The paper assesses the extent to which sampling variation affects findings about Malmquist productivity change derived using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), in the first stage calculating productivity indices and in the second stage investigating the farm-specific change in productivity. Confidence intervals for Malmquist indices are constructed using Simar and Wilson’s (1999) bootstrapping pr...

This paper presents an in-depth investigation of the livelihood strategies of Fulani pastoralists in north central Nigeria. Results show a diversified crop-livestock system aimed at spreading risk and reducing cattle offtake, adapted to natural resource competition and insecurity by extensification, with further diversification into off-farm activities to spread risk, increase livelihood securi...

Introduction The objective of this chapter is to investigate the relationship between the growth of off-farm employment opportunities and educational attainment in rural China. Since the beginning of the reform era in the late-1970's off-farm employment has surged and education levels have risen dramatically. However, a persistent gap has formed between rural and urban areas, both in terms of i...

BACKGROUND Obesity is prevalent in rural communities in Canada, however little is known about the social determinants of health and obesity in rural populations. Socioeconomic status has been found to be inversely associated with the risk of obesity in developed countries. This study investigated the relationship between income adequacy, education and obesity in a rural setting. METHODS The s...

Food security requires that all people can access sufficient food for a healthy life. Enough food is produced to feed the global population, but more than 1.02 billion people are malnourished. Malnutrition and chronic food insecurity are widespread in some countries of the Asia-Pacific region; as much as 20 to 60 percent of the region's population lacks sufficient food to meet their minimum ene...

Farmland values are often viewed as the bellwether for the U.S. farm sector. Historically, booming farm incomes have been quickly capitalized into farmland values. Over the past year, cropland values in the Corn Belt have jumped more than 25% above year ago levels according to various university and Federal Reserve surveys. Moreover, ranchland values are posting strong double-digit gains in som...

OBJECTIVE Due to importance and progressive growth of apartment-living phenomenon in the world today, it is essential to survey the different dimensions of this modern lifestyle. The aim of this study is to predict rate of apartment-living based on the different predicted variables of socio-economic and demographic factors with approach to different health aspects. METHODS A descriptive- anal...