Social, economic and cultural perspectives of European inland fisheries: review of the EIFAC symposium on fisheries and society

The contributions presented at the EIFAC Symposium on Fisheries and Society in 2000 are reviewed. There have been considerable advances in many sectors of inland fisheries over the past decade. Nowadays the value of inland fisheries to society is generally better understood and increasingly recognized. However, it was recognized that the allocation of fishery resources and their management could still be made more effective through more extensive application of the recent approaches and techniques discussed during the Symposium and reviewed in the paper.     

Economic potential of agroforestry for public recreational parks

The availability of public recreational facilities is being threatened by growing demands, limited supplies, and declining government funding. In response to these pressures, the economic potential of agroforestry for supplementing operating budgets of public recreational parks is examined in a case study park consisting of 324 hectares. Agroforestry enterprises native to the area were selected for development on 70 hectares of the site. Linear programming was used to determine the optimum combinations of 23 agroforestry regimes composed of the following activities: 1) conventional forestry planting, tree density of 1682 trees/hectare, 2) the selected agroforestry planting with hay, tree density of 1495 trees/hectare, 3) the selected agroforestry planting with grazing, 4) hay production, and 5) rental of pasture for grazing. The objective function of the study was to maximize the net present value of the study site subject to land, labor, capital, and minimum annual income constraints. The preferred optimal regime generated $1782 per hectare from an agroforestry planting configuration of 1495 trees/hectare with 75 percent hay, 25 percent grazing, and no annual income requirements. Minimum annual income requirements of $2400 and $4800 were feasible but suboptimal from a net present value criteria. The study found that agroforestry could be used to privatize selective activities of public recreational parks and thus enable public agencies to provide these facilities more effectively.     

中东欧前社会主义国家森林私有化概况与发展趋势

概括介绍了中东欧前社会主义国家林权私有化的现状、面临的种种挑战和发展趋势。     

Livestock Services and the Poor

This paper reviews the economic framework for the delivery of livestock services to the poor. It is argued that the demand for livestock products is likely to increase rapidly and the ability of the poor to participate in the opportunities presented by this growth is linked critically to the availability of good service support, both on the input and output side. Governments therefore have a responsibility to supply the necessary public goods (including the institutions and legal frameworks), and the market infrastructure for facilitating the emergence of efficient markets for livestock services. The paper further argues that the dynamics of public policy in developing countries are much more complex than the simple application of economic logic. It is the larger political economy that often dictates policy choices. It is therefore important to integrate political economy and governance issues into the economic debate on livestock service delivery. The paper also reviews the context in which the markets for livestock services will need to function. Different countries are facing very different sets of issues, and the identification of possible interventions in livestock service markets would require careful field research and analysis. In this context, the paper suggests the elements of a research agenda for the next few years.     

Profile of Veterinarians and Veterinary Practice in Ghana

This paper presents a profile of veterinary practice and veterinarians in Ghana, as assessed through secondary data and a questionnaire. In all, 123 veterinarians responded, giving a response rate of 85% (123/145). Analysis of the secondary data from 1986–95 revealed that Veterinary Livestock Units (VLU) per veterinarian ranged from 10000 to 16000 and VLU per technical support staff ranged from 2000 to 3000. However, the distribution of the staff within the country was poor, resulting in very high ratios for the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Volta Regions and low ratios for Central, Ashanti and Eastern Regions. The bulk of the respondents (78%) had 15 or fewer years of experience, with the overall mean being 12 years. The most common animal species handled were small ruminants and the most common activities were prevention/treatment of worms, surgery and giving advice. Lack of transport ranked highest among the constraints to veterinary work. The perceived determinants of effective and efficient service delivery were the availability and efficiency of means of transport, adequacy of logistics, remuneration for staff in rural posts and farmer education in husbandry practices. The respondents perceived poor management techniques of farmers and lack of credit as major factors hindering livestock production in Ghana. The implications of these and other findings are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

产权社会化

产权社会化与产权私有化、公有化之间既有区别又有联系。产权社会化作为一种经济制度,其合理性判断的依据是是否最大限度地实现社会公正。实现产权社会化是我国国有企业改革的最终出路。     

保加利亚农村土地私有化及对我国的启示

社会主义时期保加利亚实行高度集中的农业经营体制。私有化转轨后,保加利亚把土地退还给社会主义集体化时的土地所有人或者继承人。保加利亚农地私有化进展并不顺利,私人农场未形成主导地位,新的农业合作社成为农业生产的主要经营组织形式,农业生产经历了大幅度下降后恢复缓慢。保加利亚农地私有化对我国农地制度改革具有重要的启示:私有化不是政府的一厢情愿,私有化不是解决问题的灵丹妙药,必须高度重视和培育适宜改革的宏观经济环境。     

Perceived Constraints to Privatization of Delivery of Veterinary Services in Ghana

Ghana is on the verge of privatizing selected activities in the delivery of animal health services. However, various constraints are being encountered. The aim of this paper is to identify these constraints so as to help find solutions to them.Questionnaires were administered to veterinarians in Ghana to elicit their responses on various issues concerning privatization. A significant proportion (61%) of government veterinarians, who formed 94% of the respondents, were unwilling to go into private practice. Among the reasons given were that private practice was too risky, that farmers were unwilling or unable to pay for services, that capital to start practices was lacking and that the societal value for animals was low. Also, low livestock densities in many areas and the absence of commercial livestock farming were perceived as deterrents to the sustainability of private practice. Furthermore, the poor macroeconomic environment of high inflation, high interest rates and unstable currency discouraged investment.If privatization of veterinary services is to succeed in Ghana, these perceptions have to be addressed and solutions found, since veterinarians are the targets of the privatization process.     

论公共行政民营化的法理基础

公共行政民营化一般分为组织民营化与任务民营化,具体形式更是多样化。国家任务、国家权力的范围与运用都涉及公共利益。法律保留与法律优先理论会随着时代的发展而调整,一般来说,公共行政民营化实施没有法理障碍,即使干涉行政也可以通过功能、手段实现民营化,但考虑民营化涉及到公益以及人权保障,原则上仍有法律保留的必要,只是密度大小不同而已。     

Forest policy reform and the restructuring of the forest industry in Russia

The Russian forest is the last big wood basket of the international timber market and the conservation of the Russian forest is critical to protect global environment. There is a strong need to analyze present situation of forest policy and forest industry in Russia. The basic direction of forest policy reform of Russia is decentralization and introduction of market principles. However, the lack of specialists in forest policy in the regions and the conflict between central and regional governments has accelerated the confusion of forest policy. Forest management organizations cannot spare enough money for forest management because of the financial crisis of Russian government. Forest industry has also deteriorated. Although privatization of the forest industry was completed, it did not improve the management of enterprises and they could not survive the economic crisis. Output of the forest industry has decreased and most enterprises came close to bankruptcy. Under these circumstances, the former regional amalgamation of forest industry, which has accumulated hard currency earned by timber export, re-took control of the industry and tried to increase timber exports even more. However, logging enterprises, facing economic crises, cannot observe forest regulations and forest management organization cannot control these violations. A recovery of forest industry may accelerate the degradation of forest resources in Russia.