Impact of ICT on Accounting

Impact of ICT on Accounting Effect  of  ICT in the Accounting Records Keeping and how ICT features in todays organization in Sierra Leone 1.  Introduction Information and communication technology (ICT) connectivity (PCs and Internet) is very widespread in businesses of all sizes in Sierra Leone. As is the case with all technologies, small businesses are slower than large ones to adopt new ICTs. Potential small business benefits and firm and sector-specific strategies drive the adoption and use of ICTs. Furthermore, sectors are increasingly global and dominated by large firms and the structure of their values chains and operations shape opportunities for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Principal reasons for non-adoption are lack of applicability and little incentive to change business models when returns are unclear. SMEs also face generic barriers to adoption including trust and transaction security and IPR concerns, and challenges in areas of management skills, technological capabilities, productivity and competitiveness. The issues for governments are to foster appropriate business environments for e-business and ICT uptake (e.g. Sierratel to diffuse broadband, enhance competition), and target programmes to overcome market failures to the extent that they are needed in particular areas (e.g. Skill formation, specialized information). Advancement in technology has affected the way things are done in various domains. Accounting is no exception. The traditional books are being replaced by computers. Accounting staff are required to be computer literate and spend more time in front of a computer screen than writing on papers and in books. Information and communication technology (ICT) and e-business applications provide many benefits across a wide range of intra- and inter-firm business processes and transactions. ICT applications improve information and knowledge management inside the firm and can reduce transaction costs and increase the speed and reliability of transactions for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. In addition, they are effective tools for improving external communications and quality of services for established and new customers. For small firms to adopt e-business and e-commerce strategies and tools, benefits must outweigh investment and maintenance costs. Commercial considerations and potential returns drive adoption. Beyond a certain level of connectivity (PC, Internet access, on-line information or marketing), not all SMEs will necessarily catch up with large firms, simply because e-commerce may not bring large benefits and SMEs will stay with traditional business processes. Other barriers have been seen to be the availability of ICT competencies within the firm, and availability and cost of appropriate interoperable small-firm systems, network infrastructure and Internet-related support services. Lack of reliable trust and redress systems and cross-country legal and regulatory differences also impede cross-border transactions. 2. Why Have So Few SMEs Adopted ICT in Sierra Leone? Given the benefits that ICT can bring to SMEs, SMEs in Sierra Leone have been slow to adopt it. For example, 90 percent of SMEs still use basic communication technology such as fixed phone line and fax, and approximately 10% percent use CRM software. Meanwhile, their counterparts in developed countries are using advanced ITs. One cause of limited adoption is the lack of dynamism between ICT firms and SMEs outside of the ICT sector. ICT firms have not provided goods and services tailored to SMEs in the past because demand from SMEs has been low. However, their demand is low in part because ICT products available in the market are too complex and expensive. The result is a vicious cycle of limited supply and limited demand that ultimately excludes SMEs from the benefits of ICT. Other factors also contribute to the limited supply and demand of ICT for SMEs: Supply Side 1. Poor communications infrastructure results in limited access and higher costs.Sierra Leone have poor communications infrastructure. Outdated equipment and state-owned monopolies often result in expensive charges and limited coverage, especially in rural areas. This discourages SMEs from adopting even the basic ICT of fixed lines or mobile phones. 2. Most advanced ICT products are designed for larger firms and not SMEs.ICT firms used to target large enterprises because they had a larger budget and were willing to pay for more complex ICT services. Their products are often too expensive and too complex for SME users. However, competition in this market is making firms both large and small turn their attention towards the untapped SME market. Rosetta, for example, is pushing to capture SME customers by lowering prices by 50 percent and increasing awareness. Demand Side 1. Limited ICT literacy of SME owners hinders their ability to choose the appropriate technology and understand the concrete benefits it can bring to their business. Many SME owners in Sierra Leone are unfamiliar with operating a computer, are skeptical of the concrete benefits to its core business, and have the stereotype that ICT is only for larger companies. Even if they have the will and financial resources to integrate ICT into their core business, SME owners are often at a loss when needing to choose the most appropriate and cost-efficient product. 