Search Results (10)

In the United States, small and beginning (SB) farmers depend on institutional and elite customers to increase their farm income, whereas food-insecure communities lack alternatives for accessing and utilizing healthy local foods. This study examined two middle-of-the-chain organizations attempting to break the demand- and supply-related barriers faced by food-insecure consumers and SB farmers, respectively. The study suggests that deep engagement on both sides can facilitate the creation of a viable local food pathway. One organization serves as an aggregator for SB farmers while preventing the unrealistic expectations of institutional customers. A second organization activates food-insecure consumers’ agencies to conceptualize and transform locally sourced food into acceptable forms. It provides the necessary support to ensure the utilization of healthy, nutritious foods. When the two organizations’ missions are aligned, they can use an emergent, flexible, and adaptable approach with a continuous improvement mindset to increase SB farmer livelihoods and reduce food insecurity. Middle-of-the-chain organizations collectively should have more than one way to make local foods available, accessible, and utilizable by food-insecure consumers. A nonprofit social enterprise model of organizations in the middle seems central to the viability of the community-based food system. The system is still in its early stages. Further research is needed to examine its sustained viability. Full article

In rapidly expanding Indian cities, the current provisions for public urban green spaces (PUGS) falls below the minimum standards recommended by the WHO, linked with the well-being of urban dwellers. The local authorities are struggling to fulfill the supply side gap, with a disparity in PUGS provisions. Currently, the provisions focus on fulfilling the prerequisites identified by the planning agencies and do not appropriately address the urban greenspace demands. However, effective planning has been emphasized as a way to respond to the diverse, competing and changing demands of PUGS, allowing the incorporation of the needs and preferences of urban dwellers in the planning and management of PUGS to help determine their multifunctionality, usefulness, and popularity. In response, this study attempts to capture the demands of urban dwellers through local social data for neighborhood PUGS of the fast-urbanizing Nagpur. We attempt to assist local authorities in better understanding the provisions for planning and managing PUGS that can fulfil the growing PUGS needs of urban dwellers. Via a social survey of users and residents, we capture visitations, usage, activities, motives of visits, and perceptions about neighborhood PUGS characteristics. The findings highlight the determinants that influence the usage and favored activities. Urban dwellers have a strong tendency to use neighborhood “parks and gardens” due to their convenient proximity, emphasizing how crucial their location is in shaping urban residents’ engagement with these spaces. The socio-demographics shape the preference, and the locals hold negative perceptions about size, vegetation, amenities, as well as maintenance. The identified determinants (access and availability), influencing factors (socio-demographic), and the barrier to usage (negative perceptions) need prioritized attention from the local authorities to accommodate the diverse and competing demands of different sub-groups of the urban dwellers. Full article

Despite the commitment of the United Nations (UN) to provide everyone with equal access to basic services, the construction sector still fails to reach the production capacity and quality standards which are needed to meet the fast-growing demand for affordable homes. Whilst innovation measures are urgently needed to address the existing inefficiencies, the identification and development of the most appropriate solutions require a comprehensive understanding of the barriers obstructing the design and construction phase of affordable housing. To identify such barriers, an exploratory data mining analysis was conducted in which agglomerative hierarchical clustering made it possible to gather latent knowledge from 3566 text-based research outputs sourced from the Web of Science and Scopus. The analysis captured 83 supply-side barriers which impact the efficiency of the value chain for affordable housing provision. Of these barriers, 18 affected the design and construction phase, and after grouping them by thematic area, seven key matters of concern were identified: (1) design (not) for all, (2) homogeneity of provision, (3) unhealthy living environment, (4) inadequate construction project management, (5) environmental unsustainability, (6) placemaking, and (7) inadequate technical knowledge and skillsets. The insights which resulted from the analysis were seen to support evidence-informed decision making across the affordable housing sector. The findings suggest that fixing the inefficiencies of the affordable housing provision system will require UN Member States to accelerate the transition towards a fully sustainable design and construction process. This transition should prioritize a more inclusive and socially sensitive approach to the design and construction of affordable homes, capitalizing on the benefits of greater user involvement. In addition, transformative actions which seek to deliver more resource-efficient and environmentally friendly homes should be promoted, as well as new investments in the training and upskilling of construction professionals. Full article

