Showing papers on "Subsistence agriculture published in 2011"
TL;DR: The impact of agriculture, accompanied by increasing population density and a rise in infectious disease, was observed to decrease stature in populations from across the entire globe and regardless of the temporal period during which agriculture was adopted, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and North America.
Abstract: The population explosion that followed the Neolithic revolution was initially explained by improved health experiences for agriculturalists. However, empirical studies of societies shifting subsistence from foraging to primary food production have found evidence for deteriorating health from an increase in infectious and dental disease and a rise in nutritional deficiencies. In Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture (Cohen and Armelagos, 1984), this trend towards declining health was observed for 19 of 21 societies undergoing the agricultural transformation. The counterintuitive increase in nutritional diseases resulted from seasonal hunger, reliance on single crops deficient in essential nutrients, crop blights, social inequalities, and trade. In this study, we examined the evidence of stature reduction in studies since 1984 to evaluate if the trend towards decreased health after agricultural transitions remains. The trend towards a decrease in adult height and a general reduction of overall health during times of subsistence change remains valid, with the majority of studies finding stature to decline as the reliance on agriculture increased. The impact of agriculture, accompanied by increasing population density and a rise in infectious disease, was observed to decrease stature in populations from across the entire globe and regardless of the temporal period during which agriculture was adopted, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and North America.
143 citations
TL;DR: Arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is involved in human physiological responses to a variety of xenobiotic compounds, including common therapeutic drugs and exogenous chemicals present in the diet and the environment as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is involved in human physiological responses to a variety of xenobiotic compounds, including common therapeutic drugs and exogenous chemicals present in the diet and the environment. Many questions remain about the evolutionary mechanisms that have led to the high prevalence of slow acetylators in the human species. Evidence from recent surveys of NAT2 gene variation suggests that NAT2 slow-causing variants might have become targets of positive selection as a consequence of the shift in modes of subsistence and lifestyle in human populations in the last 10,000 years. We aimed to test more extensively the hypothesis that slow acetylation prevalence in humans is related to the subsistence strategy adopted by the past populations. To this end, published frequency data on the most relevant genetic variants of NAT2 were collected from 128 population samples (14,679 individuals) representing different subsistence modes and dietary habits, allowing a thorough analysis at both a worldwide and continent scale. A significantly higher prevalence of the slow acetylation phenotype was observed in populations practicing farming (45.4%) and herding (48.2%) as compared to populations mostly relying on hunting and gathering (22.4%) (P = 0.0007). This was closely mirrored by the frequency of the slow 590A variant that was found to occur at a three-fold higher frequency in food producers (25%) as compared to hunter-gatherers (8%). These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the Neolithic transition to subsistence economies based on agricultural and pastoral resources modified the selective regime affecting the NAT2 acetylation pathway. Furthermore, the vast amount of data collected enabled us to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date description of NAT2 worldwide genetic diversity, thus building up a useful resource of frequency data for further studies interested in epidemiological or anthropological research questions involving NAT2.
139 citations
TL;DR: Using an agrarian political ecology approach, and based on empirical research in a rainforest community in the Lacandon Jungle, the authors argue that while carbon offset producers continue to have formal land rights, they lose some of the short-term benefits of land in part through the use of land for carbon-sequestering trees but mostly through the preoccupation of labor.
Abstract: Over the last decade, carbon forestry has grown in Chiapas, where small farmers are increasingly turning to planting carbon-sequestering trees and the carbon market as a new source of income. Using an agrarian political ecology approach, and based on empirical research in a rainforest community in the Lacandon Jungle, I argue that while carbon offset producers continue to have formal land rights, they lose some of the short-term benefits of land in part through the use of land for carbon-sequestering trees but mostly through the preoccupation of labor. The labor requirements for carbon production act as a type of enclosure mechanism that constrains more traditional land uses such as the production of subsistence and annual cash crops. Nevertheless, campesinos continue to participate in carbon forestry as a means to maintain a foothold on their land in the wake of neoliberal agrarian policies that threaten to displace them. Carbon forestry enables campesinos to maintain their land through productive activi...
