VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS OF FISH IN KARAIYAMAI RURAL MUNICIPALITY, BARA DISTRICT OF NEPAL

The research entitled “Value chain analysis of fish in Karaiyamai Rural Municipality, Bara district of Nepal” was conducted in 2020 focusing on the chain of actors involved in supplying inputs to the farmers and thereby supplying finished product to the ultimate consumers through various market intermediaries. The survey research design was used for the study where respondents (60 farmers of Karaiyamai Rural Municipality and 15 traders of Jeetpursimara Sub-Metropolitan City) were selected using simple random sampling techniques. Primary data was collected using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and secondary data were obtained from various articles and related documents. Descriptive statistics and indexing techniques were used for the analysis of data for which MS-Excel and SPSS-23 were used. Average cost of production was NRs. 996516.92/ha. The average productivity of fish in the study area was highest (7024.42 Kg/ha) than the national average productivity (4920 Kg/ha), and district average (5298 Kg/ha). Various production and marketing problems were faced by respondents as untimely availability of inputs, poor water supply units, and poor storage facilities. Despite these problems, the fish production was a profitable business (B: C ratio: 2.01) with high gross margin value. The marketing channel of input suppliers – producers – wholesalers – retailers – consumers was found effective. There was a low marketing margin and higher producer share on the retail price that indicates an efficient market system. Hereby, the study of value chain actors and construction of value chain map symbolizes; there are good prospects of fisheries business with commercialization and risky but profitable enterprise.

Broken chocolate: biomarkers as a method for delivering cocoa supply chain visibility

Purpose This paper examines the potential of “biomarkers” to provide immutable identification for food products (chocolate), providing traceability and visibility in the supply chain from retail product back to farm. Design/methodology/approach This research uses qualitative data collection, including fieldwork at cocoa farms and chocolate manufacturers in Ecuador and the Netherlands and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals to identify challenges and create a supply chain map from cocoa plant to retailer, validated by area experts. A library of biomarkers is created using DNA collected from fieldwork and the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, holders of cocoa varieties from known locations around the world. Matching sample biomarkers with those in the library enables identification of origins of cocoa used in a product, even when it comes from multiple different sources and has been processed. Findings Supply chain mapping and interviews identify areas of the cocoa supply chain that lack the visibility required for management to guarantee sustainability and quality. A decoupling point, where smaller farms/traders’ goods are combined to create larger economic units, obscures product origins and limits visibility. These factors underpin a potential boundary condition to institutional theory in the industry’s fatalism to environmental and human abuses in the face of rising institutional pressures. Biomarkers reliably identify product origin, including specific farms and (fermentation) processing locations, providing visibility and facilitating control and trust when purchasing cocoa. Research limitations/implications The biomarker “meta-barcoding” of cocoa beans used in chocolate manufacturing accurately identifies the farm, production facility or cooperative, where a cocoa product came from. A controlled data set of biomarkers of registered locations is required for audit to link chocolate products to origin. Practical implications Where biomarkers can be produced from organic products, they offer a method for closing visibility gaps, enabling responsible sourcing. Labels (QR codes, barcodes, etc.) can be swapped and products tampered with, but biological markers reduce reliance on physical tags, diminishing the potential for fraud. Biomarkers identify product composition, pinpointing specific farm(s) of origin for cocoa in chocolate, allowing targeted audits of suppliers and identifying if cocoa of unknown origin is present. Labour and environmental abuses exist in many supply chains and enabling upstream visibility may help firms address these challenges. Social implications By describing a method for firms in cocoa supply chains to scientifically track their cocoa back to the farm level, the research shows that organizations can conduct social audits for child labour and environmental abuses at specific farms proven to be in their supply chains. This provides a method for delivering supply chain visibility (SCV) for firms serious about tackling such problems. Originality/value This paper provides one of the very first examples of biomarkers for agricultural SCV. An in-depth study of stakeholders from the cocoa and chocolate industry elucidates problematic areas in cocoa supply chains. Biomarkers provide a unique biological product identifier. Biomarkers can support efforts to address environmental and social sustainability issues such as child labour, modern slavery and deforestation by providing visibility into previously hidden areas of the supply chain.

