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We study how unconventional monetary policy announcements affected professional forecasters' predictions of bond rates, gross domestic product growth and inflation using data from the monthly survey by the Wall Street Journal. We find that unconventional monetary policy (UMP) announcements moved predicted bond rates in the direction the Fed intended. UMP announcements had differential impacts on forecasters' predictions; they also tended to move growth and inflation predictions in directions opposite those the Fed intended due to Fed information effects. A policy implication of our study is that the Fed should communicate economic projections to the public separately from monetary policy announcements to mitigate Fed information effects. (JEL E52, E58)

AbstractThe state of food (in)security in rural communities of different ecological zones of the Kaligandaki Basin, Nepal, is assessed using a Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). The data were collected from 360 households using face‐to‐face interviews. The results show poor availability of food from subsistence production in the Middle‐Mountains and Trans‐Himalaya, whereas most households with sufficient purchasing power are able to access additional food from the market. Net food security is poor, with the highest level of insecurity in the Middle‐Mountains, followed by the Trans‐Himalaya and the Tarai. Although weaknesses were found in application of the HFIAS method due to respondent bias in subjective assessments of food insecurity in producer–consumer rural households, the method was found to be effective for rapidly incorporating utilization and stability elements into appraisals. Although not comprehensive, this approach has the potential to complement other forms of knowledge for designing targeted food policy in Nepal.

Young people are very important resource required for the development of every nation especially for sustainability in agricultural production. However, with low participation of youth in agricultural production, the future of the industry is questionable. Youths are distancing themselves away from farming in the face of government making efforts to attract them into the sector, creating employment while producing food for ever growing populations. The study was aimed at estimating the perception of youth towards farming, establishing the socio-economic characteristics that influence their perception towards farming as well as identifying challenges faced by youth in farming. Primary data was collected from Kwaluseni, Ntontozi and LamGabhi Tinkundla within Manzini Region using questionnaires and interviews. A sample size of 78 was selected using multistage sampling technique. A likerted scale was used to establish youths' positivity towards farming. Data was analyzed using SPSS and the multiple linear regression models were used to establish factors that influence perception of youth towards agriculture. Results of the study indicated that most respondents were single with an average age of 20years and do not own or have access to land for personal income generating projects. The majority do not have experience in farming and they are mainly getting their income from off-farm activities. The findings further revealed that socio-economic characteristics including gender, years of experience in farming, land ownership, occupation of guardian and the source of income are factors that significantly influence youth perceptions towards farming. The average scores indicated that youth had a negative perception towards farming with less interest caused by lack of knowledge and perceived low attractiveness of the industry. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders should encourage extensive use of modern technologies, provide infrastructure attractive to youth participation in agriculture, assist in arranging lucrative markets for agro-products produced by the youth, draft agribusiness programs in schools, and catalyse land policy reforms that are pro-youth to ease access to agricultural land.