124 citations
TL;DR: The Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) has been at the forefront of efforts to accelerate the transition of beans from a subsistence crop to a modern commodity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) has evolved rapidly in Africa and is steadily transforming from a traditional subsistence to a market-oriented crop, with major impacts on household incomes, food and nutritional security, and national economies. However, these benefits are yet to be felt in many parts of the continent because of multiple constraints that limit bean productivity. The Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) has been at the forefront of efforts to accelerate the transition of beans from a subsistence crop to a modern commodity in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper presents a unique partnership model and the breeding and seed delivery strategies used by PABRA to reach millions of beneficiaries with improved bean varieties. The breeding strategy involved the paradigm shift from a monolithic approach where varieties were bred for yield or resistance to single environmental stresses, to a grain type-led and market-driven approach. The PABRA model comprises partnerships between and among Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), public and private sector actors along the varied bean product value chains, and technology end-users. This model led to the release of over 200 varieties during 2003-2011, including beans with resistance to multiple constraints (biotic and abiotic), high iron and zinc content, and those for specific niche markets. PABRA reached 7.5 million households with seed of improved bean varieties during 2003– 2008 and is expected to reach an additional 14 million by 2013. From this undertaking, aspects that lend to policy recommendations to key stakeholders in the common beans value chain include: facilitation of access to credit; promotion of breeder and foundation seed production; easing of restrictions on the release of varieties; facilitation of collective marketing schemes; and deliberate policy frameworks to encourage the use of complementary integrated crop management practices.
123 citations
TL;DR: Helmer as discussed by the authors argued that the land we hold in trust is our wealth and that without our homelands, we become true paupersons, and that good life derived from the land and sea is what we are all about, that's what land claims was all about.
Abstract: Profi t to non-Natives means money. Profi t to Natives means a good life derived from the land and sea, that’s what we are all about, that’s what this land claims was all about. . . . The land we hold in trust is our wealth. It is the only wealth we could possibly pass on to our children. Good old Mother Earth with all her bounty and rich culture we have adopted from her treasures is our wealth. Without our homelands, we become true paupers. Antoinnette Helmer
105 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, FARM-Africa and its partners reintroduced African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) which are now forming part of families' diets as well as becoming a source of income for smallholder farmers in Arumeru, Tanzania and Kiambu, Kenya.
Abstract: African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) have been part of the food systems in sub-Saharan Africa for generations. The region is a natural habitat for more than 45,000 species of plants, of which about 1,000 can be eaten as green leafy or fruit vegetables that happen to be the mainstay of traditional diets. During the colonial era, adventurers and slavers sailing in Africa introduced exotic plants such as maize, cassava and beans and, later, commercial crops such as sugarcane, cocoa, coffee and cotton, which began contributing more to life. Farmers integrated these crops into their age-old livelihood strategies at the expense of traditional subsistence crops. AIVs were almost entirely neglected and considered ‘poor people's' plants. To reverse the trend, FARM-Africa and its partners reintroduced AIVs which are now forming part of families’ diets as well as becoming a source of income for smallholder farmers in Arumeru, Tanzania and Kiambu, Kenya. AIVs are robust and productive, and thus well suited to feeding...
105 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that wildlife farming in the Neotropics can be an alternative to the over-hunting and deforestation that are carried out for the production of traditional food and pastures for livestock, and the implications for tropical forest integrity and rural population dependency on forest resources are discussed.
Abstract: Wild animals have been a source of food and income through subsistence hunting by forest-dwelling people in Neotropical countries in spite of the fact that hunting appears to be unsustainable as it leads to the depletion of wild fauna. Laws in Brazil and other Latin American countries forbid hunting but allow the commercial use of captive-bred animals. Notwithstanding the fact that this is a controversial topic among conservationists, in this paper we propose that wildlife farming in the Neotropics can be an alternative to the over-hunting and deforestation that are carried out for the production of traditional food and pastures for livestock. This review sets out this proposal, and discusses the implications for tropical forest integrity and rural population dependency on forest resources. We discuss the ecological and economical advantages of wildlife farming and its constraints as a conservation tool, using collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) farming in the Amazon region as a model. Productivity levels may reach 19,000 times higher than those obtained from the management of peccaries from forests in the Amazon region. This can be achieved with an easily obtainable diet composed of forest fruits and locally available agricultural by-products. Therefore, establishing captive management programs for peccaries is an effective way of avoiding wild stock depletion, deforestation, and guaranteeing the livelihood of forest dwellers in the Neotropics. However, it is essential that governmental and/or non-governmental agencies be involved in providing subsides to establish peccary farms, provide technical assistance, and introducing peccary captive breeding centers to supply founder stock.