2. Limited ICT literacy of employees in SMEs hinders ICT adoption. Even if SME owners have a strategic understanding of why they should adopt ICT, their staff is often untrained. Training costs both time and money resources that SMEs usually lack. 3. Adopting ICT is an adaptive challenge, not a technical challenge. Adopting ICT is a difficult task for companies of all sizes, whether they are in developed or developing countries. In fact, a lot of management literature focuses on the organizational changes that firms must go through in order to effectively adopt ICT because they change the way firms do business. While the changes may be beneficial in the long run, they often hurt one department and strengthen another. For example, Zhang Hongwei, senior consultant with DLong International Strategic Investment, comments that in order to make ERPs cost-saving and efficiency-building features work, managers must be willing to take measures that can be anathema in the state-owned sector, such as selling businesses, laying off workers, and changing longstanding vendor relationships. All of this can be tough to do. Thus, SME owners are often reluctant to bring their firm through a learning curve that may be difficult and costly. 4. Lack of financing options limits SME ability to purchase ICT. Lack of financing and appropriate technology is clearly a major handicap to developing country producers and exporters, and it inhibits developing countries from deriving full benefits from their trade rights. Rubens Ricupero, Secretary General of UNCTAD, 18 February 2002, Geneva SMEs in Sierra Leone usually have limited ability to make larger investments in their firm due to the lack of financing options. Given the financial squeeze, IT budgets are usually small or nonexistent. In addition, adopting ICT is not a one-time cost because there are ongoing costs of maintenance, upgrading, and human capacity building. 3. Why Should SMEs Adopt ICT? SMEs are often the main driver for a countrys economic growth. However, as the number of SMEs increases, competition increases, which then results in a decrease in prices, customer base, or both. This in turn will erode existing profits, creating less incentive for people to start SMEs. This dynamic is captured by balancing feedback loops where the greater the number of SMEs, the greater the competition, resulting in a slower rate of growth for SMEs. To counter the increasing competition, firms can lower prices, increase promotion of their product, improve their product, add new distribution channels, and/or improve their internal processes. The challenge is to counter competition when the firm still has the financial resources to do so. Otherwise, once the pressure of competition sufficiently erodes the SMEs profits, it will no longer have resources to counter the competition and will have to exit the market. Foreign firms in both the import and export markets further add to competi tive pressures, especially if they react faster to improve their product, process, promotion, or distribution channels. This is the problem of the Digital Divide. When firms in developed countries adopt ICT, firms in developing countries like Sierra Leone will lose out on the competition. This in turn can slow the growth rate of SMEs and hurt the economy as a whole. ICT can thus play a very important role because it can help SMEs both create business opportunities and combat pressures from competition. Appropriate ICT can help SMEs cut costs by improving their internal processes, improving their product through faster communication with their customers, and better promoting and distributing their products through online presence. In fact, ICT has the potential to improve the core business of SMEs in every step of the business process. In Sierra Leone where SMEs already have basic ICT, adopting more advanced ICT still brings enormous benefits. Advanced communication technologies such as email can help firms communicate faster and cheaper with both its suppliers and clients. In 2000, an organization that uses paper took on average 7.4 days to move a purchase from request to approval, but if done electronically, only took 1.5 days. Advanced ITs such as ERP software can capture cost savings. Beyond cost savings, SCM software can also help increase productivity, efficiency of inventory controls, and increase sales through closer relationships and faster delivery times 4. Conclusion ICT has been now boon to every modern system to perform all its operations with computer as the middle principle. The application of ICT in Financial management has also accounted a lot more success and efficiency in performing various operations related to different activities to commit a financial transaction. So for as the efficiency and effectiveness of ICT is concerned it has notably produced better throughputs which were acceptable and reliable. The need of the hour is the plan and develops more security measures to ensure authentic and secure client and server communication. Sierra Leone SMEs in addition to dont having required expertise and knowledge and also lack of familiarity with technology is also beginning to use ICT with face fixed costs very high in comparison to their size, while for large businesses, this is not so. These costs include costs such as creation website, using e-commerce and costs associated with projects of electronic auctions, search engines and similar cases. While the costs associated with deploying advanced ICT technologies for industries and big businesses are not very significant. These are issues that a broad group of SMEs doesnt know digital technologies related to their business and their goods and services do not know appropriate for e-commerce (E-Business Policy Group 2002). SMEs often have to accept market conditions and they are not in a situation like the big companies that form the market conditions (this issue is concerned follow and leader companies in the market). Moreover, instability (such as financial insecurity in SMEs) and potential risks in e-commerce, many SMEs may be inclined to risk aversion and the choice of conservative policies and in fact they adopt policy of wait and observed in acceptation of digital technology. For many SMEs, there is considerable uncertainty about the opportunities and benefits of ICT adoption, this opportunities for them is still unproven. This problem causes that they are reluctance to complete the adoption of new business models and technology. 