Agricultural Budgeting in Anambra State: its’ implication for Sustainable Economic Development (Published)
This work was embarked upon with a view to determining agricultural budgeting over the years and its implication for sustainable economic development. Designed essentially as a descriptive survey, it is an ex-post-facto study. Secondary data used for the study were sourced from the official records and documents of Anambra State Government Nigeria. Data were analyzed using the time series components of trend and moving averages using E-view. Results indicated the following: there was no correspondence between estimated agricultural revenue and actual expenditure in the budget of Anambra State Government – hence large deficits were recorded. There was a mismatch between planned expenditure with remarkably high values that was observed in the Anambra State budget. The trend in the growth of actual agricultural expenditure over the period was upward sloping, rising slowly and steadily. The trend in the growth of actual revenue of the Anambra State Government budget over the period was upward sloping, rising sharply at first, and following an irregular pattern as it progresses. It was concluded that need outgrow availability of resources in Anambra State. However the fact remains that the problem was more of managerial than it was that of availability of resources. It is therefore recommended that, among other things, agricultural activities must be monitored so as to ensure proper implementation.
Keywords: Anambra State, Economic Development, Sustainable Development, agricultural budgeting
Perusing Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Social Standards in UK Based Firms (Published)
As a consequence of the changing conditions of doing business, the number of industrial and company-specific codes of conduct, as well as social and environmental standards is increasing rapidly. The decision to adopt such standards and to develop effective implementation strategies has engrossed managers at all levels and in all types of organisations in recent years. Some organisations have claimed that compliance issues have been determining their bottom-line and business performance in the market place. This conceptual paper addresses the challenge of how sustainable development can be achieved, suggesting that social and environmental standards has a part to play within the paradigm of sustainable development. Three specific internationally established standards are discussed: Environmental Management system (EMS), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Fair Trade. These institutionalized approaches are described and then contrasted in relation to a number of different factors. The paper concludes that the implementation of social standards principles in UK can contribute to the development of long-term sustainable development goals.
Keywords: Standards, Sustainable Development, environmental management.