Showing papers on "Subsistence agriculture published in 2010"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarized available literature on the biological and cultural significance of agro-biodiversity in home gardens and discussed future constraints and opportunities in home garden research, in the prospect of defining and promoting their role in conservation of agricultural biodiversity and cultural heritage.
Abstract: Over the last two decades, the importance of conserving genetic resources has received increasing attention. In this context the role of home gardens as repositories of biological diversity has been acknowledged but still a comprehensive, interdisciplinary investigation of their agro-biodiversity is lacking. Home gardens, whether found in rural or urban areas, are characterized by a structural complexity and multifunctionality which enables the provision of different benefits to ecosystems and people. Studies carried out in various countries demonstrate that high levels of inter- and intra-specific plant genetic diversity, especially in terms of traditional crop varieties and landraces, are preserved in home gardens. Families engage in food production for subsistence or small-scale marketing and the variety of crops and wild plants provides nutritional benefits. At the same time, home gardens are important social and cultural spaces where knowledge related to agricultural practices is transmitted and through which households may improve their income and livelihoods. The present article summarizes available literature on the biological and cultural significance of agro-biodiversity in home gardens. It discusses future constraints and opportunities in home garden research, in the prospect of defining and promoting their role in conservation of agricultural biodiversity and cultural heritage.
337 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that unless we understand the differences between those two types of entrepreneurs more clearly, many policy interventions may have unintended consequences and may even have an adverse impact on the economy.
Abstract: Executive Summary This paper argues that it is crucially important to differentiate between two very distinct sets of entrepreneurs: subsistence and transformational entrepreneurs. Recent evidence suggests that people engaging in these two types of entrepreneurship are not only very distinct in nature but that only a negligible fraction of them transition from subsistence to transformational entrepreneurship. These individuals vary in their economic objectives, their skills, and their role in the economy. Most important, they seem to respond very differently to policy changes and economic cycles. Yet most development policies aimed at fostering entrepreneurship focus on subsistence entrepreneurship in the hope of creating transformational entrepreneurs. I argue that unless we understand the differences between those two types of entrepreneurs more clearly, many policy interventions may have unintended consequences and may even have an adverse impact on the economy.
321 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe exploratory research on how consumers and small entrepreneurs navigate subsistence marketplaces, with particular emphasis on social networks, and pay particular attention to how individuals interact within them, the kind of information being shared, their influence on purchase decisions and business decisions, and their impact on the marketplace skills of subsistence consumers and entrepreneurs.
203 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the strategies and tactics currently being used across commercial and social enterprises engaged in subsistence marketplaces, and suggest that doing business with consumers in such marketplaces can be both socially responsible and profitable.
184 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, exposure sensitivities to climate change experienced in the community of Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories and the adaptive strategies employed are described, based on collaborative research involving semi- structured interviews, secondary sources of information, and participant observations.
Abstract: Climate change is already being experienced in the Arctic with implications for ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. This paper argues that an assessment of community vulnerability to climate change requires knowledge of past experience with climate conditions, responses to climatic variations, future climate change projections, and non-climate factors that influence people's susceptibility and adaptive capacity. The paper documents and describes exposure sensitivities to climate change experienced in the community of Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories and the adaptive strategies employed. It is based on collaborative research involving semi- structured interviews, secondary sources of information, and participant observations. In the context of subsistence hunting, changes in temperature, seasonal patterns (for example timing and nature of the spring melt), sea ice and wind dynamics, and weather variability have affected the health and availability of some species of wildlife important for subsistence and have exacerbated risks associated with hunting and travel. Inuit in Ulukhaktok are coping with these changes by taking extra precautions when travelling, shifting modes of transportation, travel routes and hunting areas to deal with changing trail conditions, switching species harvested, and supplementing their diet with store bought foods. Limited access to capital resources, changing levels of traditional knowledge and land skills, and substance abuse were identified as key constraints to adaptation. The research demonstrates the need to consider the perspectives and experiences of local people for climate change research to have practical relevance to Arctic communities such as for the development and promotion of adaptive strategies.
