Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to analyse the international trade performance of the South African agricultural industry in aggregate and by product group categories. A useful tool in this regard is the Gini and intra-industrial trade coefficient (IIT), which is used to examine the international trade balance of South Africa. Moreover, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) is also used to identify factors that may be necessary to achieve high IIT. The IIT coefficient, after 1994, achieved more than 85 percent, which is a re…

Abstract: This paper focused on the spatial and typological analysis of the economic activities of a major entrepreneurial sector of agricultural economy: pig farming. By applying the K-Mean Cluster analysis methodology, the “profile” of various pig farms was studied, regarding the geographical region, corporate structure, educational level of their owners and the type of invested capital. The K-Mean Cluster analysis results indicated that there were three clusters of farms that verified its criteria. The farms in first clus…

Abstract: Most sub-Saharan African leaders seem to misunderstand the development concepts or ideas by embracing the African socialist system as a path of economic development. The leaders focused on strong nationalist sentiments and economy of affection and neglected the rural development, a sine qua none condition of economic growth and development in Africa. This study defines the development concepts and different economic systems, analyzes the relationship between governance, leadership and development, describes the com…

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to critically examine the role of credit rating agencies in the sub-prime crisis. The paper traces the development of the sub- prime crisis from its origin till the aftermath. It studies the weaknesses of credit rating agencies in performing their basic function of timely and accurate rating of bond obligations. The paper then scrutinizes the diversification of credit rating agencies into the structuring and rating of complex securitized products. This raises fundamental issue of the…

Abstract: In order to establish reasons for their success and failure (defining failure as incapability to meet financial obligations, e.g. defaults), a study was undertaken to determine the problems faced by emerging or developing farmers, who are clients of, or are /funded by the Land Bank. Results from this study revealed that the farmers’ perceptions do depict a lack of capacity on essential prerequisites for their businesses, especially, their perception on the value of extension support and business plans. The objectiv…

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the poverty reduction impact of various potential biofuel crops in South Africa. A simple pro-poor development framework (in which income is substituted for by its function) is specified. After analysis for outliers with considerable leverage, a robust regression option was used to carry out estimations for physical output, values and inputs of each crop. For reasons of data availability, the crops considered were maize, wheat, sorghum and sugarcane for bioethanol, and groun…

Abstract: The study was conducted in the Kumasi metropolis of the Ashanti region of Ghana to examine the margins and economic viability of fresh coconut marketing. Cross-sectional data was randomly collected from 120 individual fresh coconut marketers in market centers across the metropolis and analyzed, using Deconstructed Marketing Margins and Return on Capital Employed. The study revealed that fresh coconut marketing in the Kumasi metropolis is a viable venture that employs people within the economically active age group…

Abstract: The study focused on the costs and returns of small- scale vegetable production in Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. A total of 150 respondents were interviewed using questionnaire. The production system and socio economic characteristics of the farmers were evaluated. Vegetable production was found to be profitable with a Benefit – Cost Ratio (BCR) of 1.64 and the return per capital invested was found to be 0.50k. The regression analysis showed that variables such as, cost of labour, cost of…

Abstract: This study investigates the determinant factors of economic efficiency in Cote d’Ivoire. We estimated a stochastic production frontier by the maximum likelihood method. For a deeper analysis, we considered a cost frontier and compared the scores of efficiency for each industrial sector. The findings of an investigation of about 3,000 firms observed from 2003 - 2006 reveal that the Ivorian economy is not economically efficient as a consequence of the ensuing: socio-political instabilities; outside debt burden; unemp…

Abstract: Gender mainstreaming has, for some time now, been identified as a paramount issue in development of resource-poor societies, and particularly, the women whose access to productive resources is limited due to tradition, culture and other socio-economic constraints. This research paper investigates the influence of Gender in management on the level of efficiency of food crop farms in Ghana. The study specifically: compares the technical efficiency scores of farms with male entrepreneurs and those with female entrepre…

Abstract: This study examined the impact of market liberalization on maize production in Nigeria. Time series data for a 29-year period (1970 - 1998) were collected. Zellner’s seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model was used as the estimation technique. Output of maize was found to be more during liberalization. Fertilizer price and hectarage planted to maize were the significant variables affecting maize output. Fertilizer consumption was found to be affected by hectarage planted to maize and crop loan. Retail price of f…

Abstract: Given the critical importance of the non-farm sector in rural Bangladesh, this paper examines the comprehensive effects of non- farm incomes on poverty reduction, namely, household production and consumption. The study was based on the original field survey with data from about 175 small households in advanced villages of Bangladesh. Standard micro-econometric techniques were used for the empirical analyses. The study found that the small households in advanced villages were in a stage that their non-farm incomes d…

Abstract: Iran is one of the largest Asian countries with arid and semi-arid weather, but can produce most food crops due to special geographical position. In order to determine seasonal prices (SPV) variations in some food crops, this study was carried out at Karaj city of Iran in 2009. In this experiment, four groups of food products were used. The first group includes tree fruits (orange, apple and pomegranate), the second includes the kitchen garden fruits (watermelon, melon and cantaloupe), the third includes greenhouse…

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to extend the truncated and endogenously stratified Poisson and negative binomial models to three alternative discrete distributions, namely the generalized Poisson, geometric and Borel distributions. Our primary intention here is to demonstrate how the improper treatments of the data generate divergent outcomes by applying those results to the recreation trip data surveyed from the visitors to an indigenous horse park in Japan. Our empirical application shows that failure to account for ov…

Abstract: The objectives of this study were to assess and compare the levels of adoption of agro-forestry technologies between trained and untrained farmers, and identify specific factors that affect adoption of technologies. Data from 300 smallholder farmers selected by snowballing from villages where change agents had been trained by the International Center for Research in Agro Forestry was collected using structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science and Microsoft…