Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Smallholder Farmers and Farming Practices: Challenges and Prospects

“Smallholder farmers are at the forefront of rural development, yet are poorly understood; too often seen as backward, in need of modernisation. Through detailed case studies, this book challenges these misunderstandings and presents a positive view of smallholder farmers as innovators, experimenters and entrepreneurs. Such farmers are not without challenges, however, and the book explores those of climate change, soil fertility decline, market access, land tenure security, among others through diverse case studies. For anyone interested in the future of smallholder agriculture, please read this book!” – Ian Scoones, Professor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, author of Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development (Practical Action, 2015)

“In response to the challenges of climate change and market uncertainties, Oluwatoyin Kolawole’s thought-provoking volume highlights multiple opportunities to support young farmers and revitalize rural economies. It is a welcome resource for academics, researchers, and policy makers alike to address the challenges of smallholder farming.” – Keith M. Moore, Center for International, Research, Education and Development, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, United States

“This book offers a deep and critical analysis of the uniquely diverse and daunting challenges faced by smallholder farmers under complexly dynamic environments and mostly resource-poor conditions while providing comprehensive insights into farmers’ coping mechanisms through well-thought and experience-based farming practices. Research outputs from diverse authors, who make use of multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary methodologies, help readers to gain full understanding of smallholder farmers’ practices and policy makers to make well-informed decisions in favor of sustainable smallholder agriculture development.” – E. Fallou Guèye, PhD (Agricultural Sciences), Intl. Project Coordinator, FAO Djibouti and IGAD

For more information about this book, please click here.

Compound Nouns in Specialised Language: A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective on English and Bulgarian Tourism Terms

“In a logical and readable style, this book introduces readers both to the fundamentals of compounding in different theoretical frameworks and to the basic concepts and methods in cognitive linguistics. The new complex and dynamic model of analysis successfully illustrates the parallels between English and Bulgarian constructions and the intriguing development of language in a particular area of knowledge. This book will be appreciated and sought after by students and lecturers alike.” – Associate Professor Svetla Pacheva-Karabova, PhD, Medical University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

“The book is comprehensive enough for the serious linguist, but highly informative for the student and teacher as well. It will prove invaluable in the formation of the specialised language skills needed by tourism and hospitality professionals in a global context.” – Professor Asen Konarev, DSc (Econ), Lecturer in undergraduate and postgraduate programs

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Digitalisation of Supply Chain Management and Firm Performance: Structural Equation Modelling and Empirical Findings

“This book provides a new perspective on the influence of digitalisation of supply chain management on organisational performance and how this can be improved. By using in-depth research data and considering the latest influences of digitalisation on supply chain management including ERP, artificial intelligence, and block chain, this book provides important insights useful for researchers and practitioners trying to analyse, understand and influence organisational performance.” – Dr. Michelle Lac, PhD, BInfTech, GAICD, CPPD, PPM, Researcher and Educator, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, Non-Executive Director, Lyons College, Australia

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Pears: Cultivars, Production and Harvesting

“The book reviews a broad theme linked to pear cultivation. The main emphasis is on aspects related to the adaptation of the pear trees to climatic conditions characterized by low chilling accumulation, as opposed to what occurs in the traditional production regions of this fruit. A select group of authors, through a broad spectrum of approach, focuses on this issue which is extremely important considering the background of global warming.” – Dr. Paulo Ricardo Dias de Oliveira, Researcher at Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Embrapa Grape and Wine, Bento Gonçalves, RS, Brazil

“The need for the improvement of cultivation techniques in areas that traditionally are explored and the expansion in the cultivation of pear trees in the tropics requires scientific directions. This work culminates the necessary information for the technical foundation to increase the production and the quality of pears.” – Dr. Rafael Pio, Professor at Federal University of Lavras, Department of Agriculture, Lavras, MG, Brazil

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Twitter: Global Perspectives, Uses and Research Techniques

This edited collection is an excellent resource for scholars and students working on Twitter. It deals with a range of issues, methods, and challenges, opening up dialogue that is crucial for the development of research in what is an increasingly interdisciplinary area of study. – Michele Zappavigna, School of Arts & Media, UNSW, Sydney, Australia

