درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

 Urban agriculture promotes sustainable development and fosters societal participation, including the rehabilitation of various groups, such as inmates. Therefore, this research aimed to analyze the effectiveness of prison-farm rehabilitation programs in Dizel Abad Prison in Iran. The research population consisted of two groups: one with 130 inmates, of whom 97 were selected and studied through systematic sampling via Cochran's formula, and the second group included 14 managers, offenders, and prison experts interviewed through a census. The data collection instrument was a researcher-developed questionnaire based on the Kirkpatrick evaluation model. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, while its face and content validity were validated by a panel of experts. The findings at the first level of evaluation (i.e., reaction) showed that, with a confidence interval of 99%, the inmates were satisfied with participating in the urban agriculture training course. At the second level (i.e. learning), results indicated a significant increase in the inmates’ knowledge, with a statistically significant difference between their pre- and post-test scores (p<0.01). At the third level (i.e., behavior), the findings suggested that urban agriculture in prisons could lead to significant behavioral changes in inmates, with 95% confidence. At the fourth level of evaluation (i.e., results), the findings showed that although the urban agriculture training course in Dizel Abad Prison caused moderate changes in the inmates, the difference in pre-and-post-test scores was not statistically significant. Overall, the findings demonstrated that the urban agriculture training course in Dizel Abad Prison could bring about changes in inmates’ behavior, knowledge, and attitude. These findings support the potential of prison-farm programs within urban agriculture initiatives as viable methods for rehabilitation. 

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in Africa's development and is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the agricultural sector is inherently exposed to production risks, and many farmers in the developing world lack access to reliable agricultural insurance coverage. This situation arises due to limited data and knowledge about farmers' insurance needs and the high costs associated with insuring against severe agricultural risks. Promoting agricultural insurance as an instrument can have several significant impacts, aligning with multiple SDGs. It can help stabilize farmers' income, thereby contributing to the goal of reducing poverty (SDG 1). Moreover, agricultural insurance can provide a safety net for food producers, helping them manage the impacts of climate-related risks and aligning with SDG 13, which addresses climate action. Additionally, by enhancing the resilience of farmers and ensuring more predictable income, agricultural insurance can contribute to addressing hunger (SDG 2) and ultimately create a more sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector in Africa. Therefore, this study evaluated agricultural insurance as an instrument for sustainable food supply systems in Nigeria. This study adopted a survey design. This study captured thoughts, experiences, and observations of selected agricultural underwriters in the Nigerian insurance industry through structured questionnaire. A descriptive statistic was employed in the data analysis. This study results indicated that aside from farmers’ awareness which showed some level of yardstick with respect to farmers behavioural metrics, all other metrics played no significant roles. It was also recorded that why farmers’ age, gender, family size and farming experience have no significant roles in the uptake of agricultural insurance, all other participatory factors have major effects. The study contributed significantly to knowledge with the graphical representations of the challenges confronting the agricultural insurers in Nigeria. The study provided suitable recommendations that endear achievable SDGs in Nigeria.

Iran’s agricultural exports have grown significantly in recent years. Cropland products (HS07) have become the second most important group in Iran’s agricultural exports over the last years. However, few studies have investigated the export potentials of cropland products. Therefore, this study aims to determine the main factors of Iran’s cropland products exports and calculate the export efficiency and potential in the trading partners. For this aim, the stochastic frontier gravity model is estimated based on balanced panel data covering 21 importing countries over the period of 2001 to 2021. The results indicated that economic and physical size of importing countries have positive and significant effect on the exports of Iran’s cropland products. In addition, common border between Iran and trading partners and economic sanctions have also positive and significant effect on the cropland products exports, while geographical distance between Iran and importing countries has negatively effects on the exports. The results of export efficiency showed that Iran does not have 100 percent efficiency in any destination market over the period of 2015 to 2021. Iran has an export efficiency of more than 50 percent only in Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Canada and Iraq. According to the results, Iran has the highest potential for exports of cropland products in Iraq. Hence, considering the high potentials in neighboring countries and significantly positive effect of common border partners, it is suggested that trading countries with common border like Iraq should be a top priority for the exports of cropland products.

Using appropriate policies to overcome food insecurity is one of the pillars of economic prosperity of countries. Economic decisions that change macroeconomic parameters can directly or indirectly affect food production and prices and affect food security. Therefore, achieving a clear understanding of how macroeconomic policies affect different dimensions of food security in the country can lead to providing solutions to improve the food security index. In this study, a framework of simultaneous equations is presented in order to investigate the relationship between monetary and financial policies with food production and prices in the country. In this regard, using the method of generalized moments, behavioral equations were estimated separately using the data of 1978-2018. The model was then implemented as a system of equations using the Gauss Seidel method. Different scenarios were simulated in this model to investigate the effects of changes in interest rates, money volume, and general government investment on various aspects of food security. The results indicated that government investment in the agriculture sector and public investment expenditures have a positive impact on food production through capital stock. Additionally, changes in interest rates have minimal effects on food production but significant negative effects on food prices. Overall, monetary policy decisions result in increased food prices alongside decreased food production due to the demand for money and private investment. Therefore, the implementation of these policies should be done more carefully in order to encourage farmers to increase production and therefore ensure food security for consumers.