Showing papers on "Subsistence agriculture published in 1995"

The Best Part of Life : Subsistence Hunting, Ethnicity, and Economic Adaptation among Young Adult Inuit Males

Abstract: This paper examines the economic adaptations and subsistence hunting involvement of households between the ages of 20 and 35 in the Copper Inuit community of Holman. Social, economic, and political changes throughout the Canadian Arctic have made it impossible for young adults to pursue the same mixed economic strategies as previous generations. A general decrease in subsistence hunting involvement is characteristic of the younger generation. Nevertheless, some young householders have made a conscious effort to remain active in subsistence hunting and fishing to provide for themselves and related households. Some have even increased subsistence hunting involvement as their own parents age and become increasingly infirm. Other householders are less active in hunting and fishing, but continue to view land-based harvesting as central to a sense of Inuit identity. The motivations, economic position, and family background of a sample of active and less active young adult hunters are explored in an attempt to understand the pressures experienced by young adults as they strive to make a place in a northern society radically different from that of their parents at a similar age. While the authors recognize the economic value of subsistence harvesting and the foods that result from it, we also emphasize the less easily quantified dimensions of subsistence ideology and its impact upon physical health, psychological well-being, and community integration. Key words: subsistence, harvest effort, Inuit identity, young adults, food sharing, health, self-esteem

Socioeconomic obstacles to HIV prevention and treatment in developing countries: the roles of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Abstract: This paper explores the socioeconomic obstacles to HIV prevention and treatment in developing countries. The opening sections explain the historical origins of structural adjustment programs and their characteristics. Structural adjustment programs undermine the social fabric of many developing countries and potentially promote behaviors which place people at increased risk of HIV infection. The authors discuss the declining sustainability of the rural subsistence economy development of a transportation infrastructure migration and urbanization and reductions in spending on health and social services. Social and economic interventions are needed to stem the spread of HIV and care for those who are already infected. While a substantial amount of biomedical research has been conducted socioeconomic aspects of the AIDS epidemic have often been ignored. For HIV transmission in developing countries to be substantially reduced economic policies which may have promoted the spread of disease must be modified. An alternative development strategy consists of satisfying peoples basic human needs shifting from an export-driven economy to diversified agricultural production in the interest of securing regional self-sufficiency supporting marginal producers and subsistence farmers and placing greater emphasis upon human resource development in developing countries. Moreover the IMF and World Bank need to change their policy to one which is truly about cooperative development while the charters of the IMF and World Bank need to be altered to permit the cancellation or rescheduling of debt. These institutions should also play a leading role in the restructuring of debt owed to private lenders.

Status-related variation in foodways in the moundville chiefdom

Abstract: People use food and food-related behavior to express and reinforce a multitude of social relations. We examine subsistence remains and pottery recovered from several different social-status and functional contexts in the Moundville chiefdom. Differential distributions of plant and animal remains suggest that elite members of the society received food as tribute. The analyzed contexts also differ in the ratios of serving ware to cooking ware and in the relative frequencies of the functional types of serving vessels present. Greater emphasis was placed on the presentation of food in elite contexts, and the types of vessels used to serve or display food varied depending on whether the context was public or private. This patterning in food remains and pottery assemblages from different contexts is complex and cannot be explained by a single dimension of variability. Rather, to account for the patterns it is necessary to consider the evidence in terms of the ways people used food in different social settings.

Roads, lands, markets, and deforestation : a spatial model of land use in Belize

Abstract: Rural roads promote economic development but also facilitate deforestation. To explore the tradeoffs between development and environmental damage posed by road building, the authors develop and estimate a spatially explicit model of land use. This model takes into account location and land characteristics and predicts land use at each point on the landscape. They find that: (a) market access and distance to roads strongly affect the probability of agricultural use, especially for commercial agriculture; (b) high slopes, poor drainage, and low soil fertility discourage both commercial and semi subsistence agriculture; and (c) semi-subsistence agriculture is especially sensitive to soil acidity and lack nitrogen (confirming anthropological findings that subsistence farmers are shrewd judges of soil). Spatially explicit models are analytically powerful because they exploit rich spatial variation in causal variables, including the precise siting of roads. They are useful for policy because they can pinpoint threats to particular critical habitats and watersheds. This model is a descendant of the venerable von Thunen model. It assumes that land will tend to be devoted to its highest-value use, taking into account tenure and other constraints. The value of a plot for a particular use depends on the land's physical productivity for that use and the farmgate prices of relevant inputs and outputs. A reduced-form, multinomial logit specification of this model calculates implicit values of land in alternative uses as a function of land location and characteristics. The resulting equations can then be used for prediction or analysis. The model was applied to cross-sectional data for 1989-92 for Belize, a forested country currently experiencing rapid expansion of both subsistence and commercial agriculture. A geographic information system was used to manage the spatial data and extract variables based on the three kilometer sample grid. Three land uses were distinguished:"natural"vegetation, comprising forests, woodlands, wetlands, and savanna; semi-subsistence agriculture, comprising traditional milpa (slash-and-burn) cultivation and other nonmechanized cultivation of annual crops; and commercial agriculture, consisting mainly of sugarcane, pasture, citrus, and mechanized production of corn and kidney beans. Two dimensions of distance to market were distinguished: the distance from each sample point to the road, and on-road travel time to the nearest town. Data on a wide variety of land and soil characteristics were also used.

