves; (6) export growth; (7) the growth of loans to the non-financial sector; and (8) the purchasing managers index (PMI). GDP growth and lagged CPI inflation had a significant impact on the decisions of the People’s Bank of China on the required reserve rate in the analyzed period, the authors say. In turn, the future values of these variables were factors that influenced the level of the deposit rate. This suggests that, despite the lack of independence in shaping monetary policy, the decisions of the People’s Bank of China on interest rates were to an extent dictated by its own assessment of the outlook for economic growth and inflation. The study also revealed that the growth of real estate prices had a significant influence on the required reserve rate. This may be a harbinger of changes in the monetary policy reaction functions of key central banks in favor of a simultaneous use of monetary and macro-prudential policy tools to counter speculative bubbles on the real estate market. The applied research method did not make it possible to determine to what extent the demand gap and the deviation of inflation from the target influenced the decisions of the People’s Bank of China in the analyzed period, Borowski and Czerniak say. The role of these factors in China’s monetary policy is therefore an interesting area for further research, the authors conclude
The Importance of Food Prices in 2024 Election: Results from the Gardner Food & Agricultural Policy Survey
Full text linkThe election in November returned former President Donald Trump to office. Much of the post-election discussion centered on the impact of inflation, including some mentions on the importance of high food prices (e.g., Horsley, 2024; Lowrey, 2024; Sheffey and Hoff, 2024).
Over the past two years, the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey (GFAPS) has tracked issues relating to perceptions of food prices, often connecting the results to political preferences. For example, we have previously shown perceptions of affordability continued to drop (farmdoc daily, June 10, 2024; September 10, 2023) and concerns about inflation have remained persistently high, especially for Republican respondents (farmdoc daily, September 16, 2024). As candidates on the presidential campaign trail made promises to lower food prices, our results showed that the promises were landing with the public and that there was stronger belief that Republicans would be best suited for the job (farmdoc daily, August 26, 2024).
In this post, we review results from the eleventh wave of the GFAPS, conducted in November in the days following the presidential election. We specifically asked about what issues – including the economy and cost of living/inflation – impacted individuals’ voting decisions