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Diversity and Complexity

“Two features, among others, make this book particularly inspiring: the author’s adoption of a broad definition of diversity and the analysis of our relationship with diversity especially within the perspective of complexity science. And, most interestingly, the book itself develops as a complex system where, among other things, the presence of the Subject is continuously acknowledged and underlined.” For a little further review of the book, click here. J. Martin Ramirez, MD, PhD, Full Professor & Head, Center for Conflict Studies, Nebrija University; Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science; Chair of CICA International

“The main aim of the book is to understand socio-cultural diversity as one of the numerous interconnected constituents of a larger system that is formed by the numberless kinds of diversities(in terms of age, gender, status, education, species, “inner”diversity, etc.).” READ MORE…Marzanna Farnicka, PhD, Developmental Psychopathology Department, Institute of Psychology, Zielona Góra University

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Mechatronic Systems: Design, Performance and Applications

“This book, of very high quality, deserves to find a place on the bookshelves of active researchers and educators in the field, as required reading (likely of one or two most pertinent chapters) in advanced graduate seminars for PhD students in this field, in the reference books of industrial practitioners undertaking pertinent work, and most certainly in university libraries.” READ MORE…Edward Williams, Lecturer of Decision Sciences and Information Technology Management, University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business, Michigan, USA

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Experiencing Hospitality

“This edited book has a great line up of international contributors renowned for their work in hospitality studies. The book provides a useful cross-disciplinary resource for students, academics and practitioners interested in understanding and theorising hospitality within a commercial context.” READ MORE…Professor Alison McIntosh, School of Hospitality and Tourism, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

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Cyber-Security and Information Warfare

“The book is devoted to a broad spectrum of methods and techniques of an interdisciplinary nature, where both Mathematics and Engineering play a significant role. More specifically, this volume presents up-to-date advances in cyber-security, information management technologies, along with mathematical and engineering applications. Eminent experts in the individual subjects have presented very important works which can prove very essential for future research. The book appeals to a wide readership, from graduate students to research scientists who seek the latest information. It would also serve as a very valuable reference source for libraries of universities, research institutes, as well as individual collections. I believe this publication contributes very much to the existing literature in Science and Technology and will serve as a source of inspiration and guidance for further study in the corresponding areas of research.” – Themistocles M. Rassias, Professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece

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Parental Involvement: Practices, Improvement Strategies and Challenges

Parental Involvement: Practices, Improvement Strategies and Challenges pioneers a scientific research-based book that demonstrates the effect of strengthening parent-teacher relationships in promoting the child’s development and success in school and in life. Derived from studies in various countries (Australia, Finland, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States), this book reflects strategies for parental involvement and mediation factors from various cultural perspectives and teachers’ ethnic and professional identities in influencing parental involvement in their children’s growth both at school and at home. A must-read for educators, school psychologists, school counselors, and researchers around the world!” – Anastasia Lijadi, PhD, Research Scholar World Population Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria

“Extensive research has clearly established that parental involvement is one of the keys to student academic success. But how does one promote parent involvement? Parental Involvement: Practices, Improvement Strategies and Challenges explains how. This innovative book by editors Kaplan-Toren and van Schalkwyk provides an up-to-date overview of cutting edge international research on parent involvement. It contains valuable recommendations for overcoming the wide range of challenges that act as barriers to parent involvement. This book is a must-read for teachers, teacher educators, school administrators, and school-based mental health professionals.” – Brian Gerrard, PhD, Chief Academic Officer, Western Institute for Social Research Berkeley, California

“While by its wording it applies to parents, in practice parental involvement relates to both parents and teachers and particularly to the joint relationships between them. Given the universality of schooling yet manifold educational objectives and practices, parental involvement has multiple meanings translated into various culture-contingent modes employed by both parents and teachers in diversified socio-ethnic settings. Drawing on their research, in this volume, Nurit Toren-Kaplan and Gertina van Schalkwyk and their colleagues offer a broad perspective on the practices, benefits and challenges of parental involvement as carried out in five different countries, in fact representing five different continents. As borders open and countries become multi-cultural, this volume offers highly valuable knowledge to practicing teachers, teacher educators, and educational policy makers and prompts new questions for researchers across different parts of the world.” – Rachel Seginer, PhD, Emeritus professor of Development and Education, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa; Chairperson Department of Psychology and MA Educational Psychology Program, Yezreel Valley College, Israel

For more information about this book, please click here.