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NCCR North-South - Research Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Publications: Papers

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Assainissement Environnemental Centré sur les Ménages

Directive provisoire

Eawag [Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology], WSSCC [Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council], 2006

Ferne Länder, andere Stoffflüsse

Eawag [Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology], 2006

German edition of Eawag News on material flows in foreign lands. An accounting method for the analysis of flows of ecologically significant materials and resources is increasingly being used by Eawag to assess acute environmental problems in developing and emerging countries. The German edition of Eawag News reports on projects carried out in Bangladesh, Eritrea, Congo/Rwanda, Cuba, Thailand and Vietnam.

EAWAG News 62d December 2006

Download from: EAWAG

Implementing the Bellagio Principles in Urban Environmental Sanitation Services

Provisional Guideline for Decision-Makers

Eawag [Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology], WSSCC [Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council], 2005

This guideline presents the Household-Centred Environmental Sanitation (HCES) approach, which was developed by an Environmental Sanitation Working Group of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).

Download PDF or order hard copy from: Eawag (Available in English and French)

Etude qualitative de suivi d’indicateurs dans la prise en charge communautaire du VIH/SIDA, et facteurs de survie après 12 mois de traitement dans les villes de Bouaké, Korhogo et Man.

C Acka-Douable, Alain Nicolas Betsi, Guéladio Cissé, Cléopâtre Kablan, Benjamin G. Koudou, Andres Tschannen, 2007

Care/Fonds Mondial de lutte contre le sida, le paludisme et la tuberculose, 57 p.

Food Insecurity, conflict and livelihood threats in Nepal

Jaganath Adhikari , 2010

This chapter examines the food security situation in Nepal and the impact of the recent armed conflict on the food security situation. It argues that food security is understood in different ways and that definitions have changed over time, as these definitions are influenced by different factors – both subjective and objective, and domestic and international.
Based on the analysis, some recommendations are made as to how to improve the food security situation in times of conflict, during normal times and in the context of globalisation.

In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 73-130.

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Collaborative research in the development of organic agriculture in Switzerland - a case study

Andrea Aeberhard, Stephan Rist, 2009

In: Daub CH, Burger P, Scherrer Y, editors. Creating Values for Sustainable Development. Proceedings of the 2nd International Sustainability Conference. Basel, pp 209-211

Koproduktion von Wissen in der Entwicklung des Biolandbaus - Einflüsse von Marginalisierung, Anerkennung und Markt.

Andrea Aeberhard, Stephan Rist, 2009

In: Mayer JA T, Leiber F, Dubois D, Fried P, Heckendorn F, Hillmann E, Klocke P, Lüscher A, Riedel S, Stolze M, Strasser F, Van der Heijden M, Willer H, editors. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau. Werte - Wege - Wirkungen: Biolandbau im Spannungsfeld zwischen Ernährungssicherung, Markt und Klimawandel. Zürich: Verlag Dr. Köster, Berlin, pp 8-10.

Transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge in the development of organic agriculture in Switzerland.

Andrea Aeberhard, Stephan Rist, 2009

Journal of Ecological Economics 68:1171-1181

Regionalentwicklung – Heterogener Lebens- und Wirtschaftsraum

Isabel Aerni, Astrid Wallner, Urs Wiesmann, 2007

Welt der Alpen - Erbe der Welt: Wissenschaftler/Innen berichten über ihre Ergebnisse und Erkenntnisse aus der Alpen- und der globalen Gebirgsforschung. Es geht um die aktuelle Dynamik und Langzeitsignale, um Risikomanagement und Nachhaltigkeit, aber auch um Mythen und Lebensalltag sowie um Autonomie und Fremdbestimmung im globalen Zusammenhang. Jeder dieser vier Themenbereiche wird mit einem Einführungsartikel eingeleitet und beinhaltet zwei Beiträge aus den Alpen sowie zwei weitere entweder aus den Anden, dem Karakorum, Kaukasus, Himalaja, den Berggebieten in Ostafrika, Lesotho oder Neuseeland. Nach dem von der UNO proklamierten «Internationalen Jahr der Berge» stellt sich die Frage, was die Geographie leisten kann, um zur nachhaltigeren Entwicklung der Gebirgsräume in einer globalisierten Welt beizutragen.

In: Wallner, A., Bäschlin, E., Grosjean, M., Labhart, T., Schüpbach, U., Wiesmann, U., editors. 2007. Welt der Alpen - Erbe der Welt. UNESCO Welterbe-Region Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn. Bern: Haupt, pp. 185-195

Order this publication from: Haupt

River Water Shortage in a Highland–Lowland System

A Case Study of the Impacts of Water Abstraction in the Mount Kenya Region

Jos Aeschbacher, Hanspeter Liniger, Rolf Weingartner, 2005

The highland–lowland system of the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin, with Mount Kenya functioning as a crucial water tower, has reached and repeatedly exceeded the limits of water availability in the past decade. In contrast to the heavily decreasing low flow discharge, the mean discharge does not show any decreasing tendency. This is due to higher flood flows, which may be induced by accelerated runoff generation due to land use change. The present study seeks to support Water Users' Associations (WUAs, ie self-help initiatives aiming to mitigate conflicts over the allocation of water) by providing them with up-to-date information about demand, supply and use of river water, as well as tools and methods for improving water management.

Mountain Research and Development 2005, 25(2), pp. 155-162

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Patterns of consumption and poverty in Delhi slums

Naveen Kumar Agrawal, 2003

Economic and Political Weekly 2003, 38(50), pp. 5294-5300

Available for purchase from: Economic and Political Weekly

Traditional Mediation in Sudan

Mey Eltayeb Ahmed, 2008

Poster, Kongress Mediation in Politik und Verwaltung, Zurich, 2 November

Specific characteristics in the development of erosion processes under rainfed agriculture

K. Akhmadov, Gulniso Nekushoeva, 2007

In: Pathways to Increasing the Productivity of Tajikistan’s Soils [in Russian].

The tillage and anastomose erosion development in Tajikistan

K. Akhmadov, RK Kumalova , Gulniso Nekushoeva, 2007

In Russian

Tajik Agrarian Academy Report Journal 1 (II): 75-83

Who gains from community conservation? Intended and unintended costs and benefits of participative approaches in Peru and Tanzania

Jamil Alca Castillo, Alex Alvarez, Marc Galvin, Tobias Haller, Patrick Meroka, 2008

Journal of Environmental & Development 17(2):118.

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Analysis of myths and realities of deforestation in Pakistan:

Implications for forestry extension

Tanvir Ali, Babar Shahbaz, Abid Qaiyum Suleri, 2006

This paper attempts to analyze myths and realities regarding deforestation in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. It presents the perceptions of forest dependent people of the province regarding the forest use patterns, condition of forests, change in forest cover, factors responsible for the forest depletion and increase of illegal cutting. The intensive use of forest wood for household needs and ineffective forest management strategies by the forest department were some of the key reasons of deforestation in the study area. Policy guidelines are suggested for improving the effectiveness of forestry extension sevices.

International Journal of Agriculture and Biology 8(1):107-110.

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Impact of participatory forest management on financial assets of rural communities in Northwest Pakistan

Tanvir Ali, Munir Ahmad, Babar Shahbaz, Abid Qaiyum Suleri, 2007

"The system of participatory (or joint) forest management was commenced in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan in 1996 through Asian Development Bank's funded project. These forest reforms seek to initiate the process of eliminating the main causes of forest depletion through participation of local communities. Nevertheless, despite decades of the donor's interventions the deforestation rate in NWFP is still alarming. In this paper we have attempted to analyze the participatory forest management in Northwest Pakistan through livelihood lenses. More specifically this paper explores the impact of joint forest management initiatives on financial assets and livelihood strategies of local people. The overall results indicated that majority of the respondents were not dependent on the natural resources for their cash income rather they had adopted diverse non-natural resource based activities such as migration, labour etc. The results also indicated that the main priorities of the local people were financial and food security; where as the NWFP model of joint forest management gives more emphasis on forest protection and regeneration. Although the joint forest management enhanced the social assets of the local communities yet the omission of immediate financial benefits from the institutional changes in the forestry sector of NWFP was a barrier in motivating the local people in forest protection and was one of the main issues hindering the effectiveness of the forest reforms process."

Ecological Economics 2007, Volume 63, Issues 2-3, pp. 588-593

Available from: ScienceDirect

Attitudinal and Relational Factors Predicting the Use of Solar Water Disinfection

A Field Study in Nicaragua

Anne-Marie Altherr, Fabrizio Butera, Hans-Joachim Mosler, Robert Tobias, 2006

"Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is an uncomplicated and cheap technology providing individuals with safe drinking water by exposing water-filled plastic bottles to sunlight for 6 hours to kill waterborne pathogens. Two communities were visited, and 81 families (40 SODIS users and 41 nonusers) were interviewed. The relationship between several factors and the intention to use SODIS in the future and actual use were tested. The results showed that intention to use and actual use are mainly related to an overall positive attitude, intention to use is related to the use of SODIS by neighbors, and actual use is related to knowledge about SODIS; SODIS users reported a significantly lower incidence in diarrhea than SODIS nonusers. These results suggest that promotion activities should aim at creating a positive attitude, for example, by choosing a promoter that is able to inspire confidence in the new technology."

Health Education & Behavior 2006, published online 17 November 2006

Available from: SAGE JOURNALS Online

Las políticas públicas del territorio amazónico de la Región del Cuzco

Una aproximación para su estudio

Alex Alvarez, 2006

Estudios Amazónicos 2006, No.4, pp. 83-108.

Available for purchase from: Centro Cultural José Pío Aza

The difficult invension of participation in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, Peru

Alex Alvarez, Jamil Alca Castillo, Marc Galvin, 2008

In: Galvin M, Haller T, editors. People, Protected Areas and Global Change: Participatory Conservation in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 3.Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 111-144.

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Contribution à la caractérisation de la production des boues de vidange de la ville de Yaoundé

Armand Ambassa Ndiomo, 2005

In: Mémoire de Dess en Sciences de l’environnement. Université de Yaoundé, Cameroun.

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Sustainable Development and International Cooperation in the Eastern Nile Basin

Salah El-Din Amer, Yacob Arsano, Atta El-Battahani, Osman El-Tom Hamad, Magdy Abd El-Moenim Hefny, Imeru Tamrat, 2005

The following article provides an overview of issues related to international cooperation and water use in the Eastern Nile Basin, thereby introducing the following three papers written from an Ethiopian, Sudanese and Egyptian perspective respectively. Basic environmental and socio-economic data is given. The various national interests and international initiatives in the Nile Basin are introduced. Key areas of consensus between the authors, as well as open questions that still need to be worked on, are elaborated. The article also describes the unique process of how the six authors from three countries worked on this joint publication in the Nile Dialogue Workshop of 2002. Key conclusions are that sustained, non-polemical communication can lead to cooperation, and that cooperation is the cornerstone to sustainable water development.

Aquatic Sciences 2005, (67): pp. 3-14.

Available for purchase from: SpringerLink

The Impact of Demand Factors, Quality of Care and Access to Facilities on Contraceptive Use in Tanzania

Mary Arends-Kuenning, Flora Kessy, 2007

The low contraceptive prevalence rate and the existence of unmet demand for family planning services present a challenge for parties involved in family planning research in Tanzania. The observed situation has been explained by the demand-side variables such as socioeconomic characteristics and cultural values that maintain the demand for large families. A small, but growing body of research is examining the effect of supply-side factors such as quality of care of family planning services on the demand for contraceptives. This paper analyses the demand and supply factors determining contraceptive use in Tanzania using the Tanzania Service Availability Survey (1996) and the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (1996) data sets. The results show that access to family planning services and quality of care of services are important determinants of contraceptive use in Tanzania even after controlling for demand-side factors.

Journal of Biosocial Science 2007, Vol. 39, Issue 1, pp. 1-26

Available from: Cambridge University Press

Conflict Management Over Water Rights in Ethiopia

The Case of the Woiyto Valley in Southern Ethiopia

Yacob Arsano, 2002

In: Baechler G, Spillmann KR, Suliman M. editors. 2002. Transformation of Resource Conflicts: Approach and Instruments. Bern: Peter Lang, pp 451-476.

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Ethiopia and the Eastern Nile Basin

Yacob Arsano, Imeru Tamrat, 2005

Ethiopia is the main source of the Nile River, and the country urgently needs water for irrigation and hydro-electric power development. To-date, however, Ethiopia is the country in the Eastern Nile basin that uses the least amount of water from the Nile run-off. There is no basin-wide agreement on the utilization and management of the water resources of the Nile Basin. Unilateral planning and implementation approaches have hindered the possibilities of cooperation and coordinated development. On the national level, economic and institutional capacities are also limited. Past initiatives as well as the current Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) are outlined regarding how far these dilemmas are dealt with. The paper ends with suggestions on how to deal with open questions and lessons learned from the ongoing NBI process.

Aquatic Sciences 2005, (67): pp. 15-27.

Available for purchase from: SpringerLink

Transformation of Resource Conflicts and the Case of Woito River Valley in Southern Ethiopia

Yacob Arsano, Günther Bächler, 2002

In: Flury M, Geiser U. 2002. Local Environmental Management in a North-South Perspective. Issues of Participation and Knowledge Management. vdf Hochschulverlag Zurich & IOS Press Amsterdam, pp. 91-108

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Biennial Report 2007 / 2008. Joint Area of Case Studies Central Asia (JACS CAS

Mira Arynova, Daniel Maselli, 2009

Analysis of the effectiveness of water use in the irrigation system of the Sokuluk River Basin, Chui Valley, Kyrgyzstan

Bakyt Askaraliev, 2006

In Russian

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Title: Water discharge stabilizer for irrigation systems of the Sokuluk river basin

Bakyt Askaraliev, Viktor Bilenko, G. Frolova, Natalia Ivanova, 2007

Bulletin of Kyrgyz Agrarian University 1(7):263-267

La richesse génétique du Sud convoitée par le Nord

L’exemple du Pérou

Claude Auroi, Marc Galvin, 2006

"De plus en plus souvent, les groupes pharmaceutiques et agroalimentaires font valoir des licences sur certaines propriétés d’espèces animales et végétales, s’assurant ainsi des droits de distribution lucratifs. En même temps, les pays en développement, «génétiquement riches», revendiquent une juste répartition des bénéfices. Cette évolution peut être illustrée par l’exemple du Pérou."

