Journal of Sustainable Development

The status of rural household energy consumption plays an important role in farmers’ daily life, especially in developing countries or regions. Here, we review the evolution of the rural household energy consumption structure in northern China from 1996 to 2005. Studies indicate that the proportion of straw, firewood, and coal consumption in total energy consumption have remained at 88.8–91.0%, whereas the proportion of high-quality commercial energy and modern renewable energy is still very low. The main challenges for the sustainable development of rural household energy supply are an unreasonable energy consumption structure, low-energy efficiency, serious environmental degradation, a large gap in energy supply among regions, and difficulty in developing renewable energy. We suggest some countermeasures to overcome the obstacles involved in the sustainable development of rural household energy in northern China, from energy sources to sociopolitical policies.

The present study was conducted with the objective of evaluating the factors that significantly influence the surface-water quality-parameters in the industrial town of Asansol, West Bengal, India. Composite sampling of water was conducted at 5 major lakes spread across the city. This study also shows the effects of urbanization and industrialization on the fresh water storage system. Not only that the results of this study clearly indicates the effects of coal mining on the ground water quality.

Despite the growing interest in examining ISO 14001 EMS implementation and firm's performance, little attention has been devoted especially among the SMEs in Malaysia. Based upon 61 responses questionnaire survey, this study examines the relationship of ISO 14001 EMS implementation to Malaysian SMEs performances. The findings of this study confirm that ISO 14001 EMS implementation has a positive and significant relationship with SMEs's performance. This finding is consistent with the environmental management literature mostly published in the developed countries. This study is important as the empirical results provide an indicator to encourage other SMEs which has no EMS in place to consider joining the bandwagon. Since the ISO 14001 standard is still on a voluntary basis in Malaysia, this study able to give empirical evidence on SMEs performance appears to be critical at this juncture noting the fact that SMEs contributes to the largest business establishments in Malaysia.

Increasing employee motivation for environmental endeavors continues to be poorly understood. The literature suggests that management commitment, employee empowerment, feedback and review, and rewards may be significant predictors of environmental performance and hence successful environmental management system (EMS) implementation. This paper aims to ascertain the relationships between the aforementioned human resource factors with perceived environmental performance using a sample of middle and lower level employees in five manufacturing companies. All five companies are currently certified to ISO 14001 EMS and moreover four are recipients of the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award (PMHA). A total of two hundred and twenty three survey responses were analyzed using the SPSS computer program version 16. The results of the regression analysis suggest that management commitment, feedback and review, and empowerment have a significant positive relationship to perceived environmental performance. However, the relationship between rewards and perceived environmental performance was statistically insignificant.

This study evaluates land use /land cover changes (LULCC) in Wuhan city, China, between 1987-2006 using satellite imagery data. Spatial and temporal dynamics of LULCC were quantified using three landsat TM images (1987, 1994 and 2006). The maximum likelihood supervised classification algorithm and post classification Change detection technique in GIS were also used. The analysis revealed that forest and urban growth over the study period changed by 15.57% and 8.66% respectively, resulting in a significant decrease in the area of cultivated land (16.88%) and water (7.35%). For the three main towns that make up Wuhan city, Wuchang increased in water, urban and cultivated land, and a decrease in forest cover; Hanyang increased in urban area and decreases in cultivated land, water and forest, while in Hankou, cultivated land and forest increased, urban and water covers decreased. The overall accuracy of the derived LULCC maps ranged from 88% to 92%. The outcomes of this research will benefit society through the creation of reliable land cover information for better decision making. However, to identify how information diffusion and spatial externalities could affect the spatial pattern and composition of land cover over time, agent-based techniques could be more helpful.