3. Small and medium companies due to limitations such as low investment, lack of laboratories, capacity less for communicating with and external consultants is facing to experiment with more serious problems for testing new procedures of business. Although financial cons traints are the most important limitations but factors such as less time, fewer resources and also imposed to these enterprises. Using modern ICT technology is In fact new ways that SMEs will face a substantial risk. Accordingly, we can say that the use of ICT in enterprises depends on the size of the firm. References [1] Aliyu A.A, Tasmin R.B.Hj (2012), The Impact of ICT on Bank Performance and Customer Service Delivery in Banking Industry, InternationalJournalofLatestTrendsinFinance,Economicsand Science, 2(1): 80-90. [2] Adwin A.M, Opkara A, Mike A.O, Francis A.O (2014), The Impact of ICT in The Strategic Management of Financial Institutions, International Review of Management and Business Research, 3(3):1588-1602 [3] Adesola M.A, Moradeyo O.A, Oyeniyi K.O (2013), Impact of ICT on Nigeria Banks Operations: A Study of United Banks for Africa (UBA) Plc, International Journal of Business and Management Invention, 2(9): 7-12. [5] Ashrafi, Murtuza. M (2008), use of impact of ICT on SMEs in Oman, Electronic Journal Information SystemandEvaluation, 10: 125-138. [6] Gichoya D (2006), Factors Affecting the Successful Implementation of ICT Projectsin Government, Electronic Journal of EGovernment, 3(4): 175-184. [7] Binuyo A.O, Aregbesola R.A (2014), the impact of ICT on Commercial Bank Performance: Evidence from South Africa, Problems andPerespectives in Management, 12(3): 59-68. [8] Curristine T, Lonti Zsuzsanna, Jaumard I (2007), Improving Public Sector Efficiency: Challenges and Opportunities, OECD Journal of Budgeting, 7(1): 1-42. [9] Gadamsetty Sai Arun (2013), understandin financial inclusion in India and role of ICT in ICT, InternationalJournal of InnovativeResearch andDevelopment, 2(12): 198-201.

Wildlife Management Plan :: management of grassland birds

COVER The vegetation on this property is classified into 7 cover types (Fig. 3 and Appendix B). The property is largely dominated by agricultural land. Approximately 350 ac (141 ha) out of the 410 ac (165 ha) are cultivated for crop production. The dominant four crop types are soybeans, alfalfa, corn, and oats. The overstory consists of white oak (Quercus alba), black walnut (Jugalns nigra), and American elm (Ulmus americana). The shrub layer is sparsely located around the property and contains a lot of blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis), raspberry (Rubus idaeus), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), American halzelnut (Corylus americana), and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina). The understory vegetation, located in the wooded areas on the property consists of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), common plaintain (Plantago major), mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica), grasses (Poa spp.), Mosses (Sphagnum spp.), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), common mullein (V erbacum thaspus). A complete list of plant species can be found in Appendix B. STATUS OF WILDLIFE POPULATIONS: Inventory techniques used to identify wildlife consisted of direct observations, input from the landowner, and signs from the different wildlife species. Common bird species present on the management area were American robin (Turdus americanus), American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), sandhill crane (Grus canadensis), blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), bald eagle (Hallaeetus leucocephalus), turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), and red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Direct observations and input from the landowner identified these commonly found mammalian species: eastern chipmunk, (Tamias striatus), eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), coyote (Canis latrans), raccoon (Procyon lotor), red fox Vulpes vulpes), red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus f loridanus), and Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginianus). Within our management property western meadowlarks and badgers are not as commonly found as white-tail deer. Grassland bird species are limited to small parcels of the property due to a lack of necessary habitat. Badgers have been seen on an infrequent basis within the management site. White-tail deer are seen at low densities and have the potential be more abundant with the right management plans. See Appendix C for a complete listing of wildlife species. REQUIREMENTS OF TARGET SPECIES: The first objective of our wildlife plan is to increase the density of the American badger population on the management site. American badgers are commonly found in open treeless habitats and grasslands (Scobie 2002).