Hotspot 2006, No. 14, pp. 6-7

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Bovine tuberculosis: an old disease but a new threat to Africa

Wuhib Y. Ayele, S.D. Neill, I. Pavlik, Mitchell G. Weiss, Jakob Zinsstag, 2004

"Bovine tuberculosis (TB) is a disease characterised by progressive development of specific granulomatous le-sions or tubercles in lung tissue, lymph nodes or other organs. Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of the disease. Bovine species, including bison and buffaloes, are susceptible to the disease, but nearly all warm-blooded animals can be affected. All species are not equally susceptible to the disease; some are spill-over (end) hosts and others maintenance hosts. In Africa, bovine TB primarily affects cattle; however, infection in other farm and domestic animals, such as sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and cats, is not uncommon. Wild ruminants and carnivores are also affected and are the natural reservoirs of the infectious agent in the wild. Man is also susceptible to the disease, the highest risk groups being individuals with concomitant HIV/AIDS infection. In Africa, human TB is widely known to be caused by M. tuberculosis; however, an unknown proportion of cases are due to M. bovis. This infection in humans is underreported as a result of the diagnostic limitations of many laboratories in distinguishing M. bovis from M. tuberculosis. None of the national reports submitted to the OIE and WHO by African member states mention the importance of M. bovis in human TB cases. Consumption of unpasteurised milk and poorly heat-treated meat and close contact with infected animals represent the main sources of infection for humans. This review attempts to examine the impact of bovine TB on the health of animals and humans."

The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 2004, Vol. 8, No. 8, pp. 924-937(14)

Freely available from: Ingentaconnect

The look of and on sustainable development: The role of images in participation processes to establish protected areas

Norman Backhaus, Urs Müller, Ulrike Müller-Böker, 2008

Sustainable development is not a process that simply happens, rather it has to be achieved and agreed upon by the voters. In both case study areas - the UNESCO Biosphere Entlebuch and the World Heritage Site (WHS) Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn - voters and parish councils have decided in polls to financially contribute to the establishment and management of protected areas that are committed to sustainable development. In this paper we focus on the role that images played in this process and we analyze the potential appropriations of space and use of the regions' resources that are depicted. Results show that there are differences between inside and outside views as well as between the case study areas.

In: Siegrist D, Clivaz C, Hunziker M, Iten S, editors. Visitor Management in Nature-based Tourism: Strategies and Success Factors for Recreational and Protected Areas. Rapperswil: Institute for Landscape and Open Space, HSR University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil, pp. 33-45.

To order this publication, please contact the Institute for Landscape and Open Space: ilf@hsr.ch

What does sustainable development look like? Visions of two Swiss UNESCO regions.

Norman Backhaus, Urs Müller, 2006

The establishment of a nature reserve usually means a change of access to the area and its resources. Therefore, anticipated constraints for the use of resources can lead to opposition against nature conservation projects. Hence, bottom up initiated and broadly accepted conservation areas are rare, because different actors or stakeholders have different mental images about what their region should look like. Such images are expressed in written texts and visual publications. Visual images that have an influence on people’s “images in the head” play an important role for the structuration of landscape and the potential of appropriation of space. This includes the landscape’s potential for tourism, production, and formation as a living space. People’s actions are grounded in the meanings they attribute to things. These meanings are constructions and elements of social structures that are widely shared.

In: Siegrist D, Clivaz C, Hunziker M, Iten S, editors. Exploring the Nature of Management. Rapperswil, pp. 272-274.

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Klassenbewusste Einbunkerung für jeden was

Geschlossene Viertel in San Salvador

Sonia Baires, 2005

Los barrios cerrados en el AMSS: una nueva forma de segregación residencial en la era de la globalización

Revista ILA 2005, 288:XII-XIII

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Violencia urbana y recuperación de espacios públicos. El caso del AMSS

Sonia Baires, 2004

In Spanish

In: V.V. Aportes para la convivencia y la seguridad ciudadana. UNDP. San Salvador C.A.

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What Drives Land Cover Change in Eastern Escarpment of Wello, Ethiopia?

Amare Bantider, Hans Hurni, Gete Zeleke, 2008

Multiple factors, many operating concomitantly and as a chain of logical causation, were found responsible for non-linear land cover changes along the Eastern Escarpment of Wello (EEW). Unlike elsewhere, population in this region did not turn out to be an important factor in driving land use and land cover change (LULCC); however, it made its own contribution to these changes.

Poster presented at the International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD), National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR North-South, University of Bern. 02-04 July 2008, Bern.

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Patterns and politics of migration in South Asia

Sanjay Barbora, Karin Astrid Siegmann, Susan Thieme, 2010

Migration is an important social and historical reality in South Asia. In the past decade, migration from one country to another and internal migration (i.e. migration within a particular country) have assumed different dimensions
for people in the region. Contemporary research on migration is placed in a spectrum that ranges from exponents of economic benefits at one end, to those who see migration as a security threat, at the other. This paper combines the work of three researchers and looks at the different political locations from which the South Asian subject is induced to move. It also discusses the economic and political implications that arise from these migration trajectories. Drawing on their research, the authors emphasise the need for understanding how migration is linked to a complex set of processes that reflect power relations in unequal societies.

In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 313-328.

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Rethinking India’s Counter-insurgency Campaign in North-East

Sanjay Barbora, 2006

"The optimism generated by proponents of India’s “Look East” policy and tentative peace talks between armed opposition groups and the state would suggest that there has been a radical change in the government of India’s north-east policy. However, militarisation and ethnic confrontation continue to define the parameters of public policy in India’s north-east. Ethnic violence is accentuated by the existence of parallel political and administrative structures that undermine the rule of law. This article argues that the change in India’s north-east is contingent upon the government’s motivation to encourage transparency in governance and administration and to consciously move away from its existing reliance on archaic military solutions."

Economic and Political Weekly 2006, XLI(35), pp. 3805-3812

Available for purchase from: Economic and Political Weekly

Nationalizing Space: Cosmetic Federalism and the Politics of Development in Northeast India

Sanjib Baruah, 2003

"Until recently Arunachal Pradesh on India's Northeast frontier was relatively insulated from the processes associated with development. State institutions were barely present during the colonial era. In 1962, however, India and China fought a border war in this area: this war, along with signs of unrest among indigenous peoples in the neighbourhood, exposed India's vulnerabilities in the region. Since then, nationalizing this frontier space by extending the institutions of the state all the way into the international border region has become the thrust of Indian policy. The region's governmental infrastructure was fundamentally redesigned to put in place what can only be described as a cosmetic federal regional order with a number of small states dependent on the central government's largess and subject to monitoring by India's Home Ministry. The new regional order has put Arunachal firmly on a developmentalist track, which has enabled India to meet its national security goals, but at a significant cost to the region."

Development and Change 2003, 34(5), p. 915

Available from: Blackwell Synergy

Approche novatrice des vaccinations en santé publique et en médecine vétérinaire chez les pasteurs au Tchad

Expériences et coûts

Mahamat Béchir, Saada Daoud, Doumagoum Moto Daugla, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Kaspar Wyss, Jakob Zinsstag, 2004

This report describes a network of public health care workers, veterinarians and nomadic pastoralists that was set up in Chad to increase vaccination coverage to nomadic children and women who had rarely been vaccinated before. The objectives of the project were to provide human vaccination in conjunction with existing veterinary services, to evaluate the feasibility and limitations of such campaigns, to determine what other services could be provided concurrently, and to estimate the savings for public health care cases in comparison with carrying out vaccination separately. The joint vaccination campaign approach is innovative, appreciated by nomadic pastoralists and less expensive than separate vaccination. By using the mobility of veterinarians in remote zones far from health care facilities, vaccination can be provided to nomadic children and women in countries with limited resources.

Médecine Tropicale 2004, Vol. 64, No. 5, pp. 497-502

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Mapping Where the Poor Live. IFPRI 2020 FOCUS Briefs on the World's Poor and Hungry People

Todd Benson, Michael Epprecht, N. Minot, 2007

"Should I buy a cow or a TV?"

Reflections on the conceptual framework of the NCCR North-South based on a comparative study of international labour migration in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan

Christine Bichsel, Silvia Hostettler, Balz Strasser, 2005

International labour migration has become a strategy against poverty in many parts of the developing world. By remitting their earnings to the families they leave behind, migrant labourers have become a primary source of livelihoods for many of the world's poorest nations. The long-term consequences of this practice on local development are the subject of this study, based on reseach conducted in three rural communities in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan.

NCCR North-South Dialogue 2005

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In Search of Harmony: Repairing Infrastructure and Social Relations in the Ferghana Valley

Christine Bichsel, 2005

Central Asian Survey 2005, 24(1): pp. 53-66

Available for purchase from: Taylor & Francis

Natural resource institutions in transformation: The tragedy and glory of the private

Christine Bichsel, Gilbert Fokou, Asel Ibraimova, Ulan Kasymov, Bernd Steimann, Susan Thieme, 2009

The article focuses on continuity and change in natural resource institutions in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. Two main trends have characterised the management of water, agricultural land and pastures since the country became independent in 1991. First, while natural resources were collective and state-owned during the Soviet period, they are now being gradually privatised and passed into individual or group ownership. Second, by contrast with central administration under the Soviet regime, after independence natural resource management has been and is increasingly being decentralised to the community level. We suggest that these processes have created a new concept of the ‘private’, defined as clearly assigned property rights as opposed to ‘commons’, and individual or group ownership as opposed to ‘public’ ownership. We attempt here to analyse how privatisation and decentralisation have created new property relations and new forms of natural resource governance.

In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 255-269.

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Natural resources in Kyrgyzstan

The tragedy and glory of the 'private'

Christine Bichsel, Gilbert Fokou, Asel Ibraimova, Ulan Kasymov, Bernd Steimann, Susan Thieme, 2008

Poster presented at the ICRD, International Conference on Research for Development. 2.-4.7.2008, Berne, Switzerland.

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Developing Gender, Transforming Development

Epistemic Shifts in Gender and Development Discourse over 30 Year

Sabin Bieri, 2006

In: Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 57-85

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Waste-resource flows of short-lived goods in households of Santiago de Cuba

Claudia Binder, Hans-Joachim Mosler, 2006

"In this paper, we apply the method of material flow analysis to analyze the consumption and waste mass flows of short-lived goods and we provide first insights into the waste management behavior of households in Santiago de Cuba. The goods analyzed are glass, aluminum, organic material and PET. The necessary data were gathered in personal interviews with 1171 households using a standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire contained questions about socio-demographic variables, such as age, sex, education, income and occupation. The households were asked how many PET bottles, aluminum and glass containers they consume per month and how they dispose of the different kinds of garbage. [...]"

Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2006, Published online 2 October 2006

Available from: ScienceDirect

Intermediate cities in Latin America

Risk and opportunities of coherent urban development

Jean-Claude Bolay, Adriana Rabinovich, 2004

"Urban agglomerations continue to be defined primarily by spatial and demographic criteria which signal their position within the domestic and international urban networks. We consider that these criteria are overly static, and lack indicators of both the potential inherent in medium-sized cities, and the risks they are prone to. On the occasion of a research action project conducted jointly with the Urban Management Program for Latin America and the Caribbean (PGU–ALC/HABITAT), we attempted to gain a deeper understanding of medium-sized cities in order to see more clearly what varied relations they entertain with their immediate or more distant environment. [...]"

Cities 2004, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp. 407–421

Available from: Science Direct

Neo-liberal Arguments, Technology and Public Institutions

Environmental, Economical and Social Problems in Cities of Argentina, Bolivia and Cuba

Jean-Claude Bolay, Andrea Catenazzi, Carlos Pleyán García, Yves Pedrazzini, Adriana Rabinovich, 2004

TRIALOG 2004, No. 80, pp. 41-44

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Pratiques urbaines et planification en Amérique Latine

Alternatives pour une gestion participative de l'habitat des pauvres en Bolivie

Jean-Claude Bolay, 2002

In: Dansereau F, Navez-Bouchanine F, editors. 2002. Gestion du développment urbain et stratégies résidentielles des habitants. Paris: L'Harmattan (Collection Villes et Entreprises)

Order from: L'Harmattan

Slums and Urban Development

Questions on Society and Globalisation

Jean-Claude Bolay, 2006

"The slum is not only a manifestation of mismanaged urban planning in the countries of the South. The existence of slums worldwide is also a sign that the slum is a crucial element of contemporary urbanisation. This article will attempt to define this phenomenon and understand its causes. Adequate policy responses are then suggested. Without finding appropriate solutions to the housing problems of a majority of urban dwellers, public and private decision makers will not be able to meet the challenges of sustainable development."

The European Journal of Development Research 2006, Vol. 18, Issue 2, pp 284-298

Available for purchase from: Informaworld

Urban Environment, Spatial Fragmentation and Social Segration in Latin America

Where does Innovation lie?

Jean-Claude Bolay, Andrea Catenazzi, Carlos Pleyán García, Yves Pedrazzini, Adriana Rabinovich, 2005

To ‘‘review the urban question’’ in terms of sustainable development, the premise is formulated that improving infrastructures, equipment and services to preserve the natural and built urban environment is costly and generates expenses of all kinds—at economic and social levels. Without the introduction of equalisation mechanisms, these expenses will increase inequalities between different parts of the urban population...

Habitat International 2005, Volume 29, Issue 4, pp. 627-645

Available online from: Science Direct

Waste collection and transportation at the community level in Ho Chi Minh City

A case study

Jean-Claude Bolay, Thi Lang Bui, Gian Tran Pham, Ngoc Du Thai Thi, 2002

In: Flury M, Geiser U. 2002. Local Environmental Management in a North-South Perspective. Issues of Participation and Knowledge Management. vdf Hochschulverlag Zurich & IOS Press Amsterdam.

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World globalisation, sustainable development and scientific cooperation

Jean-Claude Bolay, 2004

"Development-related questions have been raised periodically for over forty years. Development cooperation, in its turn, is also controversial, especially since its role is to make good intentions real, i.e. transform them into projects, programmes and other policy instruments generating investments that are much more pertinent than mere declarations of intent. Starting from an overview of the links between the profit-oriented trends of the globalisation process, and the non-profit aims pursued by the ''development cooperation world'', this article outlines the specific role that the scientific community plays or will have to play in international exchanges in order to steer the fundamental changes that contemporary societies are going through for the benefit of the greatest number."

