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Youth farming is undergoing a transformation in Nigeria as the incentive framework for small-scale farming changes. Rural-urban migration, rural poverty, education and the new opportunities it affords, and technological change are among the drivers of this transformation. Meanwhile, as the demand for food commodities increases with urbanisation, an exodus of labour from the countryside threatens food sufficiency at the national level. Agrarian policy faces a difficult threefold choice between state-supported large-scale commercial farming, training young farmers for small-scale commercial farming, and continuing present policies of improving incentive structures for small-scale peasant farmers. In Kwara State, the Shonga experiment in large-scale commercial methods, involving 13 Zimbabwean farmers, is viewed through the lens of youth farming and the necessary transfer of national food provisioning to a new generation of producers. It is found that youth farming is likely to be as dependent on state subsidies as the Zimbabweans are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diferencia de lo ocurrido ante crisis anteriores, cuando las discusiones entre las partes (acreedores y deudores, inversores y países receptores) se encuadraban en algún tipo de marco institucional, la crisis experimentada por Argentina a partir del 2001 mostró a un país abandonado a su suerte, no en una sino en dos oportunidades. Pero aunque inicialmente los inversores extranjeros habían logrado modificar las reglas en su provecho, obteniendo mayor protección y más seguridad jurídica, la situación terminó siéndoles desfavorable. La experiencia de Argentina sugiere que, dado el peso declinante de las instituciones financieras internacionales, en la situación actual las soluciones asimétricas no son duraderas y que los gobiernos democráticos terminarán por dar mayor prioridad a sus electores que a los inversionistas extranjeros cuando estén obligados a elegir entre unos y otros. Esto lleva a preguntarse si el caso argentino es una excepción o bien marca un debilitamiento de la protección a la inversión extranjera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jules Siedenburg (in this issue of DPR) has misunderstood the purpose of our 1994 book, which was to differentiate between long-run forces of change and the impact of particular projects. The methodology we adopted is rehearsed in this response, as it authenticates our data. His attack on our use of price data is rebutted. From our data we expanded our original model and derived the policies that had encouraged farmer investment and technology change. Our work can be rebutted if these policies fail, not by the mere existence of continued degradation or failure to adopt particular technical recommendations. We have since tested our model in comparable areas of dryland Africa, and the cited works by others generally support our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on dryland communities in Africa, and the possibility that population growth and environmental management may occur together in the right circumstances. Claim that a successful intersection of ecosystem and human system may be evident in four domains, including ecosystem management, land investments, productivity and personal incomes or welfare; Chart explaining these domains and their indicators; Exploration of sustainable development in different African regions, including the Machakos District in Kenya, the Kano state in Nigeria, the Diourbel Region in Senegal and the Maradi Department in Niger.

The globalisation process provides opportunities for developing countries in the context of tighter international agreements that limit their policy instruments for promoting industrialisation. An option for governments in this new context is to 'target lead transnational corporations', whose corporate strategies are more attuned to their developmental circumstances and industrial aspirations, in order to locate nodules of their international systems of integrated production in their economy. This can have a clustering effect in the same host economy that can contribute significantly to the creation and consolidation of internationally competitive industries there. Here we examine the cases of two developing countries: one that achieved impressive results by following such a policy and another that missed a golden opportunity by not doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the chief findings of research carried out in four African dryland areas to investigate the validity of the authors' ‘Machakos hypothesis’, and to derive lessons on appropriate enabling policies. The findings were subsequently submitted to in-country validation and dissemination exercises. The lessons learnt from these in regard to introducing research findings into country policy dialogues are set against the background of current discussion of this issue. The article also discusses uptake at the international level, because it tends to be at this level that development paradigms and practices are formulated and promoted into countries through donor and agency actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of poverty in Africa was often discussed in terms of the agro-ecological specifics and the internal social relations of societies, production systems and economies. It appeared necessary, therefore, for states and international organizations to intervene. Because poverty was identified with production constraints, such interventions took the form of technological transfer in agriculture. Later, as agro-ecological constraints became more widely perceived, and supposedly "fragile" ecosystems were believed to be under threat from population growth and other factors, emphasis shifted to "environmental sustainability". As with the new technologies, so with sustainable natural resource management, it was often assumed that the new knowledge must come from outside, or from "science", and must be promoted against the natural "conservatism" of smallholders by whatever means necessary--from coercion at one extreme to "participation" at the other. Recently there has been much movement away from such stereotypical positions towards more subtle and varied statements of the problem. However, I believe there is still a lacuna with respect to the autonomy of the smallholder in the "fight against poverty". Intervention is still the name of the game, and receives far more attention than the resources or achievements of poor people themselves. Analyses of long-term trends in the management of resources at the village, regional and national levels in dryland Africa suggest that African farmers have made considerable achievements in the face of a trying environment. An understanding of this long-term trend may provide a better framework for the diagnosis of current problems and the formulation of future policy on poverty and livelihoods in the drylands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses a study which analyzed the corporate strategies for foreign direct investment in Latin America. Aspects of the operating environment; Responses of transnational corporations to the operating environment in Latin America and the Caribbean; Evaluation of the results.