Life Controlled by Media Results in False Knowledge Essay -- Fahrenhei

Life Controlled by Media Results in False Knowledge Fahrenheit 451 is a novel where the society eliminates unhappiness. The fire department starts fire instead of putting it out, because they burn books. The author is trying to show that life prohibited by community results in false knowledge of ourselves. Not everyone feels that way. So, some people go against the law and read books. Ray Bradbury shows the readers that there is always something wrong with perfect society. The society dislikes books because it makes them unhappy. For example, â€Å"Mrs. Phelps was crying. The others in the middle of the dessert watched her crying grow very loud as her face squeezed itself out of shape† (Bradbury 100). This shows that when Montag read a poem to Millie’s friends, the misery of the poem got one of them to cry. This is because they don’t know how to accept the truth and grief. In addition, Beatty said â€Å"You can’t rid yourselves of all the odd ducks in just a few years† (Bradbury 60).This shows that people even try to remove people that are weird but didn’t do anything wrong. This is because once again they try to make the society as perfect as they can. As a result, they can do some pretty cruel stuff to make life better for them. The more people read the more knowledge they have but not everyone. For example, â€Å"If anything should happen to Harris you are the book of Ecclesiastes† (Bradbury 151). This shows that Montag is smart and has knowledge of what’s going on. This is b...

The Lamb and The Tiger by William Blake Essay -- Poet Poems William Bl

'The Lamb' and 'The Tiger' by William Blake Write about The Lamb and The Tiger by William Blake. Explain how the poet portrays these creatures and comment on what you consider to be the main ideas and attitudes of the poet. 'All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.' Cecil Frances Alexander Indeed, God created all creatures great and small, and he could not have created two creatures more different from each other than the lamb and the tiger. The question arises in one's mind therefore: - 'Could one creator design and give life to two exhibits of such a vast contrast?' ====================================================================== William Blake certainly poses this question in a somewhat clever manner in the two examples of his work that I've analysed and compared, namely 'The Lamb' and 'The Tiger'. In the two collections of his work, namely Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, he has several contrasting poems that bring the two states of being described by both collections under the microscope. As one of the early Romance poets, Blake was writing in opposition to the rapidly changing, revolutionary eighteenth-century. Essentially, that opposition developed into an appreciation of the emotions, as opposed to reason ant intellect, and a recognition of the purity and innocence which childhood represents in contrast with the corruptions and in-authenticity of adulthood, with its learning and experience of life. The English Industrial Revolution played a very influential role in William Blake's work. Songs of Innocence includes a reversal of the expected 'hierarchies'. The poems reject t... ...ecessary self-knowledge. The Lamb develops into the Tiger - innocence is the price that must me paid to attain an identity in 'grown-up land'. It has to sacrifice its meek, mild, gentile innocence to become the Tiger of Experience prowling the 'dark forests' of life. In conclusion, I feel William Blake is attempting to transmit an important message: never mind how innocent we are during our naÃÆ'Â ¯ve, happy playground days, the big bad world is awaiting us all, and we have to stop resisting and accept that we're all going to develop into Tigers at some point - gaining our own unique symmetry in place of our soft, delightful, tender selves. Life past, present and future poses many questions - it's up to us to answer them, to discover our true identities, and to decide where exactly our faith lies. Innocence is the foundation upon which experience is built.

