Developing countries supply systems

Marketing and Distribution Network and Costs - Expanded fertilizer use requires unconstrained availability of product at the farm level. Fertilizer supply at the right time and price depends on an efficient marketing and delivery system. In most developing countries these systems are underdeveloped and very costly. 

The need for redundancy in the culture system needs to be assessed. Failure of a well pump that brings up water to supply a static pond system may not be a serious problem in countries where new pumps can be purchased in a nearby town. However, it can be disastrous in developing countries where new pumps and pump parts are often not available, but must be ordered from another country. Several weeks or months may pass before the situation can be remedied unless the culturist maintains a selection of spares. 

In the food area, protein supplies are emphasized more frequently and are mostly studied for the nutritional properties. It should be pointed out, in the strongest terms, that protein foods are rarely used as crude powders or in their native forms. They are ingested most frequently as part of a complex food system where their functionality, rather than their nutrition, is the property most obvious to the consumer. In fact, many projects to alleviate protein malnutrition in less-developed countries have floundered because the introduced food forms did not fit the accepted pattern (i.e., the functionality) of the foods normally used in the region. Therefore, it is now commonly recognized, for improved nutritional standards, that any new food introduced into a population must, of necessity, be considered for its functional properties. Improving these properties will be a major factor in the successful adoption of the new food by the people in the area. Understanding the relation between protein structure and functionality is an important step in accomplishing these tasks. 

The heating value of a typical biomass is sufficient to produce steam in excess of that required by the activated process if the system has been designed for maximum thermal efficiency. This can be especially important to developing countries who have large supplies of biomass such as rice hulls or coconut shells and who are currently contemplating the manufacture of activated carbon for export or local water treatment. 

The selection of pharmaceutical products based on a national formulary or on the essential medicines list is recommended. WHO s Model Formulary (15 and Model Essential Medicines List 4) identify the most cost-effective and affordable pharmaceutical products to treat prevailing health problems. They are updated regularly and are made freely available for adaptation by countries. The health systems of many industrialized and developing countries have used the essential medicines concept for decades to use existing resources effectively. Because the use of a national formulary reduces the number of products used, supply management activities and inventorycarrying costs are minimized. 

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