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Productivity and production risks affect the use of agricultural production practices and inputs, particularly in developing countries. This paper aims to investigate the effects of adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties (DTMVs) on farm productivity, yield variance and downside risk exposure of maize growing households of Zambia.

The study uses household survey data collected from 11 maize producing districts of Eastern, Southern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia using a structured questionnaire. The Antle’s flexible moment-based approach was used in specifying, estimating and testing a stochastic production function. The study further applied an endogenous switching regression model to control for both observable and unobservable sources of bias.

The study revealed that DTMV adoption increases maize yield by 15 per cent and reduces the risk of crop failure: reducing yield variance by 38 per cent and exposure to downside risk by 36 per cent.

This study establishes the benefits of DTMV adoption in Zambia with regards to productivity, yield stability and downside risk in the face of climate change. Results from this study underscore the need for more concerted efforts to scale-out DTMVs for both maize productivity enhancement and for risk mitigation against weather shocks.

This study examines the relationship between demand forecasting error and retail inventory management in an uncertain supplier yield context. Replenishment is segmented into off-season and peak-season, with the former characterized by longer lead times and higher supply uncertainty. In contrast, the latter incurs higher acquisition costs but ensures certain supply, with the retailer's purchase volume aligning with the acquired volume. Retailers can replenish in both phases, receiving goods before the sales season. This paper focuses on the impact of the retailer's demand forecasting bias on their sales period profits for both phases.

This study adopts a data-driven research approach by drawing inspiration from real data provided by a cooperating enterprise to address research problems. Mathematical modeling is employed to solve the problems, and the resulting optimal strategies are tested and validated in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, the applicability of the optimal strategies is enhanced by incorporating numerical simulations under other general distributions.

The study's findings reveal that a greater disparity between predicted and actual demand distributions can significantly reduce the profits that a retailer-supplier system can earn, with the optimal purchase volume also being affected. Moreover, the paper shows that the mean of the forecasting error has a more substantial impact on system revenue than the variance of the forecasting error. Specifically, the larger the absolute difference between the predicted and actual means, the lower the system revenue. As a result, managers should focus on improving the quality of demand forecasting, especially the accuracy of mean forecasting, when making replenishment decisions.

This study established a two-stage inventory optimization model that simultaneously considers random yield and demand forecast quality, and provides explicit expressions for optimal strategies under two specific demand distributions. Furthermore, the authors focused on how forecast error affects the optimal inventory strategy and obtained interesting properties of the optimal solution. In particular, the property that the optimal procurement quantity no longer changes with increasing forecast error under certain conditions is noteworthy, and has not been previously noted by scholars. Therefore, the study fills a gap in the literature.

This study established a two-stage inventory optimization model that simultaneously considers random yield and demand forecast quality, and provides explicit expressions for optimal strategies under two specific demand distributions. Furthermore, the authors focused on how forecast error affects the optimal inventory strategy and obtained interesting properties of the optimal solution. In particular, the property that the optimal procurement quantity no longer changes with increasing forecast error under certain conditions is noteworthy, and has not been previously noted by scholars. Therefore, the study fills a gap in the literature.

The objective of this article is to propose a panel of management performance evaluation indicators at operator level. This panel would be the tool to be made available to an observatory that should be set up by regulation. The proposal comes at the right time given that Morocco is planning a major reform of the sector very soon. A framework law has already been promulgated for this purpose (Law 51-21 relating to the reform of public establishments).

The proposed panel is the result of (1) a review of the literature dealing with public management theories, in particular those relating to industrial and commercial public services and whose character is captive. The management of the latter requires a great deal of caution to preserve their economic balance and consequently their sustainability. (2) A review of experiences of countries is chosen because of contextual their similarities with Morocco like France having a similar legal background, Tunisia and Algeria chosen for geographical and economic similarities. The British experience is also discussed for what it represents as a liberal model in the management of public water and sanitation services, as opposed to the German model also studied and which stands as the only country where the management of public services has almost always been a communal prerogative. The analysis of these models has made it possible to identify management evaluation practices that could be adapted to the Moroccan context. (3) Research work by practitioners and reports from specialized international institutions (International Water Association [IWA]). (4) A critical analysis of a multitude of management and activity reports from 12 autonomous authorities and 4 private delegates covering 16 million inhabitants of the urban environment. A total of 15 indicators are developed. They aim to assess the effectiveness of management in terms of saving drinking water and preserving the natural environment from the pollution of water resources.