Economic level could be an important factor which influences energy efficiency and it’s generally accepted that high level of economic development can lead of high energy efficiency. However, the situation may be different when economic factor is put aside. In the paper, nine regions in China are chosen to compare their energy efficiency at similar economic level between 1995 and 2007. Based on the result, the nine regions can be divided into three categories——early developed regions with low energy efficiency, late developed regions with high energy efficiency and late developed regions with low energy efficiency. Three possible reasons for the result (the technology “leapfrog”, energy mix and industrial mix) are discussed. The adoption of the latest technologies, high portion of clean energy in energy mix and high portion of light industry in industrial mix can be the reason for high energy efficiency of late developed regions in China.

Journal of Sustainable development, Vol. 1, No. 3, November 2008, all in one file

Based on the latest statistic data of Shanghai’s population during 1952-2007, a grey model with the pretreatment of data is established for prediction and researching on the Shanghai’s future household registration population up to the year 2050. This model’s feasibility is illustrated compared with other grey models. The result shows that at the end of 2008, 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050 Shanghai’s population will reach 13.868, 14.047, 14.974, 15.962, 17.016, 18.138 million, respectively.

Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2008, all in one file

Population system is a typical grey system. In this paper, we establish two new grey models of population prediction: discrete grey increment model(DGIM) and grey increment model with new initial value(NGIM). By contrasting, we did simulation and test prediction through utilizing a large amount of data. The results indicate that the two new models prove more accurate than GM(1, 1) model and other models. According to the latest statistical data of China’s population from 1949 to 2007, we predict the population development of China up to the year 2050 based on the two new models. Evidence shows that at the end of 2008, 2010, 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050 the total population will reach 1.32789, 1.3403, 1.3917, 1.428, 1.454 and 1.472 billion, respectively.

Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 1, No. 2, July 2008, all in one file

Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 2, No. 3, November 2009, all in two files, Part B

Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2009, all in one file, Part A

Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 2, No. 1, March 2009, all in one file, Part B

Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 3, No. 1. March 2010, all in one file

Oil palm trunks found in abundant and considered as an agriculture waste were investigated as a possible alternative to future wood in utilization for non-structural purposes. The trunks are of no economic important in their natural form. However, once converted into the form of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) their properties improved tremendously. This paper highlighted properties of the LVL made from oil palm trunks at four (4) different positions comprising two (2) portions height and two (2) cross-sectional zones. These LVL have shown to behave differently when tested for their physical, mechanical and glue delaminating properties. Testing on all the LVL specimens were done in accordance with the Japanese Agricultural Standard, JAS No. 237: 2003.

A total cost accounting approach was used to analyse the suitability of copper and aluminium as winding material for transformers with respect to sustainability, using available data from the Ecoinvent database. It could be concluded that repeated recycling of metal is a necessary requisite to obtain product element life cycles exhibiting a high degree of sustainability. Using cost data for energy and materials and reasonable assumptions about costs for labour and interest for the metal supplier and the product manufacturer, the copper alternative turns out to be the better choice, especially when the expected increase in the prices of energy, copper, and aluminium during life cycle is taken into account.From the study it could be concluded that the total cost accounting approach would be a valuable tool for assessing the degree of sustainability of a product life cycle, in particular, regarding use of natural abiotic resources such as metals.

This study looks at access to housing among the students of Lagos State University. The study employed three methods of data collection: structured questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and some case studies. The analysis of data was done by simple percentage and frequency distribution. The information gathered reveals that the past rigid frame of house-owners of denying single-girls accommodation had softened. Female students now have access to accommodation in housing market. Furthermore, information gathered indicates that most students suffer one form of discrimination or the other which include: incessant increase in house rent, domestic violence and neighours disturbances. Late arrival for lectures and non-conducive atmosphere were some of the challenges faced by students of the University. All these factors may influence negatively on students academic studies. However, it is important that the university get involved in sourcing and solving students’ accommodation problem and mediating between the students and the house-owners within the communities.

This paper analyzes the economic value of accounting integrity, agreeing that accounting integrity can decrease trading costs, improve enterprises’ operational efficiency, enlarge market shares and competitiveness, evaluate and motive economic subjects, drive the formation and development of social capitals, and actualize the economy of scale.

