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Agriculture plays a central role in Bangladesh's economy, especially in rural areas, and further progress in agriculture will remain important as Bangladesh's economy continues to evolve. Bangladesh has made significant agricultural policy reforms since the 1980s, which has largely contributed to achieving self-sufficiency in rice production. However, these policies are now creating headwinds, constraining the emergence of a more diversified production system. With rapid urbanization and income growth, dietary patterns are changing in Bangladesh and new market opportunities are emerging for diverse, safe, and nutritious foods. Thus, additional productive diversification in agriculture and modernization along the agri-food value chain are needed in order to allow the sector to seize the emerging domestic market opportunities. Promoting greater diversification and modernization of the agri-food sector in Bangladesh will require repurposing the country's agricultural support along with increasing private investment, both along the agri-food value chain and in support services to that chain. The agri-food ecosystem analysis in the report has identified critical constraints to the diversification and modernization of the agri-food sector. The major productivity constraints include land fragmentation and informality in the land rental markets; limited access to quality seeds for nonpaddy crops; limited knowledge of and adoption of good agricultural practices, reflected in unbalanced use and overuse of inputs; and limited use of farmer aggregation models, which constrains the delivery of extension services, access to financing, and linking with markets. Other key constraints, which are preventing off-farm value addition and commercialization in the sector, include the limited number of formal off-takers; inadequate and costly marketing infrastructure and logistic services; inadequate upholding of appropriate food safety practices and product quality standards; and a poorly designed export subsidy policy. These constraints are exacerbated by other cross-sectoral issues, such as access to finance, and the overall challenges of the investment climate and competitiveness.

Diversification --- Food Processing --- Food Safety --- Food System --- Mechanization --- Modernization --- Rural Transformation --- Value Addition --- Value-Chain

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This book provides updated information on this intriguing and exciting group of insects: Neotropical Social Wasps. These insects have a particular biology and their colonies are formed by a few cooperative females living in either small or massive, structured nests where stinging individuals organize their activities and defend their offspring. Topics include evolutionary aspects, biogeography, post-embryonic development, community behavior and ecology, economic importance, and research methods. .

Entomology. --- Animal ecology. --- Biodiversity. --- Animal Ecology. --- Biological diversification --- Biological diversity --- Biotic diversity --- Diversification, Biological --- Diversity, Biological --- Biology --- Biocomplexity --- Ecological heterogeneity --- Numbers of species --- Animals --- Zoology --- Ecology --- Insects --- Vespidae --- Behavior.

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For pension funds, international assets represent an opportunity to improve their returns while possibly reducing risks. Nonetheless, pension funds in many developing countries face regulations that limit the choice of international investments. This paper proposes a new methodology to estimate the gains from international diversification in which the optimal asset allocation of pension funds is constrained by financial frictions. The empirical strategy is applied to the aggregate holdings of pension funds in a large group of countries to calculate the gains from increasing the current level of exposure to international securities. The methodology should give policy makers the opportunity to identify jurisdictions where pension funds could benefit the most from expanding their foreign holdings.

Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Foreign Asset --- Mutual Funds --- Pension Funds --- Pensions and Retirement Systems --- Portfolio Diversification --- Social Funds and Pensions --- Social Protections and Labor

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Paysage de grandes plaines agricoles ou paysage vallonné et bocager… ces deux paysages représentent deux approches agricoles très distinctes. Les problématiques environnementales actuelles dont découle l’érosion de la biodiversité sont intimement liée au mauvais état sanitaire des paysages, homogénéisés par l’agriculture intensive. Cette crise remet les paysages agricoles au centre du débat, pointant du doigt les agriculteurs intensifs pour leurs mauvaises pratiques agricoles. L’objectif de ce travail est de creuser le lien entre les choix de pratiques agricoles et la perception paysagère des agriculteurs dans le cadre d’une transition vers des pratiques plus “agro-écologiques”.

La méthode abordée est une approche sociologique qualitative. 14 agriculteurs ont été interviewés chez eux. Ils ont été choisis, en partie, pour leur localisation géographique car cette étude s’est concentrée sur 2 ensembles paysagers contrastés, à savoir les Plateaux brabançons et hesbignons et le Condroz. Ils ont aussi été choisis pour leur modèle agricole, à savoir conventionnel, biologique et/ou de conservation des sols. Les mêmes questions ont été posées à chacun sur base d’un guide d’entretien. Celui-ci aborde 2 grands thèmes à savoir les choix de pratiques agricoles, leurs motivations à la mise en oeuvre de celles-ci, et une partie sur le paysage composé de photos, de grilles d’évaluation, de questions fermées et de questions de réflexion sur les enjeux paysagers liés à la rediversification.

Les résultats ont montrés, que ce soit dans une région ou dans l’autre, que la diversité des exploitations et des personnes rencontrées rend chaque approche agricole et paysagère unique. On peut néanmoins différencier 3 approches agricoles différentes qui influencent les potentielles perceptions paysagères. Il y a les agriculteurs qui restent sur le chemin tout tracé et sécuritaire du modèle conventionnel et ceux qui cherchent à en sortir, soit pour des raisons de compétitivité économique soit dans une recherche d’innovation, dans une démarche d’ouverture cherchant à se désolidariser des pratiques conventionnelles trop rigides. Les choix de pratiques et les perceptions sont très variables au sein-même de chaque modèle agricole et dépendent de l’esprit d’ouverture de la curiosité dont fait preuve chacun vis-à-vis des problématiques actuelles. Chaque agriculteur, quel que soit son orientation, est à la tête d’une entreprise agricole dont il doit assurer la rentabilité. Donc l’hypothèse du lien entre le choix des pratiques agricoles et la perception du paysage par les agricutleurs est à nuancer. L’approche paysagère chez les agriculteurs est secondaire dès lors qu’elle n’a pas une utilité directe au bon fonctionnement de leur exploitation. Elle est cependant renforcée dès lors que l’agriculteur fait preuve de considérations écologiques, qu’ils s’intéressent au fonctionnement naturel des agro-écosystèmes ou à la gestion des habitats naturels pour le gibier dans le cas des chasseurs.

Perception, Paysage agricole, Pratiques agricoles, Diversification des paysages, Agriculture biologique, Agriculture de conservations des sols, Entretien, Agriculteurs, Hesbaye, Condroz --- Sciences du vivant > Agriculture & agronomie

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This book aims to synthesize the state of the art on biodiversity knowledge exchange practices to understand where and how improvements can be made to close the knowledge-implementation gap in conservation science and advance this interdisciplinary topic. Bringing together the most prominent scholars and practitioners in the field, the book looks into the various sources used to produce biodiversity knowledge - from natural and social sciences to Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Citizen Science - as well as knowledge mobilization approaches to highlight the key ingredients that render successful conservation action at a global scale. By doing so, the book identified major current challenges and opportunities in the field, for different sectors that generate, mobilize, and use biodiversity knowledge (like academia, boundary organizations, practitioners, and policy-makers), to further develop cross-sectorial knowledge mobilization strategies and enhance evidence-informed decision-making processes globally.

Natural history --- Conservation --- Biodiversity --- Biological diversification --- Biological diversity --- Biotic diversity --- Diversification, Biological --- Diversity, Biological --- Biology --- Biocomplexity --- Ecological heterogeneity --- Numbers of species --- History, Natural --- Natural science --- Physiophilosophy --- Science --- Biodiversitat --- Diversitat biològica --- Diversitat d'ecosistemes --- Diversitat d'espècies --- Diversitat genètica --- Biologia --- Ecologia --- Recursos genètics --- Biodiversity. --- Natural history.