92 citations
TL;DR: The impacts of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and creation of formal conserved areas (VCAs) on local diets, agricultural practices, subsistence hunting and livelihoods, were assessed in a Chinantec community of southern Mexico.
Abstract: SUMMARY The impacts of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and creation of formal Voluntary Conserved Areas (VCAs) on local diets, agricultural practices, subsistence hunting and livelihoods, were assessed in a Chinantec community of southern Mexico. The community has set aside VCAs covering 4 300 ha of its 5 928 ha of communal lands and forests, and has received over S769 245 in PES for protection of 2 822 ha of watersheds roughly overlapping the VCAs. Community members attribute decreased maize and other subsistence crop yields, reduction of area available for agriculture, and shortened fallow cycles to the new conservation policies. Meat consumption has decreased after a hunting ban, accompanied by increases in purchasing meat still consumed. By agreeing to conservation measures that restrict their use of ancestral agricultural land and prohibit hunting, villagers have seen local food security become less stable, leading to greater dependency on external food supplies. Continued strict preservati...
91 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors look at the cultural developments in these four regions leading up to the emergence of agriculture in each of them and find that agriculture does not emerge independently in each region but rather in interrelated steps through variable forms of interaction and information and social exchange within and between these regions.
Abstract: By 9000 cal BP, the first sedentary villages, marking the Early Neolithic, are present in Northeast China, North China, and the Middle and Lower Yangtze regions, but plant and animal domesticates do not make a substantial contribution to subsistence until after several more millennia, when domesticated millet or rice agricultural production is finally in place. While archaeobotanical approaches have been the primary focus of recent studies, this paper looks specifically at the cultural developments in these four regions leading up to the emergence of agriculture in each. It is hypothesized that agriculture does not emerge independently in each of these regions but rather in interrelated steps through variable forms of interaction and information and social exchange within and between these regions. Interaction is currently evidenced through shared forms of material culture and by parallel and contemporaneous cultural developments.
89 citations
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the Heckman 2-stage OLS regression model to identify market participation factors for smallholder farmers in commodity markets in sub-Saharan Africa, based on an extensive cross-sectional sample of 6 421 households across eight SSA countries.
Abstract: Markets have been recognised for their potential to unlock economic growth and development. In the 1980s, there was a widespread promotion of market liberalisation policies across sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions following the embracing of the market led agricultural development paradigm. Despite decades of promotion of market led development, very few smallholder farmers in SSA participate in commodity markets. The hoped for structural transformation from subsistence to commercial agriculture across SSA remains elusive. The potential of markets as an engine of agricultural growth and a pathway to exit poverty for the majority of the poor smallholder farmers in the region remains not fully exploited. Though a number of studies have attempted to identify market participation factors, none has been extensive in coverage of SSA and has captured effects of the different economic and policy environments. This paper, based on an extensive cross-sectional sample of 6 421 households across eight SSA countries quantifies factors determining participation by smallholder farmers in cereal grain markets. Because of the expected problem of endogeneity between the dependent market participation variable and covariates, the paper adopts the Heckman 2-stage OLS regression model. Variables hypothesised to influence market participation are categorised into: transaction cost, household socioeconomic attributes, biophysical environment (production potential) and public infrastructure and services. The paper draws lessons for policy and development interventions such as IAR4D. Key words: Market participation, Determinants, SSA, Heckman’s procedure, IAR4D
86 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study from Ladakh (Indian Himalayas) illustrates how changes of the political and socio-economic conditions have affected food security strategies of mountain households and argues that tailor-made regional policies and programmes are needed to face the specific challenges in high mountain regions.