Claim of Fact Essay Essay

With the biggest GDP, prestigious universities, and a multitude of successful entrepreneurs, the United States has always been considered one of the leading countries in the world. Unfortunately, with other countries outdoing the United States in education, this notion is quickly changing. In recent years, students from other countries have been surpassing the United States academically and have proven that they are the future of the world. Researchers have found many differences in the school systems in foreign countries compared to those in the United States; however, the main reasons America is being trumped by students in other countries are because of the lack of parental support at home and the use of technology in schools. With test scores to prove this change in academic hierarchy, it has become obvious that other countries are outperforming the United States. Each country was compared and ranked based on scores of the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. Multiple countries, such as Hong Kong, Russia, and Finland, scored above the United States in reading, math, and science. The United States is still one of the top thirteen educational systems in the world; however, they are lagging behind and are being consistently outranked (Khazan). One reason for this differentiation in test scores is the ways in which school systems are set up. For example, in Finland, the country with the â€Å"best performing education system,† â€Å"schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play,† which is the opposite of schools in America (Dillon). At the rate that these countries are exceeding, with student s ahead of American students by one whole school year, those from places such as Hong Kong, China, and Finland will soon be the top entrepreneurs and leaders of the world. One of the main reasons that students in other countries are more successful academically is because of parent involvement. According to the University of Michigan, â€Å"parental involvement is a critical component to a child’s educational experience† and â€Å"it is proven that greater involvement in a child’s education can foster more positive attitudes toward school, can improve homework habits, increase academic success and can reduce dropout  rates† (â€Å"Comparing). Parents in other countries, such as China, ensure that their children understand and complete their homework, while parents in the United States play a more passive role. This is because many parents in the United States are among the working class and not present when their children return from school. Parent involvement helps children succeed in school, leading them to continue on to college. Today, â€Å"the odds that a young person in the U.S. will be in higher education if his or her parents do not have an upper secondary education are just 29%† (LaRock). This proves that parents in other countries are more supportive of higher education and encourage their children to attend even if they did not have the chance. In order to ensure that the United States can redeem itself and once again be a top nation academically, American parents need to be more involved with their children. Another reason that the United States is being surpassed is because of their lack of use of technology in the classroom. As a nation, America should be placing the newest technology in schools in order to ensure that children are keeping up with the technological advances of the world and progressing at the same or higher pace than other students. As Dr. Michael Mills states, â€Å"‘apart from the engagement aspect of using technology, students must master the digital literacy skills necessary to thrive in today’s society and workplace’† (Lawrence). As technology quickly becomes the basis of the world, children need to be familiar with up-to-date versions. This will ensure that they can compete with other nations when entering the workforce. Schools in countries such as China agree with this idea and â€Å"[have] moved far ahead of almost every country in the world on measures of integrating technology into academic curriculum.† Many American parents believe that if their children are going to use advanced technology, they are more likely to use it at home than in school (Lawrence). With these ideas in mind, American parents are allowing their children to fall behind the rest of the nation; thus, they are contributing to the success of students in other countries. Although the United States needs to spend money on placing the latest technology in schools, there are valid reasons as to why they cannot do this. American school systems are based on standardized testing, which is  what they are forced to spend a majority of their budget on (Lawrence). Also, parents in the United States are not able to be home for their children as often because they are busy at work. Many would agree that this high number of working class parents is a key component to America’s success. However, these are not valid reasons as to why children in America should be allowed to slip so far behind those in other countries. As stated by the University of Michigan, â€Å"mothers in eastern Asian countries for example, will actually attend school in order to take notes for their children when they are ill and unable to attend themselves,† so why can’t mothers in the United States make at least half the effort? (â€Å"Comparing). If society continues to act this way, the future of the world will no longer be in the hands of Americans. With the lack of parental support in the United States and advanced technology in the classroom, America is quickly being outshined. Compared to other countries, their academics are suffering. In order to ensure that the United States remains a leading country in the future, these two aspects need to be changed. If nothing is done, the leaders of tomorrow will not be from the United States, but children who now live in countries such as China or Finland. Works Cited â€Å"Comparing U.S. and Chinese Public School Systems.† University of Michigan. Ed. Tara L. Van Schaack. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2013. . Dillon, Sam. â€Å"Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education, Expert Says.† The New York Times. N.p., 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. . Khazan, Olga. â€Å"Here’s why other countries beat the U.S. in reading and math.† The Washington Post. N.p., 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. . LaRock, J.D. â€Å"Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2012.† OECD. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. . Lawrence, Julia. â€Å"Chinese Education Technology Efforts May Surpass America’s.†Ã‚  Education News. N.p., 3 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. .

