The annual publication (since 1995) of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International (TI) Secretariat in Berlin, gives the scores of the perceptions which selected observers have of the prevalence of corruption in their countries. They do not report about facts. Moreover, these observers are not at random chosen from whatever universum of respondents. Those contributing are predominantly male, between 25 and 50 years of age, well-paid and expatriate, white collar workers, with diplomas of MBA and similar studies, anglophone. Perceptions of women, poor, locals, blue collar workers, francophone and lusophone, are predominantly missing. The automatic result is that rich countries rank in the top, are perceived as less corrupt, ‘clean’. Poor countries rank at the bottom end of the list. The result is unreliable, unscientific, and should not be used – as is generally done by governments and the media – as a yardstick for the level of corruption in particular countries. (TI-Berlin has announced that beginning with the CPI of December 2012, it will use another methodology with more reliable results. As soon as this is published such information and comments will become available on this website).
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Banana is an important commercial fruit crop for smallholder farmers in Arba Minch, southern Ethiopia. However, its sector is experiencing many constraints and limited attention given to productivity and marketing. Therefore, this study was conducted to analyze the banana value chain in order to identify constraints on productivity and marketing, and possibilities of improvements towards a sustainable value chain in Arba Minch. Data were collected through a survey, key informants’ interviews, and focus group discussions. Different analytical and statistical tools were used for data analysis. Results describe actors, supporters, and influencers of the existing banana chain. The current banana chain has three different distribution channels in Arba Minch. The channel that connects with rural consumers has the highest value share for farmers while the channel that includes traveling traders has the lowest value share for farmers. The marketing cooperative channel has an intermediate value share for farmers in the chain. Poor agronomic practice, diseases, pests, and climate change were the major constraints for the banana yield while limited market information, lack of cold store and refrigerated trucks, poor post-harvest handling, lack of alternative markets, and weak capacity of cooperatives were the main constraints for banana marketing in Arba Minch. Economic, social and environmental indicators have a moderate sustainability performance within the Ethiopian context. The chain has an advantage in terms of profitability, employment, emission of air pollutants and constraints in terms of coordination, value share, profit margin, market diversity, product and market information, transportation, waste management, and safety and hygiene.
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This paper focuses on the topical and problematic area of social innovations. The aim of this paper is to develop an original approach to the allocation of social innovations, taking into account characteristics such as the degree of state participation, the scope of application, the type of initiations as well as the degree of novelty, which will be elaborated on further in this article. In order to achieve this goal, the forty-two most successful social innovations were identified and systematized. The results of this study demonstrated that 73.5% of social innovations are privately funded, most of them operating on an international level with a high degree of novelty. Moreover, 81% of all social innovations are civic initiatives. Social innovations play an important role in the growth of both developed and less developed countries alike as highlighted in our extensive analysis
Chemical preservation is an important process that prevents foods, personal care products, woods and household products, such as paints and coatings, from undesirable change or decomposition by microbial growth. To date, many different chemical preservatives are commercially available, but they are also associated with health threats and severe negative environmental impact. The demand for novel, safe, and green chemical preservatives is growing, and this process is further accelerated by the European Green Deal. It is expected that by the year of 2050 (or even as soon as 2035), all preservatives that do not meet the ‘safe-by-design’ and ‘biodegradability’ criteria are banned from production and use. To meet these European goals, there is a large need for the development of green, circular, and bio-degradable antimicrobial compounds that can serve as alternatives for the currently available biocidals/ preservatives. Anthocyanins, derived from fruits and flowers, meet these sustainability goals. Furthermore, preliminary research at the Hanze University of Applied Science has confirmed the antimicrobial efficacy of rose and tulip anthocyanin extracts against an array of microbial species. Therefore, these molecules have the potential to serve as novel, sustainable chemical preservatives. In the current project we develop a strategy consisting of fractionation and state-of-the-art characterization methods of individual anthocyanins and subsequent in vitro screening to identify anthocyanin-molecules with potent antimicrobial efficacy for application in paints, coatings and other products. To our knowledge this is the first attempt that combines in-depth chemical characterization of individual anthocyanins in relation to their antimicrobial efficacy. Once developed, this strategy will allow us to single out anthocyanin molecules with antimicrobial properties and give us insight in structure-activity relations of individual anthocyanins. Our approach is the first step towards the development of anthocyanin molecules as novel, circular and biodegradable non-toxic plant-based preservatives.
Introduction The research group Biobased Resources & Energy (BRE) of Avans focusses on recovery of valuable building blocks from low-value solid and liquid residual streams from agriculture, households and industries. For the valorisation of these residual streams, BRE looks into different biological, chemical and mechanical processes. One of the main issues in the utilisation of residual streams is economic feasibility and the recovery of multiple resources from one residual stream. Using membrane technologies in combination with biological, chemical and/or mechanical processes could offer great opportunities. Central Research Question What is the applicability of membrane technologies for valorisation of different residual streams and is it possible to integrate membrane technology in current and new biorefining projects of research group BRE: Set-up In order to reach the goal of this postdoc, 4 research questions will be answered using literature search, experimentation and modelling: 1) What membrane methods are currently (commercially) available to enhance the results of current projects in research group BRE? 2) What are the essential technical parameters for membrane separation and how can these be optimized? 3) What is the economic impact of using membrane technology in recovery of valuable building blocks from residual streams? 4) What are the effects of using membranes instead of or complementary to currently used methods on the sustainability of valorisation of residual streams? Cooperation The postdoc and the research group BRE want to extend the contact and research cooperation with (regional) businesses and (applied) universities and support and facilitate the introduction and further development of membrane technologies in the curriculum of different Avans study programmes. This will be done via internships, minor projects (together with businesses) and development of study material for courses and trainings.