Abstract: The issues of food security and its specifics in high mountain regions are often neglected in national and international science and policy agendas. At the same time, local food systems have undergone significant transitions over the past two decades. Whereas subsistence agriculture still forms the economic mainstay in these regions, current dynamics are generally characterized by livelihood diversification with increased off-farm income opportunities and an expansion of external development interventions. A case study from Ladakh (Indian Himalayas) illustrates how changes of the political and socio-economic conditions have affected food security strategies of mountain households. In the cold, arid environment of Ladakh, where combined mountain agriculture is the dominant land use system, reduced importance of the subsistence base for staple foods is reflected in current consumption patterns. Seasonal shortfalls and low dietary diversity lead to micronutrient deficiencies, a phenomenon that has been described as “hidden hunger”. This paper describes determinants of the transition of the current food system, based on land-use analyses and quantitative and qualitative social research at the household, regional and national level. It shows how monetary income and governmental as well as non-governmental development interventions shape food security in this peripheral region. Focusing on the particular example of staple food subsidies through the Indian Public Distribution System, the paper illustrates and discusses how this national-level measure addresses food security and shows the implications for household strategies. Against the background of our findings we argue that tailor-made regional policies and programmes are needed to face the specific challenges in high mountain regions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the linkages between subsistence farming and artisanal mining in rural sub-Saharan Africa are discussed. And the authors report findings that could help to inform a policy machinery that has failed to yield effective solutions to the region's mounting rural poverty problem.
Abstract: This special issue broadens understanding of the linkages between subsistence farming and artisanal mining in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing upon fieldwork carried out in Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi, the articles report findings that could help to inform a policy machinery that has failed to yield effective solutions to the region's mounting rural poverty problem. It imperative that the linkages that have emerged between artisanal mining and smallholder activity in sub-Saharan Africa are preserved, not severed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarized the results of water productivity assessment in 10 river basins across Asia, Africa and South America, representing a range of agro-climatic and socioeconomic conditions.
Abstract: This article summarizes the results of water productivity assessment in 10 river basins across Asia, Africa and South America, representing a range of agro-climatic and socio-economic conditions. Intensive farming in the Asian basins gives much greater agricultural outputs and higher water productivity. Largely subsistence agriculture in Africa has significantly lower water productivity. There is very high intra-basin variability, which is attributed mainly to lack of inputs, and poor water and crop management. Closing gaps between “bright spots” and the poorly performing areas are the major tasks for better food security and improved livelihoods, which have to be balanced with environmental sustainability.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that climate change contributes to women's hardships because of the conjunction of the feminization of poverty and environmental degradation caused by climate change, and provide data collected in Ghana to demonstrate effects of extreme weather events on women subsistence farmers and argue that women have knowledge to contribute to adaptation efforts.
Abstract: This paper argues that there is ethical and practical necessity for including women's needs, perspectives, and expertise in international climate change negotiations. I show that climate change contributes to women's hardships because of the conjunction of the feminization of poverty and environmental degradation caused by climate change. I then provide data I collected in Ghana to demonstrate effects of extreme weather events on women subsistence farmers and argue that women have knowledge to contribute to adaptation efforts. The final section surveys the international climate debate, assesses explanations for its gender blindness, and summarizes the progress on gender that was made at Copenhagen and Cancun in order to document and provoke movement toward climate justice for women.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conducted interviews with resource users in three Solomon Islands villages and found that a strong reliance upon mangrove goods for subsistence and cash, particularly for firewood, food and building materials.
Abstract: Mangroves are an imperilled biome whose protection and restoration through payments for ecosystem services (PES) can contribute to improved livelihoods, climate mitigation and adaptation. Interviews with resource users in three Solomon Islands villages suggest a strong reliance upon mangrove goods for subsistence and cash, particularly for firewood, food and building materials. Village-derived economic data indicates a minimum annual subsistence value from mangroves of US$ 345–1501 per household. Fish and nursery habitat and storm protection were widely recognized and highly valued mangrove ecosystem services. All villagers agreed that mangroves were under threat, with firewood overharvesting considered the primary cause. Multivariate analyses revealed village affiliation and religious denomination as the most important factors determining the use and importance of mangrove goods. These factors, together with gender, affected users’ awareness of ecosystem services. The importance placed on mangrove services did not differ significantly by village, religious denomination, gender, age, income, education or occupation. Mangrove ecosystem surveys are useful as tools for raising community awareness and input prior to design of PES systems. Land tenure and marine property rights, and how this complexity may both complicate and facilitate potential carbon credit programmes in the Pacific, are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the marginalisation of small-scale semi-subsistence farming in the context of the European Union's sustainable development reforms as implemented in the new member countries is examined.