Tree management in farmer strategies: responses to agricultural intensification.

Abstract: Although trees play an important economic and social role in many farming systems, they have until recently been neglected in both agricultural and forestry research. This text sets out major advances in our understanding of tree resources, particularly in relation to increases in agricultural intensification. The results of research in Asia and Africa are used to relate developments to subsistence needs, market opportunities and risk-taking.

Ningiqtuq : Resource sharing and generalized reciprocity in Clyde river, Nunavut

Abstract: Discussion of Inuit subsistence has until recently concentrated on the quantitative evaluation of wildlife harvesting. Because of this concern with food production as the core of subsistence, the social relations of production and consumption that underlie Inuit subsistence activity have often been given secondary attention at best. The A. examines distributive (« ningiqtuq ») mechanisms that facilitate the efficient flow and utilization of harvest and other products in the Nanavut community of Clyde River, Baffin Island. It is suggested that contemporary Inuit subsistence, while retaining its essential/traditional cultural goal -shared responsability for community well-being- does not always conform to commonly held assumptions of hunter-gatherer sharing as generalized reciprocity

Archaeology in the lowland American tropics: Interpreting dietary maize from bone stable isotopes in the American tropics: the state of the art

Abstract: Archaeologists approach the reconstruction of prehistoric subsistence and ecology using macrobotanical, palynological, phytolith, and faunal evidence, along with functional studies of utilitarian tools and iconographic analyses of ceremonial artifacts. When a dependable subsistence staple such as storable maize or processed manioc flour is identified, this has further implications for population dynamics and social complexity. Inquiries about prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns in the tropics often focus on the inclusion of maize as a dietary component, and when, if ever, it became a dietary staple (that is, a sustaining or principal food source). A series of interrelated questions about prehistoric maize are pertinent: When and where were its origins? Was it only a minor dietary component, or was it relied upon as a subsistence staple? Is its consumption linked to patterns of poor health or disease? Was it differentially consumed by certain social classes or age/sex categories? Are particular patterns of settlement associated with agricultural subsistence? In complex environments like the American tropics, where species diversity is high and subsistence alternatives can be many, multiple lines of evidence are necessary to answer questions of subsistence, settlement, and agricultural origins. The stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in archaeological human remains can be one line of evidence used to provide additional information about these topics.

Seasonal Changes in the Subsistence Activities and Food Intake of the Aka Hunter-Gatherers in Northeastern Congo

Abstract: In central Africa. a close relationship exists between the cultivators and the hunter-gatherers (Pygmies), who depend on agricultural foods exchanged for forest pro­ ducts or labor. In northeastern Congo, the Aka hunter-gatherers lead a dual mode of life in the forest and the village. They mainly depend on wild animal and plant food in the forest, whereas on agricultural food in the "illage. Their subsistence activities are influenced by the fluctuation in the availability of wild food resources that does not fall into a simple annual cycle. but fluctuates from year to year. The subsistence acthities of the Aka are more com­ plex than the other hunter-gatherers, and dependent on the ecology of the tropical rain forest and the local economy in northeastern Congo.

Urban Agriculture in Zimbabwe: Implications for Urban Management and Poverty

Abstract: Urban agriculture in Zimbabwe - issues, dimensions and settings aspects of off-plot cultivation in Harare - exploiting the commons urban cultivation on the "home front" - with reference to space availability, utilization, equity and the environment urban maize markets, hammer mills and the urban poor in Zimbabwe institutional responses to uncontrolled urban cultivation in Harare - prohibitive or accommodative? urban agriculture in Zimbabwe - testimonies of women from Warren Park, Harare images of urban cultivation - tools or products? subsistence urban cultivation in Zimbabwe - any lessons from the European garden allotments? urban agriculture as a counter productive activity - evidence from Harare sewage effluent based urban agriculture in Harare - potentials, linkages and constraints the cattle of Chitungwiza - farming at close quarters or friction and conflicts on the rural and urban fringe urban agriculture and urban development - the futures.

Agriculture and nomad-state relations in the Negev desert in the Byzantine and early Islamic periods

Abstract: The Negev is an arid desert, where the natural conditions do not allow for subsistence on agriculture. Nevertheless, remnants of ancient agriculture, particularly a tremendous network of terraced w...

Maya subsistence hunters in Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract: Wild animals have played an important role in the lives of Maya Indians but recent evidence from a small Maya community in south-eastern Mexico suggests that their importance as a source of food may be diminishing. The persistence of subsistence hunting despite low kill rates suggests that hunting is still culturally important to the Maya community as a whole. By combining subsistence hunting with other subsistence and commercial activities, such as gardening and the extraction of chicle latex from sapodilla trees Manilkara zapota, contemporary Maya hunters are preserving a culturally important activity while simultaneously adapting to internal and external pressures to modernize their society .

