My Most Exciting Vacation Essay

In the beginning of my holidays was very Boring, my family and me were at home the only interesting that we had had was watch some movies and get a delicious healthy dinner(pizza, hamburgers, tacos, etc)And stay like a happy family. My mom was very chili that was great for everybody because always she get stress all the time my dad as well then we got visit my grandmother and get to sleep there and celebrated my sister’s birthday with all my cousins’ uncles and aunts. We got there for 2 days only because my dad had work but before this I visited all the village, and I feel like a rich guy because everything there was very Cheaper and I can travel myself by a Moto taxi that his cost was 2 pesos to anywhere I can? t complain because y get a lot fun during those days later I went to a lot of friends’ parties because I’m very social(Obviously:D) and in those days I woke up like at 1:00 pm I was very lazy at the vacation but something that I enjoyed a lot was read in my room and get there for hours or almost all the day because it? my favorite hobby. I went out with my friends to Plaza for watch a movie, eat something and talk a little, even passing the time because all were boring at home and have a lot of free time and it was amazing passing time with all of them. Something that I didn? t like was that my Grandpa Can? t stayed with us because he died since 2 years it? s very sad; and I didn? go out of Chiapas as well was something that butters me because previous years we traveled to anyplace. At the end it wasn’t like I imagine but it was good for me because I passed the time with my family friends and people do I care and passing the time with my books and staying in the computer talking and checking my Facebook and finally before enter to classes all my family get a big dinner and saw the soccer game.

Solution of Week6

Problem 1. 7. Suppose that you write a put contract with a strike price of $40 and an expiration date in three months. The current stock price is $41 and the contract is on 100 shares. What have you committed yourself to? How much could you gain or lose? You have sold a put option. You have agreed to buy 100 shares for $40 per share if the party on the other side of the contract chooses to exercise the right to sell for this price. The option will be exercised only when the price of stock is below $40. Suppose, for example, that the option is exercised when the price is $30.You have to buy at $40 shares that are worth $30; you lose $10 per share, or $1,000 in total. If the option is exercised when the price is $20, you lose $20 per share, or $2,000 in total. The worst that can happen is that the price of the stock declines to almost zero during the three-month period. This highly unlikely event would cost you $4,000. In return for the possible future losses, you receive the price of the option from the purchaser. Problem 1. 21. â€Å"Options and futures are zero-sum games. † What do you think is meant by this statement?The statement means that the gain (loss) to the party with the short position is equal to the loss (gain) to the party with the long position. In aggregate, the net gain to all parties is zero. Problem 1. 30 The price of gold is currently $1,000 per ounce. The forward price for delivery in one year is $1,200. An arbitrageur can borrow money at 10% per annum. What should the arbitrageur do? Assume that the cost of storing gold is zero and that gold provides no income. The arbitrageur should borrow money to buy a certain number of ounces of gold today and short forward contracts on the same number of ounces of gold for delivery in one year.This means that gold is purchased for $1000 per ounce and sold for $1200 per ounce. Assuming the cost of borrowed funds is less than 20% per annum this generates a riskless profit. Problem 2. 3. Suppose th at you enter into a short futures contract to sell July silver for $17. 20 per ounce. The size of the contract is 5,000 ounces. The initial margin is $4,000, and the maintenance margin is $3,000. What change in the futures price will lead to a margin call? What happens if you do not meet the margin call? There will be a margin call when $1,000 has been lost from the margin account.This will occur when the price of silver increases by 1,000/5,000 ? $0. 20. The price of silver must therefore rise to $17. 40 per ounce for there to be a margin call. If the margin call is not met, your broker closes out your position. Problem 2. 10. Explain how margins protect investors against the possibility of default. A margin is a sum of money deposited by an investor with his or her broker. It acts as a guarantee that the investor can cover any losses on the futures contract. The balance in the margin account is adjusted daily to reflect gains and losses on the futures contract.If losses are above a certain level, the investor is required to deposit a further margin. This system makes it unlikely that the investor will default. A similar system of margins makes it unlikely that the investor’s broker will default on the contract it has with the clearing house member and unlikely that the clearing house member will default with the clearing house. Problem 2. 11. A trader buys two July futures contracts on frozen orange juice. Each contract is for the delivery of 15,000 pounds. The current futures price is 160 cents per pound, the initial margin is $6,000 per contract, and the maintenance margin is $4,500 per contract.What price change would lead to a margin call? Under what circumstances could $2,000 be withdrawn from the margin account? There is a margin call if more than $1,500 is lost on one contract. This happens if the futures price of frozen orange juice falls by more than 10 cents to below 150 cents per pound. $2,000 can be withdrawn from the margin account if the re is a gain on one contract of $1,000. This will happen if the futures price rises by 6. 67 cents to 166. 67 cents per pound. Problem 2. 21. What do you think would happen if an exchange started trading a contract in which the quality of the underlying asset was incompletely specified?The contract would not be a success. Parties with short positions would hold their contracts until delivery and then deliver the cheapest form of the asset. This might well be viewed by the party with the long position as garbage! Once news of the quality problem became widely known no one would be prepared to buy the contract. This shows that futures contracts are feasible only when there are rigorous standards within an industry for defining the quality of the asset. Many futures contracts have in practice failed because of the problem of defining quality. Problem 2. 6 Trader A enters into futures contracts to buy 1 million euros for 1. 4 million dollars in three months. Trader B enters in a forward contract to do the same thing. The exchange (dollars per euro) declines sharply during the first two months and then increases for the third month to close at 1. 4300. Ignoring daily settlement, what is the total profit of each trader? When the impact of daily settlement is taken into account, which trader does better? The total profit of each trader in dollars is 0. 03? 1,000,000 = 30,000. Trader B’s profit is realized at the end of the three months.Trader A’s profit is realized day-by-day during the three months. Substantial losses are made during the first two months and profits are made during the final month. It is likely that Trader B has done better because Trader A had to finance its losses during the first two months. Problem 2. 29. A company enters into a short futures contract to sell 5,000 bushels of wheat for 450 cents per bushel. The initial margin is $3,000 and the maintenance margin is $2,000. What price change would lead to a margin call? Under what c ircumstances could $1,500 be withdrawn from the margin account?There is a margin call if $1000 is lost on the contract. This will happen if the price of wheat futures rises by 20 cents from 450 cents to 470 cents per bushel. $1500 can be withdrawn if the futures price falls by 30 cents to 420 cents per bushel. Problem 2. 30. Suppose that there are no storage costs for crude oil and the interest rate for borrowing or lending is 5% per annum. How could you make money on May 26, 2010 by trading July 2010 and December 2010 contracts on crude oil? Use Table 2. 2. The July 2010 settlement price for oil is $71. 51 per barrel. The December 2010 settlement price for oil is $75. 3 per barrel. You could go long one July 2010 oil contract and short one December 2010 contract. In July 2010 you take delivery of the oil borrowing $71. 51 per barrel at 5% to meet cash outflows. The interest accumulated in five months is about 71. 51? 0. 05? 5/12 or $1. 49. In December the oil is sold for $75. 23 pe r barrel which is more than the amount that has to be repaid on the loan. The strategy therefore leads to a profit. Note that this profit is independent of the actual price of oil in June 2010 or December 2010. It will be slightly affected by the daily settlement procedures. Problem 3. 1.Under what circumstances are (a) a short hedge and (b) a long hedge appropriate? A short hedge is appropriate when a company owns an asset and expects to sell that asset in the future. It can also be used when the company does not currently own the asset but expects to do so at some time in the future. A long hedge is appropriate when a company knows it will have to purchase an asset in the future. It can also be used to offset the risk from an existing short position. Problem 3. 3. Explain what is meant by a perfect hedge. Does a perfect hedge always lead to a better outcome than an imperfect hedge?Explain your answer. A perfect hedge is one that completely eliminates the hedger’s risk. A pe rfect hedge does not always lead to a better outcome than an imperfect hedge. It just leads to a more certain outcome. Consider a company that hedges its exposure to the price of an asset. Suppose the asset’s price movements prove to be favorable to the company. A perfect hedge totally neutralizes the company’s gain from these favorable price movements. An imperfect hedge, which only partially neutralizes the gains, might well give a better outcome. Problem 3. 5.Give three reasons why the treasurer of a company might not hedge the company’s exposure to a particular risk. Explain your answer. (a) If the company’s competitors are not hedging, the treasurer might feel that the company will experience less risk if it does not hedge. (See Table 3. 1. ) (b) The shareholders might not want the company to hedge because the risks are hedged within their portfolios. (c) If there is a loss on the hedge and a gain from the company’s exposure to the underlying asset, the treasurer might feel that he or she will have difficulty justifying the hedging to other executives within the organization.Problem 3. 17. A corn farmer argues â€Å"I do not use futures contracts for hedging. My real risk is not the price of corn. It is that my whole crop gets wiped out by the weather. †Discuss this viewpoint. Should the farmer estimate his or her expected production of corn and hedge to try to lock in a price for expected production? If weather creates a significant uncertainty about the volume of corn that will be harvested, the farmer should not enter into short forward contracts to hedge the price risk on his or her expected production. The reason is as follows.Suppose that the weather is bad and the farmer’s production is lower than expected. Other farmers are likely to have been affected similarly. Corn production overall will be low and as a consequence the price of corn will be relatively high. The farmer’s problems arising f rom the bad harvest will be made worse by losses on the short futures position. This problem emphasizes the importance of looking at the big picture when hedging. The farmer is correct to question whether hedging price risk while ignoring other risks is a good strategy.

