Ideas and Countermeasures for Perfecting Rural Public Product Supply from the Perspective of Main Beneficiaries

On the basis of defining the concept of rural public product supply, the weaknesses of the supply mechanism of rural public product are analyzed. The shortages of rural public product supply lead to the difficult ties in developing agriculture and rural economy; enriching farmers and narrowing the urban and rural income gap. Problems in rural public product supply are further analyzed. Firstly, the national finance used in agriculture is low. Secondly, farmers are not separated from decision system and the beneficiaries separate from the decision-makers. Thirdly, farmers are not fully treated as civilians. Fourthly, rural areas lack the selection and supervision mechanism of public product. The ideas and countermeasures on perfecting rural public product are put forward from the perspective of main beneficiaries. The supply of rural public product should take intensifying the self development capability of farmers as core; farmers should actively participate in the making the rural public product decision and fight for their right to say. Farmers should unit together through organizations to improve the organizational level. Farmers should actively participate in trainings on them and try to get the updated information from the local government. The village collective should protect the supply of rural public product.

The Role of New Media in Communicating to Beneficiaries of Ngos Working in Kajiado County, Kenya

Organizations serving rural communities in Kenya have found use for media as a tool of replacement for personal interface in the daily communication with the beneficiaries of their programmes in deprived areas. The interactions between two non-governmental organizations （NGOs） and rural beneficiaries in Isinya, Kajiado County, provide case studies of how NGOs modernize their outreach via new media and how beneficiaries respond to the change. The research was not only concerned with the presence of information technology （IT） and online facilities in remote and deprived locations. It also evaluated responses to the replacement of person-to-person contact with technologies, such as social media, the Internet, Compact Disc-Read Only Memory （CD-ROMs）, and Digital Versatile Disc （DVDs）. Conducted in four focus groups, the research evaluated the uptake of new media technologies by beneficiaries following the transition, asked whether beneficiaries engaged with the materials being communicated, and assessed whether this confluence of technology and culture had eased the flow of communication, or unsettled it. Evidence of discomfort among the older （over 50-year-old） beneficiaries stemmed from fear of failure to master the technologies and a desire for a continuation of regular interpersonal interaction with the NGO field officers （whose field trips were scaled back in preference of computer-mediated communication）. However, younger （under 40-year-old） beneficiaries were less insistent on regular interpersonal visits and were appreciative of the use of technology, and of the building of Maarifa Centres to give the beneficiaries free access to internet, DVDs, and hard drive-based information materials. Another demographic, beneficiaries aged between 40 and 50 years old, said they were not comfortable with the change and wanted the interpersonal interaction to continue, but were open to a longer-term transition once the beneficiaries were all conversant with the uses of the new technologies. The study recommends a better managed transition that accommodated the beneficiaries’ fears, misgivings, and cultural preference for verbal, face-to-face consultation.

Impact of Africa Regional Food Security Program on Nigerian Farmers： The Case of National Special Program for Food Security

This paper examined the impact of National Special Program for Food Security （NSPFS） on the beneficiaries through a qualitative measurement of the food security status of the beneficiaries. A food insecurity index was estimated to measure the well-being of the beneficiaries as affected by the impact of the program. Beneficiaries were classified into four categories： food secure （41%）, food insecure without hunger （46%）, food insecure with moderate hunger （11%）, and food insecure with severe hunger （2%）. Perceptions of beneficiaries were measured. In conclusion, the program has had a positive impact and enhanced food security among the Nigerian beneficiaries. It is not without its short comings which include delayed and untimely disbursement of funds and lack of output markets, irrigation facilities, production inputs and adequate training on technology know-how. The default rate and number of debtors remain high among beneficiaries. Efforts should be made to correct the short comings to improve the effectiveness of the program and justify the huge financial resources that have been committed.

Spatiotemporal change of beneficiary area from wind erosion prevention service in the Ulan Buh Desert in 2008 and 2018

The Ulan Buh Desert is one of the eight deserts in China that provides wind erosion prevention service(i.e.,the ecosystem;vegetation,production,and construction activities that promote sand fixation).It is significant for the construction of the national ecological barrier,and the protection of the ecological security in the Yellow River and North China.In this study,we selected two representative years(2008 and 2018)and quantified wind erosion prevention service from the Ulan Buh Desert using the RWEQ model.Meanwhile,the HYSPLIT model was used to simulate the spatial flow process from the service supply area to the beneficiary area and to determine its scope.The specific dust reduction amount in the beneficiary area was then calculated.The energy and the time-space relation of wind erosion prevention service in the areas that receive benefits from Ulan Buh Desert were compared before and after implementing environmental restoration measures.The results showed that:(1)the total amount of wind erosion prevention in the Ulan Buh Desert in 2018 was 2.12×10^(10)kg,which was 5.17 times higher than that in 2008;(2)in 2018,the distribution density of the flow path of wind erosion prevention service was lower than that in 2008,and the flow paths in each year were concentrated in the beneficiary areas with the path distribution frequency of less than 10%;(3)the total dust reduction in the downwind area of the Ulan Buh Desert in 2018 was higher than that in 2008,totaling 15.54 million tons.Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanxi Province had the most significant amount of dust reduction.