This article examines the economic rationale for contracting the services of an accounting or management firm by the potential clients in the locality of small towns in Malaysia. Classifying the clients based on different small towns in the country identifies the potential demand of host clientele. Polarisation of clients based on ethnic grouping within the localities of small towns is to look at the differences in the results of this study so that any decision for a new venture may or may not be affected by the choice of small town with businesses being dominantly populated by certain ethnic group. There appears to be evidence of significant ethnic and business locality effect in term of the demand for the types of services provided by the accounting or management services firm. Thus, in making the choice of setting-up accounting or management services firms in small towns , due consideration must be given to the influence of these two factors. Furthermore, this study highlight the importance and priority given by clients to the various patronage factors as a guide aiming at ensuring the going concern of a newly set-up accounting or management services firms in small towns in this country.

With arrival of the information age, as well as the ever-changing and complicated capital and financial markets and financial instruments, the policy –making requirements of the enterprises on the faithful, accurate, reasonable, and effective financial and accounting information become more demanding. Enterprise internal control proves to be the basic safeguard to ensure the regular and reliable operation of the accounting information system. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance issued the Internal Control Standards - the Basic Norms and opinion-open drafts for 17 norms. The promulgation of accounting standards for enterprise has brought tougher internal control challenges.

An organization’s Human Resource function can be instrumental in facilitating a comprehensive approach for creating a culture of sustainability and environmental stewardship. As such, it is recommended that an organization’s Sustainability Coordinator work more closely with the organization’s Human Resource executive. This idea might be considered a new area of focus for the practical implementation of sustainable development in a company. The strategy involves making significant changes to the organization’s systems for: recruiting applicants, selecting new employees, conducting new employee orientation, conducting performance evaluations, determining employee compensation, creating a succession planning process, providing employees with training and development, and mentoring employees and managers. It also involves creating a win-win-win collaboration among multiple stakeholders who are in conflict with each other. Numerous examples are provided demonstrating how a focus on each of the HR systems has helped organizations to create a sustainability culture.

Normal 0 7.8 ? 0 2 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:????; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} Mesophilic and cryogenic actinomycetes were isolated from water, quagmire soil , lakeside soil and saline wasteland soil in the Qinghai Lake by spreading samples on three kinds of agar media , in which content of NaCl was 70 g/ L. They were characterized according to routine methods, and detected their salt-tolerance. The results indicated that there were salt-tolerant, mesophilic and cryogenic actinomycetes in quagmire and lakeside soil of the Qinghai Lake and in saline wasteland soil nearby the Qinghai Lake. The amount in wasteland soil was the largest , followed by lakeside and swamp soil. All of the salt-tolerant actinomycetes identified were Streptomyces (92. 6 % of total) , and they were all albsporus. And 47.6 %, 19.0 %, and 33.3 % of the tested actinomycetes could tolerant NaCl concentration at 70 g/ L, 100 g/ L, and 150 g/ L respectively.

This study examines the impacts of recreation activities on Mount Tahan (2187 m a.s.l); the highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia by assessing tree diameter, height, leaf area, sapwood area, and chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) of selected species. Vegetation cover was also determined by counting the number of species. Two most dominant tree species in the study plots, i.e., Tristaniopsis fruticosa and Baeckea frutescens were selected as representative to assess the impacts on the vegetation growth. Both tree species dominated over 50% of total vegetation in both areas. Meanwhile, CF was determined on T. fruticosa since this species was the only broadleaf species found in both areas. Four plots sized 20 m X 20 m representing each disturbed and undisturbed were established in camping and trampling areas. The total number of plant species recorded was 29 in both camping and trampling areas but was found less in disturbed plots. Impacts of trampling and camping on all the parameters at higher altitude in disturbed plots were significantly different from those in the undisturbed plots. For trampling, all growth parameters taken in disturbed plots were found lower than in undisturbed plots. For camping, however, the mean values of vegetation cover were found lower in disturbed plots compared to undisturbed plots but the mean values of tree diameter, height, leaf area and sapwood area were found greater in disturbed than in undisturbed plots. In contrast, all CF parameters were found higher in disturbed plots for both trampling and camping areas.