Abstract: This article examines the marginalisation of small-scale semi-subsistence farming in the context of the European Union's sustainable development reforms as implemented in the new member countries. In documenting how small-scale farming in post-socialist Lithuania has been redefined from being a solution to the environmental and social degradation of industrialised agriculture under socialism to becoming a major obstacle in building sustainable agriculture, this case study offers a critique of sustainability as a developmental project and the asymmetrical relationships implicit in the rural development politics in Europe. Taking a historical-comparative approach, this study demonstrates that the notion of sustainability has been built on assumptions about the industrialisation and globalisation of agri-food systems that exclude alternative local forms of production, consumption and distribution. As a result, the implementation of such sustainable development policies leads to the reproduction of the industrialised agriculture and the exclusion of small-scale farmers from the vision of sustainable rural societies.
TL;DR: The importance of the potato crop in developing and underdeveloped countries has been highlighted in this paper, where it is considered to be a "famine relief crop" and a major source of income for poor households.
Abstract: Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L. Lam) is a tuber crop of immense potential as it produces more edible energy on marginal land than any other major food crop. As well as this useful property it can withstand adverse abiotic and biotic stresses and does not require intensive care. It therefore plays an important role in the economy of poor households where it acts as a major source of subsistence and is considered to be a ‘famine relief crop’. Besides this important function, the crop has immense industrial value for extraction of starch and production of animal feed. For all these reasons sweetpotato has great possibilities for enhancing food and nutrition security in developing and underdeveloped countries where most of the farmers’ holdings belong to the small and marginal categories. Although the crop is assuming greater significance owing to the ever-increasing population its importance is still underestimated and, unlike most staples, fails to attract sufficient attention of agricultural researchers throughout the tropics and subtropics. With greater attention and more collaborative research, there could be considerable improvements in the genetics of the crop and its husbandry which, together, would allow it to fulfill a wide range of needs in these areas of the world.
TL;DR: This study shows the remarkable importance of anthropogenic areas in providing wild food plants, reflected in the great diversity of species found, contributing to the food and nutritional security of rice farmers in Northeast Thailand.
Abstract: Background
Wild food plants are a critical component in the subsistence system of rice farmers in Northeast Thailand. One of the important characteristics of wild plant foods among farming households is that the main collection locations are increasingly from anthropogenic ecosystems such as agricultural areas rather than pristine ecosystems. This paper provides selected results from a study of wild food conducted in several villages in Northeast Thailand. A complete botanical inventory of wild food plants from these communities and surrounding areas is provided including their diversity of growth forms, the different anthropogenic locations were these species grow and the multiplicity of uses they have.
Book Chapter•
01 Jan 2011
TL;DR: The importance of coastal fisheries cannot be overstated as discussed by the authorsocusing on the food security, livelihoods, and culture of both rural communities and urban populations in the tropical Pacific, coastal fisheries contribute significantly to food security.
Abstract: [Extract] Although the coastal fisheries of the Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) differ considerably from the industrial tuna fisheries of the region (Chapter 8), the importance of coastal fisheries cannot be overstated. Throughout the tropical Pacific, coastal fisheries contribute significantly to the food security, livelihoods, and culture of both rural communities and urban populations. In the majority of PICTs, fish consumption by coastal communities exceeds 50 kg per person per year, and is > 90 kg per person per year in six PICTs. In comparison, average global fish consumption per person is 16–18 kg per year.
Not surprisingly, therefore, coastal fisheries in the tropical Pacific are based mainly on subsistence activities to provide fish and invertebrates for household food. Nevertheless, an average of 47% of households in fishing communities also earn their first or second income from selling surplus fish and invertebrates caught from coastal and nearshore waters10. Specialised fisheries for coastal invertebrates (e.g. sea cucumbers and trochus) and fish (e.g. groupers and snappers) for export commodities, have also contributed substantially to national income and local livelihoods over the years. The only parts of the tropical Pacific where coastal fisheries do not help underpin food security and livelihoods are the inland areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Fiji (Chapter 10). The significance of coastal fisheries is demonstrated by the total contributions of subsistence and commercial catches to gross domestic product (GDP) across the region; together, they are estimated to be worth USD 272 million. This is considerably higher than the USD 200 million derived from locally-based industrial tuna fleets.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present an in-depth analysis of reciprocal exchanges of water in a water-scarce squatter settlement in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and demonstrate that these water exchanges conform to a social insurance model of reciprocity.
