Farmer-to-farmer extension: opportunities for enhancing performance of volunteer farmer trainers in Kenya

Farmer-to-farmer extension (FFE) is playing a complementary role to formal extension services in facilitating the spread of agricultural technologies and improving farmers’ capacities. The effectiveness and sustainability of such programmes depend on volunteer farmer trainers (VFTs) having technical skills and overcoming process-related challenges that hinder them from achieving the desired outcomes. This article uses quantitative and qualitative data collected from seven sites to explore the challenges experienced by VFTs as they share their knowledge on livestock feed innovations in a dairy development project in Kenya. Sustainable opportunities for enhancing VFTs’ performance are discussed.     

Rural development from the ground up: agro-food initiatives in Tasmania

Concerns about the decline of rural agricultural communities have recently refocused on new economic opportunities available in regional food production. This article analyses three on-the-ground case studies of rural development projects in Tasmania, Australia that aimed to develop new regional food opportunities. It analyses these projects to identify how local food producers can create viable economic alternatives in rural settings. The projects illustrate that the existence of regional food assets alone is not enough to guarantee economic development success: rural producers need connections into relevant knowledge networks if they are to identify and respond to new agro-food market opportunities.     

Collective action in small-scale mushroom production in Swaziland: does organisational form matter?

While substantial literature is available on the determinants of small-scale farmers’ participation in collective action, and the welfare impacts of producing and/or marketing collectively, studies on the likely implications of organisational form on producers’ collective behaviour remain scant. This article attempts to address this knowledge gap by using an example of different forms of small-scale mushroom-producing groups in Swaziland. Given the importance of collective action in sub-Saharan Africa, the overall results of this article provide valuable insights into alternative means of coordinating commercial small-scale agricultural activities, which can improve producers’ ultimate benefits while reducing the likelihood of internal free-riding.     

Erstwhile villages in urban India

In the process of urbanisation villages are becoming parts of cities or towns, and are becoming almost irreversibly transformed as a result. Erstwhile villages, now parts of cities and towns, are on the margins of an urbanising India. They are lagging behind other parts of the cities in terms of receiving basic urban services and infrastructures. Urban development processes should look at the specific issues and concerns of these villages independently from the need and scope of planning for the city at large. This would make the transition from rural to urban status fair and inclusive for erstwhile villagers.     

Farmers,peanuts, and aflatoxins in Uganda: A gendered approach

This article describes a collaborative research for development project that used participatory methods to engage smallholder farmers in Uganda in post-harvest aflatoxin management. It is based primarily on qualitative research with peanut growers tracing ‘the path of the peanut’ through their hand-drawn maps and journal writing. By focusing on everyday life and including recipes and drawings, this research encouraged women's participation and emphasised women's roles. A unique partnership among universities, women's organisations, and farmers created an environment of mutual learning and produced a book documenting food preparation and other post-harvest practices as part of a study and capacity-building effort on peanuts and aflatoxins.     

Identification of Natural Images and Computer‐Generated Graphics Based on Statistical and Textural Features

To discriminate the acquisition pipelines of digital images, a novel scheme for the identification of natural images and computer‐generated graphics is proposed based on statistical and textural features. First, the differences between them are investigated from the view of statistics and texture, and 31 dimensions of feature are acquired for identification. Then, LIBSVM is used for the classification. Finally, the experimental results are presented. The results show that it can achieve an identification accuracy of 97.89% for computer‐generated graphics, and an identification accuracy of 97.75% for natural images. The analyses also demonstrate the proposed method has excellent performance, compared with some existing methods based only on statistical features or other features. The method has a great potential to be implemented for the identification of natural images and computer‐generated graphics.     

马立克氏病病毒gB基因的克隆及重组鸡痘病毒的构建

通过PCR方法扩增了马立克氏病病毒 (MDV) 2 .8kbgB基因 ,并且在其两端加上PstⅠ和NotⅠ酶切位点。然后用PstⅠ /NotⅠ酶切回收 gB片段 ,插入到转移载体 pEFgpt12s复合启动子Spromoter的下游的PstⅠ /NotⅠ酶切位点处 ,构建了转移质粒pEFgpt12s gB。将该质粒与鸡痘病毒 (FPV)野毒 2 82E4株共转染鸡胚成纤维细胞 (CEF) ,通过MXHAT选择培养基进行筛选 ,蚀斑纯化 ,经PCR扩增证实重组病毒中含有 gB基因。重组病毒和FPV野毒在CEF上形成空斑大小无明显差别 ,病毒效价分别为 10 -5.43 TCID50 /mL和 10 -6TCID50 /mL ,表明外源基因的插入不影响所构建的重组病毒的生物学特性     

现代民法中自然人制度的反思与重塑

自然人作为现代民法中首要的民事主体制度 ,其本身的建构以及与其他制度的相互联系 ,无不体现文明的法治对人的终极关怀。笔者从自然人的本质入手 ,构造了理想状态的“自然人” ,然后从经济、法律文化的角度 ,借助历史的方法 ,指出在我国重塑民法上自然人制度的必要性。     

关于高职院校办学特色的思考

培养大批高素质技能型人才,是高等职业技术教育的根本目标。高职院校应从教育理念、办学定位、专业建设等方面不断挖掘办学潜力,寻找办学新途径,探索高职教育发展的新思路。     

宪政的理论基础探源

宪政是基督文化的内生物。近代的自然权利说和契约论思想为宪政的价值取向与制度构建奠定了理论基础和进行了实证分析。而人性至善论和等级论却是中国宪政之路的思维障碍。当代中国宪政目标的真正实现 ,必须首先实行法观念的更新。