The ability of farmers to acquire inputs through purchase from available markets empowers them with the autonomy and capacity to diversify inputs, consequently enhancing the resilience of their cropping activities to various shocks. This paper investigates whether climate shocks, particularly rainfall shocks, influence commercial input purchase decisions by smallholder farmers in contrasting geographic regions in Malawi, with a particular emphasis on fertilizer, agrochemicals, seed, and labor. The empirical approach integrates historical weather information, climate shock perceptions with a longitudinal household survey data set to model commercial input purchasing decisions using appropriate latent variable models. The findings suggest that exposure to recent rainfall shocks, especially droughts, stimulates commercial input purchasing across regions, especially in drier central and southern regions of Malawi. This result holds true for general input purchase decisions and for specific inputs such as agrochemicals, fertilizer, seed, and labor. Although drought shocks considerably increase the probability of acquiring inputs through purchase, they occasionally diminish the intensity of purchases. Both objective and subjective measures of lagged rainfall shocks are revealed as significant determinants of commercial input purchases across regions in Malawi. In addition to regional heterogeneity findings, further analysis shows that the relatively wealthier, male-headed families and those with access to information are more likely to invest in purchased inputs in response to drought shocks. Scaling up policies that remove demand- and supply-side barriers to smallholder farmers’ access to commercial inputs from available markets is necessary for adaptation to rainfall shocks. Full article

The relevance of this study stems from the fact that the development of a market for financial instruments can significantly expand lending opportunities for small- and medium-sized businesses. While research on the impact of tokenization on financial markets is extensive, literature provides virtually no description of mathematical models that can be used in the design and development of information systems issuing tokenized financial instruments. Thus, the study aims to develop mathematical models representing the transformation of the over-the-counter (OTC) securities market induced by the tokenization of underlying assets. The development of crowdlending platforms is gradually transforming the financial market landscape. The key change trends consist in transactional fragmentation both on the demand and supply sides. This paper proposes a mathematical model of internal transformation occurring in the OTC financial market, which describes the process of managing rights to underlying assets during their issuance and circulation. The model is built by analogy with the Harrison–Ruzzo–Ullman (HRU) model, applying the same principles to the relations of economic agents in exercising access rights to underlying assets as those that regulate access rights to files. The research novelty of the presented model consists in the formalization of financial market transformation occurring in the context of asset tokenization, which significantly expands the mathematical apparatus of digital financial transactions. This paper also proposes a mathematical model of competitive tokenization-induced transformation occurring in the OTC financial market, which describes transaction costs associated with attracting investment in the OTC financial market and the market for tokenized assets. In addition, the barriers of the OTC financial market and the stock market are described indicating the supply and demand trends in the context of transformation occurring in the OTC financial market under the influence of underlying asset tokenization. The novelty of this model lies in the mathematical formalization of the investment attraction process in the market for tokenized assets. The theoretical value of the developed models consists in the confirmation of significantly expanded supply capabilities of tokenized assets on the graph showing the dependence of asset returns on invested capital. Full article

Financial inclusion efforts have resulted in a rapid increase in access to financial services. However, the usage of these financial services has not expanded at the same pace, especially in rural areas. The paper explores the factors that have caused usage to lag behind access using a qualitative approach. Data is collected from two predominantly rural provinces in South Africa using focus group discussions. While supply-side factors of distance and transaction costs are important, demand-side factors, including lack of employment, low and irregular incomes, financial illiteracy, and risk and trust perceptions, play a more significant role. We suggest that creating an enabling environment for the development of mobile money could overcome proximity barriers and result in better inclusion of rural communities. There is a need to invest in technology to improve network and Internet reception in rural areas. In addition, the government needs to reconsider the exclusive issuance of e-money by banks. Partnerships with supermarket money markets also have the potential to expand financial inclusion. Moreover, post-adoption financial education should complement efforts to expand financial inclusion. Simplified and transparent cost structures could help resolve the mistrust of banks. Full article

Access to vaccination against a health threat such as that presented by the COVID-19 pandemic is an imperative driven, in principle, by at least three compelling factors: (1) the right to health of all people, irrespective of their status; (2) humanitarian need of undocumented migrants, as well as of others including documented migrants, refugees and displaced people who are sometimes vulnerable and living in precarious situations; and (3) the need to ensure heath security globally and nationally, which in the case of a global pandemic requires operating on the basis that, for vaccination strategies to succeed in fighting a pandemic, the highest possible levels of vaccine uptake are required. Yet some population segments have had limited access to mainstream health systems, both prior to as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic. People with irregular resident status are among those who face extremely high barriers in accessing both preventative and curative health care. This is due to a range of factors that drive exclusion, both on the supply side (e.g., systemic and practical restrictions in service delivery) and the demand side (e.g., in uptake, including due to fears that personal data would be transmitted to immigration authorities). Moreover, undocumented people have often been at increased risk of infection due to their role as “essential workers”, including those experiencing higher exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus due to frontline occupations while lacking protective equipment. Often, they have also been largely left out of social protection measures granted by governments to their populations during successive lockdowns. This article reviews the factors that serve as supply-side and demand-side barriers to vaccination for undocumented migrants and considers what steps need to be taken to ensure that inclusive approaches operate in practice. Full article