Abstract: Recent debates have questioned whether reciprocity constitutes a threatened form of social insurance or a nascent and promising pathway toward development This debate is of vital importance for understanding how the urban poor survive in the face of subsistence challenges that are likely to intensify in the future In this article, I present an in-depth analysis of reciprocal exchanges of water in a water-scarce squatter settlement in Cochabamba, Bolivia Drawing on qualitative and quantitative analyses, I demonstrate (1) how reciprocal exchanges of water are conducted in an urban setting; (2) that these water exchanges conform to a social insurance model of reciprocity; and (3) that such reciprocal exchanges are consistent with the moral economy of water documented elsewhere in the Andes I conclude that reciprocity, while capable of safeguarding subsistence, is not a solution for people whose survival is continually threatened by larger political and economic forces that create water insecurity, resource inequity, and social exclusion among the urban poor
01 Mar 2011
TL;DR: PastPastoralism is a subsistence pattern in which people make their living by domesticating large herds of animals as mentioned in this paper, and it has a strong and renewed interest among the anthropologist, especially among women.
Abstract: Pastoral societies have revived strong and renewed interest among the anthropologist. Pastoralism is a subsistence pattern in which people make their living by domesticating large herds of animals....
TL;DR: The frequency of bad harvests and price elasticity of demand are measured using new data on English grain yields 1268-1480 and 1750-1850 and a revised price series as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The frequency of bad harvests and price elasticity of demand are measured using new data on English grain yields 1268–1480 and 1750–1850 and a revised price series. The analysis shows that major harvest shortfalls were a significant component of most historical subsistence crises, as back-to-back shortfalls were of the worst famines. Although serious harvest shortfalls long remained an unavoidable fact of economic life, by c.1800 yields had become less variable and prices less harvest sensitive. By the eve of the Industrial Revolution, England had become effectively famine-free.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the question of communal land property in Africa and its implications for women's land rights among the themes discussed are: the reforms of the communal land tenure attempted by the World Bank in the 1990s, the critique of women's relations that feminist organizations have made on account of their patriarchal discrimination against women, and simultaneous efforts by landless rural and urban women to appropriate unused plots of public land for subsistence farming.
Abstract: This article examines the question of communal land property in Africa and its implications for women’s land rights Among the themes discussed are: the reforms of communal land tenure attempted by the World Bank in the 1990s, the critique of communal land relations that feminist organizations have made on account of their patriarchal discrimination against women, and the simultaneous efforts by landless rural and urban women to appropriate unused plots of public land for subsistence farming While warning that the feminist attack on communal land ownership may strengthen the neo-liberal drive towards the privatization of land, the article looks at women’s reclamation of unused public land for subsistence farming as the path to the constitution of new commons
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of African-American sweetgrass basket-makers, associated with the Gullah culture, in South Carolina's lowcountry, examine the ways in which ongoing amenity-driven residential development is fundamentally reshaping resource access on private lands.
Abstract: There is growing recognition among political ecologists of the need to examine shifting natural resource regimes and their effects on livelihoods in “First World” places. This emerging literature has variously examined the “Third World within,” the persistence of “subsistence activities” in the “First World,” and the “reterritorialization” of land tenure and access. However, much of this work has tended to focus on traditional extractive industries in the American West, indigenous claims to lands and resources in the U.S. and Canada, and non-timber resources on public lands. In contrast, we use a case study of African-American sweetgrass basket-makers, associated with the Gullah culture, in South Carolina’s lowcountry to examine the ways in which ongoing amenity-driven residential development is fundamentally reshaping resource access on private lands. Historically, basket-makers harvested the materials (primarily sweetgrass or Mulenbergia filipes) needed for their culturally important art form from accessible, rural, and privately held tracts of land in close proximity to their communities, but development pressures and changes in resident interpretation of property rights has decreased access to basket-making resources. The case is particularly illuminating, as it examines the emergence of ‘conservation subdivisions’ in the region and raises important questions about what “rural uses” and users are being conserved through responses to exurban, suburban, and urban development in formerly rural areas.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that policies used by middle and high-income countries are unsuitable for poorer, agricultural countries; they recommend instead that these nations promote broader access to land and raise land productivity.