Modern Ticuna swidden-fallow management in the Colombian Amazon : ecologically integrating market strategies and subsistence-driven economies ?

Abstract: The past failure of large-scale, rural development in Amazonia has emphasized the value of small-scale, swidden-fallow management practices. The management strategies used by indigenous cultivators are well-documented, but few studies have examined how absorption by market-based economies may affect the economic and ecological stability of the agricultural system. In this study, we provide a detailed account of swidden-fallow management as it is practiced at Las Palmeras, Amazonas, Colombia; moreover, we assessed the effect of a shift from subsistence to market-directed production. A total of 68 species were selectively managed in the swidden/fallow system. Seventy-seven percent of species at the site were managed for subsistence only, 22% were managed with a view to selling surplus at market. Only one species, Cedrela odorata, was managed solely for market production. A shift from subsistence-based to market-directed production may lower the ecological and economic stability of the system at Las Palmeras. Nonperishable production strategies, such as for timber production, appear to provide the most secure approach toward market integration.

Children and traditional subsistence on Mer (Murray Island), Torres Strait

Abstract: The Meriam children especially are rarely about for many minutes together without finding a piece of sugar cane to chew or a banana to munch. (Haddon 1912,1).

Ethnography and agroforestry research: a case study from the Gambia

Abstract: This work examines the contribution that an ethnographic methodology can make to gender-sensitive agroforestry research. Using a Gambian case study, diverse subsistence, commercial and socio-cultural roles of forest products are investigated and the gender-based similarities and differences in their uses are highlighted. An ethnographic approach is combined with political economy perspectives to illustrate how the significance of such products, particularly for women, has markedly increased during the past two decades, especially for commercial purposes, in response to changing environmental, economic and social circumstances. Environmental management practices are used by rural individuals to regulate forest resources. Although there is potential for formal management policy to build upon these indigenous practices, a detailed understanding of local human-environmental relationships is essential for any planning mechanism to succeed. Thus an enthnographic approach can make a positive contribution towards gender-sensitive agroforestry research and practice.

The role of nontimber tree products in household food procurement strategies : profile of a Sri Lankan village

Abstract: Reliance on nontimber forest products from homegardens and forests in a Sri Lankan village is presented. Land and tree tenure in this village adjacent to the Sinharaja Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Reserve have shifted dramatically because of changing priorities in forest management recently shifting from utilization toward complete forest protection. Local residents must adapt to a new set of social circumstances. Household demographics, access to land, and income from nontimber forest products (NTFPs) and external employment are examined as pertinent to household food acquisition. Linear correlations show significant associations between income generated from the sale of agricultural produce and nontimber forest products and the amount of money allocated to food purchases. Fifty-five edible plant species were found in homegardens. Four forest tree species provide food regularly. Case studies are essential in increasing the natural resource manager's awareness about the role of agroforestry in protected areas management and his or her understnading of promoting protection without compromising subsistence needs.

Forest Policy and Woodfuel Markets in Malawi

Abstract: Forestry and energy policies in Malawi place the blame for the country's high rate of deforestation on the demand for woodfuel. The government has been involved in a range of questionable supply-side initiatives, as well as in a number of interventions in woodfuel markets, with the objective of slowing rates of deforestation. It seeks to encourage farmers to grow woodfuel to meet market demands, and has provided subsidies to do so. The Forest Department has kept prices for firewood from its plantations low, both in order to discourage the market for wood from free resources, and because of concerns about the impact o fhigh producer prices on the urban poor. In doing so, the government is less able to rely on the market to provide producers with the incentive to plant trees to meet market demands. In any event, the market accounts for a relatively small proportion of total woodfuel demand. Policies do not distinguish between rural household demands and the specific market demands which are having the greatest impact on deforestation: woodfuel for urban markets, for tobacco curing, and for small industries. These, coupled with the expansion of the estate sector, have had a far greater impact on woodland clearance than rural, subsistence woodfuel demands. Rural household energy demands need to be addressed from a much broader perspective which considers the household's larger needs for tree based products or outputs: income, food, fibre, fodder, soil fertility, as well as for fuel.

Prehistoric diet transitions : an archaeological perspective

Abstract: This is a study of prehistoric diet transitions within the Baltic area during the Stone Age. More specific the changes in diet expected to be found when hunter-gatherer subsistence is changed into ...

Seasonality of Stone Procurement: An Early Paleoindian Example in Northwestern New York State:

Abstract: Early Paleoindian subsistence activities were not restricted to the procurement and processing of food Likewise, studies of early Paleoindian subsistence cycles should not depend solely upon seasonality data from plant and animal remains Geographic, geochronologic, geologic, and pedologic data obtained from the Emanon Pond site, an early Paleoindian workshop-habitation in northwestern New York state, are used to reconstruct the seasonality of stone procurement In doing so, a more detailed picture of early Paleoindian subsistence cycles can be made