Summary The production of plant biomass on small farms and in woodland in densely populated locations in the Nigerian Sahelo-Sudan is estimated in order to test the hypothesis that conversion of land from natural vegetation to cultivation entails a loss in plant productivity. Estimates are given for reserved forest, woodland, shrubland and farmland at two sites varying in mean annual rainfall and population density. The results fail to support the hypothesis. The role of farmers in causing degradation through loss of plant productivity, and appropriate conservation strategies, may require re-evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the role of capital and technology in growth and environment recovery in Kenya. Investment in technological improvements and management innovations and skills; Improvement of environmental conservation; Theoretical debates on economic growth, environment and population.

Opinion. Presents a reaction to the article `Population Growth and a Sustainable Environment: The Machakos Story' published in the October 1994 edition of `Environment' magazine. Criticism of the choice of Machakos District in Kenya as the unit of study and 1930 as the baseline year.

Takes a look at how population growth, the environment and human welfare have fared over time in a densely populated area of Kenya. British colonial regime's White Highlands policy which confined the Akamba to a certain area; Technical innovations in farming in the Machakos District. INSET: Terracing technologies recommended in the 1940s..

Presents a letter to the editor in response to the article "Dryland Development: Success Stories from West Africa," which focused on sustainable development in Africa, in the Jan./Feb. 2005 issue of "Environment."

Analyzes linear synthesis of indole alkaloid. Discussions on tandem vinylogous Mannich and intermolecular hetero Diels-Alder reaction; Emphasis on the synthesis of akuammicine and strychnine; Evaluation of synthesis on complex alkaloid.

DNA-damaging agents are among the most frequently used anticancer drugs. However, they provide only modest benefit in most cancers. This may be attributed to a genome maintenance network, the DNA damage response (DDR), that recognizes and repairs damaged DNA. ATR is a major regulator of the DDR and an attractive anticancer target. Herein, we describe the discovery of a series of aminopyrazines with potent and selective ATR inhibition. Compound 45inhibits ATR with a Kiof 6 nM, shows >600-fold selectivity over related kinases ATM or DNA-PK, and blocks ATR signaling in cells with an IC50of 0.42 μM. Using this compound, we show that ATR inhibition markedly enhances death induced by DNA-damaging agents in certain cancers but not normal cells. This differential response between cancer and normal cells highlights the great potential for ATR inhibition as a novel mechanism to dramatically increase the efficacy of many established drugs and ionizing radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The identification of a novel series of Aurora kinase inhibitors and exploitation of their SAR is described. Replacement of the initial quinazoline core with a pyrimidine scaffold and modification of substituents led to a series of very potent inhibitors of cellular proliferation. MK-0457 (VX-680) has been assessed in Phase II clinical trials in patients with treatment-refractory chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) containing the T315I mutation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Starting from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the identification of a novel series of P2Y12 receptor antagonists and exploitation of their SAR is described. Modifications of the acidic side chain and the purine core and investigation of hydrophobic substituents led to a series of neutral molecules. The leading compound, 17 (AZD6140), is currently in a large phase III clinical trial for the treatment of acute coronary syndromes and prevention of thromboembolic clinical sequelae. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this millennium, global drylands face a myriad of problems that present tough research, management, and policy challenges. Recent advances in dryland development, however, togethe with the integrative approaches of global change and sustainability science, suggest that concerns, about land degradation, poverty, safeguarding biodiversity, and protecting the culture of 2.5 billion people can be confronted with renewed optimism. We review recent lessons about the functioning of dryland ecosystems and the livelihood systems of their human residents and introduce a new synthetic framework, the Drylands Development Paradigm (DDP). The DDP, supported by a growing and well-documented set of tools for policy and management action, helps navigate the inherent complexity of desertification and dryland development, identifying and synthesizing those factors important to research, management, and policy communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]