As an effective production system, TPS (Toyota Production System) has been gone in for by numerous domestic and foreign factories recently. However, it is not effectively as in Japan actually, and many problems appear. This article analyses TPS’s domestic operational status, and put forward a set of reasonable countermeasures and proposals. This analysis will promote the TPS applicability research and guide the domestic enterprises to push TPS entirely.

Buildings are responsible nowadays for more than half of the energy consumption worldwide, significantly contributing - with the CO2 emissions they trigger - to the very causes of climate change. The knowledge gap that exists with respect to how emissions from built environments can be mitigated and, simultaneously, how buildings and their occupants can adapt to shifts in global and local climate must be filled, involving integration of established knowledge, advanced design strategies, application of innovative technologies and multidisciplinary research. Although the evidence of climate change is supported by large consensus, the amount of data and predictions currently available often results in ambiguous information for climate non-specialists. Starting from a review of the Fourth Assessment Report published by the IPCC, the paper examines the interactions between human systems and dynamic environmental forces, trying to underline the causes and consequences of the evident alteration in the climatic equilibrium of the planet and exploring how built environments can contribute to mitigate and adapt to these changing conditions. Available on http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jsd/article/view/1477

The impact of climatic variations on crop yields and the adaptation by farmers in north-western Nigeria are examined using the modeling approach and farm surveys. Accordingly, regression models which relate climate data to crop yields were constructed. The results showed that rainfall has a positive relationship with crop yields in the region and explained over 70 percent of the variations in the yields of sorghum, millet and maize, all of which were significant at the 0.05 level. Evaporation also had a significant but inverse relationship with crop yields. Other climatic elements in the experiment provided minimal levels of explanation. The farm surveys found that rural farmers in north-western Nigeria were quite innovative when it comes to adapting to drought. The study concluded that the impact of climatic variations on crop yields in north-western Nigeria can be substantial especially under drought conditions. The need to update farmers’ adaptive strategies is emphasized.

In the midst of crisis period, Thai economy faces currently in the problem as finding a job what is considered a problem that can not be avoided. Especially, the household economy of Muslims who are agriculturists in the lower southern part of Thailand. This article offers to appreciate the importance of additional work which is the strategic to adaptation of household economy in crisis period. The evaluation relating to the size of additional work, the structure of additional work and the features of additional work. Moreover, this paper suggests, recently, that additional work spread out in terms of private freelance and gradually evolve into main occupation and to become a routine without the expertise of labors. From the mentioned features indicate that the pattern of participation is mostly the activities in the name of the agreement by speech which is considered a lack of formal. It can not deny that the motivation in additional work’s activity from seeking extra revenue according to the relationship with taking time in the main occupation. Therefore, additional work becomes as utilities of individual household economy by recognizing requirement to respond against consumption and family members. Additional work in connection with the pattern of private freelance becomes a stimulating mechanism for the formation of approach of social mobilization, resulting a positive to households in the midst of crisis period.

The Index of Sustainable Functionality makes it possible to analyse the sustainability of multiple systems within a domain from various perspectives. To illustrate how changes to wealth distribution since 1980 can impact sustainability of the economy, environment and society, the resource rich state of Western Australia’s sustainable functionality was calculated from different wealth level perspectives. How wealth inequity may affect the stability of major systems including the social, terrestrial, water and mineral industry are discussed as are reasons behind changes in wealth and income distribution over the past 30 years. The ISF results show that from the perspective of society’s richest 20%, poorest 20% and average wealth levels; and from the perspective of the environment, system decline can occur even when the economy reaches full functionality. Suggestions to improve functionality and long-term stability are made, with the major suggestion the introduction of a fund modelled on Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.