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Consumer Demand for African Food in Liverpool Abstract The aim of this research is to observe and explain consumers preference for African food in Liverpool. By identifying the attitudes towards African food, evaluating the different factors that affect the availability and accessibility of these foods within the city, the effect of globalisation processes on food production to consumption. Three different theories have been used in this research, the Theory of Reason Action, Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Actor Network Theory and the theory of consumption. The global production network which seeks to identify the geographical spatiality involved in the network process of crossing African foods to UK. The actor-network theory is used to explain the different actors/actants in the global production network. The theories of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour used in this research intends to explain consumer attitude, preference and behaviour towards African foods. It is however observed that African consumers tend to prefer African traditional meals but this is affected by cost, time and distance. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research method is used to better interpret the outcomes of the result. A total of 150 respondents where interviewed from various part of the city, including students, young adults family etc. Cutting across different age groups. Owners of African food stores and restaurants were interviewed using both structured and semi-structured interview. Individuals were selected randomly, to verify interest in African foods. Chapter 1 Introduction The importance of food as a necessity of life goes beyond physical nourishment. Anthropologist and sociologist emphasize that food practices are prime means through which social relationships are formed. (Johnston et al 2006:272). A familiar saying goes â€Å"we are what we eat†; food links us to the rituals and recipes of previous generations, creating a network between families, wider communities, and the global trading network of producers, distributors and consumers. More so, we are transported into the world of others as we experience the tastes of unknown tradition and cultures. Food choices make profound impact on the environment, health and welfare of others, challenging the ideas of tradition and identity. Travel and immigration have also resulted in the changing and shifting of traditions over the years. National identities have been created also by food traditions in distant lands among people of similar culture and background. Food is an indicator of cultural tradi tions, values, and how food traditions develop and evolve over space and time. Much talk of globalisation of foods have helped in shaping traditions, cultural diversity, social and political economy of places, (Bernstein et al 1990: 9, Tinker 1997: 137, 143) however, not all kinds of food are very welcomed in some places, though may not be stated categorically, it can be observed within cities and communities most probably as result of economic policies, cultural differences, international trading policies. Traditional food is a vital aspect of the African cultural heritage. The production processing sale and distribution of food products enhances cultural and ethnic coherence in communities. Consumers demand for safe and tasteful traditional food products (Cayot, 2007). However, there is also a demand for varieties of ethnic foods in multi-ethnic cities and community. The definition of food encompasses matters of moral and cultural significance, differentiating food products, providers and consumers (Cook et al 1996). Food has always had a long history of constructed associations which involves associations of places and people, and has been used as emblem of national, regional and local identities (Murcott 1995). Johnston et al claim that there is no single geographical literature on food with its own coherent themes and problematic, as the study of food is found in economic, political, cultural, social and biological aspects of geography. Therefore food matter does not sit within the confinement of conceptual and spatial boundaries (Johnston 2006: 272). Key issues surrounding topic The speed and reach of globalisation, travel and trade, bring all kinds of diverse foods together. This has however affected the definitions of particular national food culture (Murray). The influence of travel and migration can be seen on major streets and cities in United Kingdom with a rich mixture of nationalities, Indian curry houses, Jewish Bagel shops, Chinese buffets restaurant, Italian restaurant, Mexican among others. However, the presence of African food restaurants seems not a loud as the others considering the long standing history of Blacks in the city. The absence of physical representation of the African food culture around the city especially in everyday cultural display such as in food, as compared to the Asian presence of Chinese, Indian, Thai, Mexican cuisines and other ethnic group in Liverpool raises questions of demand and supply. The most important representation so far is the International Slavery museum at the docks and black slave sculptures that are displayed around historical places in the city, which are only representations of past history and geography and not a total representation of the African culture in recent times. Ethnic minority consumers quest for cultural identity is perceived in the food culture of the group in concern. Commercial globalisation has renewed interest in the relationship between culture and traditional norms and values (James 1890). This pursuit for identity among most migrants to the western world is pronounced in their choice of food (Bauman2000). This research seeks to observe trends in African consumer behaviour and attitude toward African food in United Kingdom, using Liverpool as a case study. In trying to observe and evaluate these trends, certain issues have provided a background for this study, one of which is the re-materializing of postcolonial geographies as it affects Africans in a foreign country. African migrants attitude and food choice behaviour have been affected by certain factors, government and institutional policies of cutting across various levels of trading activities. In determining a consumers preference towards food related behaviours, convenience, as a food attribute, has been described as being as important as taste, health and price (Candel, 2001). However, the availability and accessibility of food influence consumers preference as different values are considered in understanding why consumers make certain food choice. Food choice is a complex phenomenon with many interacting events determining which foods are eaten by the individual at a particular time and place. (Shepherd 1989.) The failure of African foods to cross over into United Kingdom mainstream market has pointed to issues of production, preservation and transportation of African foods into the United Kingdom. International trade policies and barriers by OECD countries, farm subsidies have all been major setbacks to the availability of African food stuff in the United Kingdom. Chapter 1 literature review: theories of consumer perception, Chapter 2 how do Africans perceive African foods and other foods, what do Africans think about the origin of their food and the patriotic nature of Africans towards their food, the first experience of food, generational experience of food. Chapter 3 methodology: theories of research methods. Chapter 4 Chapter 5 result and discussions: background history of black Liverpool, map and population census 2001 of Africans in Liverpool, identifying African business and Questionnaires and interview analysis, Chapter 6 trade relations between African countries and UK CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This literature review looks at the studies that have been done in areas of food preference as it concerns culture, food identity, food preference and quality. The second section will review theories employed in the research and the importance of global production networks. Catherine Dolan and John Humphrey (2000) used Global commodity chain as networks where the decision-maker influences the output of chains and composition governance in their paper ‘governance and trade in fresh vegetables. Their study does not recognise the identity of commodity and consumer as a factor in buyer driven commodity, evaluating the geography of space. This research explores the ethnic identity of consumer as a major actor in global commodity chain networks. The buyers themselves being of African nationality purchase food stuff from the local food store or African food restaurants which receive their supplies from importers of African foods in major cities like London and Manchester. The connection therefore is from the African farmers who grow the foods, to major exporter or importer as the case maybe, to the shelves food store and tables of the restaurant then consumed by Africans who live several miles away from their home country. The cultural identity of the co nsumers becomes a vital connection to the market, because consumers also make demand on the desired food choice. Consumers access to these foods becomes important to the continuity of this trade. Ben Fine (1993) defines commodity chains as â€Å"the commodity-specific chain connecting production, distribution, marketing and consumption and material culture surrounding these elements†, in the study of systems of provision (fine 1993:600). This approach acknowledges the importance of commodities as a possibility of more balanced treatment of the relationship between production and consumption (Crewe 2000). Studies have explored how networks of embedded firms are offering the potential for the more equitable relations between retailer and suppliers, through the sharing of knowledge as market intelligence and labour. (Crewe 1996, Scott 1996, Crewe and Beaverstock 1998). Other study have considered the creative dimension of domestic consumption, and the ways in which consumer good s are actively appropriated in the everyday spaces of the home, however, Domosh examines the reclamation of the home and the domestic space as key consumption site. But it does not take into account the origin of the commodities and how it relates to space for consumption (Domosh 1998). Cook and Crang, explore ways in which geographical knowledge about products invoke a â€Å"double commodity fetishism†. This is the idea in which consumer knowledge are limited by spatially distanciated systems of provision. (Laying emphasis on geographical knowledge about widely sources of food commodities and process through which food is supplied). This work highlights cultural means of places and spaces. Cook and Crang (1996), further explores the global extensive networks and flows of food, people and culinary knowledge embedded in cosmopolitan London. Suggesting that â€Å"cultural mosaic† (Friedman, 1994), conceptualise cultural geographies as bounded cultural regions where constructed associations between food, places and peoples, associations epitomising the conceptions of national, regional and local cuisines. Also describes food as emblems and markers of national, regional and local identities (Murcott 1995). Cook et al (1998), in seeking the articulation of the geographies of culture looks at how figure displacement can be used to suggest process of food consumption are cast as local, the connections of food consumption to networks, which extend beyond delimiting boundaries of particular places. Again, in a closely related study, Cook reflects on the biography and geographies of food. A definition of food as having their own biographies, studies the connection of consumer knowledge about the geographical origins of the food they consume and what roles it plays in food choice and consumption (Cook et al 1998). He concludes in a suggestion that knowledge can potentially be a significant factor in food choice and preference. Much research has been done on Caribbean foods within and outside United Kingdom, probably due to the influx of Caribbean foods into United Kingdom market in the mid 1990s, when it became the ethnic cuisine to go mainstream after the Chinese, Indian and Tex Mex (Cook et al 2003). The complex history of the Caribbeans produced a regional cuisine which had overlapped with the Indian and Chinese foods that were on top of international cuisines in the United Kingdom. The region had also become tourist centres to Europeans and a large interest of the Caribbean lifestyle and delicacies reflected on the shelves of UK supermarkets, in addition to the projected images by celebrity chefs, and companies who increased the exports to satisfy the demand of this market in the mid nineties (Cook et al 2003). This also reflected in Caribbean centres established in major cities and streets in the UK. Cook and Harrison examine debate over the failure of Caribbean food to cross over into the UK mainstream. The paper review mosaic and theories of culture as fundamental difference between a white â€Å"mainstream† and black â€Å"ethnic other† as part problems of this failure. (Cook and Harrison 2003). Understandings of postcolonial geographies of material culture and its contributions to the undermining of, and resistance to forms of colonial dominations