The Impact of Accounting Systems on Project Funds Absorption Capacity, Case Study of Agricultural Research Projects in Rwanda

Agriculture is the grassroots of America, yet if you walk into most college campuses across the United States and ask a student where their food comes from, the chances that they could tell you, is slim to none. With the vast growing population and increased demand, producers are striving to do their best to help feed the world. Thus, education is vital when it comes to agriculture, because alone farmers can only do so little, but together they can do so much. The production agriculture industry as a whole must collaborate to ensure that they can provide to consumers for years to come and sustain food security.

However, some believe, that a shift in the way we produce food may have some unintended consequences. They contend that poverty in nations such as Africa and Asia, is caused by the low productivity of the unindustrialized farm labor. The U.S. Agriculture Department projects, without reform, there will be over a thirty percent increase in the numbers of the ‘food insecure’ people in those nations over the next decade (Paarlberg 179).

By empowering countries to grow their way out of poverty, we can break the cycle of hunger and build a more stable world for future generations. New tools and technologies brought to struggling agriculturists is key. Trade is key to bringing food security to 800 million people that remain chronically

Subtly and Gradually U.S. foreign aid of crops has been damaging the rice economy in places like Haiti. In 2010 Haiti was the center of a catastrophic hurricane and the U.S. sent aid in many forms including that of food, post the settling of the aftermath of the hurricane aid kept coming to Haiti. “If aid were to disappear, you’d have a serious problem.” Said Tim Schwartz, Author and Aid expert, on Haiti. (11) The U.S. can not simply cut off the rice supply to allow farmers in Haiti to make more money, Haiti isn’t producing enough to feed everyone, and American rice is much cheaper. (2) Each year the U.S. sends subsidized farm products grown by farmers in Arkansas and Texas, it is then given to international aid organizations who may not needs that amount of rice. Aid workers then sell the rice at a heavily discounted price in the open market, then using the money to fund projects that the aid organizations are working on. (11) It’s part of the price support system in the United States because it gives a leeway to allow farmers to grow more products for a cheaper price, putting them on a mass production scale that has a constant buyer, the government, while distributing supply in accordance to U.S. population demands as to not have a surplus. (11) Farmers in the U.S. have claimed that if the U.S. government stopped subsidising rice they will have to let go of 1000’s of jobs that allow workers to be consumers and subsidise other industries in the U.S.

Water Scarcity: Water is essential to the growth of crops, lack of water would drastically lower the amount of agricultural yields. Lake Chad, pictured on the side, is on the border of four countries and is a huge water source. However, over the past 40 years, this lake has been shrunk to 1/20 of its size. Due to Chad being a land-locked country, it is dependent on this lake for water. The disappearance of Lake Chad has decreased food production as many crops are suffering from dehydration. The inevitable future can be predicted, if the drought and overconsumption of water continues to occur, Lake Chad will soon completely disappear leaving four countries high and dry. Technology and

The use of GM seeds is however just one example of how the global agricultural system has disrupted food production in developing countries, resulting in the structural violence of hunger. One of the greatest challenges confronted by farmers in developing countries is unfair trade practices, such as subsidies granted to farmers by developed states, coupled with high import tariffs. Bureau, Jean and Matthews (2005: 7) found that unfair trade practice negatively impact farmers in developing countries to the extent that they are unable to compete with their counterparts in the developed world, thus leading to agricultural economies failing to provide in the basic necessities of communities.

It is worth noting that the CAADP framework has demonstrated that it is relevant to accelerate the growth of agriculture in Africa and has made agriculture to be a top priority developmental agendum for many countries across the region, unlike in the past. It has gained political and international support for agriculture, CAADP has gained international financial support for Agriculture with the creation of a U.S. 60 million-multi donor trust fund for the implementation of CAADP.3

PGDM POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT (2009-2011) Submitted To: Mrs. Mukta Keskar Submitted By: Jyoti Mishra

For the purpose of this assignment I will choose Nigeria which currently falls into the category of a low-income country with substantial agricultural sector responsible for the bulk of its rural employment. Nigeria has a population of circa 180million with over 70% directly employed by agriculture. With a landmass of about 1million square kilometer and arable land constituting about 60% of the land mass. While Nigeria economy depends largely on export of crude oil, its non-oil export remains agricultural produce which contributes over 50% of GDP. Nigeria main agricultural exports are cocoa,

Agricultural challenges in certain regions (especially Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and Asia) correlate with poverty and hunger rates . In the How to Feed the World publication, The special challenge for sub-Saharan Africa, it

Agriculture is a very important sector in the Ghanaian economy. Although its contribution to GDP decreased from 43.5% in 1990 to 21.5% in 2013, it still remains a significant player in the economy of the country (Ghana Statistical Service 2008; ISSER 2011; CIA 2013). The agricultural sector employs about 60% of the workforce in Ghana and can therefore be regarded as the backbone of the Ghanaian economy (ISSER, 2011).

(A report submitted towards the partial fulfillment of the requirement of the two years full-time Post Graduate Diploma in Management.)

Gerardo Otero’s edited volume Food for the Few situates this debate in the context of the developing world, and specifically examines the introduction of agricultural biotechnology to Latin America. The book’s focus is on the social dimensions of biotechnology, and more specifically on examining the complex relationship between modes of agricultural production and rural poverty. Presenting an assessment based on empirical evidence, the authors argue that there are grave indications for the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of this technology in the Latin American context, and that the optimistic predictions put forth by advocates are not only misplaced, but woefully misleading. Otero et al. maintain that while production and productivity are certainly on the rise as a result of this adopted technology, the profits from this shift are not necessarily being distributed in an equitable manner, and are

The research and development community faces the challenge of sustaining livestock productivity in order both to improve rural livelihoods and secure environmental sustainability in the developing countries. Current understanding of livestock productivity is incomplete and, hence, the need to update existing knowledge and to assess the role of livestock farmers in bringing about a significant improvement to their livelihoods. In addition, there is a need to pay more attention to the relative contributions of livestock farmers to the different sources of their livelihood and the way in which these vary between households, the extent to which people are

4. 2009 RVHS Year 5 End of Year Exams Paper CSQ1: Challenges of the Agricultural Sector