The advent of additive manufacturing technologies presents a number of opportunities that have the potential to greatly benefit designers, and contribute to the sustainability of products. Additive manufacturing technologies have removed many of the manufacturing restrictions that may previously have compromised a designer’s ability to make the product they imagined, which can increase product desirability, pleasure and attachment. Products can also be extensively customized to the user thus, once again, potentially increasing their desirability, pleasure and attachment and therefore their longevity. As additive manufacturing technologies evolve, and more new materials become available, and multiple material technologies are further developed, the field of product design has the potential to greatly change.This paper examines aspects of additive manufacturing from a sustainable design perspective could become a useful tool in the arsenal to bring about the sustainable design of consumer products.

Policy and decision makers find the task of determining the cost of education a difficult process. One of the reasons for this is the complexity of the process itself. Answering questions such as: what entails an adequate education? and how much is needed to provide adequate education? is complex. Thus, stakeholders in the education sector need a thorough understanding of the concepts and knowledge of the variables that determine an adequate education. In relation to this, this paper seeks to provide an overview of the concepts and critically reviews various methods that are currently utilized to determine the cost of adequate education. It also makes comparisons between the methods and discusses the pros and cons in an objective and integrated manner.

Ecotourism is obviously with color of ecological education and popularization of ecological science. However, as a result of lack in environmental consciousness and ecological knowledge among tourism stakeholders, quite a lot of unsustainable development issues appear in ecotourism. Based on this background, the author puts forward advanced ecotourism education and goes deep into its necessity and critical aspects.

The structural heterogeneity of formal and informal residential and economic spheres in Egypt, as in many countries of the South, continues to increase disparities and aggravate the social and environmental problems of the urban poor. In recent years, a shift has taken place to incorporate local communities as active partners into urban upgrading and development interventions. The following paper will discuss the experience of the Participatory Urban Development Project in Egypt. It tries to identify and demonstrate mechanisms and solutions for the manifold and interrelated problems which could then be applied in other informal areas, too. In doing so, the paper focuses particularly on promoting community participation and multi-actor partnerships without which any attempt to achieve remarkable and sustainable impacts is bound to fail. The paper will give an overview of informal residential development, the institutional framework and the dominant physical and socio-economic features followed by a brief presentation of the strategies, areas of action, potentials and obstacles faced by the project.

Development programmes initiated by governments in parts of Africa aimed at improving the living standard of the people, have either achieved minimal success or failed because of the negative attitude of the people. One issue that has therefore dominated discussions among development agencies and initiators in Africa is that of dealing with the people’s attitudes and responses to issues of development. This paper is therefore geared towards exploring ways in which ICTs and traditional media could become effective tools in the campaigns and mobilization for the adoption of innovations, which is central to rural development in Africa. The method of content analysis using review of existing document such as books, journals, periodicals, case record and others documented by government, individuals and organization s was utilized. The findings revealed that the majority of the people in Africa lived in the rural areas and were not abreast with information about government programmes aimed at improving them. Apart from acknowledging the basic challenges confronting policy makers, development communicators and other stakeholders in the development process, the paper recommends among others, that governments in Africa should create the enabling environment for the ICTS to be effectively used and synergized with traditional media in achieving development communication goals at all levels.

Corruption is an economic and social cancer afflicting industry and society at large the world over and is a major drawback to economic and social prosperity. It is the contention of this paper that corruption is a devastating form of social and economic injustice that has devastated the prospects for the dark continent of Africa. The root cause of corruption is the greediness of the leadership. Unfortunately corruption breeds corruption across the social divide as the leadership seeks to consolidate and protect themselves in the various facets of the economy, business and society. The solution to the corruption menace lies in changing the leadership which is entrenched in power and would be unwilling to vacate the powerful influential positions. Economic prosperity is largely driven by government policy that creates a conducive business environment, technology transfer, marketing activities which shape needs and demand patterns for economies. Corruption tends to distort marketing process and thereby hinder economic prosperity. The free play of market forces is hampered, economic aid from the donor community becomes almost impossible to attract and international investors shun the corrupt environments to the detriment of the economies and communities of the respective countries. There are various tools that can be used to combat the corruption menace, but without the will power on the part of the leadership the process becomes a futile exercise. This paper recommends a fresh start for Africa but the problem is that the perpetrators of the corrupt practices are the people in positions of influence and are not least interested in seeing a genuine fight against corruption. It is not impossible though as countries like Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Egypt have demonstrated that it is not impossible to tackle corruption.