169 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a comparative analysis of how neoliberal restructuring characterizes the third food regime in the three North American countries of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Abstract: We undertake a comparative investigation of how neoliberal restructuring characterizes the third food regime in the three North American countries. By contrasting the experience of the two developed countries of the United States and Canada with that of the developing country of Mexico, we shine some empirical light on the differential impact of neoliberal regulatory restructuring on the division of labor in agriculture within the North American Free Trade Agreement region. In particular, we investigate these countries' agricultural production markets, trade, and food vulnerability—with an emphasis on Mexico—as analytical points for comparing and contrasting their experience with this neoliberal restructuring. We start with a synthesis of food-regime theory and outline the key features of what we call the "neoliberal food regime." We then discuss our case-study countries in terms of food vulnerability and resistance in Mexico, their differential relationships to trade liberalization, and what these trends might mean for the evolution of the neoliberal food regime. We conclude that, while dominant trends are ominous, there is room for an alternative trajectory and consequent reshaping of the emerging regime: sufficient bottom-up social resistance, primarily at the level of the nation-state, may yet produce an alternative trajectory. In a synthetic article about agrarian studies at the end of the twentieth century, Frederick Buttel (2001) observed that, with the rise of global- ization, the fields of sociology of agriculture and food and the sociology of development were converging. Yet he lamented that individual soci- ologists of agriculture remained specialists in developed-country or southern agrifood systems: "Little groundwork has been laid for a soci- ology of agriculture that addresses simultaneously the agrarian change issues of both North and South" (Buttel 2001:177). In this article, we attempt to contribute to bridging this gap, at least for the region cover- ing the three countries of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Given agriculture and food's special importance for subsistence and its importance for international trade, a key factor in its globalization is regulation, most specifically, national and international regulation for trade liberalization. It is a contentious issue given that food cannot be separated from important social considerations, such as food vulnerabi- lity, especially in developing countries, where subsistence farming still
154 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that unless we understand the differences between those two types of entrepreneurs more clearly, many policy interventions may have unintended consequences and may even have an adverse impact on the economy.
Abstract: Executive Summary This paper argues that it is crucially important to differentiate between two very distinct sets of entrepreneurs: subsistence and transformational entrepreneurs. Recent evidence suggests that people engaging in these two types of entrepreneurship are not only very distinct in nature but that only a negligible fraction of them transition from subsistence to transformational entrepreneurship. These individuals vary in their economic objectives, their skills, and their role in the economy. Most important, they seem to respond very differently to policy changes and economic cycles. Yet most development policies aimed at fostering entrepreneurship focus on subsistence entrepreneurship in the hope of creating transformational entrepreneurs. I argue that unless we understand the differences between those two types of entrepreneurs more clearly, many policy interventions may have unintended consequences and may even have an adverse impact on the economy.
149 citations
TL;DR: The European Commission recently authorized the import of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) fruit pulp as a novel food in rural West Africa, which could negatively influence livelihoods, including reduced nutritional intake, change of power relations, and access rights.
Abstract: The European Commission recently authorized the import of baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) fruit pulp as a novel food. In rural West Africa the multipurpose baobab is used extensively for subsistence. Three hundred traditional uses of the baobab were documented in Benin, Mali, and Senegal across 11 ethnic groups and 4 agroecological zones. Baobab fruits and leaves are consumed throughout the year. The export of baobab fruits could negatively influence livelihoods, including reduced nutritional intake, change of power relations, and access rights. Capacity building and certification could encourage a sustainable and ethical trade of baobab fruits without neglecting baobab use in subsistence.
126 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between rice and millets at three prehistoric sites from a regional copper-producing center in central Thailand to provide new insights into the subsistence strategy of these communities and to better understand the relationships between these crops and their introduction and use in Southeast Asia.
Abstract: Ancient seeds from archaeological sites can provide clues that are crucial for understanding and characterizing subsistence strategies. This in turn contributes to our understanding of, and explanations for, the relationship between socioeconomic systems and organization of craft production. This article will examine the relationship between rice and millets at three prehistoric sites from a regional copper-producing center in central Thailand to provide new insights into the subsistence strategy of these communities and to better understand the relationship between these crops and their introduction and use in Southeast Asia.
117 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the quantitative contributions that non-timber forest products have made to rural household incomes in several forest-dependent, Sub-Saharan African countries and identify five broad socioeconomic factors (location, wealth status, gender, education, and seasonality) affecting levels of dependency on NTFPs by rural households.
Abstract: SUMMARY The majority of Sub-Saharan Africa's population relies on forest products for subsistence uses, cash income, or both. In the case of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), it is imperative to 1) clearly understand the socio-economic contributions that they make to rural livelihoods in order to 2) design policies, interventions, and business ventures that serve to safeguard forest assets for the poor in a targeted manner. Based on existing literature, this article highlights the quantitative contributions that NTFPs have made to rural household incomes in several forested, Sub-Saharan African countries. Reasons for a paucity of data on this front are discussed. The article then identifies five broad socioeconomic factors (location, wealth status, gender, education, and seasonality) affecting levels of dependency on NTFPs by rural households, and calls for a better understanding of the linkages between these five factors in order for targeted policies on poverty alleviation in forest-dependent communit...