Management Practice and Comparison of Reproductive and Productive Performance of Dairy Cattle between Beneficiary and None Beneficiary of Estrus Synchronization and Mass Insemination in North Shewa Zone,Amhara Region,Ethiopia

The aim of this study was to assess the overall management practice and comparison of reproductive and productive performance between beneficiaries and none beneficiaries of oestrus synchronization and mass insemination(OSMI)of dairy cattle in north shewa zone of dairy cattle.Data were obtained by interviewing 270 estrus synchronization and mass insemination beneficiaries and 135 none beneficiaries’dairy farmers.Data were analyzed using Statistical Packaging for social science(SPSS)version 20.Natural pasture and crop residue were the most common feed resources in the study areas.River water was the major source of water for their cattle and well water was used when river water is not available.In their order of importance;FMD,mastitis,and abortion were the major diseases of cattle in the study area.The reproductive performance of dairy cows in OSMI beneficiaries were age at first service(30.81±7.6),calving interval(6.9±5.2),lactation length(8.95±2.46),day open(5.3±3.18)and number of service per conception(1.5±0.38)whereas in none beneficiary age at first service(32.88±6.64),calving interval(18.18±5.8),lactation length(9.6±0.54),day open(5.17±3.43)and number of service per conception(1.22±0.54)months.There was a significant(p<0.05)difference in milk yield between beneficiaries and none beneficiaries in HFC,HHFC and JERC dairy cows per day per cow.The major factors affecting reproductive performance of dairy cows are management,nutritional status,genotype,and disease.Therefor the productive and reproductive performance of the dairy cows reared by the participants were better than those of the nonparticipants.

The Human Rights Attributes of the Marrakesh Treaty and Its Practical Significance

An in-depth analysis of the human rights attributes of the Marrakesh Treaty helps clarify theoretical issues such as whether there is a conflict between copyrights and human rights, and solve the problems of system design and law enforcement in terms of authorized entities and accessible formats. This paper discusses the human rights perspective contained in the Marrakesh Treaty from the background,positioning, and content of the treaty, and puts forward suggestions on policies and laws for the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty based on the implementation of the treaty in the Chinese legal system.

The interplay of nurse and target plant traits influences magnitude and direction of facilitative interactions under different combinations of stress and disturbance intensities in Andean dry grassland

Aims Facilitation is a key process in vegetation dynamics,driving the response to natural and anthropogenic pressures.In harsh-grazed systems,palatable plants mainly survive when nested under unpalatable tussocks and shrubs.The magnitude and direction of positive interactions are driven by resource availability,extent of herbivory and type of nurse species.We hypothesized that different combinations of disturbance and environmental stress affect community composition in the dry Puna(southern Peruvian Andes)by modifying nurse types and plant interactions in magnitude and specific associations.We investigated whether different combinations of stress and disturbance influence species richness,type and frequency of occurrence of nurse and beneficiary species and magnitude and patterns of plant interactions;whether nurse species influence these interactions and target species change their interactions under different combinations of stress and disturbance and whether plant functional traits differ in the studied communities and influence the pattern of spatial interactions.Methods We selected three plant communities subject to different precipitation and management regimes:in each we laid a number of transects proportional to its extension.Data collected include species presence/absence,type of spatial interactions with nurse species and functional traits.We calculated species richness and rarefaction patterns,described the patterns of plant-plant spatial interactions and investigated the associations between nurse and other species in the three communities using indicator species analysis(ISA).We performed ISA and correlation analysis to investigate whether plant functional traits influenced facilitative interactions.Important Findings We found that different combinations of stress and disturbance shaped a complex set of responses,including changes in the nurse species set.Nurse composition influenced magnitude and direction of plant interactions under different stress intensities.Heavy disturbance increased the relative importance of facilitation,even if the overall number of facilitated species decreased.Under equivalent disturbance regimes,increased abiotic stress led to a greater importance of facilitation.Different combinations of stress and disturbance affected the community assemblage also by changing the behaviour of some non-nurse species.Both heavy disturbance and strong stress led to a decrease of trait states;with certain combinations of stress and disturbance,preferential distribution of these states was observed.We also found that plant traits were of key importance in determining facilitative interactions.Some traits were mainly associated with one type of spatial interaction:plant architecture,life cycle and root type influenced the type of interaction between nurses and beneficiaries under different combinations of stress and disturbance.Our results also demonstrate that in plant interaction research the object of observations(species per se,species percentage,etc.)might influence outputs,and to effectively assess the impact of different stress and disturbance intensities on plant interactions it is necessary to work at the community level to consider the whole species pool.