Enjoying Life

Study Questions on Eveline for Yud Bet Five test Thursday, December 26, 2002 Some of the questions below are the ones that will appear on your exam, so study them well. (NOTE: you will NOT be allowed to have the text in front of you during the test, so make sure that you study beforehand! ) 1. Why didn’t Eveline go with Frank? Was it a rational decision or more of an emotional response? What do you think about her decision? What do you think the writer thinks about her decision? 2.Where in the story is Eveline compared to an animal? Why does the writer compare her to an animal? 3. After reading Eveline, what impression do you get of James Joyce’s attitude towards the Catholic Church? Find evidence in the story to prove this. 4. Discuss the motif of dust which pervades the story. What does the dust symbolize? 5. There are two points of view present in this story: that of Eveline herself and that of the narrator. How can we differentiate in the story between these two poi nts of view?What is the purpose of having these two points of view? 6. Describe Eveline’s state of mind at the port. What descriptions indicate this most clearly? 7. a. Fill in the following table: |Contrasting Symbols and Images Between | |Eveline’s life and Frank’s life | |Eveline’s life |Frank’s life | |a. ust |a. | |b. Margaret Mary Alacoque |b. | |c. |c. the open sea | |d. |d. â€Å"awfully fond of music and sang a little | |e. |e. face of bronze | |f. â€Å"her head was leaned against the window curtain† |f. | b. Based on these symbols, what can we say that Eveline’s life represents? c. Frank’s life?

Agriculture of the Mayas and the Ancient Egyptians Essay

Agriculture is in the heart of any great civilization, which in turn, erects great empires. The origins of empires all stem down to smaller pieces of civilizations. It is responsible for feeding and sustaining the vastness of great empires. Of course, one has to find a suitable place to harvest or hunt for food. Agriculture differs from one civilization to the next but it is all essentially important. Egyptians were actually a population consisting mainly of farmers. Mayans were no exception – they focused on agricultural needs and therefore developed advanced technology in that area. Agriculture is made up of many factors like water, soil, or landscape. A civilization needs to know how to cultivate crops first off because there are many ways in which one can take a plant. Different tools can be used for different crops and that highlights the start of a civilization. Then comes hunting, which is unique to each culture since the land provides certain animals for food and it is up to the population to decide which animal is most preferred and should be hunted for the most. After farming and hunting animals, the civilization decides what foods are more preferable and next time they would go for those crops or animals. This brings the civilization to domesticate preferable animals and grow preferable crops. It is a mix of mother nature and the preference of the civilization. The Egypt civilization developed in one of the largest dry desert areas in the world – larger than the whole of Europe. It would have been a miracle if people could settle there. People were able to inhabit it only possible because of the Nile River which crosses an almost rainless desert from south to north carrying the waters of Lake Victoria more than 3000 miles to the Mediterranean Sea. In ancient times, Egypt settled in the last 700 miles of this waterway. The land of Egypt had a poor variety of plants – there were very few trees. The wild fig and the acacia was the only common forest trees and they grow in a isolated fashion. There are also fruit trees such as the date and dom palms and the fig tree. Less trees meant that wood was scarce as well. It was less convenient for Egypt. In the dry conditions of the desert, there was a barely any plants, herbs or vegetables. It is miraculous how the Egyptians formed a culture with this poor agriculture. On the other hand, Mayans lived in the land of Mesoamerica, which had plentiful trees and resources. In their land, the animals were abundant and the climate was favorable. However, the Mayans had a great population of people and this meant that they would need a lot of food. Sustaining this large population meant that good farming methods would be necessary. Farming methods play an important part in agriculture. Some civilizations are more complex than others. However, advanced technology does not always win in agriculture. Sometimes, the good old common sense method will bring more to the table than intense and vicious cultivation. The way people cultivate crops will also reflect in their tools and becomes part of their culture. Agricultural technology depends on the land. The civilization can choose to be hostile or gentle depending on how much resources is available. The Mayans had a enormous amount of resources, therefore, Mayan farmers were aggressive on the land. They took on a method of swiden (shifting cultivation), which means they took what they needed and left the land to nature. However, this abandonment of corrupted land was not productive because they would run out of resources. The Mayans probably sensed this because they later evolved into a intensive multi-crop cultivation. They started to take care of the land. In this effort, much labor was needed to sustain the massive cultivation of crops. This concludes that most Mayans were farmers and were in the workforce of mass cultivation. Egyptian farming methods were not very advanced. The Egyptians favored