Marker-assisted breeding could have a major impact in relieving productivity constraints that cannot as easily or rapidly be relieved by conventional breeding alone. This paper estimates the benefits of using marker-assisted breeding, as compared to conventional breeding alone, in developing...

Purpose – Organizations often introduce performance measurement systems (PMSs) in order to evaluate the level of their performance, make comparison with competitors, and plan their future activities. Since indicators may affect the behaviour of the monitored system, the design and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define event evaluation, develop a conceptual model of its process and elements, review pertinent literature, and draw conclusions pertaining both to the discourse on evaluation and its praxis. Design/methodology/approach – General review of...

The main objective of the paper is to provide an estimation of the impact of the investments in education and science in Bulgaria, financed by the European structural instruments. It provides net impact assessment as of end of 2012 as well as projections of potential effect until 2020. The...

As a profession, Extension has been prompted to embrace a broadened mandate that goes beyond transferring technologies and triggering agricultural development. International organisations have started to shift from ‘agricultural’ to ‘rural’ focus in their programmes and it is inevitable...

Conventional agricultural research approaches have generated research results with limited adoption rates in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Recently, a new research approach – integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) was introduced in SSA. The IAR4D approach goes beyond the...

European Union programmes in the field of education and training demand regular evaluation. However, due to several conceptual and measurement issues, the validity of evaluation results is put into question. The paper proposes to assess the programmes from a refined perspective of impact,...

Information asymmetry has traditionally constrained smallholder farmers’ access to markets. Past studies indicate that it inhibits adoption of modern technologies that have the capacity to enhance productivity of smallholder farms. Hence, farm productivity and agricultural transformation has...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a wide range of significant developments that have emerged in the wake of the UNs endorsement of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (GPs) in June 2011. In particular, the paper offers a preliminary assessment of how the GPs’...

Many approaches and tools have been utilized throughout the globe by public and private sector organizations to curtail the deprivations and enhance welfare of the poor. Islamic Microfinance is one of them and is rapidly getting popular in Muslims as well as non-Muslims majority population...