Approximately, 15 indicators for assessing water resource management in public water and sanitation services are proposed. These indicators relate to the efficiency of pipe networks, the performance of storage systems and losses in users' homes. Indicators specific to liquid sanitation systems, particularly with regard to the control of wastewater overflows into the public highway and their treatment before discharge into the natural environment, are also proposed.

The application of the results of this research could be confronted with its appropriation by the operators. Indeed, the investment involved in setting up the proposed evaluation system, as well as the conflict of interest that may arise in the process of formalizing and standardizing the system at the national level, may slow down the process of setting it up.

In practice, the implementation of a system for evaluating the performance of water resource management in public drinking water and liquid sanitation services would make it possible to optimize the volume of water to be mobilized. Substantial savings are expected both at the level of the resource itself and at the level of the investments that accompany the realization of the mobilization and distribution infrastructures. These savings will be very useful for the creation of other similar services and to serve more people.

The distribution of drinking water and liquid sanitation is a vital human need. These services are extremely captive. They are key factors in the socioeconomic development of the territory and the citizen. The impact is transversal and affects the lifestyle of the populations. On the one hand, it favors the sedentarization of the populations and on the other hand, preserves their health by fighting against the diseases of water origin. In addition, the comfort that it provides in the daily life of users is highly coveted when they are delivered in a modern way and arranged with modern technologies.

The regulation of public drinking water and liquid sanitation services in Morocco is the weakest link in the sector. The Ministry of the Interior is legally responsible for setting up a standard system for evaluating the management of these services to fill this gap (organic law 113-14 on municipalities). Unfortunately, this initiative is not yet underway. The opportunity to apply the results of this research is well timed. Morocco plans to launch a global reform of the sector starting in 2022–2023 (Law 50-21 on the reform of public institutions).

The purpose of this paper was to assess the economic impact of investment in different animal welfare–enhancing flooring solutions in Swedish dairy farming.

The authors developed a bio-economic model and used stochastic partial budgeting approach to simulate the economic consequences of enhancing solid and slatted concrete floors with soft rubber covering.

The findings highlight that keeping herds on solid and slatted concrete floor surfaces with soft rubber coverings is a profitable solution, compared with keeping herds on solid and slatted concrete floors without a soft covering. The profit per cow when kept on a solid concrete floor with soft rubber covering increased by 13%–16% depending on the breed.

Promoting farm investments such as improvement in flooring solution, which have both economic and animal welfare incentives, is a potential way of promoting sustainable dairy production. Farmers may make investments in improved floors, resulting in enhanced animal welfare and economic outcomes necessary for sustaining dairy production.

This literature review indicated that the economic impact of investment in specific types of floor improvement solutions, investment costs and financial outcomes have received little attention. This study provides insights needed for a more informed decision-making process when selecting optimal flooring solutions for new and renovated barns that improve both animal welfare and ease the burden on farmers and public financial support.

During the planting process, agricultural products produce large amounts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This has placed tremendous pressure on sustainable global development. Many countries and regions in the world have adopted intensive subsistence cultivation methods when planting maize; however, limited studies exist on these methods. The main purpose of this research is to show the impact of climate change on maize yields and carbon footprint (CF) in South Korea over 10 years, find the proper operating method and promote the advanced combination of inputs for the sustainable development of maize farmers.

This study used survey data from the South Korea Rural Development Administration of 2010, 2014 and 2019 to estimate the CF of maize planting under intensive subsistence cultivation. Life-cycle assessment was used to determine the CF. Farmers were grouped according to significant differences in yield and GHG emissions. Linear regression was used to measure the dependence of the main contributors on the CF production and carbon efficiency.

In South Korean maize planting, N in chemical fertiliser was the most significant contributor to the CF and organic fertiliser was the most significant input. The use of chemical and organic fertilisers significantly affects the production of the CF and carbon efficiency. Households in the high-yield and low-GHG emission groups are more sustainable because they generate the least GHG when producing and earning through maize cultivation. Globally, maize production in South Korea has a relatively low CF and maize production produces fewer GHG.

This study provides information for policymakers to determine key operational options for reducing GHG emissions using intensive subsistence cultivation of maize production in South Korea and other countries.

This paper aims to review the current status of wheat production, farming systems, production constraints and wheat demand-supply chain analysis; the role of international and national breeding programs and their approaches in wheat genetic improvement including targeting mega environments, shuttle breeding, doubled haploids, marker-assisted selection and key location phenotyping; and future prospects and opportunities of wheat production in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA).

Relevant literature works have been used and cited accordingly.