Over the years, South Africa has made significant investments aimed at transforming the agricultural sector to deliver on rural economic development and job creation. These investments have had varying levels of success; still, what is worrying is the high youth unemployment rate which is amongst the highest globally. We conducted a scoping review using the PRISMA-P guidelines to identify the challenges youth face in accessing sustainable employment in the agriculture sector. Peer-reviewed studies were retrieved from online databases (Web of Science, Cab Direct, and Science Direct) for 1994–2021. The findings showed that youth are still facing significant challenges in the demand and supply side of the labour market and lack of inclusivity in policy formulation and implementation, limiting their involvement in agriculture and rural development initiatives. Policies and strategies responding to these challenges exist, and the spectrum of support services provided are primarily focused on entrepreneurship. Yet, the implementation of programs and initiatives has not been successful. This could be attributed to the obstacles persisting in the sociopolitical environment in SA, causing additional barriers to program implementation. Therefore, to enhance youth involvement in agriculture and rural development, there is a need to connect more rural youth to support services, local employment programmes, and youth inclusion in policy formulation processes. Additionally, the focus of policy and programs should be broadened to cater to different youth knowledge and skill profiles. Full article

Oral health concerns in Eritrean refugees have been an overlooked subject. This qualitative study explored the access of Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers (ERNRAS) to oral health care services in Heidelberg, Germany, as well as their perceptions and attitudes towards oral health care. It involved 25 participants. We employed online semi-structured interviews (n = 15) and focus group discussions (n = 2). The data was recorded, transcribed, and analysed, using thematic analysis. The study found out that most of the participants have a relatively realistic perception and understanding of oral health. However, they have poor dental care practices, whilst a few have certain misconceptions of the conventional oral hygiene tools. Along with the majority’s concerns regarding psychosocial attributes of poor oral health, some participants are routinely consuming Berbere (a traditional spice-blended pepper) to prevent bad breath. Structural or supply-side barriers to oral healthcare services included: communication hurdles; difficulty in identifying and navigating the German health system; gaps in transculturally, professionally, and communicationally competent oral health professionals; cost of dental treatment; entitlement issues (asylum-seekers); and appointment mechanisms. Individual or demand-side barriers comprised: lack of self-sufficiency; issue related to dental care beliefs, trust, and expectation from dentists; negligence and lack of adherence to dental treatment follow-up; and fear or apprehension of dental treatment. To address the oral health burdens of ERNRAS, it is advised to consider oral health education, language-specific, inclusive, and culturally and professionally appropriate healthcare services. Full article

Despite poverty reduction and increased promotion of improved nutrition practices in the community, undernutrition in Ethiopia remains a concern. The present study aimed to explore the demand and supply side barriers that limit the uptake of nutrition services among pregnant women from the rural communities of the Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia. A community-based qualitative study was conducted in December through January 2017. A total of 90 key informant in-depth interviews and 14 focus group discussions were undertaken. Study participants were purposively selected for specific characteristics, along with health professionals deployed at various levels of the health system, including health posts, health centers, woreda health offices, and the regional health bureau. Study participants were asked to identify the barriers and implementation challenges that limit access to nutrition services for pregnant women. Participants’ responses were transcribed verbatim, without editing the grammar, to avoid losing meaning. The data were imported to ATLAS.ti 7 (qualitative data analysis software) for coding and analyzed using a thematic content analysis approach. The study findings indicated that the dietary quality of pregnant women in the study area remains poor and in some cases, poorer quality than pre-pregnancy. Across study sites, heavy workloads, food taboos and avoidances, low husband support, lack of economic resources, lack of awareness, low educational level of women, poor dietary habits, increased expenditure for cultural and religious festivities, “dependency syndrome”, low physical access to health facilities, poorly equipped health facilities, focus on child health and nutrition, poor coordination among nutrition specific and sensitive sectors, and limited sources of nutrition information were identified as the demand and supply side barriers limiting the uptake of nutrition services during pregnancy. In conclusion, the community would benefit from improved social behavior change communication on nutrition during pregnancy and multi-sectoral coordination among nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive sectors. Full article