Managers of multiple-use forest areas in the tropics are often encouraged to assist resident and neighboring populations to market the non-timber benefits of those areas, thus giving them an incentive to conserve the forest. Markets for non-timber forest products (resins, nuts, etc.) are often very thin, however, with fluctuating prices and few households participating. In this situation, one m...

The use of clay materials for the production of emulsion paints was investigated. Two types of clay: White tinged with Purple and Smooth clay (WSP) and Grey Brown and Coarse clay (GBC), were used for the production of Emulsion Clay Paints (ECP). Conventional Chemical pigmented Paint (CP) was also produced as a control. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, (AAS) was used to determine the chemical com...

This paper provides a theoretical explanation for the widely debated empirical finding of “Environmental Kuznets Curves”, i.e., U-shaped relationships between per-capita income and indicators of environmental quality. We present a household-production model in which the degradation of environmental quality is a by-product of household activities. Households can not directly purchase environment...

There is limited literature on how to engage the rural women in agriculture and improve their contributions to household food security and income. This study aimed to contribute to literature on women engagement in agriculture through vegetable production using good agricultural practices. The empirical data used were drawn from technology demonstrations and experimentation, learning fields, an...

Household food security remains a challenge in South Africa. The national government instituted the Integrated Food Security Strategy (IFSS) programme which identifies household agricultural production as an important element of improving household-level food security. Agricultural extension is well positioned to help achieve this aim, but its current contribution is unknown. This study identif...

In this study, we use the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to examine welfare and growth effects of expanding grain-based fuel ethanol production in China. The results show that reasonable development of grain-based fuel ethanol will accelerate China’s economy, improve rural household income, and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. However, expanding the production of grain-...

Several non-government organizations (NGOs) have introduced a major rural development program to increase agricultural productivity in Tigray, Ethiopia, by implementing water resource projects such as microdams and afforestation of surrounding watersheds. A potential negative impact from these projects is the spreading of diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis from seasonal events to a ye...