<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This study examined the livelihood strategies and food security situation of rural households around Derba Cement Factory by taking a randomly selected sample of 215 heads of farm households from three rural kebeles. A mixed research approach was employed to triangulate concurrently collected data through household survey, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Informed by the sustainable rural livelihood framework, descriptive statistics were used to describe rural households’ livelihood strategies and challenges they faced while inferential statistics was employed to explain households’ food security situations with different livelihood combinations. While mixed farming was found to be the mainstay of the household economy, small-scale irrigation and extracting forest products were also used as supplementary economic activities. More than a half of the respondents (52.5%) reported at least one non-farm activity. Land shortage was identified as a major constraint to expand crop production and this was further aggravated by the activities (e.g. querying leading to displacement) of the Derba Cement Factory. This further affected household labor allocation and natural resources utilization. The result of household food (in) security access scale indicated that 59% of the respondents have experienced food access insecurity in 2016. However, respondents who combined agriculture and non-farm activities appeared relatively more food secure than those engaged in agriculture alone or in non-farm activity only. Overall, households with multiple livelihood strategies had diverse food entitlements to maintain sustainable food consumption. Yet, necessity induced diversification was found to affect food access security of households. This calls for inclusive policies and strategies that integrate rural non-farm activities to subsistence farming in order to assure sustainable livelihood in rural communities.</abstract>

Rural Livelihood Strategies and Household Food Security of Farmers Surrounding Derba Cement Factory, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The article presents results of the analysis of the cattle breeding industry’s development in Ukraine, the main trend of which was the decrease in the number of cattle, including the number of cows. A way to support livestock in the industry using the subsidy mechanism is suggested. This approach is aimed at increasing profitability of the cattle breeding industry output per 1 ha of fodder crops in the farm to profitability of barley production from 1 hectare in the area. The results of the proposed approach show that increasing milk profitability from 1 hectare of fodder crops to barley profitability from 1 hectare can be the basis for maintaining the livestock sector. The use of the livestock productivity factor (cow milk yield) in the proposed methodology makes farms more interested in increasing livestock productivity, which in turn increases the number of subsidies in the industry. In addition, an increase in fodder crops area in the farm has an ecological effect.</abstract>

Mechanism of Subsidies as an Element of State Support of Livestock Sector’s Development in Ukraine

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The biceps brachii - brachialis muscles has attachment on the medial coronoid process (MCP) and proximal radius. It is considered that medial coronoid disease (MCD) can be caused by biceps brachii – brachialis muscle generated force to MCP. Computed tomography data from 31 dogs were analysed. The aim of this study was to compare biceps brachii – brachialis muscle volume and maximum cross-sectional area (mCSA) between clinically normal dogs to dogs with a MCD. Results showed that in dogs with MCD, biceps brachii - brachialis muscle volume and mCSA is smaller than in clinically normal dogs and therefore the generated muscle force cannot be considered as the main or accompanying cause of a MCD.</abstract>

Assessment of Maximum Cross-Sectional Area and Volume of the Canine Biceps Brachii – Brachialis Muscles

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Climate risks constitute an enormous challenge to poultry production and have affected the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. Thus, farmers have adopted various strategies that can help them cope with the adverse effects of climate change. The aim of this study is to examine the factors influencing small scale poultry farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies to climate change. Data used for this study were obtained from 121 representative farmers selected through a two-stage random sampling procedure. Descriptive Statistics, Likert Scale and the Multinomial Logit Model were the tools used for analysis. Results showed that the mean age and household size of the respondents were 45 years and 5 persons respectively, while the average number of birds per farmer stood at 583 birds. Majority of the respondents had a moderate perception of the impacts of climate change on poultry farming and chose management adaptation strategies in their fight against climate change. Econometric analysis showed that the age, gender and educational status of farmers, number of birds, household size, poultry experience, access to cooperative societies, poultry housing system, access to credit, access to extension services and farm size were the factors influencing farmers’ choice of climate change adaptation strategies in the study area. Therefore, policy should focus on awareness creation on management adaptation strategies through enhancing education and extension services as well as access of poultry farmers to credit facilities to indirectly insure farmers against climate change impacts.</abstract>

Small Scale Poultry Farmers’ Choice of Adaption Strategies to Climate Change in Ogun State, Nigeria

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Human capital development is increasingly gaining policy relevance especially with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examined the correlates of human capital expenditure in rural Nigeria. General Household Survey dataset collected by the National Bureau of Statistics was used for this study. Descriptive statistical tools, principal components analysis and the Heckman selection model were used to analyse relevant data. The study found majority of the households were male-headed, with an average size of 7 people. In terms of access to education, 62.1% of the surveyed households had access to education and spent an average of NGN 12,570.56 on education. The age of household head, access to loans, marital status and household size were the correlates of human capital expenditure in rural Nigeria. Also, school fees and registration accounted for 41.2% of households’ expenditure on education. The study found paucity of funds, low priority placed on education and low interest were the main constraints to human capital expenditure. The study recommended the design and implementation of pro-poor educational interventions especially for children from rural households. Also, there is the need for government, multilateral organisations and financial institutions to position rural households for financial inclusion.</abstract>

Correlates of human capital expenditure among rural households in Nigeria

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 50 (2023): Issue 345 (December 2023)

Volume 49 (2023): Issue 344 (August 2023)

Volume 48 (2022): Issue 343 (December 2022)

Volume 47 (2022): Issue 342 (August 2022)

Volume 46 (2021): Issue 341 (December 2021)

Volume 45 (2021): Issue 340 (August 2021)

Volume 44 (2020): Issue 339 (December 2020)

Volume 43 (2020): Issue 338 (August 2020)

Volume 42 (2019): Issue 337 (December 2019) Rural Sustainability Research

Volume 41 (2019): Issue 336 (August 2019)

Volume 40 (2018): Issue 335 (December 2018)

Volume 39 (2018): Issue 334 (August 2018)

Volume 38 (2017): Issue 333 (November 2017)

Volume 37 (2017): Issue 332 (July 2017)

Volume 36 (2016): Issue 331 (December 2016)

Volume 35 (2016): Issue 330 (June 2016)

Volume 34 (2015): Issue 329 (December 2015) Rural Sustainability Research

Volume 33 (2015): Issue 1 (July 2015)

Volume 32 (2014): Issue 1 (December 2014)

Volume 31 (2014): Issue 1 (July 2014)

Volume 30 (2013): Issue 1 (December 2013)

Volume 29 (2013): Issue 1 (January 2013)

Volume 28 (2013): Issue 1 (February 2013)

Volume 27 (2012): Issue 1 (January 2012)

Rural Sustainability Research

 The scientific journal Rural Sustainable Research (ONLINE ISSN 2256-0939) of Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies is a peer-reviewed journal intended for the publication of wide-spectrum original research articles and reviews on topical problems of sustainable rural development. The subject matter of the journal reflects the wide range of research covering the following topics:    Sustainable Crop Production Systems;  Soil and Plant Sciences  Plant Breeding and Genetics  Plant Pathology and Protection  Forestry  Animal and Veterinary Sciences  Food Processing  Agricultural Machinery and Husbandry  Biomass and Renewable Energy  Energetic and Automation  Engineering Technologies  Material Sciences  Transport, Motor Vehicles and Fuels  Engineering Economics and Education  Sustainable Social Development  Economics, Management and Marketing  Information Technologies    All manuscripts are screened on their linguistic quality. The scientific journal Rural Sustainable Research is open access, double-blind peer-reviewed. It does not have article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges.  Scientific journal Rural Sustainable Research copyrights belong to Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 