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Agricultural Value Chain
An agricultural value chain is the integrated range of goods and services (value chain) necessary for an agricultural product to move from the producer to the final consumer. The concept has been used since the beginning of the millennium, primarily by those working in agricultural development in developing countries, although there is no universally accepted definition of the term. Background The term value chain was first popularized in a book published in 1985 by Michael Porter, who used it to illustrate how companies could achieve what he called “competitive advantage” by adding value within their organization. Subsequently, the term was adopted for agricultural development purposes and has now become very much in vogue among those working in this field, with an increasing number of bilateral and multilateral aid organisations using it to guide their development interventions. At the heart of the agricultural value chain concept is the idea of actors connected along a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Value Chain
A value chain is a progression of activities that a business or firm performs in order to deliver goods and services of Value (economics), value to an end customer. The concept comes from the field of business management and was first described by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, ''Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance''. According to the OECD Secretary-General , the emergence of global value chains (GVCs) in the late 1990s provided a catalyst for accelerated change in the landscape of international investment and trade, with major, far-reaching consequences on governments as well as enterprises . Role of the business unit According to Porter, the appropriate level for constructing a value chain is the business unit within a business,Michael E. Porter (1985) Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance. The Free Press not a division (business), business division or the company as a whole. Porter is concerned that analy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Governance
Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, interactions, Power (social and political) , power dynamics and communication within an organized group of individuals. It sets the boundaries of acceptable conduct and practices of different actors of the group and controls their decision-making processes through the creation and enforcement of rules and guidelines. Furthermore, it also manages, allocates and mobilizes relevant resources and capacities of different members and sets the overall direction of the group in order to effectively address its specific collective needs, problems and challenges. The concept of governance can be applied to social, political or economic entities (groups of individuals engaged in some purposeful activity) such as a Country, state and its government (pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agricultural Extension
Agricultural extension is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of 'extension' now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organized for rural people by educators from different disciplines, including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business studies. Extension practitioners can be found throughout the world, usually working for government agencies. They are represented by several professional organizations, networks and extension journals. Agricultural extension agencies in developing countries receive large amounts of support from international development organizations such as the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Extension terminology The use of the word 'extension' originated in England in 1866. Modern extension began in Dublin, Ireland in 1847 with Lord Clarendon's itinerant instructors during the Great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M-Pesa
M-PESA (M for mobile, ''PESA'' is Swahili language, Swahili for money) is a mobile banking, mobile phone-based money transfer service, payments and Micro-finance, micro-financing service, launched in 2007 by Vodafone and Safaricom, the largest mobile network operator in Kenya. It has since expanded to Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Afghanistan, South Africa and Ethiopia. The rollouts in India, Romania, and Albania were terminated amid low market uptake. M-PESA allows users to deposit, withdraw, transfer money, pay for goods and services (''Lipa na M-PESA'', Swahili language, Swahili for "Pay with M-PESA"), access credit and savings, all with a mobile device. The service allows users to deposit money into an account stored on their cell phones, to send balances using Personal identification number, PIN-secured Short Message Service, SMS text messages to other users, including sellers of goods and services, and to redeem deposits for regular money. Users are cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Application Software
Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not operating, administering or programming the computer. An application (app, application program, software application) is any program that can be categorized as application software. Common types of applications include word processor, media player and accounting software. The term ''application software'' refers to all applications collectively and can be used to differentiate from system and utility software. Applications may be bundled with the computer and its system software or published separately. Applications may be proprietary or open-source. The short term ''app'' (coined in 1981 or earlier) became popular with the 2008 introduction of the iOS App Store, to refer to applications for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Later, with introduction of the Mac App Store (in 2010) and Windows Store (in 2011), the term was extended in popular use to include desktop a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Factoring (finance)