The International Journal of Sustainable Development 2004, Vol. 7, No.2, pp. 99-120

Available from: InderScience

Quality and comparison of antenatal care in public and private providers in the United Republic of Tanzania

Christoph Boller, Deo Mtasiwa, Marcel Tanner, Kaspar Wyss, 2003

"Objective To compare the quality of public and private first-tier antenatal care services in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, using defined criteria.
Methods Structural attributes of quality were assessed through a checklist, and process attributes, including interpersonal and technical aspects, through observation and exit interviews. A total of 16 health care providers, and 166 women in the public and 188 in the private sector, were selected by systematic random sampling for inclusion in the study. Quality was measured against national standards, and an overall score calculated for the different aspects to permit comparison.
Findings The results showed that both public and private providers were reasonably good with regard to the structural and interpersonal aspects of quality of care. However, both were poor when it came to technical aspects of quality. For example, guidelines for dispensing prophylactic drugs against anaemia or malaria were not respected, and diagnostic examinations for the assessment of gestation, anaemia, malaria or urine infection were frequently not performed. In all aspects, private providers were significantly better than public ones.
Conclusion Approaches to improving quality of care should emerge progressively as a result of regular quality assessments. Changes should be introduced using an incremental approach addressing few improvements at a time, while ensuring participation in, and ownership of, every aspect of the strategy by health personnel, health planners and managers and also the community."

Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2003, Vol. 81, Number 2, pp. 116-122

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Access to Natural Resources and the Question of Autochthony in West Africa

Bassirou Bonfoh, Jerome Chenal, Gilbert Fokou, Mathieu Gasparini, Henri-Michel Yéré, 2008

Poster presented at the International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD). 2-4 July 2008, Berne, Switzerland.

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Effect of washing and disinfecting containers on the microbiological quality of fresh milk sold in Bamako (Mali)

Bassirou Bonfoh, Idriss O. Alfaroukh, A. Fané, Zakaria Farah, J. Nicolet, C. Roth, Cheikh F. Simbé, A.N. Traoré, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"The present study aimed to improve the microbiological quality of the milk, from the cow’s udder to the selling point by container washing and disinfecting. The total counts (TC), Enterobacteriaceae counts (EBC) were used as quality indicators. [...] The study suggests that in milk production area, besides udder infection and water quality, hygiene behaviour with respect to hand washing, container’s cleaning and disinfection are the key areas that remain of relevance to milk hygiene intervention."

Food Control 2006, Vol. 17, Issue 2, pp. 153-161

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Extension du modèle de développement laitier en milieu rural.

Commune Rurale de Cinzana (Régionde Ségou). Complex Laitier comme réponse à un besoin des agro-pasteurs.

Bassirou Bonfoh, D. Diallo, M. Dicko, A. Fané, Gilbert Fokou, D. Kouyaté, 2006

Institutional Frameworks for NRM and Access to Basic Services in the Sahel

Bassirou Bonfoh, Gilbert Fokou, Moustapha Ould Taleb, Jakob Zinsstag, 2008

Poster presented at the International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD). 2-4 July 2008, Berne, Switzerland.

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L' hygiène et la qualité sanitaire du lait et des produits laitiers.

Implications en santé publique.

Bassirou Bonfoh, M. Hetzel, C. Roth, P. Steinmann, A. Wasem, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

Operational plan for small scale milk producers in peri-urban of Bamako (Mali)

Bassirou Bonfoh, Idriss O. Alfaroukh, P. Ankers, M. Diabaté, Zakaria Farah, A. Sall, S. Tembely, 2006

Journal of Sahelian Studies and Research (12): 7-25.

Raw milk composition of Malian Zebu cows (Bos indicus) raised under traditional system

Bassirou Bonfoh, Riccardo Aebi, Idriss O. Alfaroukh, René Badertscher, Marius Collomb, Zakaria Farah, Jacques Meyer, Brita Rehberger, Cheikh F. Simbé, Jakob Zinsstag, 2005

Milk from Malian Zebu cows was analysed during the dry and hot season (March–June) in order to assess its composition and the components variation according to the presence of subclinical mastitis and supplementary feeding. The Zebu cow milk (n=30) was composed of 8 g/kg ash, 43 g/kg fat, 48 g/kg lactosemonohydrate, 37 g/kg proteins and 134 g/kg total solids. One-third of the cows tested positive to subclinical mastitis (white blood cell count >350,000/mL). Milk components were significantly affected by the somatic cell count (decrease of lactosemonohydrate, increase of fat and total solids P<0.01). Supplementation of the diet of Zebu cows with low quantity of pasture straw significantly and positively affected milk composition. The fatty acids were composed of a high proportion of polyunsaturated, long-chain fatty acids (oleic acid). This indicates that Zebu cows at this period of the year mobilize body fat for milk production because of the energy deficit in their diet. Lack of supplementary feeding of the Zebu cows and subclinical mastitis appeared to be main constraints in the extensive livestock system in Mali.

Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 2005, Vol. 18(1), pp. 29-38

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NGOs in Conflict Prevention: Experiences from the Water Sector in Ethiopia

Rea Bonzi, 2006

While development cooperation can cause or exacerbate conflicts, withholding aid is not the solution. The issue is how to provide aid in a manner that prevents conflict, so as to achieve sustainable peace. This Practical Note examines how NGOs have prevented and managed conflicts arising from water projects in Ethiopia.

Development in Practice 2006, 16(2)

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The Tajik Pamirs: High mountain areas: a wildlife habitat

Cristina Boschi, Andrea Haslinger, Riccarda Lüthi , Bernhard Nievergelt, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 28-34.

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"In the city, everybody only cares for himself"

Social relations and illness in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Rita Bossart, 2003

"Various studies on African solidarity, survival strategies and the 'therapy man agement group' [J. M. Janzen (1978) The Quest for Therapy in Lower Zaire, Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press] have suggested that institutionalized relationships in the form of networks or groups afford an individual access to resources, also in case of illness. My study reconsiders these arguments in ethnographic research about everyday illness management. It focuses on a heterogeneous urban neighbourhood in Abidjan and analyses who offers help to whom, and what kind of help people offer to one another. The findings show that social networks play an important but at the same time restricted role in illness management. The main source of assistance in response to affliction is household members. Apart from emotional and moral support, relatives living outside the household and non-kin play only a minor role. The social network offers help only sporadically, and very often the sick person has to ask friends and family several times before she or he receives financial or practical support. The emphasis given to social networks in the existing literature is often overestimated, at least in the case of illness. These findings implicate the importance of strengthening informal and formal security systems, especially in an urban context of economic hardship and political insecurity."

Anthropology & Medicine 2003, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 343-359

Available from: Informaworld

Citoyenneté "autochtone" et réformes environnementales en Amazonie bolivienne

Patrick Bottazzi, Marc Hufty, 2005

L’objectif de cette communication est de nous questionner sur les causes et la nature des changements sociopolitiques encourus ces dernières années dans les sociétés d’Amazonie bolivienne, en présentant une approche, quelques données contextuelles et une brève étude de cas : la Réserve de Biosphère et Territoire Indigène Pilón Lajas.

Revue Lazos 2005, No. 7

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Knowledge for Sustainable Development in the Tajik Pamir Mountains

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, Daniel Maselli, 2005

The paper presents the results of a multi-year baseline study project in which 10 sectors ranging from agriculture to natural hazards were assessed by a transdisciplinary Swiss–Tajik research team. This knowledge base was enhanced in a development strategy workshop that brought together stakeholders from the local to the international levels. The methodology applied was found appropriate to initiate a broad reflection and negotiation process among various stakeholder groups, leading to a joint identification of possible measures to be taken. Knowledge—and its enhancement through the involvement of all stakeholder levels—appeared to be an effective carrier of innovation and changes of attitudes, thus containing the potential to effectively contribute to sustainable development in marginalized and resource-poor mountain areas.

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 139–146

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Spatial Environmental Risk Modelling in the Pamir-Alai Mountains

Application of a fuzzy-logic based GIS approach

Thomas Breu, 2007

Proceedings of the International Disaster Reduction Conference Conference (IDRC), 27 August to 1 September 2006, Swiss Federal Research Institute, Davos, Switzerland. pp. 705-708.

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The Tajik Pamirs: Extreme environmental conditions in a breathtaking landscape

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 8-11.

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The Tajik Pamirs: Negotiating strategy elements for sustainable development

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 56-63.

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The Tajik Pamirs: The search for new education and health systems

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 47-48.

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The Tajik Pamirs: Towards a new economy

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 18-19.

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The Tajik Pamirs: Towards pluralism: Challenges for governance and civil society

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 45-46.

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The Tajik Pamirs: Valley agriculture in the Western Pamirs

Thomas Breu, Hans Hurni, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 20-21.

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Use of disability adjusted life years in the estimation of the disease burden of Echinococcosis for a high endemic region of the Tibetan plateau

CM Budke, W Qian, J Qiu, P Torgerson, Jakob Zinsstag, 2004

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 71(1):56-64

Patrimonio urbano y vivienda social en el centro de Buenos Aires: nuevas perspectivas y conflictos

E Cañellas, V Colella, N Da Representaçao, 2008

In: Torti C, Piovani J, editors. Desafíos para el conocimiento social” Actas-CD-ROM. La Plata: Universidad Nacional de La Plata, ISBN:978-950-34-0514-7.

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Garbage, work and society

Héctor Castillo Berthier, 2003

"This paper reviews the contribution of the book ‘The Garbage Society: Caciquismo in Mexico City’; written 20 years ago when no official statistics on garbage production were available, to the development of sustainable waste management practice in Mexico. At that time public information was extremely difficult to obtain and environmental pollution was not regarded as an important research area for many disciplines, including social sciences. The objective of ‘The Garbage Society’ was to provide a detailed description of all the stages involved in garbage disposal from the time when it is discarded, until it resurfaces in recycled products. This process can be summarized as Garbage+Working FORCE=Merchandise. The garbage problem in Mexico City is an accurate reflection of the Mexican political system that has traditionally supported corporatism in which caciques (a person who exercises absolute power over a group) play a key role. Current data are used to verify the events of that first study and through reflection on the historical process, to indicate the requirements for on-going research as a means of clarifying and categorizing the inherent problems associated with sustainable waste management in Mexico."

Resources, Conservation & Recycling 2003, Volume 39, Issue 3, Pages 193-210

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Los Mercados Públicos de la Ciudad de México

Características, Problemas y ¿soluciones?

Héctor Castillo Berthier, 2003

In: Torres Salcido G. editor. 2003. Políticas de abasto alimentario. Alternativas para el Distrito Federal y su zona metropolitana. Casa Juan Pablos / unam-Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales. pp. 187-194

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L´émergence du social dans la privatisation de l´eau à Buenos Aires

Andrea Catenazzi, 2008

In: Bouchanine F, Rabinovich A, editors. Sciences sociales et prise en compte du social dans les politiques urbaines: connaissances pour l’action, connaissances dans l’action. submitted

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La citoyenneté: un outil analytique pour l'étude de la gouvernance

Sandra Cavaliere, Isabelle Hillenkamp-Buscail, Sabine Hoffmann, 2007

iuéd Working Paper 2007, Notes et travaux, No. 79.

Available from: The Graduate Institute

Repertorios en fábrica

La experiencia de recuperación fabril en Argentina, 2000-2006

Sandra Cavaliere, Amalia Gracia, 2007

"El trabajo interpreta el fenómeno de recuperación fabril como parte del nuevo repertorio de acción colectiva en Argentina. Estudia el Movimiento Nacional de Fábricas Recuperadas por sus Trabajadores con el análisis preliminar de una investigación en terreno realizada entre marzo de 2005 y junio de 2006 en ciudad y provincia de Buenos Aires. Muestra cómo se enfrentaron los problemas laborales con los recursos disponibles y explora el horizonte de sentido en que estas circunstancias motivaron y justificaron las acciones. Así, el repertorio no sólo se concibe como un conjunto de medios para formular reclamos, sino también como una colección de sentidos que aparece relacionalmente en la lucha. Se espera aportar al estudio de la constitución de nuevos actores colectivos al ilustrar los mecanismos de un fenómeno que internacionalmente es ubicado entre las formas posibles de lucha obrera del siglo XXI."

Estudios Sociólogicos 2007, 73, Vol. XXV, No. 1, pp. 155-186.

Available from: Estudios Sociológicos

Un enfoque institutionalista de la participacion politica : la ciudadania como instrumento analítico

Sandra Cavaliere, Lucia Rosales, 2006

Dakar la ville double

Jerome Chenal, Cheikh Samba Wade, 2009

In: Chenal J, Pedrazzini Y, Cissé G, Kaufmann V, éditeurs. Quelques rues d’Afrique. Observation et gestion de l’espace public à Abidjan, Dakar et Nouakchott. Lausanne : Les éditions du Lasur, pp 65-80.

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Africa’s development and its challenges in the health sector: medical, social and cultural dimensions

An illustration from West Africa

Guéladio Cissé, Marcel Tanner, 2007

In: Thomas Bearth, Barbara Becker, Rolf Kappel, Gesine Krüger, Roger Pfister, editors. 2007. Afrika im Wandel. vdf Hochschulverlag AG, ETH Zürich.

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Évaluation du projet d’appui aux structures locales de ramassages d’ordures et entretien des réseaux d’assainissement dans les villes de Bouaké et Korhogo

Guéladio Cissé, Alain Nicolas Betsi, Kouassi Dongo, G. R. Koffi, 2007

CARE, 35p.

Solid–liquid separation of faecal sludge using drying beds in Ghana

Implications for nutrient recycling in urban agriculture

Olufunke Cofie, S. Agbottah, F. Awuha, H. Esseku, Doulaye Kone, Agnes Montangero, Martin Strauss, 2006

This study investigated the possibility of recycling nutrients in human excreta and municipal solid waste for use in agriculture. It reports on the use of drying beds in separating solid and liquid fractions of faecal sludge (FS) so that the solids can be co-composted and the organic matter and part of the nutrients captured for urban agriculture...