Dzanga Ndoki is the main National Park located in Dzanga Sangha Complex Protected Area, Central African Republic. This study assesses socioeconomic factors and different NGOs involved in management of the park. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data in 8 villages around the park. Results on socioeconomic study showed that younger people aged of 20-25 (36.55%) and between 25-30 (27. 81%) are more dynamic in the forest than elderly ones (age >35) who represented (5.61%). Better education may help in conservation of the Dzanga Ndoki due to different employment. Admittedly, 39.27% of people had primary education, (6.4%) had secondary level, (1.33%) had higher education and 53.18% were illiterate. Employment and access to market are missing. Participative management has mostly focused on villages of Mossapoula and Yandoumbe. Ba Aka people (60.52%) were not satisfied with the project. In addition, poor conditions of local people let them very dependent to forest resources (illegal hunting and gathering). This project is however unable to provide financial support to national NGOs and associations for local people.

Child health outcomes remain one of the most important barometers for measuring the overall social and economic well being of a country. Malaria is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, being the major cause of under-five mortality in Ghana. An effective strategy to combat the widespread malaria morbidity among children aged under-five is the utilization of preventive health care via Insecticide Treated Bednets (ITNs). This paper examines the socio-economic factors influencing the adoption and usage of ITNs by mothers or care-givers for children aged under-five years. Logistic regression is employed for the empirical estimation. The study finds that low-income households, age of the child, area of residence, distance to the nearest health facility and distance to food market inter alia significantly predict mother’s adoption and utilization of ITN among children aged-under five. It is also worth-noting that women who had experienced childhood mortality in the last five years preceding the survey were 37 percentage points more likely to have their children sleep under ITN. In addition, mothers who profess the Catholic faith were 2.4 times more likely to have their children sleep under ITN compared to their counterparts who are traditionalist. The paper contributes to the general debate on preventive health care.

In the Nigerian Federation, water supply is a state responsibility. State governments have therefore created State Water Agencies to manage and operate systems for water service delivery in all urban and semi-urban areas. Generally, these State Water Agencies have failed to effectively deliver water services to the people. In Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State Water Corporation is saddled with the task of meeting the water needs of the city dwellers. This paper examines some factors that explain the poor service delivery level of the Corporation. Adopting a sample size of 1,200 (4% of the total number of households in Ado-Ekiti) through random sampling technique, empirical estimates show that factors that significantly affect the performance level of this Corporation include: payment for water supply, billing system, adequacy of supply, frequency of pumping of water, notices from the Corporation in cases of system breakdown, response to leakages, adequacy of public standing pipes and appropriate location or distribution of standing pipes. The paper clamored for an evolvement of water policy for the state that would adequately address the issues emanating from the significant factors affecting the Corporation performance.

From the angel of environment protection, through analysing the properties of three majority types of sizing agent, such as starch(modified starch), PVA(polyvinyl alcohol) and acrylic size, we attempted to compare the sizing performance indices of several different environment protection sizing agents. We also briefly introduced several printing pastes with research values currently which could substitute sodium alginate.

