James Benhin

Climate change and agriculture in Africa : impact assessment and adaptation strategies

Foreword * Introduction and Rationale * Study Objectives, Structure, Methodology, Organization and Countries Agroclimatic Conditions * Methods and Models Developed and Used in the Study * Results of the Country Analyses * Results of the Regional Analyses * Summary, Conclusions and Policy Implications * Index

Agriculture and Deforestation in the Tropics: A Critical Theoretical and Empirical Review

Abstract Despite the important role that tropical forests play in human existence, their depletion, especially in the developing world, continue relentlessly. Agriculture has been cited as the major cause of this depletion. This paper discusses two main theoretical underpinnings for the role of agriculture in tropical deforestation. First, the forest biomass as input in agricultural production, and second, the competition between agriculture and forestry underlined by their relative marginal benefits. These are supported by empirical evidence from selected countries in Africa and South America. The paper suggests a need to find a win–win situation to control the spate of tropical deforestation. This may imply improved technologies in the agriculture sector in the developing world, which would lead both to increased production in the agriculture sector, and would also help control the use of tropical forest as an input in agriculture production.

THE EFFECTS OF THE STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM ON DEFORESTATION IN GHANA

This paper is a theoretical and empirical investigation into the impact of the structural adjustment program (SAP) on forest loss in Ghana between the period 1965–95. An optimal control model is used to derive estimable reduced form equations for forest loss, cocoa land, maize land and timber production, which are in turn functions of mainly input and output prices. Piecewise linear and switching regression approaches are used to distinguish between the influence of the post from the pre-adjustment policy impacts on forest land use. The overall results show that cocoa land expansion and timber production, but not maize land expansion, are significant causes of forest loss in Ghana. However, the impact on forest loss in the post-adjustment period was reduced. Changes in the relative output and input prices due to the SAP may have played a significant role in the reduced impact of agricultural and timber related deforestation in the post-adjustment period.

Public and Private Investment and Economic Development in Iraq (1970-2010)

 Abstract—Based on the neoclassical growth model of Solow (1956), this study analyses the macroeconomic determinants of economic growth, examining the effect of public and private investment on economic growth in Iraq from 1970 to 2010.Cointegration and error correction models were applied to the time series data, followed by a Johansen cointegration test of trace and maximum eigenvalue statistics to establish long run equilibrium relationships among the variables in the model. This study also estimated an error correction model (ECM) and the significance of the coefficient on the error correction term confirms the long run relationship between the explanatory variables and economic development. The empirical results suggest that, in the long run, private investment, public investment, growth in the labour force and growth in oil revenues effect real gross domestic product (GDP) positively and statistically significantly; however, price and exchange rate volatility are found to have an adverse impact on real GDP. In light of these results, several policy recommendations are made to conclude.

Assessing the Environmental Impact of Anchoring Cruise Liners in Falmouth Bay

Ports are coming under increasing pressure to manage their operations in an environmentally sustainable manner. This pressure comes from legal requirements, national agencies, planning inquiries and local activists (Wooldridge et al 1999). Ports have tended to react to such demands by making environmental policies and audits, always playing catch-up to the latest problem. An alternative approach is to be pro-active in seeking out environmental concerns at an early stage, assessing the scientific evidence of harm in the context of the specific port, and taking mitigating action according to the evidence. This is the basis of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between the University of Plymouth and Falmouth Harbour Commissioners (FHC), who run a small trust port in South West England. The Port of Falmouth enjoys over thirty cruise calls a year. Smaller cruise liners can berth within the docks, but larger ships must anchor in Falmouth Bay, a Marine Special Area of Conservation, and tender their passengers ashore. Anchoring directly affects the benthic habitat through smothering, abrasion and disturbance. The noise and visual intrusion of vessels create an indirect impact. Studies into anchoring activities in fragile habitats such as eelgrass beds have led to the strict management of anchoring (Milazzo et al 2002). Falmouth Bay has a rare dead maerl habitat. This paper presents the on-going study, which is assessing the potential environmental impacts of anchoring in the Falmouth bay area. The steps include synthesising existing data on the nature of the seabed, recording actual anchor locations within the bay to identify areas of high anchoring density and identifying the threat that anchoring poses to the species in the maerl habitat. It is know that there are bivalves that live below the surface, so comparative core samples will be air lifted from high and low anchoring density areas.