Water Research 2006, 40:1, pp. 75-82

Available Online from: Science Direct

Répartition de la morbidité dans trois communautés nomades du Chari- Baguirmi et du Kanem, Tchad

Doumagoum Moto Daugla, Saada Daoud, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Jakob Zinsstag, 2004

Within the framework of an multidisciplinary research and action program, morbidity patterns were assessed in three nomadic communities in Chad. A total of 1092 women, men and children were interviewed and examined in the course of three surveys carried out by a physician during the dry and rainy season. Nomads reporting no health problems were rare. Tuberculosis was suspected in 4,6 % of adults after clinical examination and bronchopulmonary disorders in children less than five years of age. Febrile diarrhea was more prevalent during the wet season when access to clean drinking water was more difficult. Simple malaria was rarely diagnosed in Arabs during the dry season. In contrast simple malaria was frequent in Fulani who stay in the vicinity of Lake Chad during the dry period. Protein-energy malnutrition was observed in only 3 of 328 children younger than 15 years of age.

Médecine Tropicale 2004, Vol. 64, No. 5, pp. 469-473

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De problemas y oportunidades: intermediación urbana fronteriza en República Dominicana

Sobeida De Jesús-Cedano, Haroldo Dilla, 2005

Revista Mexicana de Sociología, No. 201

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Bolivia. Una frágil tregua

Manuel de la Fuente, 2005

El artículo examina la situación de enfrentamientos en la que se encuentra Bolivia. Enfrentamientos que están conociendo una frágil tregua que permitirá la confrontación electoral de diciembre del 2005. ¿Pero cómo se ha llegado a esta situación de empate social, que se traduce en una serie de conflictos? y ¿cuál podría ser el desenlace de este empate? Son algunas de las preguntas que el artículo trata de responder.

L'Ordinaire Latino-américain, Vues d’hier, enjeux d’aujourd’hui (avril-septembre 2005): N° 200-201

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Décentralisation, services publics et mobilisation populaire en Bolivie

Manuel de la Fuente, 2005

Les mécanismes participatifs qui accompagnent le processus de décentralisation en Bolivie ont permis un accès plus important, notamment en ce qui concerne les populations rurales, paysannes et indigènes, aux services publics de base. Cet exposé examine quand et dans quelles conditions les populations marginalisées et exclues depuis toujours, ont obtenu un meilleur accès aux services publics.

Par ailleurs, les lois liées au processus de décentralisation et d’autres lois connexes ont favorisé un renforcement des organisations populaires. Cet exposé s’efforce également de comprendre ces processus, en se demandant pourquoi une politique de décentralisation, conçue à partir de l'Etat et des organismes internationaux, a ce type de conséquences qui, bien évidemment, n'étaient pas désirées par l'Etat.

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Descentralisazon, Movimientos Regionales e Indigenas-Campesinos en Bolivia

Manuel de la Fuente, 2006

Este artículo consta de cinco partes. En las dos primeras presentamos algunos elementos históricos, que están relacionados con los procesos de centralización y descentralización. Procesos que fueron conflictivos, ya que toda redistribución del poder entre niveles de gobierno y entre regiones supone afectar intereses muy concretos. En esta rápida mirada de la historia hemos privilegiado el accionar del Gobierno, de los movimientos regionales y de los movimientos indígena-campesinos. Además, hemos tratado de colocar este accionar al interior del “modelo” de desarrollo que estaba vigente en cada momento histórico.

Texto publicado en RESTREPO, D. (editor), Historias de descentralización: transformación del régimen político y cambio en el modelo de desarrollo. América Latina, Europa y Estados Unidos, Bogota: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, 2006.

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La violence collective en Bolivie

Manuel de la Fuente, 2008

De la Fuente M. 2008. La violence collective en Bolivie. In: Corten A (dir.) La violence dans l'imaginaire latino-américain. Karthala/Presse de l'université du Québec, pp. 105-116.

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Molecular Characterization and Drug Resistance Testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates from Chad

Colette Diguimbaye, Franca Baggi, Markus Hilty, Hassane H. Mahamat, Richard Ngandolo, Gaby E. Pfyffer, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"The molecular characterizations of the first 40 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Chad revealed a high proportion of isolates of the Cameroon family (33%), of which one isolate showed a monodrug resistance. In total, 9/33 (27%) isolates were resistant to isoniazid. The implications of these findings are discussed."

Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2006, Vol. 44, No. 4, pp. 1575-1577

Available from: Journal of Clinical Microbiology

Mycobacterium bovis Isolates from Tuberculous Lesions in Chadian Zebu Carcasses

Colette Diguimbaye, Franca Baggi, Glyn Hewinson, Markus Hilty, Hassane H. Mahamat, Richard Ngandolo, Gaby E. Pfyffer, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"This slaughterhouse study in Chad shows higher proportions of Mycobacterium bovis isolates among Mbororo than Arabe zebu cattle. Spoligotyping shows a homogenetic population structure for M. bovis and lack of spacer 30, as were found in neighboring Cameroon and Nigeria. This finding suggests transborder and ongoing transmission between cattle."

Emerging Infectious Diseases 2006, Vol. 12, No. 5, pp.

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Species identification of non-tuberculous mycobacteria from humans and cattle of Chad

Colette Diguimbaye, Franca Baggi, Markus Hilty, Hassane H. Mahamat, Richard Ngandolo, Gaby E. Pfyffer, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Véronique Vincent, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"In Chad, during a study on tuberculosis in humans and cattle, 52 non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) strains were isolated. By means of INNO-LiPA, PRA-hsp65 amplification and sequencing of 16S rDNA, NTM species of 25/52 isolates were identified. M. fortuitum complex (8) was the most frequent species, followed by M. nonchromogenicum (4) and M. avium complex (4). PRA method could identify M. fortuitum 3rd variant among isolates derived from cattle specimens. This finding could confirm the existence of farcy in the Chadian cattle population as M. fortuitum 3rd variant and putitative pathogen M. farcinogenes can't be distinguished by the methods used in this study. Half of the NTM isolates could not be specified and we considered them as contaminants from the environment."

Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde 2006, Vol. 148, No. 5, pp. 251-256

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Cuba: los escenarios cambiantes de la gobernabilidad

Haroldo Dilla, 2002

In: Dilla H, editor. 2002. Los recursos de la gobernabilidad en la Cuenca del Caribe. Caracas: editorial Nueva Sociedad, pp 159-180.

Available from: Nueva Sociedad

Intercambio desigual y complejos urbanos binacionales en la frontera dominicana con Haití

Haroldo Dilla, 2004

"La frontera dominico-haitiana está marcada por profundas asimetrías y el predominio de una relación de intercambio desigual que supone la transferencia de valores desde Haití a República Dominicana. Las relaciones transfronterizas resumen esta contradictoria relación, pero al mismo tiempo constituyen la única forma de supervivencia para más de medio millón de haitianos que habitan la región. Este artículo discute la historia de esta relación y sus tendencias actuales, incluyendo la formación de regiones económicas y complejos urbanos binacionales. La debilidad de las políticas públicas de regulación y la agresiva acción de los actores del mercado generan un escenario muy contradictorio que pudiera conducir a conflictos por el uso de los recursos compartidos, la explotación de la fuerza de trabajo haitiana y la agitación de posiciones nacionalistas."

"The Dominican/Haitian border is signed by profound asymmetries and the predominance of a relation of uneven exchange in benefit of Dominican Republic. Transborder relations summary this contradictory relation, but at the same time constitute the only form of survival for more than half million of Haitians that inhabit the region. This article discusses the history of this relation and its present tendencies, including the formation of economic regions and urban binational systems. The weakness of regulatory public policies and the aggressive action of the market generate a very contradictory setting that could lead to conflicts by the use of shared natural resources, the exploitation of the Haitian labour force, and the agitation of nationalist positions."

Revista Estudios Fronterizos 2004, Vol. 5, No. 9, pp. 35-58

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Larval Actors, Uncertain Scenarios and Cryptic Scripts

Where is Cuban Society Headed?

Haroldo Dilla, 2005

In: Tulchin JS, Bobea L, Espina Prieto MP, Hernández R, Elizabeth Bryan E, 2005. Changes in Cuban Society since the Nineties. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, pp. 35-51

Download PDF from the Wilson Center: English version / Spanish version

República Dominicana y Haití

Entre el peligro supuesto y el beneficio tangible

Haroldo Dilla, 2004

"A lo largo de décadas de coexistencia en una misma isla, Haití y República Dominicana han construido una fuerte relación de interdependencia, que en la actualidad opera como una subordinación creciente y fragmentada del e spacio haitiano a la economía capitalista dominicana, y un potencial surgimiento de regiones económicas binacionales en función de la acumulación global. La construcción ideológica racista antihaitiana en República Dominicana es también un ingrediente activo de esa relación. Para los sectores políticos e intelectuales democráticos de ambos países esto plantea un reto que solo podrán superar a partir de la crítica de las relaciones objetivas entre sus sociedades. Invito al lector a leer cuidadosamente el siguiente párrafo: La desnacionalización de Santo Domingo, persistentemente realizada desde hace más de un siglo por el comercio con lo peor de la población haitiana, ha hecho progresos preocupantes. Nuestro origen racial y tradición de pueblo hispánico no nos deben impedir reconocer que la nacionalidad se halla en peligro de desintegrarse. La influencia de Haití ha corrompido la fibra sagrada de la nacionalidad. La vecindad de Haití ha sido y sigue siendo el principal problema de la República Dominicana. Entre el peligro supuesto y el beneficio tangible."

Nueva Sociedad 2004, No. 192

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The Tajik Pamirs: Livelihoods in rural areas

Michael Domeisen, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 39-44.

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Analyse de la situation de l’environnement sanitaire des quartiers défavorisés dans le tissu urbain de Yopougon a Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire

Kouassi Dongo, Jean Biémi , Guéladio Cissé, Fernand Koffi Kouamé, Brama Koné, Marcel Tanner, 2009

The integration into a Geographical information system (GIS) of multi-source data from QUICKBIRD imagery, ancilliary data and the results from socio-environmental investigations alowed to analyse the sanitary environment of 6 precarious settlements located along an open and exposed drainage channel, in Yopougon (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire). The observatory of the sanitary environment of these deprivileged areas were conducted through analysis and mapping of main factors influencing the life quality of the populations. The spatial sharpness of QUICKBIRD imagery contributed to update the land use/land cover map. Analysis of various factors witch characterise the sanitary environment reveals many insufficiences as regards the management of the sanitation system of the settlements, thus exposing the populations to illness related to sanitation like malaria and diarrhoea. The findings will permit planing appropriate measurements to overcome sanitation problems in these précarious areas.

In: VertigO – La revue en sciences de l'environnement 8(3).

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Exposition environnementale à des déchets contenant du mercaptan, des hydrocarbures aromatiques et de l'hydrogène sulfuré (Abidjan)

Kouassi Dongo, Jean Biemi, Guéladio Cissé, Blaise Koné, Marcel Tanner, I. Tiembré, Jakob Zinsstag, 2009

Environnement, Risques & Santé 8(6):519-527.

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Improving urban drainage in Abidjan Côte d’Ivoire

Kouassi Dongo, Jean Biémi , Guéladio Cissé, David Dumoulin, Marcel Tanner, 2007

Tropical humid climates of sub-Saharan Africa with a high level of variability build a challenge for hygienic models used in urban drainage. Based on a probabilistic and stochastic approach,this work optimised and designed models which best simulate tropical downpours and improved calculations related to urban drainage in Abidjan and in other urban settings with similar climatic conditions.

In: African Journal of Science and Technology. Science and Engineering Series Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 8 - 16.

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Optimizing Montana’s model to permit urban drainage in humid tropical environment: the case of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

Kouassi Dongo, Jean Biémi , Guéladio Cissé, Métangbo Diomandé, Marcel Tanner, 2005

In sub-Saharan Africa, the "hygienic" model used in urban drainage is faced with constraints in humid tropical environment, subjected to a high level of climatic variability. In Côte d’Ivoire adapting Montana's rain model is not satisfactory for certain time slots whereas this model includes the Caquot's rate-of-flow model used in urban
drainage. This work aims at optimizing and designing models which best simulate tropical downpours and help in calculations relating to urban drainage in Abidjan and elsewhere.

In: 10th International Conference on Urban Drainage, Copenhagen/Denmark, 21-26 August 2005.

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Urban agriculture and Anopheles habitats in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Stefan Dongus, Marcia C de Castro, Axel W. Drescher, Ulrike Fillinger, Laura Gosoniu, Khadija Kannady, Gerry F. Killeen, Hassan Mshinda, Deo Mtasiwa, Dickson Nyika, Marcel Tanner, 2009

A survey of agricultural areas combined with routinely monitored mosquito larval information was conducted in urban Dar es Salaam to investigate how agricultural and geographical features may influence the presence of Anopholes larvae.

Dongus S et al. 2009. Urban agriculture and Anopholes habitats in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Geospatial Health 3(2):189-210.

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Decentralised Composting in Developing Countries

A User's Manual

Silke Drescher, Iftekhar Enayetullah, MAD. Singha, Christian Zurbruegg, 2006

Les politiques de conservation de la nature au cœur de l’internationalisation et de la convergence des ordres politiques

David Dumoulin, 2005

Numéro Spécial de la Revue de la CEPAL, Amérique latine 2005, CEPAL-IHEAL, Santiago du Chili, mai 2005.

ONG transnationales et experts dans le débat démocratique

Bioprospection et savoir indigène au Mexique

David Dumoulin, Jean Foyer, 2004

"[...] La bioprospection est une de ces questions qui est venue sur le devant de la scène dans la plupart des pays latino-américains à la fin des années 1990, même si, en tant que collecte scientifique de matière vivante (plantes, champignons, micro-organismes, animaux, etc.), il s’agit d’une pratique ancienne et très répandue. Cette pratique peut s’appuyer sur la participation des populations indigènes et de leurs savoirs traditionnels sur les plantes, comme il en est question ici. [...] On voudrait analyser ici la bioprospection non dans ses modalités pratiques, mais plutôt comme objet de conflit politique, de controverse sociotechnique, permettant de faire dialoguer scientifiques, militants et politiques. [...]"

Problèmes d’Amérique Latine 2004, No. 54, pp. 95-122

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Owner valuation of rabies vaccination of dogs, Chad

Salome Dürr, Martin I. Meltzer, R. Mindekem, Jakob Zinsstag, 2008

Emerg Infect Dis 14:1650-1652.

