This study delves into the role of pig farming in advancing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8—Decent work and economic growth in Buffalo City, Eastern Cape. The absence of meaningful employment opportunities and genuine economic progress has remained a significant economic obstacle in South Africa for an extended period. Through a mixed-method approach, the study examines the transformative impact of pig farming as an economic avenue in achieving SDG 8. Through interviews and questionnaires with employed individuals engaged in pig farming in Buffalo City, the study further examines pig farming’s vital role as a source of decent work and economic growth. The study reveals inadequate government support and empowerment for pig farming in Buffalo City despite pig farming’s resilience and potential in mitigating socio-economic vulnerabilities and supporting community’s livelihoods. To enhance pig farming initiatives, this study recommends government’s prioritization of an enabling environment and empowerment measures for the thriving of pig farming in Buffalo City. By facilitating supportive policies and infrastructures, the government can empower locals in Buffalo City to leverage pig farming’s potential in achieving SDG 8.

This study investigated the changing land use patterns and their impacts on ecosystem in the Teesta River Basin of northwestern Bangladesh. Although anthropocentric land use patterns, including agricultural land use, settlements, built areas, and waterbody loss, have been increasing in the Nilphamari district, by negatively affecting local ecosystems, they have not been identified by prior research. Limitations of contemporary literature motivated me to work on this crucial ground in the Teesta River Basin in Northwestern Bangladesh. This study applied a mixed research approach to identify the study objectives. Firstly, the land use and land cover (LULC) changes which occurred between 2000 and 2020 were detected using satellite imagery and supervised classification method. In addition to the detection of LULC changes, the study explored the people’s perceptions and experiences about the ecosystem changes resulted from the LULC changes over the last 20 years, conducting stakeholders’ consultations and household surveys utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings indicated that waterbodies in Nilphamari district have significantly decreased from 378 km² in 2000 to 181 km² in 2020. In the same way, the vegetation coverage has reduced 187 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. On the contrary, agricultural lands (croplands) have increased from 595 km² to 905 km² and settlements have increased from 81 km² to 206 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. From the chi-square test, it was found a significant association between ecosystem change and biodiversity loss. It was further identified that waterbody decreases have significant impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The results of this study also indicated that due to the introduction of foreign tree species, local and native species have been significantly decreasing over the time. This study emphasizes the non-anthropocentric and inclusive land use policy implications for protecting life on land and preserving the aquatic ecosystem in Bangladesh.

During crisis events, the government implements many policies to control the development of the crisis and stimulate the economy damaged by the crisis. The government plays a very important role during the crisis. The stock market is a reflection of a country’s economic situation. This article takes the Chinese government policies during the COVID-19 crisis as the research object and analyzes the impact of government policies on the CSI300 index. The following conclusion is drawn: not all government restrictions will cause a decline in stock market prices, among which the Wuhan lockdown policy has promoted the rise of the CSI300 index. The two stimulus policies implemented by the Chinese government are both conducive to the rise of CSI300 index. During the COVID-19 crisis, investors holding high assets, high leverage, and low profitability companies will be significantly negatively affected after the government implements restrictive policies. After the government implements stimulus policies, investors holding high asset and high leverage companies will suffer losses. Investors who hold low asset, low leverage, and high profitability companies will have profits. And this article also finds that the size of company assets is an important driving factor for abnormal returns.

This study investigates the role of property quality in shaping booking intentions within the dynamic landscape of the hospitality sector. A comprehensive approach, integrating qualitative and quantitative methodologies, is employed, utilising Airdna’s dataset spanning from July 2016 to June 2020. Multiple regression models, including interaction terms, are applied to scrutinise the moderating role of property quality. The study unveils unexpected findings, particularly a counterintuitive negative correlation between property quality and booking intentions in Model 7, challenging conventional assumptions. Theoretical implications call for a deeper exploration of contextual nuances and psychological intricacies influencing guest preferences, urging a re-evaluation of established models within hospitality management. On a practical note, the study emphasises the significance of continuous quality improvement and dynamic strategies aligned with evolving consumer expectations. The unexpected correlation prompts a shift towards more context-specific approaches in understanding and managing guest behavior, offering valuable insights for both academia and the ever-evolving landscape of the hospitality industry.