that persist in contemporary global capitalist relationships as can be found in food trade relations between the ‘third world and the ‘west. The study uses the example of the corporate history of Grace, Kennedy and Co, a company that preferred to cater for the needs of UK ethnic minority and the third world consumers, instead of prioritising cross over in to UK mainstream market. Friedberg research of modern historical geography of food in Burkina Faso shows how agricultural policies, dietary preferences health concerns, helped to transform regional diet, landscape and economy, resulting to temporal and spatial patterns of daily life in Burkina Faso. The study observes the incorporation of Burkina Faso into the globalised market economy as a result of luxury food (French beans), not leaving out the expectation of food quality safety standards (Friedberg 2003). The study also observes the changing geographies of the meaning of food, suggesting how historical study of food consumption takes place outside formal market economy. Gaps in current research Studies on firms by management oriented researchers have been focused more on companies in developed economies, central and Eastern Europe, small and local food production firms in Africa and their business counterparts even in developed economies have received less attention in the study of economic development. Past researches remained outside social science mainstream therefore have not been influenced by general discourses especially in the field of economic geography. Feminist researchers who have done research in the developing world have only concentrated on gender-related issues in the developing nations rather than with broader questions of small, local and industrial organisations and economic development (Henderson et al 2002:437). The major issues of trade liberalization have affected the cross over of African food and with the increase of safety standard procedures by the UK govt. The challenges of small business and the cost of food as also other major issues that will be discussed. In examining the geographical knowledge about food, actors associated with food, which involves location and situatedness of food, the networks and flows of food and people are major debates around the accessibility of these foods. According to Cook et al the long-running history of interconnections between people and places; and the increasing consciousness of the compression of the economic, political, cultural world, and the production of the world as a single place are two major contentions of globalisation debates (Cook et al 1996). London is said to be promoted as a space of ‘global post-modern (Hall, 1991: 32) by the staging and reconstruction of cultural difference in ‘globalisation diversity (Pieterse, 1995:45 as cited Cook 1996), arguably, Liverpool being proclaimed as the ‘world in one city though with characteristic history of local culture is yet to produce a matching representation of modern diversity of the African culture with the exception of the In ternational Slavery museum. Post colonial issues around African cultural heritage in Liverpool will enhance globalisation diversity as represented in food, arts and cultural of the African food biography and origin. Global Production networks Global production networks emphasize the need to refocus attention on the social circumstances under which commodities are produced and consumed† (Dickens et al 2002 pg 444). It takes into account, the process of production-(can be from the farm stage, harvest, labour technology, processing in Africa, transportation, UK standardization, repackaging, supply and distribution,) which do not always follow a chain link but a complex network process, over time and space and distance to consumption. The GPN framework allows for a greater complexity and geographical variation in producer-consumer relation, this in turn enhances the ability to reveal how certain key knowledge ‘circulate between producers, consumers and intermediaries. It also reveals complex social geographies as agents located in different places can be seen to combine to influence the production process (Henderson et al 2002:445). In all, this research seeks to answer the following questions: †¢ Research Questions? To what extent does the demand of African food affect its availability? What impact does African food trade make on the supply of these foods? How have African food stores and restaurants faired with migration of Africans in Liverpool? Preference is described by Babicz-Zielinska as â€Å"a general predisposition for a particular food, independent of the eating situation, and expressed by degree of liking or disliking of the food, desired food frequency or fraction of subjects selecting the food as a response to its name†(Babicz-Zielinska 1999:139). The choice of food depends on factors that influence human behaviour, which in turn affects the rejection of some food and acceptance of others. A classification based on current food-choice models is used to explain certain attributes of food choice is made by Babicz-Zielinska (Babicz-Zielinska 1999:138) 1. Production-related factors- which could be physical and chemical properties of food, sensory attributes, functional features(labelling, availability) nutritional value; or 2. Consumer-related factors- personal features, (age, gender, psychological factors, experience, personality), physiological factors (health) or 3. Environment-related factors- economic factors (price and income), cultural factors (beliefs, social factors- social status and fashion. Consumer-related factors and environment-related factors will be area of concern in this research. Factors of food choice survey was conducted in European Community EC countries, and it showed that quality/freshness, taste, selecting a healthy diet, price, family preferences and habits belong to the most important choice factors, (Lennernas et al 1997) Behavioural research methodologies are usually used to ascertain the underlying factors that determine food-related behaviour, reason being that food choice and consumption are natural and integrated part of human behaviour (Mahon et al 2006:474). The theory of reasoned action The theory of reasoned action has received attention within the field of consumer behaviour. (Sheppard et al 1988). The theory of reasoned action studies attitude and behaviour (Ajzen Fishbein 1980). It observes behavioural intention, attitude and subjective norm. According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a persons behaviour is guided by the persons attitude towards the behaviour and the subjective norm. For example, Africans tend to eat hot, spicy and tasty food, so when they find themselves away from ‘home, they look for their regular food, or something very close to the kind of food they have been used to, the alternative in this case could mean the Caribbean cuisine which also has its origin from African foods, or the Spanish or Mexican spicy foods as found in UK. However the cost also plays a determining role in making food choice, this shall be explained in detail in later chapter. Miller 2005 defines attitude, subjective norm, and behavioural intentions as the 3 components of the theory of reasoned action. Attitude: The sum of beliefs about a particular behaviour weighted by evaluation of these beliefs. Subjective norms. This looks at the influence of people in ones social environment on his/her behavioural intentions. Behavioural intention. This is a function of both attitudes towards behaviour and subjective norms towards that behaviour which has been found to predict actual behaviour. The theory of planned behaviour is adopted to explain consumer behaviour towards African food. The other alternative in this research is the British food, considering different factors that affect the choice of food. Human behaviour is explained and predicted by the theory of planned behaviour in understanding beliefs and attitudes. Ajzen et al 1986, explains that TPB is an extension of the TRA. The theory of planned behaviour was developed as a third predictor of behaviour, perceived behavioural control, (Mahon et al 2006:475). Perceived behavioural control reflects beliefs regarding the access to resources and opportunities needed to perform a behaviour (Chiou, 1998 as cited in Mahon 2006 pg 475). The availability of resources needed to engage in the behaviour such as money, time and other resources, the focal person self confidence in their ability to conduct the behaviour are two major reflections of the theory of planned behaviour. The theory of consumer preference. Consumers have set of preferences which are dependent upon individual tastes, education, culture and other factors, apart from the economic factor. These factors are measured for particular goods in terms of the real opportunity cost to the consumer who purchases and consumes the goods. Consumer level of satisfaction of a particular kind of food is determined by what the consumer defines as â€Å"satisfaction†. However, consumers are constrained in their choices of foods by income, accessibility of goods and also the price that the consumer is willing to pay for his food. Consumer preferences are defined as the subjective taste as measured by utility-(where utility is the satisfaction that a consumer derives from the consumption of a good) of various bundles of goods. Preferences help consumer to prioritize bundles of goods according to the levels of utility that they give the consumer. However, these preferences are not dependent on income and prices only. The ability for a consumer to purchase certain kind of food does not always determine a consumers like or dislike over another food. For example, an African consumer in Liverpool can have a preference for African foods over British foods but only has the financial means to buy British meals more often. There are certain assumptions of consumers preference theory, which will be further looked into, the assumption of decisiveness, consistency, non-satiation, convexity. Actor network theory. ANT, a social theory pioneered by Michel Callon (1986), Bruno Latour (1987) and John Law (1987), conceptualize social interactions in terms of networks. This includes the material environment and human causes. The concept of ANT acknowledges the importance of both material and human factors in networks. The theory conveys the idea that the actor does not act ‘on his own but only under the influence of complex network of material and human influences. For example, the process involved in making African foods available is not just caused human factors, but also by production, technology, society, extended politics of trade and culture, all affecting the accessibility and availability of the foods. According to Callon (1986) materials causes as well as human actors may be determinants of the social interactions and outcomes (Callon 1986). According to Henderson 2002, ANT emphasize the relationality of object and agency in heterogeneous networks, in other words, entities in network s are shaped by and can only be understood through their relations and connectivity to other entities(Law, 1999:4 as cited in Henderson et al 2002). Again, space and distance are observed as ‘spatial fields and relational scopes of influence, power and connectivity (Harvey, 1969; Murdoch 1998 as cited in Henderson et al 2002). According to Nancy Vanhouse, ANT has to approaches, ‘follow the actor, through interviews and ethnographic research and through examining inscriptions. Inscriptions including texts, but also images of many sorts, databases, and the like are central to knowledge work. Some (e.g., Latour and Woolgar, 1991; Callon, Law, and Rip, 1986) say that texts (including journal articles, conference papers and presentations, grant proposals, and patents) are among the major, if not the major, products of scientific work. Inscriptions make action at a distance possible by stabilizing work in such a way that it can travel across space and time and be combined with other work. Texts are also central to the process of gaining credibility. They carry work to other people and institutions. They attempt to present work in such a way that its meaning and significance are irrefutable. And texts are where authors establish equivalences among problems, which Callon et al. (1986) identifies as a major strategy of enrolling others. An important part of the standard journal article or grant application, for example, is to say, in essence, If you are interested in X (major issue) you must be interested in Y, which is the topic of the work reported/proposed here. References Latour, B. and Woolgar, S. (1991). Laboratory life: the construction of scientific facts, intro by Salk, J., Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press Callon, Michel, John Law, and Arie Rip, eds. Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World. London: Macmillan Press, 1986. Actor network theory has become very helpful in understanding connections between places and space. Its insistency on non human factor in network production Supply chain and bottleneck bureaucracy of the supply of food products from Africa into the UK makes it more difficult for the availability of this food. This furthermore widens the distance/gap between consumers and suppliers/retailers. The length of this chain affects. The quality assurance schemes, production and manufacturing to retailers protocols and the application of quality management system and standard such as HACCP and ISO series are various ways of cutting supplies. Bottlenecks of food quality and safety standards in food processing and distribution. The HACCP systems are used in specific export sectors in Africa, an example is the EU quality standard for fish in Uganda is based on EU directive 91/493/EEC and on Codex Alimentarius (Trienekens et al 2008:116) covering areas of microbiology level, pesticides residues, heavy metals, effluents, Good manufacturing practices (processing stage) and HACCP (processing stage) (Ssemwanga, 2003 as cited in Trienekens et al 2008:116). Kenya adheres to UK food and safety Act of 1990, more so testing laboratories are accredited to ISO 17025; 2000 by United Kingdom Accreditation services (UKAS) (Kari 2003), the high deportation rate of this products on western markets shows the fragility of the systems. As pesticides residues are discovered in the product. Other systems used for processors and packers of fish for exports are GMP, ISO 90002. The proliferation of standards by western markets creates a barrier for the application of standards by developing countries producers. The lack of enabling environment in which infrastructure facilities are absent in African countries is also a major setback. African countries are still discovering quality and safety of food as important condition for international food trade (Trieneken et al 2008:117). Building of facilities, government structures to improve and ensure quality and safety of products are still key agenda of attention. The importance of transportation, preservation (cooled system of transport) and storage are very vital to international trade. African countries are still at the phase of establishing the right conditions to enforce food quality and safety of the other products. According to Trieneken et al- many developing countries do not have skilled labour and laboratory facilities, this however limits good- quality management, making difficult. Small and medium size business, from developing countries find difficult or almost impossible to comply with standard required in western markets (Dinham, 2003, Unnevehr, 2002). Due to barriers created by SPS and TBT in exporting foods, from developing countries do not have the adequate information and most likely unaware of specific demand of western standards for trade. The heterogeneous standard in developed economies also poses a problem, as continues differ to country and market also differ. The cost of certification is too much for develop countries to bear. Most African food products are unable to adapt to the rigorous requirements of modern supply chain, either through scale enterprise or lack of knowledge or financial constraints, become non-competitive. The myriad of innovations and development has made the process of food supply chain increase in productivity. The combine technology of accurate weighing, refrigeration controlled atmospheric bacterial growth inhibition, pasteurisation, micro-element pollutant detection, bar-coding, electronic recognition of packaging, the use of stabilizers etc, has also contributed to the difficulty in having African food cross over, as most business may not be financially equipped enough for the volume of the trading. Christopher (1999) notes that the supply chain management evolves around the partnership developed in the chain and is supported by information technology applications that co-ordinate information dissemination and sharing amongst the chain members. This research has revealed that most home cooked food are prepared under high hygienic conditions, as cooking is monitored by consumer themselves problems with calories consumptions that affect the health of consumer is also under check, compared to the perceptions about eating fast food at convenience KFC and MacDonalds. This is one reason for the preference of African food among black consumer. One of the major problems of availability of African foods in UK is the problem of access into the country. Developing countries especially in Africa find it difficult to meet the food safety standards imposed by the UK/developing countries. Food safety standards which were originally set up to keep food for quality and safe consumption, by government of different countries are being used as trade impeding protectionist tools.(Jongwanich 2009:1). Food safety standards are usually to the disadvantage of developing countries, due to their limits capacity to access and use technology and information. International trade negotiations have experience setbacks for developing countries in recent years due to a demand for more stringent SPS in developed countries, which is as a result of increase in health consciousness and rising incomes. Before now, tariffs and quantitative restrictions are the trade barriers and impediments that affect export from developing countries to developed countri es, but in recent times, food safety standards have become tool for protectionist to block trade(Jongwanich 2009: Consumer Demand for African Food in Liverpool Consumer Demand for African Food in Liverpool Abstract The aim of this research is to observe and explain consumers preference for African food in Liverpool. By identifying the attitudes towards African food, evaluating the different factors that affect the availability and accessibility of these foods within the city, the effect of globalisation processes on food production to consumption. Three different theories have been used in this research, the Theory of Reason Action, Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Actor Network Theory and the theory of consumption. The global production network which seeks to identify the geographical spatiality involved in the network process of crossing African foods to UK. The actor-network theory is used to explain the different actors/actants in the global production network. The theories of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour used in this research intends to explain consumer attitude, preference and behaviour towards African foods. It is however observed that African consumers tend to prefer African traditional meals but this is affected by cost, time and distance. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research method is used to better interpret the outcomes of the result. A total of 150 respondents where interviewed from various part of the city, including students, young adults family etc. Cutting across different age groups. Owners of African food stores and restaurants were interviewed using both structured and semi-structured interview. Individuals were selected randomly, to verify interest in African foods. Chapter 1 Introduction The importance of food as a necessity of life goes beyond physical nourishment. Anthropologist and sociologist emphasize that food practices are prime means through which social relationships are formed. (Johnston et al 2006:272). A familiar saying goes â€Å"we are what we eat†; food links us to the rituals and recipes of previous generations, creating a network between families, wider communities, and the global trading network of producers, distributors and consumers. More so, we are transported into the world of others as we experience the tastes of unknown tradition and cultures. Food choices make profound impact on the environment, health and welfare of others, challenging the ideas of tradition and identity. Travel and immigration have also resulted in the changing and shifting of traditions over the years. National identities have been created also by food traditions in distant lands among people of similar culture and background. Food is an indicator of cultural tradi tions, values, and how food traditions develop and evolve over space and time. Much talk of globalisation of foods have helped in shaping traditions, cultural diversity, social and political economy of places, (Bernstein et al 1990: 9, Tinker 1997: 137, 143) however, not all kinds of food are very welcomed in some places, though may not be stated categorically, it can be observed within cities and communities most probably as result of economic policies, cultural differences, international trading policies. Traditional food is a vital aspect of the African cultural heritage. The production processing sale and distribution of food products enhances cultural and ethnic coherence in communities. Consumers demand for safe and tasteful traditional food products (Cayot, 2007). However, there is also a demand for varieties of ethnic foods in multi-ethnic cities and community. The definition of food encompasses matters of moral and cultural significance, differentiating food products, providers and consumers (Cook et al 1996). Food has always had a long history of constructed associations which involves associations of places and people, and has been used as emblem of national, regional and local identities (Murcott 1995). Johnston et al claim that there is no single geographical literature on food with its own coherent themes and problematic, as the study of food is found in economic, political, cultural, social and biological aspects of geography. Therefore food matter does not sit within the confinement of conceptual and spatial boundaries (Johnston 2006: 272). Key issues surrounding topic The speed and reach of globalisation, travel and trade, bring all kinds of diverse foods together. This has however affected the definitions of particular national food culture (Murray). The influence of travel and migration can be seen on major streets and cities in United Kingdom with a rich mixture of nationalities, Indian curry houses, Jewish Bagel shops, Chinese buffets restaurant, Italian restaurant, Mexican among others. However, the presence of African food restaurants seems not a loud as the others considering the long standing history of Blacks in the city. The absence of physical representation of the African food culture around the city especially in everyday cultural display such as in food, as compared to the Asian presence of Chinese, Indian, Thai, Mexican cuisines and other ethnic group in Liverpool raises questions of demand and supply. The most important representation so far is the International Slavery museum at the docks and black slave sculptures that are displayed around historical places in the city, which are only representations of past history and geography and not a total representation of the African culture in recent times. Ethnic minority consumers quest for cultural identity is perceived in the food culture of the group in concern. Commercial globalisation has renewed interest in the relationship between culture and traditional norms and values (James 1890). This pursuit for identity among most migrants to the western world is pronounced in their choice of food (Bauman2000). This research seeks to observe trends in African consumer behaviour and attitude toward African food in United Kingdom, using Liverpool as a case study. In trying to observe and evaluate these trends, certain issues have provided a background for this study, one of which is the re-materializing of postcolonial geographies as it affects Africans in a foreign country. African migrants attitude and food choice behaviour have been affected by certain factors, government and institutional policies of cutting across various levels of trading activities. In determining a consumers preference towards food related behaviours, convenience, as a food attribute, has been described as being as important as taste, health and price (Candel, 2001). However, the availability and accessibility of food influence consumers preference as different values are considered in understanding why consumers make certain food choice. Food choice is a complex phenomenon with many interacting events determining which foods are eaten by the individual at a particular time and place. (Shepherd 1989.) The failure of African foods to cross over into United Kingdom mainstream market has pointed to issues of production, preservation and transportation of African foods into the United Kingdom. International trade policies and barriers by OECD countries, farm subsidies have all been major setbacks to the availability of African food stuff in the United Kingdom. Chapter 1 literature review: theories of consumer perception, Chapter 2 how do Africans perceive African foods and other foods, what do Africans think about the origin of their food and the patriotic nature of Africans towards their food, the first experience of food, generational experience of food. Chapter 3 methodology: theories of research methods. Chapter 4 Chapter 5 result and discussions: background history of black Liverpool, map and population census 2001 of Africans in Liverpool, identifying African business and Questionnaires and interview analysis, Chapter 6 trade relations between African countries and UK CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This literature review looks at the studies that have been done in areas of food preference as it concerns culture, food identity, food preference and quality. The second section will review theories employed in the research and the importance of global production networks. Catherine Dolan and John Humphrey (2000) used Global commodity chain as networks where the decision-maker influences the output of chains and composition governance in their paper ‘governance and trade in fresh vegetables. Their study does not recognise the identity of commodity and consumer as a factor in buyer driven commodity, evaluating the geography of space. This research explores the ethnic identity of consumer as a major actor in global commodity chain networks. The buyers themselves being of African nationality purchase food stuff from the local food store or African food restaurants which receive their supplies from importers of African foods in major cities like London and Manchester. The connection therefore is from the African farmers who grow the foods, to major exporter or importer as the case maybe, to the shelves food store and tables of the restaurant then consumed by Africans who live several miles away from their home country. The cultural identity of the co nsumers becomes a vital connection to the market, because consumers also make demand on the desired food choice. Consumers access to these foods becomes important to the continuity of this trade. Ben Fine (1993) defines commodity chains as â€Å"the commodity-specific chain connecting production, distribution, marketing and consumption and material culture surrounding these elements†, in the study of systems of provision (fine 1993:600). This approach acknowledges the importance of commodities as a possibility of more balanced treatment of the relationship between production and consumption (Crewe 2000). Studies have explored how networks of embedded firms are offering the potential for the more equitable relations between retailer and suppliers, through the sharing of knowledge as market intelligence and labour. (Crewe 1996, Scott 1996, Crewe and Beaverstock 1998). Other study have considered the creative dimension of domestic consumption, and the ways in which consumer good s are actively appropriated in the everyday spaces of the home, however, Domosh examines the reclamation of the home and the domestic space as key consumption site. But it does not take into account the origin of the commodities and how it relates to space for consumption (Domosh 1998). Cook and Crang, explore ways in which geographical knowledge about products invoke a â€Å"double commodity fetishism†. This is the idea in which consumer knowledge are limited by spatially distanciated systems of provision. (Laying emphasis on geographical knowledge about widely sources of food commodities and process through which food is supplied). This work highlights cultural means of places and spaces. Cook and Crang (1996), further explores the global extensive networks and flows of food, people and culinary knowledge embedded in cosmopolitan London. Suggesting that â€Å"cultural mosaic† (Friedman, 1994), conceptualise cultural geographies as bounded cultural regions where constructed associations between food, places and peoples, associations epitomising the conceptions of national, regional and local cuisines. Also describes food as emblems and markers of national, regional and local identities (Murcott 1995). Cook et al (1998), in seeking the articulation of the geographies of culture looks at how figure displacement can be used to suggest process of food consumption are cast as local, the connections of food consumption to networks, which extend beyond delimiting boundaries of particular places. Again, in a closely related study, Cook reflects on the biography and geographies of food. A definition of food as having their own biographies, studies the connection of consumer knowledge about the geographical origins of the food they consume and what roles it plays in food choice and consumption (Cook et al 1998). He concludes in a suggestion that knowledge can potentially be a significant factor in food choice and preference. Much research has been done on Caribbean foods within and outside United Kingdom, probably due to the influx of Caribbean foods into United Kingdom market in the mid 1990s, when it became the ethnic cuisine to go mainstream after the Chinese, Indian and Tex Mex (Cook et al 2003). The complex history of the Caribbeans produced a regional cuisine which had overlapped with the Indian and Chinese foods that were on top of international cuisines in the United Kingdom. The region had also become tourist centres to Europeans and a large interest of the Caribbean lifestyle and delicacies reflected on the shelves of UK supermarkets, in addition to the projected images by celebrity chefs, and companies who increased the exports to satisfy the demand of this market in the mid nineties (Cook et al 2003). This also reflected in Caribbean centres established in major cities and streets in the UK. Cook and Harrison examine debate over the failure of Caribbean food to cross over into the UK mainstream. The paper review mosaic and theories of culture as fundamental difference between a white â€Å"mainstream† and black â€Å"ethnic other† as part problems of this failure. (Cook and Harrison 2003). Understandings of postcolonial geographies of material culture and its contributions to the undermining of, and resistance to forms of colonial dominations that persist in contemporary global capitalist relationships as can be found in food trade relations between the ‘third world and the ‘west. The study uses the example of the corporate history of Grace, Kennedy and Co, a company that preferred to cater for the needs of UK ethnic minority and the third world consumers, instead of prioritising cross over in to UK mainstream market. Friedberg research of modern historical geography of food in Burkina Faso shows how agricultural policies, dietary preferences health concerns, helped to transform regional diet, landscape and economy, resulting to temporal and spatial patterns of daily life in Burkina Faso. The study observes the incorporation of Burkina Faso into the globalised market economy as a result of luxury food (French beans), not leaving out the expectation of food quality safety standards (Friedberg 2003). The study also observes the changing geographies of the meaning of food, suggesting how historical study of food consumption takes place outside formal market economy. Gaps in current research Studies on firms by management oriented researchers have been focused more on companies in developed economies, central and Eastern Europe, small and local food production firms in Africa and their business counterparts even in developed economies have received less attention in the study of economic development. Past researches remained outside social science mainstream therefore have not been influenced by general discourses especially in the field of economic geography. Feminist researchers who have done research in the developing world have only concentrated on gender-related issues in the developing nations rather than with broader questions of small, local and industrial organisations and economic development (Henderson et al 2002:437). The major issues of trade liberalization have affected the cross over of African food and with the increase of safety standard procedures by the UK govt. The challenges of small business and the cost of food as also other major issues that will be discussed. In examining the geographical knowledge about food, actors associated with food, which involves location and situatedness of food, the networks and flows of food and people are major debates around the accessibility of these foods. According to Cook et al the long-running history of interconnections between people and places; and the increasing consciousness of the compression of the economic, political, cultural world, and the production of the world as a single place are two major contentions of globalisation debates (Cook et al 1996). London is said to be promoted as a space of ‘global post-modern (Hall, 1991: 32) by the staging and reconstruction of cultural difference in ‘globalisation diversity (Pieterse, 1995:45 as cited Cook 1996), arguably, Liverpool being proclaimed as the ‘world in one city though with characteristic history of local culture is yet to produce a matching representation of modern diversity of the African culture with the exception of the In ternational Slavery museum. Post colonial issues around African cultural heritage in Liverpool will enhance globalisation diversity as represented in food, arts and cultural of the African food biography and origin. Global Production networks Global production networks emphasize the need to refocus attention on the social circumstances under which commodities are produced and consumed† (Dickens et al 2002 pg 444). It takes into account, the process of production-(can be from the farm stage, harvest, labour technology, processing in Africa, transportation, UK standardization, repackaging, supply and distribution,) which do not always follow a chain link but a complex network process, over time and space and distance to consumption. The GPN framework allows for a greater complexity and geographical variation in producer-consumer relation, this in turn enhances the ability to reveal how certain key knowledge ‘circulate between producers, consumers and intermediaries. It also reveals complex social geographies as agents located in different places can be seen to combine to influence the production process (Henderson et al 2002:445). In all, this research seeks to answer the following questions: †¢ Research Questions? To what extent does the demand of African food affect its availability? What impact does African food trade make on the supply of these foods? How have African food stores and restaurants faired with migration of Africans in Liverpool? Preference is described by Babicz-Zielinska as â€Å"a general predisposition for a particular food, independent of the eating situation, and expressed by degree of liking or disliking of the food, desired food frequency or fraction of subjects selecting the food as a response to its name†(Babicz-Zielinska 1999:139). The choice of food depends on factors that influence human behaviour, which in turn affects the rejection of some food and acceptance of others. A classification based on current food-choice models is used to explain certain attributes of food choice is made by Babicz-Zielinska (Babicz-Zielinska 1999:138) 1. Production-related factors- which could be physical and chemical properties of food, sensory attributes, functional features(labelling, availability) nutritional value; or 2. Consumer-related factors- personal features, (age, gender, psychological factors, experience, personality), physiological factors (health) or 3. Environment-related factors- economic factors (price and income), cultural factors (beliefs, social factors- social status and fashion. Consumer-related factors and environment-related factors will be area of concern in this research. Factors of food choice survey was conducted in European Community EC countries, and it showed that quality/freshness, taste, selecting a healthy diet, price, family preferences and habits belong to the most important choice factors, (Lennernas et al 1997) Behavioural research methodologies are usually used to ascertain the underlying factors that determine food-related behaviour, reason being that food choice and consumption are natural and integrated part of human behaviour (Mahon et al 2006:474). The theory of reasoned action The theory of reasoned action has received attention within the field of consumer behaviour. (Sheppard et al 1988). The theory of reasoned action studies attitude and behaviour (Ajzen Fishbein 1980). It observes behavioural intention, attitude and subjective norm. According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a persons behaviour is guided by the persons attitude towards the behaviour and the subjective norm. For example, Africans tend to eat hot, spicy and tasty food, so when they find themselves away from ‘home, they look for their regular food, or something very close to the kind of food they have been used to, the alternative in this case could mean the Caribbean cuisine which also has its origin from African foods, or the Spanish or Mexican spicy foods as found in UK. However the cost also plays a determining role in making food choice, this shall be explained in detail in later chapter. Miller 2005 defines attitude, subjective norm, and behavioural intentions as the 3 components of the theory of reasoned action. Attitude: The sum of beliefs about a particular behaviour weighted by evaluation of these beliefs. Subjective norms. This looks at the influence of people in ones social environment on his/her behavioural intentions. Behavioural intention. This is a function of both attitudes towards behaviour and subjective norms towards that behaviour which has been found to predict actual behaviour. The theory of planned behaviour is adopted to explain consumer behaviour towards African food. The other alternative in this research is the British food, considering different factors that affect the choice of food. Human behaviour is explained and predicted by the theory of planned behaviour in understanding beliefs and attitudes. Ajzen et al 1986, explains that TPB is an extension of the TRA. The theory of planned behaviour was developed as a third predictor of behaviour, perceived behavioural control, (Mahon et al 2006:475). Perceived behavioural control reflects beliefs regarding the access to resources and opportunities needed to perform a behaviour (Chiou, 1998 as cited in Mahon 2006 pg 475). The availability of resources