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The Strongyloides (Nematoda) of sheep and the predominant Strongyloides of cattle form at least two different, genetically isolated populations

AG Eberhardt, Bassirou Bonfoh, WE Mayer, A. Streit, 2008

Strongyloides sp. (Nematoda) are very wide spread small intestinal parasites of vertebrates that can form a facultative free-living generation. Most authors considered all Strongyloides of farm ruminants to belong to the same species, namely Strongyloides papillosus (Wedl, 1856). Here we show that, at least in southern Germany, the predominant Strongyloides found in cattle and the
Strongyloides found in sheep belong to separate, genetically isolated populations. While we did find mixed infections in cattle, one form clearly dominated. This variety, in turn, was never found in sheep, indicating that the two forms have different host preferences.We also present molecular tools for distinguishing the two varieties, and an analysis of their phylogenetic relationship with the human parasite Strongyloides stercoralis and the major laboratory model species Strongyloides ratti.
Keywords: Strongyloides papillosus; Strongyloides vituli; Nematodes; Host specifity

Veterinary Parasitology 157:89-99.

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Upper Ewaso Ngiro River Basin Water Management Information Platform

Survey on Development Priorities, Information Needs and Conflict Management Efforts

Albrecht Ehrensperger, Boniface Kiteme, 2005

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From statistical data to spatial knowledge

Informed decision making in Vietnam

Michael Epprecht, Andreas Heinimann, N. Minot, D. Mueller, 2007

The display and analysis of spatial information is indispensable to generate knowledge about the location of objects, about spatial clusters, and relationships that informs decision-makers and researchers in Vietnam.

Information Development 23(2-3):193-204

Available from: Sage Journals Online

How remote are Vietnam's ethnic minorities? An analysis of spatial patterns of poverty and inequality.

Michael Epprecht, N. Minot, Daniel Müller, 2009

This paper investigates whether physical accessibility or ethnicity is a stronger determinant of poverty in Vietnam. Spatially disaggregated welfare indexes for population subgroups show that overall inequality is shaped by an urban–rural welfare divide, closely followed in importance by sharp welfare differences between ethnic groups. Accessibility to urban areas is a weaker determinant of poverty.The findings have important implications for the targeting of rural development investments. Addressing the factors isolating ethnic minorities from the mainstream economy is likely to be a more useful strategy in reducing rural poverty and inequality than simple geographic targeting.

The Annals of Regional Science. doi: 10.1007/s00168-009-0330-7

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Conversion of grazing land to fruit and fodder plots

M. Ergashev, Gulniso Nekushoeva, Bettina Wolfgramm, 2007

In: Liniger HP, Critchley W, editors. Where the land is greener. Case studies and analysis of soil and water conservation initiatives worldwide. CTA, Wageningen, pp 189-192.

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Farmer innovation and self-help group

M. Ergashev, Gulniso Nekushoeva, Bettina Wolfgramm, 2007

In: Liniger HP, Critchley W, editors. 2007. Where the land is greener. Case studies and analysis of soil and water conservation initiatives worldwide. CTA, Wageningen, pp 193-196.

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Changing Land Rights, Changing Land Use

Privatisation Drives Landscape Change in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

Camilla Eriksson, 2006

The aim of this paper is to identify, document and analyse the change in land use systems as a consequence of the privatisation of agriculture in Kyrgyzstan.

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GIS applications for determining the hydrographic characteristics of rivers

Natalia Ershova, G. Frolova, 2004

For the identification of hydrographic characteristics of water facilities as the water collection area, the length of a river, the number of tributaries etc. the opportunities posed by GIS technologies are examined. Within the Sokuluk River Basin this task was tackled using ArcView GIS with the extension Spatial Analyst and Hydrologic Modelling modules. The potentials of the use of geo-information technologies lie within the specification and acquisition of different hydrographic characteristics, analyses, modelling of hydrologic processes and phenomena. However, some of the algorithms (i.e. determining watershed outlines) are imperfect and the tasks need to be perfomed manually in order to improve the results of hydrologic calculations.

Weather and climate of Kyrgyzstan. 64-68.

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La gestion du chômage défiée

Les sens de l ajustice dans les "récupérations" d'usines par les travailleurs en Argentine

Maria Ines Fernandez Alvarez, Ariel Wilkis, 2007

Autrepart (43). 2007: 11-24.

A tool box for operational mosquito larval control: preliminary results and early lessons from the Urban Malaria Control Programme in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Ulrike Fillinger, Prosper P Chaki, Marcia C de Castro, Stefan Dongus, Yvonne Geissbühler, Nico J. Govella, Khadija Kannady, Gerry F. Killeen, Steven W Lindsay, Evan M. Mathenge, Hassan Mshinda, Deo Mtasiwa, Dickson Nyika, Burton H. Singer, Marcel Tanner, Michael J. Vanek, George William, 2008

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Gender Relevance in Environmental Conflicts

A Gender Analysis of the Cauvery Dispute in South India

Susanne Fleischli, 2006

"The present study attempts to determine the significance of gender in environmental conflicts and to trace how considerations of gender may contribute to the management of environmental conflicts. These issues are examined by applying gender analysis to the specific case of the Cauvery River dispute in South India. The results show that gender does determine the way people are affected by an environmental conflict, and the way they are involved in the conflict management process. Consideration of gender may contribute to improved management of environmental conflicts by promoting the involvement of all stakeholders, including women, who are often marginalized in conflict management."

"Gender Relevance in Environmental Conflicts: A Gender Analysis of the Cauvery Dispute in South India" in: Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 189-205.

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“We have Democracy Now”: The Impact of Institutional Change on the Logone Floodplain, Cameroon

Gilbert Fokou, Gabriela Landolt, 2005

The Common Property Resource Digest 2005, No. 74, pp. 4-5

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Autochthony, natural resource management and conflicting rights in West Africa.

Gilbert Fokou, Bassirou Bonfoh, Jerome Chenal, Mathieu Gasparini, Henri-Michel Yéré, 2010

Focusing on pastoralism and access to land, this article aims to demonstrate that management institutions are eroded in a context of resource scarcity, and that certain groups build discourse and strategies on fuzzy notions of nationhood or identity in order to exclude other users. In this process, the notion of autochthony appears to be an ideological tool in the hands of native people to express their social malaise and difficulties in sustaining their livelihoods in a context of global development. The article concludes that in a context of ‘presence-absence’ of the state, negotiations between various stakeholders at different levels could foster sustainable development.

In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 61-76.

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Institutions and mechanisms regulating Swiss alpine pasture use and the marketing of pastoral products.

Gilbert Fokou, A. Abdiev, J. Kozhomuratova, Karina Liechti, 2008

A characterization of the Swiss agriculture could be possible only by trying to get a clear understanding of various state policies and implementations levels; the exposure of Swiss farming system to global change; the identity of farmers; the perception of Swiss citizens on this category of population to whom a large amount of money from their taxes is paid. Only this clear understanding of the multifaceted dimensions and dynamics of the Swiss agriculture could contribute to drawing lessons that Switzerland could teach or learn from other people in the world.
This is the exercise we tried to do in a research project conducted in the Swiss Alps by an international research team from three continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe), aiming at understanding institutions and mechanisms regulating Swiss alpine pasture use. This report presents the remarks and interim results of an interdisciplinary team involving four researchers working on pasture management.

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Intersectoral policy dialog for well-being of nomadic people in Chad.

Towards a minimal social service package.

Gilbert Fokou, M.A. Abdoulaye, Mahamat Bechir, Bassirou Bonfoh, Doumagoum Moto Daugla, Moustapha Ould Taleb, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Daniel Weibel, Jakob Zinsstag, 2007

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Object-oriented land cover/land use classification for up-scaling agricultural nutrient budgets

Dionys Forster, Yves Bühler, T.W. Kellenberger, 2007

In: Bill, R. (ed.) 2007. GIS - Theory and Applications, Textbook for the DAAD Summer School, Internal Report, Volume 16, Rostock University, pp. 177-188.

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Movimientos piqueteros y democracia en Argentina

Un estudio sobre la acción política de cuatro organizaciones en el período 2002-2004

Ada Cora Freytes Frey, Maria Cecilia Cross, 2007

Latitude. Revista do Programa de Mestrado em Sociologia, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, Brasil. 2007, Año 1, Nº 1, pp. 83-100.

For further information, please contact the author.

Movimientos piqueteros: alcances de su construcción política

Ada Cora Freytes Frey, Maria Cecilia Cross, 2007

"The article approaches the subject of the significacy of the ‘piqueteros’ movements for the Argentine political field, retaking two habitual axes of discussion in the bibliography. As opposed to the debate about the continuity or rupture that these movements represent with respect to “the traditional” forms of organization of the popular sectors, it is indicated that this type of approach does not allow to understand the complex articulation between past and present that characterizes them. In relation to the controversy on the political effectiveness of its action, it is indicated that they have lastly transformed the perspections about unemployment, archivieng recognition in the public space and generated relevant spaces of social militants."

Revista Política y Cultura 2007, No. 27, pp. 121-141.

Available from: Revista Política y Cultura

Women in Organisations for Poor, Unemployed Working People

Reshaping Female Roles through Political Commitment

Ada Cora Freytes Frey, Karina Crivelli, Maria Cecilia Cross, Maria Ines Fernandez Alvarez, Florencia Partenio, 2006

In: Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 233-245.

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Women's Participation in Argentina's Picketing Movement

Ada Cora Freytes Frey, Karina Crivelli, 2007

"Based on case study analysis of four picketing organizations in Argentina, this article analyzes the impact of women's participation in the picketing movements, on the ways in which women think about themselves and the social roles they claim. Women's initial involvement in the picketing movements was tied closely to their performance of the traditional roles of mother and wife. Over time, and as a result of women's social participation, these roles acquired new meaning. Women began to reject certain stereotypes linked to the feminine, and to challenge some aspects of the gendered division of tasks and responsibilities. Redefinition of feminine roles, however, has limitations, which are evident through analysis of the unequal participation of women in the movements’ leadership."

Journal of Developing Societies 2007, Volume 23, Issues 1-2, pp. 243-258.

Available from: Journal of Developing Societies

Towards a System Dynamics Framework for Understanding Interactions of Head- and Tail-Users in Irrigation Systems in Kyrgyzstan

Justus Gallati, Bakyt Askaraliev, Daniel Maselli, Peter Niederer, 2006

Conference paper for the 24th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society July 23-27, 2006 Nijmegen, The Netherlands

The paper outlines a conceptual framework for a dynamic model for collective irrigation management. Furthermore a preliminary causal loop diagram for the interaction of upstream- and downstream users is presented. The study builds on the results of a workshop with local participants in Kyrgyzstan on sustainable regional development and on the literature on collective resource management.

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Institutional strengthening of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve (Madre de Dios - Peruan Amazonia)

Marc Galvin, Marie Thorndahl, 2005

Since 2002, the Peruvian government has allowed the Harakmbut people to conserve and manage natural resources within their ancestral territory. In order to alleviate the difficulties the Harakmbut had in establishing the institutional and operational framework of this protected area, a PAMS project aiming to strengthen indigenous institutions in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, has supported training of administrative leaders and forest rangers.

Mountain, Research and Development, June 05

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Natural Resource Management for Sustainable Livelihoods – Challenges and Trends in Central Asian Mountain Regions

A Garayeva, Daniel Maselli, 2008

Los procesos de recuperacion de Fabricas

Una mirada retrospectiva

Veronica Garcia Allegrone, Maria Ines Fernandez Alvarez, Florencia Partenio, 2004

In: Battistini OR. 2004. El trabajo frente al espejo: Continuidades y rupturas en los procesos de construccion identitaria de los trabajadores. Buenos Aires, Prometeo Libros, pp. 329-344

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"Donor-driven" forest governance in northwest Pakistan - challenges and future outlook

Urs Geiser, Babar Shahbaz, 2010

In sum, the present situation of forestry in NWFP is one of tension, mistrust, and the existence of unrelated forest governance regimes (customary procedures; state/donors approach).
We argue (1) that more independent agents are required to mediate between state and local forest users, and (2) that local people need to be provided with the information that they are entitled to demand proper and inclusive Joint Forest Management Committees. For donors, this represents a delicate situation of choice and "positioning", i.e. defining with whom to cooperate and who to support.

In: Carter J, Schmidt K, Robinson P, Stadtmüller T, Nizami A, editors. Forests, landscapes and governance: multiple actors, multiple roles.

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Civil society need not speak English

Urs Geiser, 2006

"In Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, international donors found it difficult to find non-governmental organisations relevant to their purposes. Because donors were uncomfortable with the local conditions and regional traditions, they simply overlooked possible contacts."

Magazine for Development & Cooperation 2006, Vol. 33, Issue 8-9, pp. 326-328

Available online from: Magazine for Development & Cooperation

Civil society, community participation, and the search for sustainable development

Questioning the categories and underlying concepts of a popular discourse

Urs Geiser, 2003

In: SDPI [Sustainable Development Policy Institute]. editor. 2003. Sustainable Development and Southern Realities - Past and Future in South Asia. Sustainable Development Policy Institute, City Press, Islamabad, Pakistan, pp. 197-211.

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Entwicklungsinterventionen und die Macht lokaler Alltagspraxis

Das Beispiel der Waldnutzung in Pakistan

Urs Geiser, 2006

"Von Geographischer Entwicklungsforschung wird häufig Praxisrelevanz gefordert, die sich etwa in Begleitforschungen zur Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZA) äussert. Solch anwendungsorientierte Forschung ist wichtig, thematisiert aber nie das Instrument der Entwicklungsintervention und deren Grundannahmen selber. Der Artikel argumentiert deshalb für eine Forschung zur Entwicklung als soziale Praxis, mit deren Hilfe die Wirkungsweise der EZA als eine soziale Arena der Politikformulierung und -umsetzung begriffen wird. Diese analytische Perspektive wird am Beispiel der stark genutzten Wälder Nordwest-Pakistans eingesetzt. Trotz intensiver Entwicklungsanstrengungen in den letzten zwanzig Jahren geht es den Wäldern heute so schlecht wie zuvor. Durch eine Perspektive von Entwicklung als soziale Praxis wird deutlich, dass zwischen der Formulierung von Entwicklungspolitiken und ihrer praktischen Umsetzung grosse Unterschiede bestehen, welche häufig im Spannungsfeld zwischen «Projektwelten» und der realen Alltagspraxis der Beteiligten begründet liegt."

Geographica Helvetica 2006, Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 4-13

Available from: Geographica Helvetica

Gemeinschaft, Zivilgesellschaft und Staat als sozialer Kontext des Lebensalltags in den Bergen Nepals und Pakistans

Urs Geiser, Ulrike Müller-Böker, 2003

In: Jeanneret F, Wastl-Walter D, Wiesmann U, Schwyn M. editors. 2003. Welt der Alpen - Gebirge der Welt. Ressourcen, Akteure, Perspektiven. Bern: Haupt Verlag.