112 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, high-resolution analyses of the excellently preserved and well-dated special task camps documented in detail at Duvensee, Northern Germany, offer an outstanding opportunity for case studies on Mesolithic subsistence and land use strategies.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the conflict between bio-fuel production and global food security, particularly in developing countries, and the limits of the Human Appropriation of ecosystem services and Net Primary Productivity have also to be addressed.
Abstract: Biofuels have lately been indicated as a promising source of cheap and sustainable energy. In this paper we argue that some important ethical and environmental issues have also to be addressed: (1) the conflict between biofuels production and global food security, particularly in developing countries, and (2) the limits of the Human Appropriation of ecosystem services and Net Primary Productivity. We warn that large scale conversion of crops, grasslands, natural and semi-natural ecosystem, (such as the conversion of grasslands to cellulosic ethanol production, or plantation of sugar cane and palm oil), may have detrimental social and ecological consequences. Social effects may concern: (1) food security, especially in developing countries, leading to an increase of the price of staple food, (2) transnational corporations and big landowners establishing larger and larger landholdings in conflict with indigenous areas and the subsistence of small farmers. Ecological effects may concern: (1) competition with grazing wild and domesticated animals (e.g., millions of grazing livestock in USA prairies), (2) an excessive appropriation of Net Primary Production from ecosystems, (3) threatening biodiversity preservation and soil fertility. We claim that is it well known how ecological and social issues are strictly interwoven and that large scale biofuels production, by putting high pressure on both fronts, may trigger dangerous feedbacks, also considering the critical fact that 9 billion people are expected to inhabit the planet by 2050. There is a need to conduct serious and deep analysis on the environmental and social impact of large scale biofuels production before important energy policies are launched at global level. Biofuels will not represent an energetic panacea and their role in the overall energy consumption will remain marginal in our present highly energivorous society, while their effect on food security and environment preservation may have detrimental results. We should also have the courage to face two key issues: (1) we cannot keep increasing resources consumption at present pace, and have to change our life style accordingly, and (2) we have to deal with population growth; we cannot expect to have 9-10 billions people inhabiting the earth by 2050, without this representing a major impact on its support system.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a bottom-up approach in understanding and explaining subsistence marketplaces, focusing on individual, communal, and cultural factors that influence consumers and entrepreneurs who live at or near subsistence, who comprise a majority of the world's population.
TL;DR: In this paper, Wankel et al. investigated the impact of micro-franchise on low-income individuals in subsistence marketplaces in Ghana and found that microfranchising positively impacts savings and profits.
TL;DR: In this paper, the persistence and change of traditional land use patterns and ecological knowledge in response to expanded commercialization of tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica (L.) Kuntze Theaceae) in an indigenous Akha (Hani) community in the midlevel montane forests of southwest Yunnan, China was assessed.
Abstract: This study assesses the persistence and change of traditional land use patterns and ecological knowledge in response to expanded commercialization of tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica (L.) Kuntze Theaceae) in an indigenous Akha (Hani) community in the midlevel montane forests of southwest Yunnan, China. Surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2008, over a period corresponding to a regional tea market boom and bust cycle, to compare the valuation smallholders attribute to land use types and to determine the role that value systems play in shaping environmental behavior and knowledge. At the community level, increased market integration of tea agroforests is associated with reconfiguration of land use, intensified management, reorganization of labor structures, and generation of knowledge on tea resources. Akha have tapped into customary resources and forged new social networks with tea industry agents to take advantage of emerging market opportunities. They have resisted state reforms calling for the cultivation of high-intensity plantations and introduced cultivars. Consequently, they have benefited from price premiums through niche market networks for tea sourced from agroforests and proprietary landraces not available to other communities disempowered by market cycles. Subsistence agriculture, home gardening, and foraging persist for food security despite tea wealth. However, as traditional values are reoriented toward market-based ideologies, the community may risk a breakdown of the social institutions that support sustainability.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify socioeconomic indicators and drivers to improve the understanding of the dynamics between socioeconomic conditions and current exploitation levels of finfish and invertebrates of coastal communities in 17 Pacific Island countries and territories.
TL;DR: In this article, high-precision analyses of use-wear and starch residue were used to show that early Neolithic people were mainly using these stones to process acorns, which defines a new stage in the long transition of food production from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
Abstract: Grinding stones have provided a convenient proxy for the arrival of agriculture in Neolithic China. Not any more. Thanks to high-precision analyses of use-wear and starch residue, the authors show that early Neolithic people were mainly using these stones to process acorns. This defines a new stage in the long transition of food production from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify the potential influencers of purchase by subsistence consumers using a study conducted in Zimbabwe and discuss a set of purchase influencers which motivate consumers to buy products, discussed in terms of their order of importance.