simplicity. The farmers would supply water to their crops by first making trenches on the Nile River, bringing it as close as possible to the fields and then establishing a draw-well. In the case of a perennial garden, water would be carried to the square growing-beds in pairs of pottery jars suspended on long wooden poles on the shoulders of men. Where there was fertile land, they grew cash-crops to be sold for profit abroad. Egyptian farmers also utilized animals in their farming. For example, farmers would use sheep to help them grow corn. Farmers would start by filling a small bag with seed and scattering it across the field. After it is scattered, sheep would be driven over the freshly sowed fields. This helps pack the seeds in the soil. Using this method, farmers were able to handle large fields. This method saved the farmers a lot of time. The Mayans and the Egyptians both had different farming method. Both methods were molded to provide goods to their civilizations. Neither method was more superior. Even though Mayans had more advanced methods, Egyptians had to use very primitive tools because of the land they lived in. This restriction probably caused Egyptians to go for more simple methods. However, one thing is clear – Mayans had a much more developed farming technology than the Egyptians. A civilization will show its true colors when it comes to the hunting of animals. After an animal is captured, the people can choose to kill it or breed it. If a civilization is violent, they will hunt and kill animals to handle their hunger. However, a civilization which chooses to domesticate animals have a greater sense of respect and patience towards the animals. This will prove that the treatment of animals will reflect on the civilization. Farming was not the only important factor in Mayan agriculture. In fact, Mayan agriculture started with the hunting of wild animals and the cultivation of wild crops. Hunting animals is important to agriculture because different tools were made to hunt different animals. The Mayans loved hunting. In a study, researchers found that over 8 months, peasant- hunters carried out a total of 175 hunting trips. Most hunting was done during the dry season (January-April). Mayans really depended on wild animals for food. Therefore, the violence was necessary for their survival. Egyptians domesticated more animals than they hunted. They held animals as sacred and saw them as companions. Upon all animals, the Egyptians respected the ox the most. The Egyptians dressed them up and talked to them like humans. They even gave cattle as sacrifices to the gods. This meant that the Egyptians did not depend on the animals for food. This is a good example of how domestication of animals reflects the attitude of the civilization towards animals. In comparison, Mayans were much more violent towards animals than the Egyptians were. The Mayans saw the animals as food while the Egyptians saw them as something holy. However, animals were more abundant in the Mayan world when compared to Egypt. It could very well be that since Egyptians realized that there was a scarce amount of animals, they should be held sacred. In the Mayan culture, since they saw so much animals and they were more violent than the Egyptians, they probably decided that it was a better idea to eat these animals than to take time domesticating them. Therefore, the Mayans incorporated more meat in their diet than the Egyptians. The average diet of different civilizations will decide which foods were more popular in the culture and in turn what foods would be grown or hunted. This makes a difference in agriculture because not all foods are taken from the wild. If a certain food is liked more, the civilization will work to preserve it through farming or domestication. This is only in the case when that food is less abundant in the land and the civilization truly cannot live without the specific food. The food that was gathered from farming and hunting made up the diet of the Mayans. The everyday diet of this civilization also resembled the type of agriculture they had. For Mayans, they were lovers of corn. Their diets consisted of mostly corn. This reflected in their agriculture because they cultivated mostly corn. On the other hand, Mayans ate other crops too but their diet remained intensively to corn, beans and squash. When it came to meat, Mayans favored turkey over everything else. Turkey was prized in the Mayan culture – they hunted wild turkey most of the time. Mayans also knew about spices because they used chili peppers to spice up their food. Chili peppers was prized almost as much as corn since it was the main spice the Mayan used. Chili peppers were mass cultivated just like corn. The Mayan diet would seem very close to a vegetarian diet. However, they were also intensive hunters and that meant their diets contained meat as well. All in all, the Mayans had a he althy and simple diet consisting mostly of vegetables. The Egyptians held animals sacred and therefore, most Egyptians were vegetarians. In fact, the ox was seen as such a sacred animal that the Egyptians allowed the oxen to have meals with them. They fed the ox like how modern people would feed their dogs. They had a diet of mostly barley and wheat. The dependence on these foods meant that barley and wheat were extensively cultivated. There were also other foods such as corn and date fruits, but barley and wheat were favored among all else. Mayans and Egyptians were very different when it came down to diets. They did not have much in common. However, their diets showed how