Abstract: Governments need the capacity to manage price instability and its social consequences; but in countries where people suffer most, they are least able to respond, because of limited fiscal and institutional resources. This article argues that policies used by middle- and high-income countries are unsuitable for poorer, agricultural countries; it recommends instead that these nations promote broader access to land and raise land productivity. The authors explain why instruments used by richer countries, such as those that control prices and cheapen food, fail in poorer countries. They describe the features of smallholder farmers in poorer countries, drawing upon evidence from India, Peru, and Guatemala to demonstrate how subsistence farming can be part of policy responses to the distress of a food crisis in both the short and medium term. They call upon donors to improve their understanding of and support for small-scale, subsistence-oriented farming.
TL;DR: The analyses suggest that the plateau was a more risky environment than the northwest coast, which seems to reflect an important but hitherto unappreciated feature of the relationship between risk and toolkit structure, namely that the impact of risk is dependent on the scale of the risk differences among populations.
Abstract: Recent studies have suggested that the decisions that hunter–gatherers make about the diversity and complexity of their subsistence toolkits are strongly affected by risk of resource failure. However, the risk proxies and samples employed in these studies are potentially problematic. With this in mind, we retested the risk hypothesis with data from hunter–gatherer populations who lived in the northwest coast and plateau regions of the Pacific Northwest during the early contact period. We focused on these populations partly because the northwest coast and plateau differ in ways that can be expected to lead to differences in risk, and partly because of the availability of data for a wide range of risk-relevant variables. Our analyses suggest that the plateau was a more risky environment than the northwest coast. However, the predicted differences in the number and complexity of the populations' subsistence tools were not observed. The discrepancy between our results and those of previous tests of the risk hypothesis is not due to methodological differences. Rather, it seems to reflect an important but hitherto unappreciated feature of the relationship between risk and toolkit structure, namely that the impact of risk is dependent on the scale of the risk differences among populations.
TL;DR: This article develops a conceptual framework to better understand where each region or country is situated in terms of attaining a reasonable increase in animal production while preserving sustainability.
TL;DR: In this article, the economic impact of the emerging artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector has had in rural Malawi, where it now flourishes alongside small-holder agriculture.
Abstract: This article critically assesses the economic impact an emerging artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector has had in rural Malawi, where it now flourishes alongside smallholder agriculture. It examines the linkages between subsistence agriculture and ASM, sharing perspectives from miners themselves on the contribution of both sectors to their livelihoods. Because of its potential to alleviate poverty in the country, a supported ASM sector must receive greater policy focus in Malawi. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the major advantages associated with the spread of likoti and reveal that attending appropriate training is a crucial prerequisite for the correct adoption of the practice, however, training is more effective when trainers pursue true participation and when social capital among farmers is stronge.
Abstract: Subsistence farmers in Lesotho have been able to boost agricultural yields and increase food production by adopting conservation agriculture. The practice, locally known as likoti, also contributes to combating soil erosion and to enhancing fertility. The socio-economic and environmental benefits help poor households to rehabilitate and strengthen their livelihood capital base and ultimately help rural communities to build system resilience in the face of widespread poverty and increasing vulnerability that affect the country. This paper discusses the major advantages associated with the spread of likoti. By drawing on primary data collected by FAO-Lesotho, it enquires into the determinants of adoption, thereby highlighting constraints and options for future up-scaling. The results show that attending appropriate training is a crucial prerequisite for the correct adoption of likoti. However, training is more effective when trainers pursue true participation and when social capital among farmers is stronge...
TL;DR: The national programme scientists demonstrated admirably that, when trusted and adequately supported and empowered, African researchers can deliver real and effective solutions that are scientifically sound, meet the needs of smallholder farmers, and contribute significantly to improved food security, community resilience and reduced poverty.
Abstract: The pearl millet head miner became a major pest in the West African Sahel during the droughts of 1972–1974, and has since remained a threat to food security. Pesticide control is unrealistic for subsistence farmers. Furthermore, there are no cultural control methods or genetic sources of resistance. Biological control was a possibility, but the required ecological knowledge did not exist in the 1970s. A biological control programme could have been rapidly developed through sustained and coordinated funding using existing knowledge. Instead, it took 25 years to lay the scientific groundwork through occasional bursts of uncoordinated short-term activity using international scientists funded by large donors. There was little funding and few prominent roles for national scientists until 2000, when they were empowered by a different approach taken by the McKnight Foundation. An operational system was quickly developed and deployed in which trained farmers rear and release the parasitoid Habrobracon hebetor to ...