In this paper, according to the fieldwork and statistic analysis, the issues for the relativity between airborne microbes and environmental factors in Pearl River delta’ Urban Agglomeration, Guangdong are discussed using ecological method in order to research on health prevention and environment control measures in Pearl River delta’ Urban. The results show that as follow:(1) The average content of airborne microbes (fungi and bacteria) in Guangzhou and Dongguan is higher than other 6 cities in Pearl River delta’ Urban; the content of bacteria is higher than fungi; outdoor content is higher than indoor content; the average content of airborne microbe in the area without greenbelt is higher than the area with greenbelt; the average content of airborne microbe are higher during spring and summer than other seasons. (2) There are obvious relativity between the average content of airborne microbes (fungi and bacteria) and environment factors (wind speed, humidity, temperature, total suspended particulate (Tsp); Furthermore, most of those have positive or negative linear relationship. (3) There are also obvious relativity between the average content of airborne microbes (fungi and bacteria) and the number of person flowrate, car flowrate and condition of afforestation, population density.

Industry aggregation is based on the division of related industries. This kind of aggregation saves costs of transaction, enhance further innovation and economy of scale, and at the same time, create preconditions for internal recycle economy. Generally speaking, a nice institution can drive division. Therefore, the government should guarantee the institutional supply properly, pushing the division of recycle economy.

Ratification to the Kyoto Protocol allows Thailand to voluntarily participate in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). CDM not only promotes environmental integrity but also offers business sustainability, which will be then able to enhance company’s competiveness. Due to these enthusiastic impressions, number of CDM registered projects in Thailand has been increased from 5 to 40 projects between 2005 and 2010, respectively. Several business sectors in Thailand have been moving their position toward to CDM including agribusiness sectors namely sugar, tapioca, rice, agrofuel, livestock and forestry. This study carries out an in-depth analysis on the correlations between CDM mechanism and agribusinesses in Thailand through the competitiveness indicator with a view to affirm that the level of competitiveness in Thailand agribusinesses can be enhanced through the CDM scheme. Productivity improvements in term of technology and project financial before and after the CDM application are served as competiveness indicators. The study concludes that CDM offers opportunity for company to move toward a better technology with a better operation performance and greenhouse gas reduction. The improvement of productivity level is found through an anticipated revenue stream from carbon credits which delivered project’s rate of return well above company’s hurdle rate of approximately 10-16% for 4 types of agribusinesses i.e. palm oil, rice mill, ethanol and tapioca. Despite abovementioned benefits,, CDM still faces a lot of challenges including a requirement on a substantial amount of investment which requires for starting the CDM process, risk of local and international approvals, deliverable risk, and uncertainty on CDM processing time and the future of CDM after the first commitment period, 2012. These challenges, however, can be overcome by well-disciplined preparation and better understanding on CDM process and requirements.

The survival of the agricultural industry from the 1997 financial crisis attack ticks off the importance of this once ‘sun-set’ industry and the re-emphasis of its role as a growth catalyst to Malaysia. Agriculture, unlike the past, is no longer solely a food-based contributor but plays important non-food roles, which are multifunctional; economic, social, cultural and food security. This multifunctionality role of agriculture warrants sustainable development in the longer run. The current scenario of the Malaysian agricultural, specifically sustainable oil palm planting is deliberated against the negative claims of the world environmentalist. Extended thoughts on the possible ways of sustaining economic development through the idea of ‘back to where you belong’, equity and the possible changes of comparative advantage when ecology is considered, and efficiency and equity of ecosystem conservation are discussed.

Jilin Province is an agricultural province and agricultural products processing industry is an important pillar industry of economic development, but because of its particularity of resource endowment such as geographical location and climate conditions, while developing agricultural products processing industry, Jilin Province must control environmental cost, in order to keep the sustainable development of agricultural products processing industry. Only considering fully the sustainability of agricultural products processing industry, its long-term development can be obtained. The article analyzes the resource situation in Jilin Province, discusses the necessity and urgency of developing agricultural products processing industry in Jilin Province.

This paper aims to examine the relationship between financial market development and agricultural sector in Iran. The study attempts to answer these questions empirically and try to shed some light on the roles of financial development as well as other conditional variables in agricultural sector. The results of this study shows that the financial market in agricultural sector, however there is some weakness still. The authors come to conclusion that for improving this vital sector in Iran the weakness should be removed or at least reduced as early as possible.