it could change agriculture. The more they loved a certain food and depend on it, the more it was seen in the fields of the farmers. For Mayans it was corn and for Egyptians, it was wheat and barley. Because they favored it, it was grown more. The farming of certain plants were questionable because it was not seen in the Mayan or Egyptian diet. However, further research shows that some plants were only cultivated for their medicinal purposes. Medicine plays an important part in agriculture because it comes from the land. As people learn to use the plant more for medical use, they are contributing to the growing agriculture. Civilizations usually made medicine from their surroundings. It is interesting to discover how the surrounding land was used to provide medicine for the civilization. The useage of medicine has a large effect on what herbs or plants were grown because if it was essential to the civilization, there was a higher production of these plants. Mayan medicine contained food. Some were from odd sources. For example, chili peppers was not only a condiment for their food. It was actually used as one of the medicine. As mentioned before, chili peppers were one of the most cultivated plants along with corn. This is a perfect example of how medicine played a role in agriculture. The Egyptians did not have much knowledge for medicine. They were naive enough to believe that the cure for all illnesses could be found on a particular plant they called Dgam, or the olive tree. The greater number of medicine were of vegetable origin. They depended very much on the land for medicine. However, in some cases, there were rare instances when animals were used for medicine – for example, pig teeth, lizard blood and putrid meat were among the favorites of the Egyptians for medicine use. The Mayans and Egyptians needed medicine to take care of their inhabitants. However, the methods they used were both very simple. The Mayans and Egyptians used different plants since they had different needs. The Mayans relied on food sources like the chili for cures. The Egyptians relied on plants like the olive tree, which did not do much for medicine. The olive tree was more spiritually healing rather than physically helpful. In the scope of medicine, Mayans win over the Egyptians because their medicine was more powerful and scientific. Egyptians only based their medicine on spiritual beliefs of another power living inside their medicine. Agriculture consists of many different factors but it has essentially the same idea – the gathering of people working together to keep each other alive. This collectiveness is the beginning of a civilization. The mass cultivation of crops needs storage places and tools for efficiency. People need to build homes to accommodate the storage of food. Settling down means relying on a certain area for food. Agriculture is always going to lead to the start of a civilization. Mayan built their civilization somewhere where the food is accessible. The surplus of food happened to be corn – that became their main diet. Hunting turkeys was a preference because the agriculture of the land called for turkeys. They developed complex systems to tend to their farms. The Mayans were famous for their stone pyramids. They used the most abundant source of material they could find in the land and that is part of agriculture. The food, the land and the lifestyle that the Mayans had depended largely in part to their agriculture. Egyptians built their civilization on the harshest of environments. However, they were able to use the Nile River to their advantage. The abundant amount of water in the Nile made it possible for Egyptians to build a truly exotic empire. The Egyptians were famous for their sandstone pyramids. Their pyramids consisted of the desert sand and it was made possible only because the abundance of agriculture was there. The Egyptians used the land to their advantage by incorporating the Nile River in their farming systems. They favored wheat and barley because there was a lot of it. The land gave them what they needed and they built upon that foundation. The Mayans and the Egyptians were both very different in agriculture. The Mayans had the luxury of abundant food. Nature provided Mayans with trees, animals, crops and water. Nature was not so generous with the Egyptians. Their land is probably the direct opposite of the Mayan land. They did not have abundant food and they did not have much animals either. The climate zones were also completely different. The Mayans had warm temperatures and moist environments. The Egyptians had to go through harsh, hot sun and sand storms. Although the Mayans and the Egyptians seemed like they had nothing in common, there was a few things that were similar in both civilizations. First off, the Mayans and the Egyptians both had pyramids. They built it with the most abundant source they could find. Another thing they had in common was the workforce. They both had farmers who worked together to mass cultivate crops. The Egyptian workforce and the Mayan workforce was pretty impressive due to the fact that it was all focused on farming. In both cases, they believed that agriculture was important to a civilization. Agriculture can be many things. It can be the way people hunt for resources, grow resources and use resources. Agriculture can be summed down to the abundance of resources. Once a civilization has settled down, the most abundant resource will begin to show in their culture. The heart of civilization is agriculture and it is as important because it will build up a civilization.