Analysis of the Tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) Value Chain in the State of Veracruz Rural Aquaculture for the Small Producer

Objective: To analyze the importance of the aquaculture value chain links in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, especially those of production and marketing. Methodology: The information was obtained in the six main tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) production regions in the state of Veracruz through poles based in a questionnaire that addresses key informants; variables related to each link and chain agent were considered; five juvenile producers, 41 tilapia producers and 12 marketers. Results: A fish farming value chain map was generated with the description of distribution channels, production cost estimation and sales income, as well as the participation of producers in demand. Implications: The implementation of integrative models is required in order to have a constant supply of inputs from suppliers in farms. Also, associative models that allow accessing markets in units where the high payment availability for the product should be developed. Conclusions: Chain economic agents are related. Upon meeting the quality and performance required by marketers, there is potential to develop value aggregation strategies through associativity models, linked to service businesses such as restaurants

Pola penyediaan dan rantai pasok pakan serat pada musim kemarau di peternakan rakyat sapi perah, Lembang, Kabupaten Bandung Barat

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to explore and understand the source of fiber feed that is commonly used, and analyze the activities of fiber feed provision in dairy farms during the dry season, and investigate the fiber feed supply chain.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This research was conducted on rural dairy farms in the Sub-district of Lembang located in West Bandung District. The data was collected by adopting an interview method with 50 farmers implements a purposive sampling technique to gather information regarding the provision pattern, supply chain of respective fibre feed. Samples of fiber feed in the dairy farms were taken using a simple random sampling technique. The data acquired is analyzed using descriptive analysis; these data consist of nutrient content of the fiber feed, provision pattern during the dry season, and the supply chain map of those fiber feed provisions.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The result reveals that the fiber feed that has been given to the dairy cows was cultivated grass, natural grass, legumes, and plant residue that entirely supplied from neighborhood area (≤ 30 km), which has different nutrient content. There are 16 provision patterns of fibre feed in the dry season, the vast majority of provision pattern was the combination of foraging from the farmer’s land and feed purchasing. By referring to the RFV calculations, legumes and vegetable waste have good quality. The fibre feed supply chain is relatively short, which is about (1-4 actors) due to its freshness and required no processing.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In conclusions, the fibre feed that has been given to the dairy cows was cultivated grass, natural grass, legumes, and plant residue. There are 16 provision patterns of fibre feed in the dry season. The fibre feed supply chain is relatively short.</p>

Value chain mapping and actors’ value added share in the catfish value chain in Imo State, Nigeria

The study assessed the value chain mapping and actors value added share in the catfish value chain in Imo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed in the selection of 217 catfish value chain actors comprising 37 input suppliers, 50 producers, 50 processors, 50 marketers and 30 consumers for the study. Data were analyzed using value chain map, net income, value added share models and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that primary actors are inputs suppliers, producers, processors, marketers and consumers while research, finance and legislation activities were carried out by support actors. The total value added in the catfish value chain system was N2,944.5/kg with value added share of 0.41%, 15.54%, 24.83% and 59.22% for input suppliers, producers, processors and marketers respectively and they were statistically significantly difference at 5% with marketers having the highest value added share as they occupy a pivotal position to harness the preference, place, price and product information from the final consumers who are at the epicentre of the value chain system. It was therefore recommended that actors at every node should ensure their efforts should be done in a manner that will attract better value by considering the final consumers' preference of catfish products.