The relationship between aid and corruption remains ambiguous. On the one hand, aid may benefit a country if the aid management system runs efficiently and transparently. On the other hand, aid tends to create new problems, namely corruption, especially in developing countries. This research examines the aid-corruption paradox in Indonesian provinces from a spatial perspective. The data was obtained from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, the National Development Planning Agency of Indonesia, the Corruption Eradication Commission of Indonesia, and the Electronic Procurement Service, referring to 34 Indonesian provinces between 2011 and 2019. The research applies the spatial panel method and uses Haversine distance to construct the weighted matrix. The spatial error model (SEM) is the best for Model 1 (Grants) and Model 2 (Loans) and the best corruption model in Model 3 (Gratification). The spatial autoregressive model (SAR) is the best approach for Model 4 (Public Complaints) and Model 5 (Corruption). The findings show that there is no spatial dependence between provinces in Indonesia in terms of grants or loans. However, corruption in Indonesia is widespread.

This research can help improve public health and ensure the sustainable transformation of the food system. This study aims to analyze the success of Regional Food Security development activities through Community Empowerment with the food independent village program carried out by regional command units in the ranks of Korem 063/SGJ (Sunan Gunung Jati). This study uses qualitative descriptive with comparative methods. Population includes villages that have received the food independent village program in West Java (Kuningan, Cirebon, Majalengka, and Cirebon City) between 2009 and 2022. The research sample consisted of 4 villages selected from each of the districts/cities. The research informants totalled 37 people, consisting of stakeholders from the Korem 063/Sunan Gunung Jati Unit and its staff, the Food Security Service, village heads, affinity groups or farmers, and community leaders in the research area. The results of the study indicate that the success and failure in the implementation of the food independent village program by affinity groups and the food security development activity program by Satkowil have an effect on food availability, food distribution and food consumption. This research is expected to provide a comprehensive overview of the implementation of the food independent village program and food security development activities by regional command units in West Java.

Conspiracy theories during Covid-19 pandemic spread worldwide, including in Indonesia. What political and religious factors explain their spread in Indonesia with particular reference to the DKI Jakarta province, its surrounding municipalities, and West Sumatera province? This study aimed to answer the questions. It employed a qualitative approach with multi-data collection methods, including those from media, documents, and interviews. The spread of Conspiracy theories benefited from the democratic system that promotes the freedom of information in using social media. First, the government officials initially spread conspiracy theories to satisfy people’s anxiety about the obscured Pandemic. However, they resulted in the government’s ambiguous, controversial, and reckless policies leading to people’s distrust of the government. Jokowi-Makruf Amien, political opponents capitalized on the government’s poor policies to spread conspiracy theories which partly discredited the Jokowi-Amien administration. Both government officials and the opposition capitalized on politics and religious teaching or supra-natural pretexts to posit their conspiracy theories.

Given the rising threat of terror attacks and the increasing frequency of natural disasters attributed to climate change, enhancing evacuation capacities in various spaces has become crucial for saving lives and accelerating recovery processes. This study investigates the influence of altruistic behavior on evacuation efficiency by developing a social force model that categorizes individuals into three demographic groups: youth, middle-aged, and seniors. Simulation experiments based on the model were conducted to evaluate the impact of altruistic behavior on evacuation efficiency under different conditions, such as evacuation capacity, reliability, and recovery time. The simulation results show that a higher probability of falling leads to longer evacuation times. While an increase in the probability of altruistic behavior improves evacuation efficiency, excessive altruistic behavior causes evacuation times to vary in a zigzag pattern. When the help range exceeds 0.7m, evacuation efficiency fluctuates without a clear trend of improvement.