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The learning outcomes are as follows: successful students will demonstrate an understanding of challenges in producing and delivering a product in emerging economies; they will be able to analyze the tradeoffs in operational decisions of a social enterprise; and students will apply supply chain principles to solve social and environmental challenges.

Carbon Roots International is a social enterprise in Haiti producing and selling charcoal from sugar cane waste. Their operational challenge is designing a supply chain, which enables them to accomplish their social goals while building a profitable enterprise.

This case can be used in graduate operations management and supply chain management courses. The company in the case is a social enterprise.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics

The study is specifically aimed at understanding the extent of fuel wood consumption for cooking and the adoption of improved charcoal stoves as a policy option toward reducing the consumption of fuel wood in urban sectors.

Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were collected by use of structured questionnaires, interviews and direct field observation. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data. Based on the research plan, a total of 120 individual households were randomly selected and interviewed.

The results of the analysis suggested that the majority of people still cook using traditional stoves which consume a great deal of wood to the extent of deteriorating forest resources. Since conventional fuels remain remote for the majority, improved charcoal stoves are perceived as a real option for reducing consumption of wood fuel in urban area and thus arresting the rate of deforestation. However, this can only be realized if the improved charcoal stoves are widely adopted within social systems. Adoption itself results from a series of individual or any unit of adoption to begin using the new stoves. Poor quality of the improved stoves, costs, information and education about the stoves are major factors for the failure to adopt improved charcoal stoves in urban Zanzibar.

The need to revive improved charcoal stoves programs and exploration of alternative sources of energy have been recommended in order to reduce the pressure over forest resources induced by the great demand for fuel wood in urban Zanzibar.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the removal of Congo red dye from aqueous solution using magnetically separable novel adsorbent prepared by coating activated charcoal on magnetic nanoparticles.

The synthesized magnetic nanocomposite of activated charcoal was characterized using Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The removal of Congo red from aqueous solution using magnetic nanocomposite of activated charcoal was optimized. The equilibrium and kinetics modeling of adsorption of Congo red was analyzed.

The presence of activated charcoal on magnetic nanocomposite was confirmed by FTIR analysis. The average size of the nanocomposite was found to be 12.77 nm using SEM characterization. The elemental composition by EDS analysis confirmed the increase in concentration of carbon due the adsorption of Congo red dye. The optimum conditions for batch adsorption was found to be 1 g/L of adsorbent, dye concentration 50 mg/L, pH 3 and temperature 70°C. The adsorption of Congo red dye on magnetic nanocomposite of activated charcoal was found to follow Temkin adsorption isotherm.

The experimental data were found to fit well with the pseudo second-order kinetics and the rate of adsorption was found to be controlled by intra-particle diffusion.

When the issues surrounding corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are discussed, who or what organisation should be considered as the key player in CSR? Is it the service provider or a consumer on the socio-economic market that qualifies as a key player? One might be quick to suggest that traditionally service providers are supposed to play CSR roles. To think of the topic critically not only is a service provider that is required to play CSR roles but that the consumer is equally deemed to play a commendable role. Others may argue that such a suggestion is conclusive to mean that a banana vendor is supposed to follow his customers/consumer in question so that they do not throw the banana peels hazardously and affect the environment negatively.

The consumer, just like the vendor/service provider, ought to have discipline and principles as to how he or she utilises products around rather than blame the opposite on wrongly providing a service from which many are benefiting from.

The debate above suggests that consumers of products have their roles to play as regards CSR so that those that provide them with a socio-economic service can continue to do so and that relations between a consumer and a service provider are mutual and sustainable.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) industries in developing Africa use manual power to produce the desired consumables and because no technology is involved their products are reasonable and affordable. However, the manual power is applied at a risk and at the expense of the service providers’ health. Is there any consciousness of the situation at hand by the consumer? The specific local SME industries to be discussed are quarry stone crashing, charcoal making and cement industry outlets leading to a debate on whether consumers just like service providers need to work together to ensure that the local SME industries cited are recognised for sustainable development purposes.

The purpose of this research is using materials to improve the thermal insulation, and reducing the cost. A large amount of energy is consumed by masonary due to cooling and heating. Adding material with certain percentages to the building materials is one of the ways to improve the thermal insulation, and these additives should keep as much as possible the mechanical properties of the building materials. Carbon additives are one of commonly used materials to masonry materials. In spite of the many advantages of using carbon fibers and carbon nano tubes (CNTs) to the cementitious materials, they are very expansive and their thermal conductivity is high.

In this research charcoal (which is a product of burning process) with very low thermal conductivity and cost in the form of micro particles will be used with mortar and compared with short carbon fibers and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) via thermal conductivity, density and compressive strength tests. This research includes also an effort to build a model of building to evaluate the thermal insulation of the materials used in the practical part. The main building design and performance simulation tool in this research is DesignBuilder.

Results showed that adding micro charcoal particles to mortar resulted in improving the thermal insulation and decrease the rate of reduction in the compressive strength compared to other additives, while adding short carbon fibers resulted in improving the thermal insulation and decrease the compressive strength. Adding MWCNT to the mortar had a negative effect on mechanical and physical properties, i.e. compressive strength, density and thermal insulation.

This paper uses DesignBuilder software to design a model of building made from the materials used in the practical part to predict and evaluate the thermal insulation.