needed to engage in the behaviour such as money, time and other resources, the focal person self confidence in their ability to conduct the behaviour are two major reflections of the theory of planned behaviour. The theory of consumer preference. Consumers have set of preferences which are dependent upon individual tastes, education, culture and other factors, apart from the economic factor. These factors are measured for particular goods in terms of the real opportunity cost to the consumer who purchases and consumes the goods. Consumer level of satisfaction of a particular kind of food is determined by what the consumer defines as â€Å"satisfaction†. However, consumers are constrained in their choices of foods by income, accessibility of goods and also the price that the consumer is willing to pay for his food. Consumer preferences are defined as the subjective taste as measured by utility-(where utility is the satisfaction that a consumer derives from the consumption of a good) of various bundles of goods. Preferences help consumer to prioritize bundles of goods according to the levels of utility that they give the consumer. However, these preferences are not dependent on income and prices only. The ability for a consumer to purchase certain kind of food does not always determine a consumers like or dislike over another food. For example, an African consumer in Liverpool can have a preference for African foods over British foods but only has the financial means to buy British meals more often. There are certain assumptions of consumers preference theory, which will be further looked into, the assumption of decisiveness, consistency, non-satiation, convexity. Actor network theory. ANT, a social theory pioneered by Michel Callon (1986), Bruno Latour (1987) and John Law (1987), conceptualize social interactions in terms of networks. This includes the material environment and human causes. The concept of ANT acknowledges the importance of both material and human factors in networks. The theory conveys the idea that the actor does not act ‘on his own but only under the influence of complex network of material and human influences. For example, the process involved in making African foods available is not just caused human factors, but also by production, technology, society, extended politics of trade and culture, all affecting the accessibility and availability of the foods. According to Callon (1986) materials causes as well as human actors may be determinants of the social interactions and outcomes (Callon 1986). According to Henderson 2002, ANT emphasize the relationality of object and agency in heterogeneous networks, in other words, entities in network s are shaped by and can only be understood through their relations and connectivity to other entities(Law, 1999:4 as cited in Henderson et al 2002). Again, space and distance are observed as ‘spatial fields and relational scopes of influence, power and connectivity (Harvey, 1969; Murdoch 1998 as cited in Henderson et al 2002). According to Nancy Vanhouse, ANT has to approaches, ‘follow the actor, through interviews and ethnographic research and through examining inscriptions. Inscriptions including texts, but also images of many sorts, databases, and the like are central to knowledge work. Some (e.g., Latour and Woolgar, 1991; Callon, Law, and Rip, 1986) say that texts (including journal articles, conference papers and presentations, grant proposals, and patents) are among the major, if not the major, products of scientific work. Inscriptions make action at a distance possible by stabilizing work in such a way that it can travel across space and time and be combined with other work. Texts are also central to the process of gaining credibility. They carry work to other people and institutions. They attempt to present work in such a way that its meaning and significance are irrefutable. And texts are where authors establish equivalences among problems, which Callon et al. (1986) identifies as a major strategy of enrolling others. An important part of the standard journal article or grant application, for example, is to say, in essence, If you are interested in X (major issue) you must be interested in Y, which is the topic of the work reported/proposed here. References Latour, B. and Woolgar, S. (1991). Laboratory life: the construction of scientific facts, intro by Salk, J., Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press Callon, Michel, John Law, and Arie Rip, eds. Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology: Sociology of Science in the Real World. London: Macmillan Press, 1986. Actor network theory has become very helpful in understanding connections between places and space. Its insistency on non human factor in network production Supply chain and bottleneck bureaucracy of the supply of food products from Africa into the UK makes it more difficult for the availability of this food. This furthermore widens the distance/gap between consumers and suppliers/retailers. The length of this chain affects. The quality assurance schemes, production and manufacturing to retailers protocols and the application of quality management system and standard such as HACCP and ISO series are various ways of cutting supplies. Bottlenecks of food quality and safety standards in food processing and distribution. The HACCP systems are used in specific export sectors in Africa, an example is the EU quality standard for fish in Uganda is based on EU directive 91/493/EEC and on Codex Alimentarius (Trienekens et al 2008:116) covering areas of microbiology level, pesticides residues, heavy metals, effluents, Good manufacturing practices (processing stage) and HACCP (processing stage) (Ssemwanga, 2003 as cited in Trienekens et al 2008:116). Kenya adheres to UK food and safety Act of 1990, more so testing laboratories are accredited to ISO 17025; 2000 by United Kingdom Accreditation services (UKAS) (Kari 2003), the high deportation rate of this products on western markets shows the fragility of the systems. As pesticides residues are discovered in the product. Other systems used for processors and packers of fish for exports are GMP, ISO 90002. The proliferation of standards by western markets creates a barrier for the application of standards by developing countries producers. The lack of enabling environment in which infrastructure facilities are absent in African countries is also a major setback. African countries are still discovering quality and safety of food as important condition for international food trade (Trieneken et al 2008:117). Building of facilities, government structures to improve and ensure quality and safety of products are still key agenda of attention. The importance of transportation, preservation (cooled system of transport) and storage are very vital to international trade. African countries are still at the phase of establishing the right conditions to enforce food quality and safety of the other products. According to Trieneken et al- many developing countries do not have skilled labour and laboratory facilities, this however limits good- quality management, making difficult. Small and medium size business, from developing countries find difficult or almost impossible to comply with standard required in western markets (Dinham, 2003, Unnevehr, 2002). Due to barriers created by SPS and TBT in exporting foods, from developing countries do not have the adequate information and most likely unaware of specific demand of western standards for trade. The heterogeneous standard in developed economies also poses a problem, as continues differ to country and market also differ. The cost of certification is too much for develop countries to bear. Most African food products are unable to adapt to the rigorous requirements of modern supply chain, either through scale enterprise or lack of knowledge or financial constraints, become non-competitive. The myriad of innovations and development has made the process of food supply chain increase in productivity. The combine technology of accurate weighing, refrigeration controlled atmospheric bacterial growth inhibition, pasteurisation, micro-element pollutant detection, bar-coding, electronic recognition of packaging, the use of stabilizers etc, has also contributed to the difficulty in having African food cross over, as most business may not be financially equipped enough for the volume of the trading. Christopher (1999) notes that the supply chain management evolves around the partnership developed in the chain and is supported by information technology applications that co-ordinate information dissemination and sharing amongst the chain members. This research has revealed that most home cooked food are prepared under high hygienic conditions, as cooking is monitored by consumer themselves problems with calories consumptions that affect the health of consumer is also under check, compared to the perceptions about eating fast food at convenience KFC and MacDonalds. This is one reason for the preference of African food among black consumer. One of the major problems of availability of African foods in UK is the problem of access into the country. Developing countries especially in Africa find it difficult to meet the food safety standards imposed by the UK/developing countries. Food safety standards which were originally set up to keep food for quality and safe consumption, by government of different countries are being used as trade impeding protectionist tools.(Jongwanich 2009:1). Food safety standards are usually to the disadvantage of developing countries, due to their limits capacity to access and use technology and information. International trade negotiations have experience setbacks for developing countries in recent years due to a demand for more stringent SPS in developed countries, which is as a result of increase in health consciousness and rising incomes. Before now, tariffs and quantitative restrictions are the trade barriers and impediments that affect export from developing countries to developed countri es, but in recent times, food safety standards have become tool for protectionist to block trade(Jongwanich 2009:

The Scope Of Carbon Trading In India Environmental Sciences Essay

The Scope Of Carbon Trading In India Environmental Sciences Essay Carbon Trading: Carbon trading is a practice which is designed to reduce overall emissions of carbon dioxide, along with other greenhouse gases, by providing a regulatory and economic incentive. In fact, the term carbon trading is a bit misleading, as a number of greenhouse emissions can be regulated under what are known as cap and trade systems. For this reason, some people prefer the term emission trading, to emphasize the fact that far more than just carbon is being traded. This practice is part of a system which is colloquially referred to as a cap and trade. Under a cap and trade system, a government sets a national goal for total greenhouse gas emissions over a set period of time, such as a quarter or a year, and then allocates credits to companies which allow them to emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases. If a company is unable to use all of its credits, it can sell or trade those credits with a company which is afraid of exceeding its allowance. Carbon trading provides a very obvious incentive for companies to improve their efficiency and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, by turning such reductions into a physical cash benefit. In addition, it is a disincentive for being inefficient, as companies are effectively penalized for failing to meet emissions goals. In this way, regulation is accomplished largely through economic means, rather than through draconian government measures, encouraging people to engage in carbon trading because its potentially profitable. As a general rule, carbon trading is paired with an overall attempt to reduce carbon emissions in a country over an extended period of time, which means that each year, the number of available credits will be reduced. By encouraging companies to become more efficient ahead of time, a government can often more easily meet emissions reduction goals, as companies will not be expected to change practices overnight, and the carbon trading system creates far more flexibility than setting blanket baseline levels. In some countries, carbon exchanges have opened up, operating much like stock exchanges. These organizations facilitate the exchange of carbon credits, ensuring that they flow smoothly through the market, and they provide standard set prices for credits, based on market demand and general economic health. In some cases, individual citizens can also participate in carbon trading, purchasing credits to offset their own greenhouse gas emissions, and some advocates have suggested that carbon trading should be formally expanded to all citizens, encouraging global and individual involvement in reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Scope of Carbon Trading in India: Indian Market of Carbon Trading: The carbon market is divided into two parts-that which is compliance driven and the other being the voluntary market. The more dominant and lucrative compliance market only accepts carbon credits under the CDM programme, while there are various regional non UN administered voluntary programs worldwide. For carbon credit trading, India follows a scheme