Computing the Rabinowitz Floer homology of tentacular hyperboloids

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>We compute the Rabinowitz Floer homology for a class of non-compact hyperboloids <inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$ \Sigma\simeq S^{n+k-1}\times\mathbb{R}^{n-k} $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. Using an embedding of a compact sphere <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$ \Sigma_0\simeq S^{2k-1} $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> into the hypersurface <inline-formula><tex-math id="M3">\begin{document}$ \Sigma $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>, we construct a chain map from the Floer complex of <inline-formula><tex-math id="M4">\begin{document}$ \Sigma $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> to the Floer complex of <inline-formula><tex-math id="M5">\begin{document}$ \Sigma_0 $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula>. In contrast to the compact case, the Rabinowitz Floer homology groups of <inline-formula><tex-math id="M6">\begin{document}$ \Sigma $\end{document}</tex-math></inline-formula> are both non-zero and not equal to its singular homology. As a consequence, we deduce that the Weinstein Conjecture holds for any strongly tentacular deformation of such a hyperboloid.</p>

Value Chain Analysis of Cassava (Manihot Esculeta) in Toba Samosir Regency, North Sumatera, Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to map out the value chain of cassava (Manihot esculeta) and to measure the extent to which the cassava commodity in Toba Samosir Regency, North Sumatera, Indonesia, could affect the economics of the relevant stakeholders. This study employed the value chain mapping analysis method to map out the existing supply chain models. Data and information have been collected using semi-structured interviews to selected sample that represent the stakeholders’ population along the cassava supply chain in Toba Samosir Regency. The stakeholders have been identified using snowball technique. SWOT analysis was employed to deploy policy strategy in improving the cassava benefit for the stakeholders. From the study, we obtain three models of supply chain of cassava, namely: (i) direct sale of cassava root to consumer model, (ii) cassava-based food model, and (iii) tapioca starch model. The margins of each node for each supply chain were estimated. The value chain map reveals that the value engineering of cassava commodities is not optimal, in which the final products produced by all models of supply chain are far below the potential possible value. We finally recommended some value-added improvement strategy; for example, diversifying the product of cassava derivative that is more valuable that is higher-grade tapioca flour and modification of cassava flour. Keywords: Value Chain Analysis, Cassava, North Sumatera.

Value Chain Analysis of Maliputo, Caranx ignobilis in the Philippines

Maliputo (Caranx ignobilis) is a high-value food fish in the Philippines with limited studies on market potential. This value chain analysis study was conducted to understand the industry, to identify the key actors, supply and value chain, and to identify issues and concerns to support the development of C. ignobilis industry. A survey interview was conducted using purposive sampling in nine maliputo-producing regions with 224 respondents, and focus group discussion validated the analyzed data. Key chain actors identified are fishers, fish cage operators, fish buyers categorized as small-scale (local vendors and peddlers) and large-scale intermediaries (commission agents and wholesalers), and processors (restaurants and resorts). Annual production was 188,722 kg valued at PHP 33,752,859.79 with 58.12% coming from capture fisheries and 41.88% from aquaculture. Major producing regions for captured and cultured C. ignobilis are Regions 2 (Cagayan), 6 (Iloilo), and 3 (Central Luzon). The industry’s value chain map showed a gross value addition of PHP 116.58, 135.65, 75.04, 23.58, and 749.71 per kg maliputo for capture, aquaculture, small-scale fish buyer, large-scale fish buyer, and processors, respectively. Processors attained the highest net returns while fishers got the lowest. This study noted that C. ignobilis is a non-target species in capture fisheries resulting in an inconsistent supply of the fish. For aquaculture, there is a need to improve its culture technology, develop seed production technology, and formulate an artificial diet. Various upgrading strategies to improve the industry and to increase the benefits derived by the key actors had been identified and presented in the paper.

Čech–Delaunay gradient flow and homology inference for self-maps

We call a continuous self-map that reveals itself through a discrete set of point-value pairs a sampled dynamical system. Capturing the available information with chain maps on Delaunay complexes, we use persistent homology to quantify the evidence of recurrent behavior. We establish a sampling theorem to recover the eigenspaces of the endomorphism on homology induced by the self-map. Using a combinatorial gradient flow arising from the discrete Morse theory for Čech and Delaunay complexes, we construct a chain map to transform the problem from the natural but expensive Čech complexes to the computationally efficient Delaunay triangulations. The fast chain map algorithm has applications beyond dynamical systems.