TL;DR: Wang et al. as mentioned in this paper found that rice farming, though important, was only part of a broader subsistence pattern of the Hemudu Culture, and rice domestication culminated after 6,500 B.P.
Abstract: China was one of the major centers for the origin of agriculture in the world. The origins of agriculture in China, especially the origin of rice agriculture, made a significant contribution not only to the occurrence of Chinese civilization but also to the development of world history. Recently, the study on the origin of rice agriculture has attracted the attention of the academic community due to the dramatic development of archaeobotanical research in China. In recent years, the flotation technique has widely implemented in archaeological excavations in China. As the result, a tremendous amount of plant remains have been recovered from archaeological sites, including those much related to the study of early rice agriculture. The new data provide direct archaeological evidence for, and raise some new issues about, the origin of rice agriculture in China. For example, the rice remains from the Shangshan site, dated to ca. 10,000 cal. B.P., suggest the beginning of rice cultivation regardless of whether that rice was domesticated or not. The quantitative analysis of plant remains recovered by floatation from the Jiahu site, dated to ca. 8,000 cal. B.P., revealed that the subsistence of the Jiahu people mainly relied on fishing/hunting/gathering, while the products of rice cultivation and animal husbandry were only a supplement to their diet. The ongoing excavation, with floatation and water-sieving, at the Tianluoshan site, dated to 6,000 to 7,000 cal. B.P., suggests that rice farming, though important, was only part of a broader subsistence pattern of the Hemudu Culture, and rice domestication culminated after 6,500 B.P and the beginning of rice domestication remain unclear.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a farm typology and its spatial rendering through the combination of farm-cadastral information and land cover and change data using multivariate statistical methods.
TL;DR: It is concluded that substitution for loss of income due to conservation activities would best be achieved through carefully targeted interventions to specific high-impact and high-dependency households.
Abstract: This article examines the use of forests in a protected area by nearby agriculturalists in central Vietnam Research indicates that the majority of rural farmers interviewed who lived near a state designated protected area were receiving both subsistence and cash incomes from forest-based activities, primarily from the collection of forest products However, much of the collection of forest produce was officially illegal, as it occurred in state protected forests, and interdiction efforts were on the increase Yet, little attention has been paid in Vietnam to the need for income substitution for households who lose access to forest produce as a result of conservation enforcement, particularly in the case of farmers who live near, but not in, protected areas; their resources use has been ‘invisible’ due to a lack of attention and research on the topic This misunderstanding of the importance of forests to rural farmers has the potential to result in households facing adverse welfare and livelihood outcomes as protected areas boundaries are tightened, and local communities face increased opportunity costs due to stricter conservation enforcement The article concludes that substitution for loss of income due to conservation activities would best be achieved through carefully targeted interventions to specific high-impact and high-dependency households Additionally, investments in new sources of wage labor and other low capital-input activities, rather than in agriculture, would likely be of most benefit
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe indigenous hunting patterns using a mixed-methods approach in southern Guyana from a space and place perspective that takes into account both biophysical and cultural/spiritual factors.
Abstract: Hunting remains an important subsistence activity for many indigenous peoples of the Neotropics. This paper describes indigenous hunting patterns using a mixed-methods approach in southern Guyana from a space and place perspective that takes into account both biophysical and cultural/spiritual factors. Findings confirm those of others, that distance from community, mediated by characteristics of the biophysical environment, impacts where hunters go. Mapping of the spiritual landscape, however, demonstrates that sense of place is also important. This paper argues that researchers and managers should be careful to incorporate both the local environmental and cultural/spiritual contexts in studies that inform biodiversity and sustainable resource-use management.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined hunting practices on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation in North Central Wisconsin, USA and found the importance of traditional moral codes in guiding a community's contemporary hunting practices and the inseparability and interdependence of epistemological, practical, and ethical dimensions of TEK.
Abstract: Contemporary subsistence hunting practices of North American Indians have been questioned because of hunters’ use of modern technologies and integration of wage-based and subsistence livelihoods. Tribal traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has been questioned on similar grounds and used as justification for ignoring tribal perspectives on critical natural resource conservation and development issues. This paper examines hunting on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation in North Central Wisconsin, USA. The study used semi-structured interviews with hunters from the reservation to document their contemporary hunting practices and the traditional moral code that informs their hunting-related behaviors and judgments. Subsistence hunting is framed in the context of TEK and attention focused on the interplay between TEK’s practical and moral dimensions. Results indicate the importance of traditional moral codes in guiding a community’s contemporary hunting practices and the inseparability and interdependence of epistemological, practical, and ethical dimensions of TEK.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors jointly determined the socioeconomic factors underlying decision to rent-in land and/or rent-out land by the Bangladeshi farmers in the land rental market using a bivariate Tobit model.