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State actors' livelihoods, acts of translation, and forest sector reforms in northwest Pakistan

Urs Geiser, Bernd Steimann, 2004

"Forests in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan are under heavy pressure. Often, local people are blamed in this regard for their exploitative resource use. The present paper, however, searches for an understanding of the ongoing processes by analysing the livelihood strategies and daily practices of representatives of the local state and donor project experts. Insights show that policy formulation at the provincial capital is not implemented in a functionalist manner at lower levels of the administration. Instead, many processes and acts of translation within the wider context of livelihood strategies take place along the actual practice (rather than the discourse) of policy formulation and implementation through the various scales from the head offices of donors in the North to the provincial capital in the South, to the regional centres and, finally, to the forests in the Hindukush-Himalayan mountains."

Contemporary South Asia 2004, Vol. 13, Issue 4, pp. 437 - 448

Available from: informaworld

The Urgency of (Not Necessarily) Policy-Oriented Research

The Example of Power Devolution and Natural Resource Management in North-West Pakistan

Urs Geiser, 2005

In: SDPI [Sustainable Development Policy Institute Islamabad], editor. 2005. Sustainable Development. Bridging the Research / Policy Gaps in Southern Contexts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Vol.I: Environment, pp. 67-76

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Vertrauen versetzt Bäume

Urs Geiser, Babar Shahbaz, 2010

Die Wälder im Nordwesten Pakistans sind bedroht. Sie überleben nur, wenn die Bevölkerung und die lokalen Behörden bei der Bewirtschaftung und beim Schutz konstruktiv zusammenarbeiten. Ein Forschungsprojekt zeigt, wie sich das schwierige Verhältnis zwischen ihnen verbessern lässt.

In: KFPE: Gemeinsam zum Erfolg - Was Forschungspartnerschaften mit Entwicklungsländern bewirken. Bern: Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT).

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El mundo en un espejo

Percepciones campesinas de los cambios ambientales en el Occidente de México

Peter Gerritsen, Pedro Figueroa, Maria Montero, 2004

"An understanding of the current policies that conjugate the conservative interests with the develompental demands needs an analysis of the sustainable development concept. This study examines how the environmental change is perceived by a farmer comunity located in a Biosphere Reserve. We observe how the policies promoted by the globalising development tear down progressively the universe of meanings of the farmers. Thus, their particular view of the natural, productive and social cycles goes through a crisis, creating a dependence based on the incomprehension and ignorance of external factors. This analysis leads us to address some ideas for the management of protected natural areas, taking into consideration all the actors, interests and notions involved in order to achieve an integrating and communicative sustainable development."

Economía, Sociedad y Territorio 2004, pp. 253-278

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Farmer and Conventional Perspectives on Conservation in Western Mexico

Peter Gerritsen, Freerk Wiersum, 2005

Establishment of conservation areas has become a standard strategy for protecting biodiversity. Different categories are distinguished, such as those that aim at enhancing local participation. Although rapid evolution has taken place since the 1970s, stimulating participation still challenges conservationists. Understanding the complex issues impacting on participation is a first step in finding more effective methods of conservation. The present article addresses this issue by contrasting farmer and conventional perspectives on conservation. A differentiation between ecologically oriented biodiversity conservation perspectives and livelihood-oriented resource diversity perspectives is proposed. A case study from western Mexico illustrates both perspectives.

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Vol. 25, No. 1: pp. 30–36

Available for purchase from: BioOne

Global Change, Urbanization and Natural Resource Management in Western Mexico

Peter Gerritsen, Jean-Claude Bolay, S. Garcia, S. Graf, Silvia Hostettler, Luis Manuel Martinez, C. Ortiz, E. Santana, 2005

ETFRN [European Tropical Forest Research Network] News: Forests, Water and Livlihoods, No 45-46 Winter 2005/06, pp. 58-60.

Download PDF from: etfrn.org

Student Workshop Proceedings on Peace-Building in Nepal

Safal Ghimire, A. Nahikian, 2009

The document contains the results of discussions held during a visit to Nepal by Harvard University students, co-hosted by the NCCR North-South and Kathmandu University.

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Globale Landwirtschaft vor alten und neuen Herausforderungen

Markus Giger, Hans Hurni, Brigitte Portner, Urs Scheidegger, 2009

GAIA 17(3):280-286

Mapping H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza risk in Southeast Asia

Marius Gilbert, Stephen Boles, Prasit Chaitaweesub, Christina Czarnecki, Michael Epprecht, Wantanee Kalpravidh, Vincent Martin, Phan Q. Minh, M. J. Otte, Dirk U. Pfeiffer, Jan Slingenbergh, Xiangming Xiao, 2008

"...This article analyses the statistical association between the recorded HPAI H5N1 virus presence and a set of five key environmental variables comprising elevation, human population, chicken numbers, duck numbers, and rice cropping intensity for three synchronous epidemic waves in Thailand and Vietnam. A consistent pattern emerges suggesting risk to be associated with duck abundance, human population, and rice cropping intensity in contrast to a relatively low association with chicken numbers..."

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) 2008, Vol. 105, No. 12, pp. 4769-4774.

Available online from: PNAS.org

Conflict Transformation

Laurent Goetschel, 2009

In: Chetail V, editor. Lexique Peacebuilding.

For more information click here.

Intervention und Mediation in Konflikten

Von der „Genfer Initiative“ zur Bearbeitung von Umweltkonflikten

Laurent Goetschel, 2006

In: Sara Zwahlen, Wolfgang Lienemann, editors. 2006. Kollektive Gewalt. Bern, Peter Lang, pp. 87-101


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Les conflits liés aux ressources naturelles

Résultats de recherches et perspectives

Laurent Goetschel, Didier Péclard, 2006

"Laurent Goetschel et Didier Péclard rendent compte, dans leur contribution, des enseignements qu’ils ont pu tirer d’un projet individuel de recherche mené par la Fondation suisse pour la paix, projet qui s’inscrit dans un programme national de recherche intitulé NCCR North-South – Research Partnerships for Mitigating Syndromes of Global Change. Selon ces auteurs, la portée heuristique du lien de causalité supposé direct entre la diminution des ressources naturelles et la survenance de conflits violents doit être nuancée. Il y a en effet d’autres facteurs à prendre en compte, notamment historique, politique et économique, pour expliquer les conflits."

Annuaire suisse de politique de développement 2006, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 95-106

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Menschliche Sicherheit als Ziel der Staatenwelt:

Akademische Perspektiven und politische Praxis

Laurent Goetschel, 2008

NZZ, Nr. 219/2008: B7.

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Property Rights, Conflicts, and Peace

Laurent Goetschel, 2006

In: Heranando de Soto, Francis Cheneval, editors. 2006. Realizing property rights. Zürich, Rüffer&Rub Publishing House, pp. 186-193

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La vulnérabilité des citadins à Abidjan en relation avec le palu. Les risques environnementaux et la commoditization agissant à travers le palu sur la vulnérabilité urbaine

Stefanie Granado, Anne-Marie Ettien Ablan, Nadège Adjoua Boko N'Gronma, Brigit Obrist, Marcel Tanner, Albert Kouakou Yao, 2006

The article aims to better understand the relation between urban vulnerability, environmental risks, and commoditization in regard to palu in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). This research in medical anthropology analyses the local illness palu (abbreviation of the paludisme, e.g. malaria), a bodily experience of non-specific symptoms.
Environmental risks are closely linked to palu. They are locally understood as a cause of palu, which, as the illness becomes a concrete bodily experience, offer a possibility of acting upon and addressing these risks. The patient does have the possibility of treating its palu with remedies. Therefore, commoditization of drugs not
only represents a source of vulnerability but also offers a possibility to face persisting environmental risks. Vulnerability and its attached meanings are a dynamic concept. Unfortunately, commoditization of drugs implies high risks of over- or mistreatment.

In French

VertigO - la revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement hors série 3

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Palu - eine Metapher im Alltag Abidjans (Côte d'Ivoire)

Stefanie Granado, 2005

Bodily experiences, reported causes and curing strategies against palu (paludisme, malaria) as embodied metaphors in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

Tsantsa 2005, 10: pp. 157-161

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The moment of sale: treating malaria in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Stefanie Granado, Lenore Manderson, Brigit Obrist, Marcel Tanner, 2009

Anthropology & Medicine 16(3):319-331.

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Reconciling conservation and livelihood needs in protected areas of Nepal

A case study of Kangchenjunga Conservation Area

Ghana Gurung, 2006

In: Jeff McNeely, Tom McCarthy, Andrew Smith, Linda Whittaker and Eric Wikramnayake, editors. 2006. Conservation Biology in Asia. Kathmandu: Society for Conservation Biology Asia Section and Resources Himalaya Foundation, pp. 45-61

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Beyond clannishness and colonialism: understanding political disorder in Ethiopia's Somali Region, 1991–2004

Tobias Hagmann, 2005

This article proposes an alternative interpretation of political disorder in Ethiopia's Somali Regional State since the rise to power of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1991. Some observers have perceived contemporary politics in the former Ogaden as an example of ‘internal colonisation’ by highland Ethiopians. Others attribute political instability to the ‘nomadic culture’ inherent in the Somali clan structure and the ineptness of its political leaders. This study argues that neither of these two politicised narratives grasps the contradictory interactions between the federal Ethiopian government and its Somali periphery, nor the recursive relations between state and society. With reference to the literature on neo-patrimonialism, I elucidate political disorder in the Somali Region by empirically describing hybrid political domination, institutional instability, and patronage relations, showing how neo-patrimonial rule translates into contested statehood in the region and political devices ranging from military coercion to subtle co-optation. Rather than unilateral domination, a complex web of power and manipulation between parts of the federal and regional authorities animates political disorder in Ethiopia's Somali Region.

The Journal of Modern African Studies 2005, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 509-536

Available from: Cambridge University Press

Book review of Ho-Won Jeong (2002): Approaches to Peacebuilding

Tobias Hagmann, 2003

Millennium: Journal of International Studies 2003, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 179-181

Available from: IngentaConnect

Bringing the Sultan Back In

Elders as Peacemakers in Ethiopia’s Somali Region

Tobias Hagmann, 2007

In: Buur L, Kyed H M, editors. State Recognition and Democratisation in Sub-Saharan Africa. A New Dawn for Traditional Authorities? New York: Palgrave, pp. 31-51.

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Failed state or failed debate? Multiple Somali political orders within and beyond the nation-state

Tobias Hagmann, M.V. Hoehne, 2007

Politorbis. Vierteljährliche Zeitschrift zur Aussenpolitik (42):20-26.

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From state collapse to duty-free shop: Somalia’s path to modernity

Review Article

Tobias Hagmann, 2005

African Affairs 2005, Vol. 104, No. 416, pp. 525-535

Available from: Oxford Journals

La Région Somali d’Éthiopie. Entre intégration, indépendance et irrédentisme

Tobias Hagmann, Mohamud H. Khalif, 2005

With the introduction of « ethnic federalism » by Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, Somalis have finally been accorded autonomy in eastern Ethiopia. But fifteen years after the Derg, Ethiopian-Somali identity is still disputed and the question of self-determination is far from being resolved. The inhabitants of the Somali region are struggling with three options : integration into Ethiopia, independence based on territory and genealogy or irredentism toward the defunct Democratic Republic of Somalia.

Politique Africaine 2005, No. 99, pp. 43-62

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Pastoral conflicts and state-building in the Ethiopian lowlands

Tobias Hagmann, Allemmaya Mulugeta, 2008

Africa Spectrum 43 (1): 19-37.

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Review of Bruce Kapferer (ed). 2004. State, Sovereignty, War: Civil violence in emerging global realities. New York, Oxford: Berghahn

Tobias Hagmann, 2006

Journal of Peace Research 2006, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 637-638

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State and Politics in Ethiopia's Somali Region since 1991

Tobias Hagmann, Mohamud H. Khalif, 2006

Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies 2006, Vol. 6, pp. 25-49

Available from: tobiashagmann.net

Common Property Resource Management, Institutional Change and Conflicts in African Floodplain Wetlands

Tobias Haller, 2002

Most contemporary discussions on African development since independence forty years ago emphasize the notion that Africa is still “mal parti”. Many show discontent for what has been achieved in this time, despite that “Africa works” as is suggested by Chabal and Daloz in their widely discussed book (1999). I will focus on the issue of sustainable development in Africa. This will be illustrated by the presentation of a common property resource management research project (on fisheries, pastures, wildlife, water for irrigation, and forests). The question of why the overuse of natural resources and conflicts over resources are occurring in modern day Africa is addressed here. This research project is called “Common Property Institutions and Power Relations: Resource Management, Change and Conflicts in African Floodplain Wetlands”. It focuses on six African floodplain wetlands in semi-arid zones (Internal Niger Delta in Mali, Hadejia-Jama'ara in Northern Nigeria, Logone Floodplain in Northern Cameroon, Pangani Floodplain in Tanzania, Okavango Delta in Botswana and Kafue Flats in Zambia (Haller 2001)) [...].

The African Anthropologist 2002, Vol 9, No.1, pp. 25-35

Available from: African Journals Online

Disputing African Floodplains: Comparison and Conclusions from AFWeP Case Studies

Tobias Haller, Jürg Helbling, 2005

The Common Property Resource Digest 2005, No. 74, pp. 9-10

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Geoinformation und Informationsmanagement in Parks und Parkprojekten in der Schweiz

Vorabklärungen für den Aufbau eines Data Warehouse unter besonderer berücksichtigung der Geoinformationsdaten für Pärke von nationaler Bedeutung im Auftrag des Bundesamtes für Umwelt BAFU

Ruedi Haller, Madlene Nussbaum, Ronald Schmidt, Astrid Wallner, 2009

Opening Up the CPRs: Institutional Change and the State in the Kafue Flats, Zambia

Tobias Haller, Sonja Merten, 2005

The Common Property Resource Digest 2005, No. 74, pp. 7-8

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Property rights, food security and child growth: Dynamics of insecurity in the Kafue Flats of Zambia.

Tobias Haller, 2008

In: Food Policy 33:434-443.

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We are Zambians - Don't tell us how to fish! Institutional change, power relations and conflicts in the Kafue Flats Fisheries in Zambia.

Tobias Haller, Sonja Merten, 2008

In: Human Ecology 36(5):699-715.