Factoring is a financial transaction and a type of debtor finance in which a business ''sells'' its accounts receivable (i.e., invoices) to a third party (called a factor (agent), factor) at a discounting, discount.O. Ray Whittington, CPA, PhD, "Financial Accounting and Reporting", Wiley CPAexcel EXAM REVIEW STUDY GUIDE, John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2014 A business will sometimes factor its receivable assets to meet its present and immediate Money, cash needs.The Wall Street Journal, "How to Use Factoring for Cash Flo small-business/funding. Forfaiting is a factoring arrangement used in International trade, international trade finance by exporters who wish to sell their accounts receivable, receivables to a forfaiter.Please refer to the Wiki article forfaiting for further discussion on cites. Factoring is commonly referred to as accounts receivable factoring, invoice factoring, and sometimes accounts receivable financing. Accounts receivable financing is a term more accurately used to d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Knowledge Repository
The Open Knowledge Repository is the official open-access repository of the World Bank and features research content about development. It was launched in 2012, alongside the World Bank's Open Access Policy and its adoption of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license for all research and knowledge products that it publishes, which collectively made the World Bank the first international organization to completely embrace open access. The repository collects the intellectual output of the World Bank in digital form, disseminates it, and preserves it long-term. Contents The Open Knowledge Repository features books, reports, serials, technical papers, working papers, and work studies. Among its contents are World Bank Group ''Annual Reports'' and ''Independent Evaluation Studies'', books published by the World Bank Group, ''World Development Reports'', and articles published in the journals ''World Bank Economic Review'' and ''World Bank Research Observer''. The repository a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Committee On Sustainability Assessment
The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) is a global consortium of development institutions that work collaboratively to advance sustainability learning with systematic and science-based measurement. COSA applies a pragmatic and collective approach for using scientific methods to develop indicators, tools, and technologies to measure the distinct social, environmental, and economic impacts and are applied in performance monitoring, evaluation, return on investment (ROI) calculation, and impact assessment. COSA has a public mission to open its scientific methods and metrics up to widespread use. COSA's approach and indicators have a basis in internationally recognized accords and normative references such as those of the International Labour Organization, the World Health Organization Guidelines for Water Quality, the International Finance Corporation, the United Nations Global Compact, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, UN Framework Convention on Climate Cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brundtland Commission
The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, appointed Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, as chairperson of the commission. Brundtland was chosen due to her strong background in the sciences and public health. The Brundtland Commission officially dissolved in 1987 after releasing ''Our Common Future'', also known as the ''Brundtland Report''. The document popularized the term "sustainable development" and won the Grawemeyer Award in 1991. In 1988, the Center for Our Common Future replaced the commission. History Before Brundtland Ten years after the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, a number of global environmental challenges had not been adequately addressed. During the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Common Future
__NOTOC__ ''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published in October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian Prime Minister and Chair of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Its targets were multilateralism and interdependence of nations in the search for a sustainable development path. The report sought to recapture the spirit of the Stockholm Conference which had introduced environmental concerns to the formal political development sphere. ''Our Common Future'' placed environmental issues firmly on the political agenda; it aimed to discuss the environment and development as one single issue. The document was the culmination of a "900-day" international exercise which catalogued, analysed, and synthesised written submissions and expert testimony from "senior government representatives, scientists and experts, research insti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contract Farming
Contract farming involves agricultural production being carried out on the basis of an agreement between the buyer and farm producers. Sometimes it involves the buyer specifying the quality required and the price, with the farmer agreeing to deliver at a future date. More commonly, however, contracts outline conditions for the production of farm products and for their delivery to the buyer's premises. Contract Farming Resource Centre, FAO, Rome, 2008. The farmer undertakes to supply agreed quantities of a crop or livestock product, based on the quality standards and delivery requirements of the purchaser. In return, the buyer, usually a company, agrees to buy the product, often at a price that is established in advance. The company often also agrees to support the farmer through, e.g., supplying inputs, assisting with land preparation, providing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PG Tips
PG Tips is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom manufactured by Lipton Teas and Infusions. Brand name In the 1930s, Brooke Bond launched PG Tips in the tea market in the United Kingdom under the name Pre-Gestee, a variant of the original name "Digestive Tea". The name implied that it could be drunk as a digestive aid prior to eating food. Grocers and salesmen abbreviated it to "PG". Following the Second World War, labelling regulations ruled out describing tea as aiding digestion—a property that had been attributed to tea—and by 1950–1951 the PG name was adopted. The company added ''Tips'' referring to the fact that only the tips (the top two leaves and bud) of the tea plants are used in the blend. Products The Brooke Bond name has now been dropped from all packaging and the product is now known as PG Tips. PG Tips is available as loose tea, tea bags, and in vending formats. A "Special Blend" tea, which is the same as the tea blended for the brand's 75th annivers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