Though traditionally wheat was not the leading staple crop in SSA, it is becoming an important food crop because of rapid population growth associated with increased urbanization and change in food preference for easy and fast food such as bread, biscuits, pasta, noodles and porridge. In 2013, total wheat consumption in SSA reached 25 million tons with import accounting for 17.5 million tons at a price of USD6 billion, while during the same period the region produces only 7.3 million tons on a total area of 2.9 million hectares. The low productivity (2t/ha) in the region is principally because of abiotic (drought and heat) and biotic (yellow rust, stem rust, septoria and fusarium) stresses which are increasing in intensity and frequency associated with climate change. Furthermore, increased cost of production, growing populations, increased rural-urban migration, low public and private investments, weak extension systems and policies, and low adoption rates of new technologies remain to be major challenges for wheat production in SSA. Wheat breeding in SSA is dominantly carried out by National Agricultural Research Systems, in partnership with the international research centers [International center for improvement of maize and wheat (CIMMYT) and International center for agricultural research in the dry areas (ICARDA)], to develop high yielding and widely adapted wheat genotypes with increased water-use efficiency, heat tolerance and resistance to major diseases and pests. Most of the cultivars grown in SSA are originated from the international research centers, CIMMYT and ICARDA.

This paper will help to promote available wheat technologies in SSA by creating awareness to wheat scientists, extension agents and policymakers.

This manuscript is an original review paper which has not been published in this form elsewhere.

In Argentina, soy and maize represent 28% of the total country exports, affecting the balance of payments, international reserves accumulation and sovereign credit risk. In the past 10 years, three extreme and moderate droughts have affected the agricultural areas, causing significant losses in soybean and maize production. This study aims to estimate the economic impact generated by different drought levels for soy and maize production areas through a financial perspective that allows the estimation of the cash flow and income losses.

By analyzing the extreme deviations in yields during dry periods, the losses generated by droughts were valuated among 183 departments nationwide.

The aggregated results indicated a total loss of US$24.170m, representing 57.45% of the international reserves of the Argentinean Central Bank in 2021. This estimate shows the magnitude of the climate impact on the Argentinean economy, indicating that severe droughts have macroeconomic impacts, with the external sector as the main transmission channel in an economy with historic restrictions on the balance of payments, international reserve accumulation and sovereign credit risk.

This study analyses the macroeconomic impact of drought on Argentinean soybean and maize production.

Utilising a database that distinctly classifies firm-level ESG (environmental, social and governance) news sentiment as positive or negative, the authors examine the information flow between the two types of ESG news sentiment and stock returns for 20 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange between 2015 and 2021.

The authors use Shannonian transfer entropy to examine whether information significantly flows from ESG news sentiment to stock returns and a modified event study analysis to establish how stock prices react to changes in the two types of ESG sentiment.

Using Shannonian transfer entropy, the authors find that for the majority of the companies studied, information flows from the positive ESG news sentiment to stock returns while only a minority of the companies exhibit significant information flow from negative ESG news sentiment to returns. Furthermore, the study’s findings show significantly positive (negative) abnormal returns on the event date and beyond for both upgrades and downgrades in positive ESG news sentiment.

This study is among the first in an African context to investigate the impact of ESG news sentiment on stock market returns at high frequencies.

The paper aims to describe the process to obtain a complete municipal database from the 2011 Spanish Census information. By complete, the authors mean variables for the full sample of the 8,116 municipalities as of the census reference date. In addition, the database should be consistent with the public census information released by the National Statistical Institute: microdata and customized tables.

The authors use mainly small area demographic and synthetic estimators that are reconciled using biproportional adjustment (iterative proportional fitting), when needed.

As a result, the authors obtain a complete and consistent municipal database composing 55 variables related to socio-demographic characteristics of persons.

The provision of a complete and consistent municipal database, available for download, which is absent in the original 2011 Spanish Census.

This paper aims to present a requirements analysis for the processing of water-based electrode dispersions in inkjet printing.

A detailed examination of the components and the associated properties of the electrode dispersions has been carried out. The requirements of the printing process and the resulting performance characteristics of the electrode dispersions were analyzed in a top–down approach. The product and process side were compared, and the target specifications of the dispersion components were derived.

Target ranges have been identified for the main component properties, balancing the partly conflicting goals between the product and the process requirements.

The findings are expected to assist with the formulation of electrode dispersions as printing inks.

Little knowledge is available regarding the particular requirements arising from the systematic qualification of aqueous electrode dispersions for inkjet printing. This paper addresses these requirements, covering both product and process specifications.