called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or more commonly, carbon trading. CDM is an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing industrialized countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in emission reducing projects in developing countries as an alternative to what is generally considered more costly emission reductions in their own countries. Under CDM, a developed country can take up a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction project activity in a developing country where the cost of GHG reduction project activities is usually much lower. The developed country would be given carbon credits for meeting its emission reduction targets, while the developing country would receive the capital and clean technology to implement the project. Carbon credits are certificates issued to countries that reduce their emission of GHG, which causes global warming. Developed countries that have exceeded the levels can either cut down emis sions, or borrow or buy carbon credits from developing countries. The Indian market is extremely receptive to CDM. Having cornered more than half of the global total in tradable certified emission reduction (CERs), Indias dominance in carbon trading under the CDM of the UN Convention on climate change is beginning to influence business dynamics in the country. Carbon credits are measured in units of CERs, which is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide reduction. Future scope: Indias huge potential for generation and sale of CERs needs to be harnessed especially to tap the huge opportunity in the European Union Emission Trading System (EU-ETS). Hence, in order to bring vibrancy to the emission market in the country, there is a need for a transparent platform that will help buyers and sellers get a fair deal and reduce the margins of the intermediaries to reflect the economic value-addition. With technology at Indias side, it is time the country leveraged it for a sustained growth of the carbon credit market. Indian industries, which looked at CDM implementation in their process have failed to realize fair prices in most cases due to the currently thriving OTC (over-the-counter) markets that have fleeced most sellers by buying at prices much lower than that provided by buyers. The MCX-CCX (Chicago Climate Exchange) tie-up is expected to ensure better price discovery of carbon credits besides helping the participants cover the risks associated with selling and buying of carbon credits. Further, the exchange, with its various ways of educating the eco-system participants, would enhance the benefits accruing to them in its endeavor to make India a major global commodity-trading hub. Objectives: The objectives for study are as follows: To know what is carbon trading and its impact on atmosphere. To know world market of Carbon trading. To know about the Carbon trading market in India To know future growth and scope in India in carbon trading. Review of Literature: According to Shilpa Shanbhag,[Dataquest the business of InfoTech] India needs to put a price on carbon, since true leaders do not wait for international climate mandates. There is nothing stopping India from setting up a domestic environmental exchange based on the guidelines of the international carbon market and converting air and water pollutants such as CO2, SO2, NOx and BoD into tradable instruments. NOx and SOx trading schemes in the US have shown that it is possible to reduce emissions and acid rain under an environmental trading scheme. Later she add instead of switching off light bulbs for an hour each year or holding concerts to raise climate change awareness, it would be much sensible to invest in a wind mill, which produces clean power. This mill would offer two-fold benefits of supplying power to the state grid for the next 25 years and it would also earn carbon credits. A 2007 study by the Financial Times discovered the following:   * Widespread instances of people and organizations buying worthless credits that do not yield any reductions in carbon emissions. * Industrial companies profiting from doing very littleor from gaining carbon credits on the basis of efficiency gains from which they have already benefited substantially. * Brokers providing services of questionable or no value. * A shortage of verification, making it difficult for buyers to assess the true value of carbon credits (Industry Caught in Carbon Smokescreen, Financial Times, April 25, 2007) Accordind to Ecosecuriites ,The highest price projection found in the survey resulted from the ACCF/NAM model, estimating that a carbon price of $257 would be needed by 2025 to accomplish the emissions reduction objective in its High Cost scenario. This models High Cost scenario assumed that only 14% of GHG emissions could be offset, while the remaining emissions had to be internally mitigated. This scenario also strictly limited the rate at which technologies are developed and implemented, including a constraint on nuclear by allowing only 10-25 GW of additional capacity by 2030.The lower price projections profiled in this report resulted from the PACE model, estimating that a carbon price of only $0.41 would be needed by 2025 to accomplish the emissions reduction objective in its Multigas scenario, and the MERGE and MiniCAM models, estimating a required carbon price of only $0.30 in 2020 for the 6.7 W/m2 scenario. The PACE model gave low values partially as a result of assuming a r elatively low GHG emissions baseline and emissions growth over time. Analysis: The Carbon trading is one of the fastest growing financial markets in the world. It is the most visible result of early regulatory efforts to mitigate climate change, and grew out of the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997. The protocol requires that by 2012, developed countries will achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions of at least 5% against baseline levels of 1990. To help countries achieve that goal it established the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which promotes sustainable development in developing countries while spurring cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the more polluting developed countries. India offers a large potential for CDM because of its inherent dependence on fossil fuels for development. So countries with relatively low abatement and transaction costs like India are a major attraction for CDM projects. The market is emerging strongly despite various global factors, according to the World Bank. Regulation that caps greenhouse gas emissions has spawned an emerging carbon trade that was valued at US $64 billion (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬47 billion) in 2007. For the third consecutive year, China was the world leader in CDM supply with a 73% market share in terms of 2007 transacted volume. Brazil and India, at 6% market share each, transacted the highest volumes after China. Africa followed with 5% of the market. India is the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world in absolute terms. But its per capita emission of 1.2 tons per person per year is much lower than the Wests figure of 20 tons, or than the global average of 8 tons. If India has to realize its ambitions of economic growth and take large sections of its population out of the low income trap, it must grow. That means greenhouse gas emission reductions will CLEAN DEVELPOMENT MECHANISM (CDM) AND CARBON TRADING IN INDIA CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM GLOBAL WARMING- THE ISSUE The Earth has an atmosphere of the proper depth and chemical composition. About 30% of incoming energy from the sun is reflected back to space while the rest reaches the earth, resulting in warming the air, oceans, and land, and maintaining an average surface temperature of about 15  °C. The chemical composition of the atmosphere is also responsible for nurturing life on our planet. Most of it is nitrogen (78%); about 21% is oxygen, which all animals need to survive; and only a small percentage (0.036%) is made up of carbon dioxide which plants require for photosynthesis. The atmosphere carries out the critical function of maintaining life-sustaining conditions on Earth, in the following way: each day, energy from the sun is absorbed by the land, seas, mountains, etc. If all this energy were to be absorbed completely, the earth would gradually become hotter and hotter. But actually, the earth both absorbs and, simultaneously releases it in the form of infra red waves (which cannot be seen by our eyes but can be felt as heat, for example the heat that you can feel with your hands over a heated car engine). All this rising heat is not lost to space, but is partly absorbed by some gases present in very small (or trace) quantities in the atmosphere, called greenhouse gases (GHGs). Greenhouse gases (for example, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), water vapour), re-emit some of this heat to the earths surface. If they did not perform this useful function, most of the heat energy would escape, leaving the earth cold (about -18  °C) and unfit to support life. However, ever since the Industrial Revolution began about 150 years ago, man-made activities have added significant quantities of GHGs to the atmosphere. The atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) have grown by about 31%, 151% and 17%, respectively, between 1750 and 2000 (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC 2001). As the GHGs are transparent to incoming solar radiation, but opaque to outgoing longwave radiation, an increase in the levels of GHGs could lead to greater warming, which, in turn, could have an impact on the worlds climate, leading to the phenomenon known as climate change. Indeed, scientists have observed that over the 20th century, the mean global surface temperature increased by 0.6 °C (IPCC 2001). They also observed that since 1860 (the year temperature began to be recorded systematically using a thermometer), the 1990s have been the warmest decade. Important greenhouse gases are: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons (PFC), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). Water vapor is also an important greenhouse gas, but since humans do not generally have a direct affect on water vapor concentration in the atmosphere, it is not included in this paper. Because each greenhouse gas traps different amounts of heat and stays in the atmosphere for different lengths of time, studies use measures of global warming potential (GWP) to compare between gases. Carbon dioxide is used as the benchmark, so all other gases are measured in carbon dioxide equivalence (CO2e)2. Table 1: The global warming potential of six major greenhouse gases (This measure takes into account the heat trapping abilities and the time the gas stays in the atmosphere (IPCC 2001a, 2001b)) Gas Global Warming Potential Atmospheric Life (years) CO2 1 5 to 200 CH4 21 12 N2O 310 114 HFC 140 to 11,700 1.4 to 260 PFC 6,500 to 9,200 10,000 to 50,000+ SF6 23,900 3200 NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC CAUSES OF GLOBAL WARMING Another IPCC publication states that there is a very high confidence that human activities have caused a net warming of the planet (IPCC 2007a). KYOTO PROTOCOL Presently, a variety of approaches are being implemented to reduce carbon emissions. These range from efforts by individuals and firms to reduce their climate footprints to initiatives at city, state, regional and global levels. Among these are the commitments of governments to reduce emissions through the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol. In 1992 famous Rio earth summit, United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted with an objective to stabilize atmospheric concentration of GHG at levels that would prevent dangerous humane interference with climate system. The UNFCCC came into effect on 21st March, 1994 according to which industrialized countries shall have the main responsibility to mitigate climate change. Such countries are listed a s Annex- I countries. Under UNFCCC all the member countries were to report on their national GHG emissions inventories and propose climate change mitigation strategies. After two and half years of intense negotiation between Annex-I countries, an agreement was struck at the now famous Kyoto protocol on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. Born in the 1997 World Earth Summit held at Kyoto, Japan, this Protocol is making miracles in society today. The convention, participated by 160 countries of the world, was to negotiate binding limitations on greenhouse gases for the developed nations pursuant to the objective of the Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992. Under the Kyoto Protocol, emission caps were set for each Annex-I countries, amounting in total to an average reduction of 5.2% below the aggregate emission level in 1990. Each country has a predetermined target of emission reduction as compared to 1990 level. No emission cap is imposed on Non Annex I countries. However, to encourage the participation of Non-Annex I in emission reduction process a mechanism known as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has been provided. The carbon markets are a prominent part of the response to climate change and have an opportunity to demonstrate that they can be a credible and central tool for future climate