The New Zealand (NZ) Government's commitment to a sustainable, low‐emissions energy future may be met, in part, by expanding bioenergy systems fuelled by short‐rotation forestry through utilising lower quality land affecting soil organic matter content and soil CO₂ flux. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the carbon sequestration potential of a range of soil conditioners in order to minimise or offset carbon emissions due to ground disturbance.

Seven soil conditioners are evaluated using incubation chambers to measure the affect of their incorporation within three NZ soil types on soil respiration.

Charcoal is found to produce a distinct and significant carbon sequestering trend, as did newspaper and whey. Conversely, vegetable oil, paper mill pulp, biodiesel and methanol showed overall carbon emitting trends.

The research is limited as only CO₂ is monitored within the incubation chambers rather than the whole gaseous carbon profile. No microbial observations are conducted.

The investigation concludes that of the conditioners observed, charcoal, newspaper and whey warrant further observation as carbon sequestration soil conditioners.

The study forms part of the foundations within the development of soil conditioners specifically designed for carbon sequestration.

Convict labor which the Sumitomo family rounded up in order to carry charcoal from the charcoal kiln to the smelting hearth on the steep mountain paths, began in 1881 at the Besshi copper mine. When one local newspaper scooped cruelties to miners at the Takashima coal mine in 1887, the Sumitomo family was socially criticized for using convict labor at the Besshi mine. The prefectural governor of Ehime asked Sumitomo to stop it in 1888, and then abolished it in March, 1889. Officially,we can understand the abolition of convict labor at the Besshi mine as a political process. However, it is assumed that without the technical advancement and the good condition of the economy in this period, the abolition of convict labor would not have been possible. The author suggests that it was the major reason why Sumitomo accepted the prefectural governor’s request to abolish it.

The New Zealand (NZ) Government's commitment to a sustainable, low emissions energy future may be met, in part, by expanding bioenergy systems fuelled by short rotation forestry through utilising lower quality land affecting soil organic matter content and soil CO₂ flux. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the carbon sequestration potential of a range of soil conditioners in order to minimise or offset carbon emissions due to ground disturbance.

Seven soil conditioners are evaluated using incubation chambers to measure the affect of their incorporation within three NZ soil types on soil respiration.

Charcoal is found to produce a distinct and significant carbon sequestering trend, as do newspaper and whey. Conversely, vegetable oil, paper mill pulp, biodiesel and methanol showed overall carbon emitting trends.

The research is limited as only CO₂ is monitored within the incubation chambers rather than the whole gaseous carbon profile. No microbial observations are conducted.

The investigation concluded that of the conditioners observed, charcoal, newspaper and whey warrant further observation as carbon sequestration soil conditioners.

The paper forms part of the foundations within the development of soil conditioners specifically designed for carbon sequestration.

This study aims to report the phytochemical screening and anti-diarrhoea properties of methanol extract of Diodia sarmentosa Swartz (DSS) leave (at 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg) in albino rats.

Three types of diarrhoea models (castor oil-induced diarrhoea, castor oil-induced gastrointestinal motility and castor oil-induced enteropooling), as well as an assay for serum and faecal electrolyte concentrations, were used. Acute toxicity study and phytochemical screening of the extract were carried out using standard techniques.

The percentage inhibition of diarrhoea by DSS 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg was obtained as 25.7%, 55% and 84.6%, respectively, compared with loperamide that had 87.6% inhibition. DSS dose dependently modulated the number and frequency of defecation, the weight of the faeces of the diarrhoea rats, the distance that was travelled by charcoal meal, mean differences in the full lengths of the intestines and the distance travelled by charcoal meal, weight and volume of intestinal contents, serum and faecal concentrations of potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, bicarbonate, iron and zinc relative to the negative control and in a manner akin to loperamide (for the extract at 600 mg/kg). DSS or loperamide attenuated the loss of calcium in the faeces of the rats. DSS possesses anti-diarrhoea properties, which may be attributed to the phytochemicals in it. Finally, the study showed the safety in the usage of DSS.

DSS exerted its anti-diarrhoea action in castor oil-induced diarrhoea rats, by modulating their intestinal secretory and motile activity in a manner akin to loperamide (for DSS at 600 mg/kg).

Purpose – This study addresses the great apes' fatal situation in the wild by integrating perspectives from conservation biology, conflict research, and bioethics.

Design/methodology/approach – We introduce the great apes' red list status and describe habitat destruction and bushmeat commerce as main threats to their survival. We analyze the complex context in which great ape extinction takes place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and thereby focus on a threatening factor that is interlinked with habitat destruction and bushmeat commerce: armed conflict.

Findings – The study shows that some characteristics of so-called “New Wars” are apparent in the DRC and that they directly or indirectly impact the great apes' situation. Because the human role in the animals' extinction is so severe and so obvious, ethical consequences become apparent. Animal ethics (the welfare as well as the rights approach) has to acknowledge the severity of the situation of the great apes in the wild. Implications for the human–animal relationship and the human identity come into play. After all, we have to ask ourselves what it means for us and for coming generations if our nearest relatives are going to be extinct one day.

Practical implications – It is argued that conservation policy has to include insights from conflict research. Likewise, peacemaking has to address ecological consequences of warfare.

Originality/value – Our findings promote an interdisciplinary approach. Armed conflict as a threatening factor to great ape survival has so far largely been neglected within the literature on conservation biology as well as in conflict research.