In This paper, we focus on the need for compares the organic production, operation and management patterns between paddy rice production base of Zhongliangmeiyu Ltd (Meiyu for short) and organic vegetable production base of company A, and adopt the SWOT approach to analyze the strengths, weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats of the two patterns. The conclusion can be briefed as follows: being located in high-end products market is the premise and basis of China’s success in organic production, operation and management, blending cultural factors into production, operation and management is one of effective measures to solve the problem of information asymmetry in the “firm & farmer” operation and management pattern.

"Recently, many emerging economies try to follow the example of the West’s industrialization by developing material-intensive production systems. As a solution to the environmental problems caused by this kind of economic growth, China is implementing the concept of Circular Economy by drawing on the experiences from Germany, Denmark and Japan. This concept in agriculture is called ‘circular agriculture’. Benin through its Strategic Plan for Agricultural Sector Revival (PSRSA), wishes to attain poverty alleviation within short time (2008-2015). This study aimed to establish basic aspects required for Benin to adopt the circular agriculture which is in practice in China. Primary data from Government reports and interviews were used. The study shows how important agriculture is for food security in Benin. It also shows progress made by China in the path of Circular Economy in general and especially in circular agriculture. Through circular agriculture, Benin could achieve the goal of sustainable agriculture."

Current debates on global poverty reduction have renewed scholarly interest in foreign aid. As a result of recent concerns over global security, donors and aid agencies have redirected aid funding to countries of strategic political interest. To comply with the political agendas of the North, major aid donors (such as USAID, CIDA, and the EU) have shifted their priorities from humanitarianism and sustainable development to freedom and international security. Such shifts undermine interventions critical to easing widening socioeconomic disparities, and poor countries like Nepal have experienced a significant decline in international development aid. This paper explores the implications of current aid policy on the division between Northern and Southern countries. The use of a multidisciplinary approach in the analysis of development aid policies is beneficial for understanding the complexities and tensions involved in the provision and distribution of development aid.

The medical sophistication of modern day has been rendered helpless in the face of HIV/AIDS. The incurable nature of the HIV/AIDS virus which changes its morphology is putting a huge strain on the various fronts of humanity. The economic and social devastation of the HIV/AIDS menace has meant that no progressive force on earth will not give this epidemic some attention. Zimbabwe is a developing country in Southern Africa which has been grappling with the menace whose spread has been largely due to ignorance and wanton denial of the devastating effects over the years. Multitudes of promotional programmes to change behaviour have met with mixed success. To this day 3 000 people die weekly with calamitous effects to the nation. There has been a reduction in the numbers affected and part of the argument is that promotions for preventive behaviour is bearing fruit. This study seeks to evaluate successes and failures of various programmes in the fight against HIV/AIDS with particular emphasis on whether marketing communications to promote good behaviour has had any significant impact. It can be argued that this process does not render itself to marketing communications. On the contrary it does. The experts in the area of marketing point out that goods, services ideas, places or persons can represent a product. In this regard the product is the idea of behavioural change. The direct benefit from the idea is to serve the human race from extinction. This paper will argue that it can be done, it can bear fruit, but it is a mammoth task and calls for collective and individual responsibility across the private, public, religious groupings, the donor community etc. It is the contention of this paper that the idea of changing behaviour in the fight against HIV/AIDS has to be sold to society and this paper argues that marketing communications can make a huge difference in serving millions of human lives. Ultimately the perception people have of HIV/AIDS will determine how they position it it vis-à-vis life.

Compound air pollution is becoming one of three major problems of urban ecological security in China which is experiencing a rapid growth. This paper is to establish optional points of Decision-making model and 10 portions of force model from two aspects on objective opportunity and subjective will, and logically and historically analyze the game theory of regional joint prevention and joint control in solving this problem, so as to provide theoretical guidance for regional cooperation and management decisions.