mitigation. The outcome was the Kyoto Protocol, in which the developed nations agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, relative to the levels emitted in 1990 or pay a price to those that do. At this point comes the carbon trading. CARBON CREDITS The primary purpose of the Protocol was to make developed countries pay for their ways with e missions while at the same time monetarily rewarding countries with good behaviour in this regard. Since developing countries can start with clean technologies, they will be rewarded by those stuck with à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾dirtyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ ones. This system poises to become a big machine for partially transferring wealth from wealthy, industrialised countries to poor, undeveloped countries. A CER or carbon Credit is defined as the unit related to reduction of 1 tonne of CO2 emission from the baseline of the project activity. Let us say that India decided to invest in a new power station, and has decided on a particular technology at the cost of X crore. An entity from an industrialised country (which could even be a company) offers to provide India with slightly better technology, which costs more (say Y crore), but will result in lower emissions. The industrialised country will only pay the incremental cost of the project viz. Y minus X. In return, the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾investingà ¢Ã ¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ country will get certified emission reductionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ (CERs), or credits, which it can use to meet its Kyoto commitments. This is a very good deal indeed but for the investing country. Not only do they sell developing countries their technology, but they also meet their Kyoto commitments without lifting a finger to reduce their domestic emissions. Countries like the US can continue to pollute at home, so long as it makes the reductions elsewhere. The World Bank has built itself a role in this market as a referee, broker and macro-manager of international fund flows. The scheme has been entitled Clean Development Mechanism, or more commonly, Carbon Trading. CDM PROJECT TYPES Carbon Credits are sold to entities in Annex-I countries, like power utilities, who have emission reduction targets to achieve find it cheaper to buy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾offsettingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ certificate rather than do a clean-up in their backyard. Type of projects, which are being applied for CDM and which can be of valuable potential, are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Energy efficiency projects Increasing building efficiency (Concept of Green Building/LEED Rating), eg. Technopolis Building Kolkata Increasing commercial/industrial energy efficiency (Renovation Modernization of old power plants) Fuel switching from more carbon intensive fuels to less carbon intensive fuels; and Also includes re-powering, upgrading instrumentation, controls, and/or equipment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transport Improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency by the introduction of new technologies Changes in vehicles and/or fuel type, for example, switch to electric cars or fuel cell vehicles (CNG/Bio fuels) Switch of transport mode, e.g. changing to less carbon intensive means of transport like trains (Metro in Delhi); and Reducing the frequency of the transport activity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Methane recovery Animal waste methane recovery utilization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Installing an anaerobic digester utilizing methane to produce energy Coal mine methane recovery à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Collection utilization of fugitive methane from coal mining; Capture of biogas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Landfill methane recovery and utilization Capture utilization of fugitive gas from gas pipelines; Methane collection and utilization from sewage/industrial waste treatment facilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Industrial process changes Any industrial process change resulting in the reduction of any category greenhouse gas emissions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Cogeneration Use of waste heat from electric generation, such as exhaust from gas turbines, for industrial purposes or heating (e.g. Distillery-Molasses/ bagasse) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Agricultural sector Energy efficiency improvements or switching to less carbon intensive energy sources for water pumps (irrigation) Methane reductions in rice cultivation Reducing animal waste or using produced animal waste for energy generation (see also under methane recovery) and Any other changes in an agricultural practices resulting in reduction of any category of greenhouse gas emissions INDIAN SCENARIO- FAVOURING POINTS India comes under the third category of signatories to UNFCCC. India signed and ratified the Protocol in August, 2002 and has emerged as a world leader in reduction of greenhouse gases by adopting Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs) in the past few years. According to Report on National Action Plan for operationalising Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) by Planning Commission, Govt.of India, the total CO2-equivalent emissions in 1990 were 10, 01, 352 Gg (Gigagrams), which was approximately 3% of global emissions. If India can capture a 10% share of the global CDM market, annual CER revenues to the country could range from US$ 10 million to 300 million (assuming that CDM is used to meet 10-50% of the global demand for GHG emission reduction of roughly 1 billion tonnes CO2, and prices range from US$ 3.5-5.5 per tonne of CO2). As the deadline for meeting the Kyoto Protocol targets draws nearer, prices can be expected to rise, as countries/companies save carbon credits to meet strict targe ts in the future. India is well ahead in establishing a full-fledged system in operationalising CDM, through the Designated National Authority (DNA).Other than Industries and transportation,the major sources of GHGs emission in India are as follows : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Paddy fields à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Enteric fermentation from cattle and buffaloes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Municipal Solid Waste Of the above three sources the emissions from the paddy fields can be reduced through special irrigation strategy and appropriate choice of cultivars; whereas enteric fermentation emission can also be reduced through proper feed management. In recent days the third source of emission i.e. Municipal Solid Waste Dumping Grounds are emerging as a potential CDM activity despite being provided least attention till date. Present status of dumping grounds in India: In India, due to increased population commercial development, cities are facing probles of SW (Municipal Solid Waste) disposal. The urban population in larger towns and cities in India is increasing at a decadal growth rate of above 40%. There are no Sanitary Landfill sites in India at present. Municipal Solid Waste is simply dumped without any treatment into land (depressions, ditches, soaked ponds) or on the outskirts of the city in an unscientific manner with no compliance of regulations. The existing dumping grounds in India are full and overflowing beyond capacity. It is difficult to get new dumping yards and if at all available, they are far away from the city and this adds to the exorbitant cost of transportation Various processes/technologies available to reduce the amount of Municipal Solid Waste are as follows. 1. Physical (a. Pelletisation) 2. Biochemical (a. Aerobic Composting b. Anaerobic Digestion) 3. Thermal (a. Incineration b. Gasification) Among the above options/technologies following are considered as favorable to implement in India. 1. Pelletisation, 2. Anaerobic digestion using bio-methanation technology for production of power, 3. Production of organic manure using controlled aerobic composting. a) India high potential of carbon credits b) India can capture 10% of Global CDM market c) Annual revenue estimated range from US$10 million to 330 million d) Wide spectrum of projects with different sizes e) Vast technical human resource f) Strong industrial base g) Dynamic, transparent speedy processing by Indian DNA (NCDMA) for host country approval h) MoU Signed between MoP and GTZ (Oct 2006)- Indo German Energy program (IGEN) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Baseline CO2 Emissions from Power Sector already in place- first CDM country à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Improvement in EE à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ CDM in Power Sector CDM POTENTIAL FOR INDIA POLICIES AND WAY AHEAD Greenhouse gas abatement policy design is exceedingly difficult because GHG emissions result from nearly all modern human activities. It involves every sector of the economy as well as habits and choices of individuals. Economics is more than just a study of business, it is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between aspirations and the scarce means to reach those goals. Individuals make decisions every day that influence the amount of greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere. If a stable climate is one objective among the many to which society aspires, then economics is a tool well-suited to understand how those decisions are made and how efficient and effective outcomes can be reached. Indian Forum India is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the objective of the Convention is to achieve stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interfe rence with the climate system. To strengthen the developed country commitments under the Convention, the Parties adopted Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which commits developed country Parties to return their emissions of greenhouse gases to an average of approximately 5.2% below 1990 levels over the period 2008-12. The Seventh Conference of Parties (COP-7) to the UNFCCC decided that Parties participating in CDM should designate a National Authority for the CDM and as per the CDM project cycle, a project proposal should include written approval of voluntary participation from the Designated National Authority of each country and confirmation that the project activity assists the host country in achieving sustainable development. Accordingly the Central Government constituted the National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Authority for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of environment in terms of the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM Authority has the powers: (a) to invite officials a nd experts from Government, financial institutions, consultancy organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil society, legal profession, industry and commerce, as it may deem necessary for technical and professional inputs and may co-opt other members depending upon need. (b) to interact with concerned authorities, institutions, individual stakeholders for matters relating to CDM. (c) to take up any environmental issues pertaining to CDM or Sustainable Development projects as may be referred to it by the Central Government, and (d) to recommend guidelines to the Central Government for consideration of projects and principles to be followed for according host country approval. As discussed above, India has a vast opportunity to explore in terms of CDM and carbon-credits. Through its giant ongoing Infrastructure projects and projects on non-conventional energy sources, a new phase of development is still to be observed, moderate start of which has already begun. Conclusion There is a great opportunity awaiting India in carbon trading which is estimated to go up to $100 billion by 2010. In the new regime, the country could emerge as one of the largest beneficiaries accounting for 25 per cent of the total world carbon trade, says a recent World Bank report. The countries like US, Germany, Japan and China are likely to be the biggest buyers of carbon credits which are beneficial for India to a great extent. The Indian market is extremely receptive to Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Having cornered more than half of the global total in tradable certified emission reduction (CERs), Indias dominance in carbon trading under the clean development mechanism (CDM) of the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is beginning to influence business dynamics in the country. India Inc pocketed Rs 1,500 crores in he year 2005 just by selling carbon credits to developed-country clients. Various projects would create up to 306 million tradable CERs. Analysts claim if more companies absorb clean technologies, total CERs with India could touch 500 million. Of the 391 projects sanctioned, the UNFCCC has registered 114 from India, the highest for any country. Indias average annual CERs stand at 12.6% or 11.5 million. Hence, MSW dumping grounds can be a huge prospect for CDM projects in India. These types of projects would not only be beneficial for the Government bodies and stakeholders but also for general public.