TL;DR: The article investigates the representations of the "problems" underpinning this specific policy proposal and argues that the rule in question, and immigration policy more generally, needs to be analyzed with reference to the broader concerns and aims of welfare state policy and gender equality policy.
Abstract: This article discusses the regulation of marriage migration to Norway through an analysis of the subsistence requirement rule which entails that a person who wants to bring a spouse to Norway must achieve a certain level of income. Policy-makers present two main arguments for this regulation. First, the subsistence requirement is a means to prevent forced marriage. Second, its aim is to prevent family immigrants from becoming a burden on welfare budgets. The major concern of both these arguments is that of dependency, either on the family or on the welfare state. The article investigates the representations of the “problems” underpinning this specific policy proposal and argues that the rule in question, and immigration policy more generally, needs to be analyzed with reference to the broader concerns and aims of welfare state policy and gender equality policy.
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the contribution of the natural forest resource and AFS to the improvement of the socioeconomic livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the promotion of the conservation of biodiversity drawing on evidence from research conducted in southern Africa over the last two decades.
Abstract: It has been widely documented that the traditional farming system of shifting cultivation contributes to huge annual losses of forest cover, altering the structure and distribution of species resulting in loss of biodiversity. On the other hand, formal institutional approaches to natural forest biodiversity conservation focused on protecting the tree species in parks and reserves while neglecting their conservation in farming systems. Improved agroforestry systems (AFS) such as improved fallows that mimic shifting cultivation and other AFS provide benefits that contribute to rural livelihoods, improved socioeconomic status and ecosystem functioning of land use systems. Recently, there is an increasing recognition of the contribution of agroforestry to improve ecosystem services and livelihoods especially in rural areas. Compared with subsistence agriculture, AFS provides added benefit by generating cash income from the marketing of diverse products. In southern Africa, research that aims to addressed biodiversity and socio-economic issues includes domestication of diverse priority indigenous fruit tree species; and the evaluation of soil fertility replenishing Agroforestry technologies. This paper discusses the contribution of the natural forest resource and AFS to the improvement of the socio-economic livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the promotion of the conservation of biodiversity drawing on evidence from research conducted in southern Africa over the last two decades.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effect of international migration and remittances on agricultural outcomes at the household level in El Salvador, and found that migration causes households to reallocate land away from commercial cash crops toward the production of subsistence food crops.
Abstract: This paper examines the effect that international migration and remittances have on agricultural outcomes at the household level in El Salvador. Panel data are used to examine land use allocations, agricultural asset accumulation, and agricultural input use and returns. Findings suggest that migration and remittances cause a household to reallocate land away from commercial cash crops toward the production of subsistence food crops. There is weak evidence that migration and remittances contribute positively to agricultural asset accumulation in the form of land and livestock holdings. Further, results suggest that migration and remittance do not affect agricultural input use and may decrease the returns to land and labour on farm, as migrant households farm their land less intensively than non-migrant households.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that scarcity of crop planting material has given rise to socioeconomic relations that profoundly influence indigenous agriculture and rural life, and that access to seeds, cuttings, and other plant propagules is critical in the building and maintenance of crop and varietal diversity, in subsistence security for lowland farmers, and in market product specialization among traditional farmers.
Abstract: Studies of indigenous agricultural systems in Amazonia often devote only limited attention to the accessibility and exchange of crop plant germplasm among Amerindian and folk peoples. I argue that scarcity of crop planting material—geographically, seasonally, and socially—in rural Amazonia has given rise to socioeconomic relations that profoundly influence indigenous agriculture and rural life. Access to seeds, cuttings, and other plant propagules is shown to be critical in the building and maintenance of crop and varietal diversity, in subsistence security for lowland farmers, and in market product specialization among traditional farmers. Further study of seed supply systems in Amazonia is needed to inform discussions of in situ crop conservation as well as intellectual property rights over plants and seed. Moreover, a focus on seed systems provides a new lens through which to study Amazonian peoples, their relations with one another, the market, and society.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the different motivations behind strategic choice in base of the pyramid or subsistence markets and conclude that strategic intent is motivated by building capabilities over time that results in successful poverty alleviation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the suitability of the EU CAP for vineyard restructuring in Mediterranean mountain environments, revealing that although farmers comply with environmental protection requirements, CAP support is not accomplishing the objectives for which was conceived: the protection of the environment by the reduction of impacts of the agricultural activities.