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Sudan and the Nile Basin

Osman El-Tom Hamad, Atta El-Battahani, 2005

The following article gives an overview of Sudanese water development facts and potentials and their regional impact on the other countries sharing the Nile River and beyond. These are set in relation to the unique environmental, socio-economic and political context of Sudan. While the availability of land for irrigation is great, water is limited due to Sudans situation upstream of Egypt and downstream of Ethiopia and the Equatorial Lakes. This geographical position makes Sudan take on a mediative approach to international relations in the Nile Basin. Recent steps to cooperation in the Nile Basin Initiative are presented; they highlight the enormous opportunities that exist in the cooperative development of the Nile.

Aquatic Sciences 2005, (67): pp. 28-41

Available from: SpringerLink

Migration – Addressing or Importing Risk?

Hajira Hamid, Karin Astrid Siegmann, 2007

"Migration across national borders is increasingly being seen as a strategy to alleviate poverty, to reduce vulnerability to crises and to support recovery once a disaster – be it a flood, an accident, or a business failure – has struck. This article aims to shed some light on the relationship between transnational migration, vulnerability and resilience. Whereas vulnerability relates to potential physical, social, economic and other damage, resilience means the capacity to survive, adapt to and bounce back from crisis and disaster (IFRC, 2004). The paper looks at migration on different levels, from individual women and men moving or staying back migrating or staying home, to the national level where aggregate population and remittance flows are counted."

SDPI Research and News Bulletin 2007, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 3-6.

Available from: SDPI

Egypt and the Nile Basin

Magdy Hefny, Salah El-Din Amer, 2005

The following paper examines the Nile question from an Egyptian perspective. The Nile is Egypts main source of water, and 96% of this water originates from outside of its territory. This explains why water is a key security issue for Egypt, and why, from Egypts point of view, cooperation with the upstream Nile countries is the only way forward. Egypts water policy focuses on demand management, environmental protection and international joint projects to increase the water supply (e.g. Jonglei canal).

Aquatic Sciences 2005, (67): pp. 42-50.

Available from: SpringerLink

From Pattern to Process: New Approaches in Land Cover Research at the Regional Level in the Lower Mekong Basin

Andreas Heinimann, 2005

The present research project endeavors to further exploiti the static land cover inventories in combination with regional spatial databases in order to find spatially explicit clues about what processes are responsible for changes observed at the regional scale in the Lower Mekong Basin. The approach is based on the assumption that the geometrical patterns of land cover and land cover dynamics can be indicators for ongoing active processes of change. Methods borrowed from landscape ecology may offer a possibility of quantifying the ability of the human eye to recognize patterns qualitatively. The patterns discovered in the land cover inventories of 1993 and 1997 in the Lower Mekong Basin are linked to hypothetical process groups. The linkage between geometrical pattern and hypothetical process of land cover change is based on expert knowledge systems, thorough meta-analysis of case studies and spatial analysis with regional representations of potential driving forces.

In: Proceeding of the Internation Conference on Agricultural Research for Development: European Responses to Changing Global Needs , 27-29 April 2005, ETH, Zürich, p.37.

GIS based watershed classification in Lao P.D.R

Andreas Heinimann, 2006

The Mekong River Commission (MRC) elaborated a spatial explicit Watershed Classification (WSC) for the Lower Mekong Basin. Based on topographic factors derived from a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model, five watershed classes are calculated, giving indication about the sensitivity to resource degradation by soil erosion. An analysis of the WSC in conjunction with forest cover data revealed that the more the 37% of Laos can be considered as critical with regard to degradation risk by soil erosion. The WSC allows spatial priority setting for watershed management and generally supports informed decision making on reconnaissance level. In the conclusions the article focuses on general considerations when GIS techniques are used for spatial decision support in a development context.

In: Ohgaki S, Fujushi K, Katayama H, Takizawa S, Polprasert C. Southeast Asian Water Environments1: Biodiversity and Water Environments. London: IWA Publishing, pp 43–50.

Available for purchase from: IWA Publishing

Watershed Classification in the Lower Mekong Basin

Andreas Heinimann, Thomas Breu, Thomas Kohler, 2005

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 181–182

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Gemeinsames Lernen in Forschungspartnerschaften mit dem Süden – praxisnah, interkulturell und transdisziplinär

Karl Herweg, Hans Hurni, Manfred Künzel, Stephan Rist, 2009

In: Darbellay F, Paulsen T, editors. Herausforderungen Inter- und Transdisziplinarität. Konzepte, Methoden und innovative Umsetzung in Lehre und Forschung. Lausanne: Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, p. 83-91

Stations of the soil conservation research programme (SCRP) in Ethiopia

Karl Herweg, Hans Hurni, Brigitte Portner, 2007

In: Hurni H, Bantider A, Herweg K, Portner B, Veit, H, editors. Landscape Transformation and Sustainable Development in Ethiopia. Background information for a study tour through Ethiopia, 4-20 September 2006. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern.

Milk consumption patterns in an area with traditional milk production.

Data from a case control study in Peri-Urban Bamako, Mali

M. Hetzel, Idriss O. Alfaroukh, Bassirou Bonfoh, Zakaria Farah, Cheikh F. Simbé, Jakob Zinsstag, 2005

Revue Africaine de Santé et de Productions Animales 3(3-4):174-177.

Reducing vulnerability to climate change in the Swiss Alps: a study of adaptive planning

Margot Hill, Jose Furtado, Astrid Wallner, 2010

Climate Policy 10: 70-86.

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La gouvernance urbaine, du Nord au Sud

Acceptions, hybridations, ambiguïtés

Isabelle Hillenkamp-Buscail, 2007

iuéd Working Paper 2007, Etudes courtes, No. 11.

Available from: The Graduate Institute

Evaluation of the discriminatory power of variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing of Mycobacterium bovis strains

Markus Hilty, Franca Baggi, Colette Diguimbaye, Esther Schelling, Marcel Tanner, Jakob Zinsstag, 2005

The discriminatory power of variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing based on 16 known loci (12 MIRUs, 3 ETRs and VNTR 3232) was assessed for Mycobacterium bovis strains collected sequentially at the slaughterhouse of N’Djaména, Chad. Of 67 M. bovis strains analyzed, 67% were clustered. In this study, VNTR typing was highly discriminative with an overall allelic diversity (hoa) of 0.922. We defined five loci (ETR A, B, C and MIRU 26, 27) as highly (h > 0.25), two loci (MIRU 4, and VNTR 3232) as moderately (0.11 < h < 0.25) and three loci (MIRU 16, 20, 31) as poorly (0.01 < h < 0.11) discriminative. Six loci (MIRU 2, 10, 23, 24, 39, and 40) showed no polymorphism at all. VNTR typing of the five highly discriminative loci (h = 0.917) proved to be most appropriate for first line typing of M. bovis strains of Chad and superior than spoligotyping (hsp = 0.789). In contrast to Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains, a consensus on VNTR loci needs to be found for M. bovis strains. The selection of a generally agreed set of VNTR loci for molecular discrimination of M. bovis in different geographical settings is discussed.

Veterinary Microbiology 2005, Vol. 109, Issues 3-4, pp. 217-222

Available from: ScienceDirect

Genetic Diversity in Mycobacterium ulcerans Isolates from Ghana Revealed by a Newly Identified Locus Containing a Variable Number of Tandem Repeats

Markus Hilty, Daniel Boakye, Ernestina Mensah-Quainoo, David Ofori-Adjei, Gerd Pluschke, Françoise Portaels, Simona Rondini, Esther Schelling, Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"The molecular typing methods used so far for Mycobacterium ulcerans isolates have not been able to identify genetic differences among isolates from Africa. This apparent lack of genetic diversity among M. ulcerans isolates is indicative of a clonal population structure. We analyzed the genetic diversity of 72 African isolates, including 57 strains from Ghana, by variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) typing based on a newly identified polymorphic locus designated ST1 and the previously described locus MIRU 1. Three different genotypes were found in Ghana, demonstrating for the first time the genetic diversity of M. ulcerans in an African country. While the ST1/MIRU 1 allele combination BD/BAA seems to dominate in Africa, it was only rarely found in isolates from Ghana, where the combination BD/B was dominant and observed in all districts studied. A third variant genotype (C/BAA) was found only in the Amansie-West district. The results indicate that new genetic variants of M. ulcerans emerged and spread within Ghana and support the potential of VNTR-based typing for genotyping of M. ulcerans."

Journal of Bacteriology 2006, Vol. 188, No. 4, p. 1462-1465

Available from: Journal of Bacteriology

Rural energy consumption and land degradation in a post-Soviet setting

An example from the west Pamir mountains in Tajikistan

Tobias Hoeck, Thomas Breu, Roman Droux, Hans Hurni, Daniel Maselli, 2007

"The sustainable use of energy resources in semi-arid rural mountain areas is a common but still unresolved problem, often resulting in environmental degradation. In a post-Soviet setting the identification of possible solutions poses specific challenges. [...] The study revealed that the close interlinkage between local energy resource use and land degradation leads to a paradoxical situation in present energy consumption. The scarcer the local energy resource base, the higher the overall energy consumption at household level appears to be. It can further be concluded that since 1991 energy consumption patterns in the Tajik Pamirs have become comparable to patterns in semi-arid rural mountain regions of developing countries. Like many countries in the South, the Tajik Pamirs suffer from chronic energy scarcity, unsatisfactory supply of modern energy carriers and unsustainable use of local biomass fuels, leading to land degradation. This calls for a reassessment of the energy policy orientation for Tajikistan."

Energy for Sustainable Development, 2007, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 48-57

Available from: International Energy Initiative

Gemeinsames staatlich-kollektives Wassermanagement in Cochabamba, Bolivien

Sabine Hoffmann, 2005

In: Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Entwicklungspolitik. Öffentlich-private Partnerschaften und internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, Band 24, Nr. 2. 2005. iuéd, Genf, pp. 183-194.

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Hacia una (re)conceptualización de ciudadanía

Sabine Hoffmann, 2005

Este artículo presenta un esquema analítico de la ciudadanía, el mismo que comprende diferentes dimensiones interrelacionadas. Partiendo de las dimensiones “status versus práctica”, “lo privado versus lo público” y “espacio público” se busca conceptualizar la noción de la participación ciudadana en los espacios públicos.

T'inkazos - Revista Boliviana de Ciencias Sociales 2005, No. 18, pp. 81-91

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La cogestion étatique-communautaire de l'eau à Cochabamba (Bolivie)

Sabine Hoffmann, 2005

"L’article de Sabine Hoffmann aborde la notion de partenariat par le biais des régimes institutionnels de propriété et de possession. Aux yeux de l’auteure, les partenariats posent inéluctablement des conditions institutionnelles qui définissent les droits, les obligations, les privilèges et les non-droits des acteurs concernés. L’article expose les différentes logiques auxquelles sont soumis les acteurs dans le cadre de partenariats : rationalité économique (liée à une économie de propriété) ou raison écosociale (liée à une économie de possession). Quelle logique guide les acteurs ? La réponse apportée par l’auteure s’appuie sur une étude de cas menée à Cochabamba, en Bolivie, concernant l’accès à l’eau potable."

Annuaire suisse de politique de développement 2005, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 179-190

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Participation citoyenne à la construction des espaces publics, ou les diverses pratiques et conceptions autour de la gestion des services de l'eau potable à Cochabamba, Bolivie

Sabine Hoffmann, 2005

LAZOS - Bulletin de liaison bolivianiste, March 2005, No. 7, pp. 69-76.

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Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research: Idea of the Handbook

Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Susette Biber-Klemm, Walter Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Dominique Joye, Christian Pohl, Urs Wiesmann, Elisabeth Zemp, 2007

Transdisciplinary orientations in research, education and institutions try to overcome the mismatch between knowledge production in academia, and knowledge requests for solving societal problems. It becomes necessary to transgress boundaries between different academic cultures, such as between the humanities and the natural sciences. Furthermore, researchers have to step into problem fields and engage in mutual learning with people in the life-world. In doing so, disciplinary standards of knowledge production are sacrificed. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a state of the art for transdisciplinary forms of research. This is best done by learning from experiences. The Handbook is intended to enable learning from exemplary experiences in research and to provide a more systematic account of some cross-cutting issues. This chapter describes the idea behind the Handbook and the contents of the Handbook.

In: Hirsch Hadorn G et al, editors. Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research. Springer Verlag.

Available from: Springer Verlag.

Participatory Geographic Information System

Silvia Hostettler, 2006

In: Geist H. editor. 2006. Our Earth's Changing Land. Encyclopedia of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change. Greenwood Press. USA. p. 452

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Remittances landscape

Silvia Hostettler, 2006

In: Geist H. editor. 2006. Our Earth's Changing Land. Encyclopedia of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change. Greenwood Press. USA. p. 503-506

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Confronting limitations

New solutions required for urban water management in Kunming City

Dong-Bin Huang, Hans-Peter Bader, Willi Gujer, Ruth Scheidegger, Roland Schertenleib, 2006

"Despite continuous investment and various efforts to control pollution, urban water environments are worsening in large parts of the developing world. In order to reveal potential constraints and limitations of current practices of urban water management and to stimulate proactive intervention, we conducted a material flow analysis of the urban water system in Kunming City. The results demonstrate that the current efficiency of wastewater treatment is only around 25% and the emission of total phosphorous from the city into its receiving water, Dianchi Lake, is more than 25 times higher than its estimated tolerance. With regard to the crisis of water quantity and quality, the goal of a sustainable urban water environment cannot be attained with the current problem-solving approach in the region due to the technical limitations of the conventional urban drainage and treatment systems. A set of strategies is therefore proposed. The urban drainage system in Zurich is used as a reference for a potential best-available technology for conventional urban water management (BAT) scenario in terms of its low combined frequency of sewer overflow."

Journal of Environmental Management, online since July 2006

Available online from: ScienceDirect

Discrete Event Simulation for Exploring Strategies

An Urban Water Management Case

Dong-Bin Huang, Derek E. Chitwood, Willi Gujer, Peter Loukopoulos, Roland Schertenleib, Roland W. Scholz, Hansruedi Siegrist, 2007

"This paper presents a model structure aimed at offering an overview of the various elements of a strategy and exploring their multidimensional effects through time in an efficient way. It treats a strategy as a set of discrete events planned to achieve a certain strategic goal and develops a new form of causal networks as an interfacing component between decision makers and environment models, e.g., life cycle inventory and material flow models. The causal network receives a strategic plan as input in a discrete manner and then outputs the updated parameter sets to the subsequent environmental models. Accordingly, the potential dynamic evolution of environmental systems caused by various strategies can be stepwise simulated. It enables a way to incorporate discontinuous change in models for environmental strategy analysis, and enhances the interpretability and extendibility of a complex model by its cellular constructs. It is exemplified using an urban water management case in Kunming, a major city in Southwest China. By utilizing the presented method, the case study modeled the cross-scale interdependencies of the urban drainage system and regional water balance systems, and evaluated the effectiveness of various strategies for improving the situation of Dianchi Lake."

Environmental Science & Technology 2007, Vol. 41, Issue 3, pp. 915-921

Available for purchase from: ACS Publications

Gobernanza de los bosques y conservación en Bolivia

Marc Hufty, Patrick Bottazzi, 2005

In: Marc Hufty, Claude Auroi and Manuel de la Fuente, editors. 2005. ¿A dónde va Bolivia? Gobernancia, gobernabilidad y democratización, La Paz, Plural Editores; NCCR North-South, pp. 149-181

Available for purchase from: Libros Andinos

Gobernanza en salud

Un aporte conceptual y analítico para la investigación

Marc Hufty, Ernesto Bascolo, Roberto Bazzani, 2006

Governance in health: a conceptual and analytical approach to research

"In the Latin American region there is a notable absence of conceptual coherency in the use of the terms governability and governance. This is true for their application to both the social and political sciences and health. Researchers’ understanding of governance varies, and the concept is used heterogeneously within academic circles, with ignorance of the term on the part of decisionmakers and great confusion and ambiguity in the meanings used by researchers and decisionmakers in the health sector. Instead of the prevailing normative use, promoted by most international agencies, a conceptual and analytical framework for governance is proposed here for health systems and services research. Advances in the design of this framework were used to evaluate the public health insurance program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which allowed the use of the analytical framework to be assessed as a tool for systemizing the social, political, and institutional complexity of the health policy formulation and implementation processes."

Cadernos de Saúde Pública / Reports in Public Health 2006, Vol. 22, Sup: S35-S45

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Gouvernance des forêts et conservation en Bolivie

Marc Hufty, Patrick Bottazzi, 2005

In: Auroi C, Milbert I., Hufty M. Où va la Bolivie?

Intégration de la population dans les mesures de protection

Marc Hufty, 2006

"La mise en place d’aires protégées est un instrument essentiel pour la conservation de la diversité biologique. Mais elle ne peut aboutir que si les mesures de protection tiennent compte des besoins de la population locale."

Hotspot 2006, No. 14, p. 11

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L’objet gouvernance

Marc Hufty, 2005

In: Hufty M, Freire A, Plagnat P (Ed). 2005. Jeux de gouvernance: Regards et réflexions sur un concept. Cahier des jeunes chercheurs de l’IUED. Paris Karthala.

La biodiversité dans les relations Nord / Sud

Coopération ou conflit?

Marc Hufty, 2006

La revue internationale et stratégique 2006, No. 60, pp. 150-159

Available from: Institut de relations internationales et stratégique

La gouvernance internationale de la biodiversité

Marc Hufty, 2001

Etudes internationales 2001, Vol. 32, No.1, pp. 5-29

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Le développement durable et sa gouvernance

Un conflit entre modèles de civilisation insoluble localement

Marc Hufty, 2006

Natures Sciences Sociétés 2006, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 163-165

Available for purchase from: EDP Sciences

Le soja en Amérique du Sud ou le cauchemar de Humboldt

Marc Hufty, 2006

"En apparence, la culture du soja est une chance pour l’Argentine, la Bolivie, le Brésil et le Paraguay. Elle apporte à ces pays une manne financière bienvenue. Mais ses conséquences pour la forêt, le sol, la biodiversité, l’eau et - surtout - les populations locales rendent cette réussite économique dérisoire. Quelques mouvements d’opposition tentent de faire entendre leur voix, mais ils restent démunis face à la demande mondiale de soja."

La Revue Durable 2006, No. 20, pp. 46-47

Available from: LaRevueDurable

Peuples indigènes et citoyenneté en Amérique latine

Entre adaptation et résistance à l'ordre mondial

Marc Hufty, Patrick Bottazzi, 2006

In: Géraldine Froger, editor. 2006. La mondialisation contre le développement durable? Bruxelles, Peter Lang. pp. 181-197

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Die Schweiz etabliert ein neuartiges EZ-Instrument

Hans Hurni, Peter Messerli, Franziska Pfister, 2004

"Bildung und Forschung sind die Schlüssel zur nachhaltigen Linderung der Armut und Umweltzerstörung in den Ländern des Südens und Ostens. Der dazu nötige Kompetenzaufbau vor Ort zur selbständigen Lösung der Probleme ist das Ziel des Schweizerischen Nationalen Forschungsschwerpunkts Nord-Süd (NCCR North-South). Drei Jahre nach dem Start dieses neuartigen, auf 12 Jahre angelegten Programms hat sich die internationale Forschungspartnerschaft mit Ländern des Südens erfolgreich als eigenständiges Element der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit etabliert."

Zeitschrift Entwicklungspolitik 2004, No. 18/19, pp. 54-56

Available from: Zeitschrift Entwicklungspolitik

Land Degradation and Runoff Changes in the Highlands of Ethiopia

Hans Hurni, Salomon Abate , Amare Bantider, Berhanu Debele, Eva Ludi, Birru Yitaferu, Gete Zeleke, 2008

The Ethiopian Highlands constitute 50% of the country and were once forested to a large extent. Nowadays, merely 20% are covered by trees (3% by closed forest), evidencing a high extent of agricultural activities in the historic past and up to today. The consequences are land degradation, and there is increased direct runoff in the highlands and to the lowlands.

Poster presented at the International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD), National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR North-South, University of Bern. 02-04 July 2008, Bern.

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Nachhaltige Entwicklung in Afrika: globale Agenda und lokales Handeln

Hans Hurni, 2007

In: Bearth, Barbara Becker, Rolf Kappel, Gesine Krüger, Roger Pfister, editors. 2007. Thomas Afrika im Wandel. vdf Hochschulverlag AG, ETH Zürich, pp. 123-136

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Nachhaltige Entwicklung und Risikomanagement in Gebirgsräumen

Eine Einführung

Hans Hurni, Andreas Kläy, Daniel Maselli, 2003

In: Jeanneret, F., Wastl-Walter, D., Wiesmann, U., Schwyn, M., (eds). 2003. Welt der Alpen - Gebirge der Welt. Ressourcen, Akteure, Perspektiven. Bern: Haupt. ISBN: 978-3-258-06624-0, pp. 95-102

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Putting soils higher on the international agenda

Hans Hurni, Markus Giger, Konrad Meyer, 2006

Soils on the global agenda: The report provides an overview of international actions concerned with sustainable land management, based on contributions from members of the IASUS (International Actions for the Sustainable Use of Soil) network made at the Eurosoil Symposium. It also aims to concretise possible follow-up actions. On the occasion of the ISRIC workshop “World Soils Issues and Sustainable Development” held on 10 March 2006, the creation of a World Soils Council (WSC) was initiated. The report presents in its final chapter the WSC’s proposed vision, objectives, and structure. The report was produced by IASUS, a working group of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), with support from CDE and financing from SDC. This publication is a follow-up of: A World Soils Agenda

In: Hans Hurni, Markus Giger, and Konrad Meyer, editors. 2006. Soils on the global agenda. Developing International Mechanisms for Sustainable Land Management. IASUS Working Group of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). Centre for Development and Environment, Bern. pp. 4-15

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Simen Mountains World Heritage Site in Northern Ethiopia

Hans Hurni, Eva Ludi, 2007

In: Hurni H, Bantider A, Herweg K, Portner B, Veit, H, editors. Landscape Transformation and Sustainable Development in Ethiopia. Background information for a study tour through Ethiopia, 4-20 September 2006. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern.

The Implications of Changes in Population, Land Use, and Land Management for Surface Runoff in the Upper Nile Basin Area of Ethiopia

Hans Hurni, Kebede Tato, Gete Zeleke, 2005

Much concern has been raised about population increase in the highlands of Ethiopia and its potential to decrease runoff from the upper Nile Basin to the lowland countries of Sudan and Egypt. The present article examines long-term data on population, land use, land management, rainfall, and surface runoff rates from small test plots (30 m2) and micro-catchments (73–673 ha) in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Analysis and interpretation of data support the hypothesis that surface runoff and sediment yield from the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands into the upper Nile Basin have most probably increased in the long term due to intensified land use and land degradation induced by population increase, when seen in a historical perspective.

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 147–154

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The IUSS World Soils Agenda

Background, tasks, and consequences for policies.

Hans Hurni, 2006

Soils on the global agenda: The report provides an overview of international actions concerned with sustainable land management, based on contributions from members of the IASUS (International Actions for the Sustainable Use of Soil) network made at the Eurosoil Symposium. It also aims to concretise possible follow-up actions. On the occasion of the ISRIC workshop “World Soils Issues and Sustainable Development” held on 10 March 2006, the creation of a World Soils Council (WSC) was initiated. The report presents in its final chapter the WSC’s proposed vision, objectives, and structure. The report was produced by IASUS, a working group of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), with support from CDE and financing from SDC. This publication is a follow-up of: A World Soils Agenda (2002)

In: Hans Hurni, Markus Giger, and Konrad Meyer, editors. 2006. Soils on the global agenda. Developing International Mechanisms for Sustainable Land Management. IASUS Working Group of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). Centre for Development and Environment, Bern. pp. 18-25

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The Tajik Pamirs: Recommendations for a sustainable development strategy in Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO)

Hans Hurni, Thomas Breu, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 70-71.

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The Tajik Pamirs: Towards a methodological framework for strategy development

Hans Hurni, Thomas Breu, Thomas Heimgartner, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 64-69.

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Prioritization of prevention activities to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in resource constrained settings

A cost-effectiveness analysis from Chad, Central Africa

G. Hutton, Yemadji N’Diékhor , Kaspar Wyss, 2003

"In Chad, as in most sub-Saharan Africa countries, HIV/AIDS poses a massive public health threat as well as an economic burden, with prevalence rates estimated at 9% of the adult population. In defining and readjusting the scope and content of the national HIV/AIDS control activities, policy makers sought to identify the most cost-effective options for HIV/AIDS control. The cost-effectiveness analysis reported in this paper uses a mixture of local and international information sources combined with appropriate assumptions to model the cost-effectiveness of feasible HIV prevention options in Chad, with estimates of the budget impact. The most cost-effective options at under US$100 per infection prevented were peer group education of sex workers and screening of blood donors to identify infected blood before transfusion. These options were followed by mass media and peer group education of high risk men and young people, at around US$500 per infection prevented. Anti-retroviral therapy for HIV infected pregnant women and voluntary counselling and testing were in the order of US$1000 per infection prevented. The paper concludes with recommendations for which activities should be given priority in the next phase of the national HIV/AIDS control programme in Chad."

The International Journal of Health Planning and Management 2003, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 117-136

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Droughts and famines: The underlying factors and the causal links among agro-pastoral households in semi-arid Makueni district, Kenya

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Boniface Kiteme, Urs Wiesmann, 2008

"Famines are often linked to drought in semi-arid areas of Sub-Saharan Africa where not only pastoralists, but also increasingly agro-pastoralists are affected. This study addresses the interplay between drought and famine in the rural semi-arid areas of Makueni district, Kenya, by examining whether, and how crop production conditions and agro-pastoral strategies predispose smallholder households to drought-triggered food insecurity. If this hypothesis holds, then approaches to deal with drought and famine have to target factors causing household food insecurity during non-drought periods. Data from a longitudinal survey of 127 households, interviews, workshops, and daily rainfall records (1961–2003) were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. This integrated approach confirms the above hypothesis and reveals that factors other than rainfall, like asset and labour constraints, inadequate policy enforcement, as well as the poverty-driven inability to adopt risk-averse production systems play a key role. When linking these factors to the high rainfall variability, farmer-relevant definitions and forecasts of drought have to be applied."

Global Environmental Change 2008, Vol. 18, Issue 1, pp. 220-233.

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Gender Based Analysis of Vulnerability to Drought among Agro-Pastoral Households in Semi-Arid Makueni District, Kenya

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, 2006

This study analyses how gender relations shape vulnerability to drought in the semi-arid areas of Makueni District, Kenya. The study area is a marginal environment of low argicultural potential and poverty is widespread. The interplay and socio-economic pressures on agro-pastoral households, and the compulsion to conform or to be perceived as conforming to the prevailing gendered traditional rules and norms, influences the capabilities of men and women to secure their livelihoods in non-drought periods. In times of drought, gender relations also shape the coping strategies of women and men in various ways, and the impacts of drought on household welfare challenge the traditional roles of men.

In:Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 119-146.

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Indigenous knowledge related to climate variability and change: insights from droughts in semi-arid areas of former Makueni District, Kenya.

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Peter Ambenje, Boniface Kiteme, Samuel Makali, Urs Wiesmann, 2010

This article describes the indigenous knowledge (IK) that agro pastoralists in larger Makueni District, Kenya hold and how they use it to monitor, mitigate and adapt to drought. It examines ways of integrating IK into formal monitoring, how to enhance its value and acceptability. Data was collected through target interviews, group discussions and questionnaires covering 127 households in eight villages. Daily rainfall data from 1961–2003 were analysed. Results show that agro-pastoralists hold IK on indicators of rainfall variability; they believe in IK efficacy and they rely on them. Because agro-pastoralists consult additional sources, the authors interpret that IK forms a basic knowledge frame within which agro-pastoralists position and interpret meteorological forecasts. [...]

Climatic Change. doi:10.1007/s10584-009-9713-0

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Strengthening policies and institutions to support adaptation to climate variabiliy and change in the drylands of East Africa

Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Elias Ayiemba, Eva Ludi, Gimbage Ernest Mbeyale, Davis Mwamfupe , Paul Ong'Anyi, 2010

We analysed how policies in Tanzania and Kenya address the strategies of agro-pastoralists for coping with and adapting to climate variability and climate change, based on data from semi-structured household surveys, group discussions, policy documents and other material. Many policies indirectly address climate variability and change by focusing on drought, suggesting that some form of mainstreaming already exists. We show that by integrating the perspective of agro-pastoralists, i.e. the majority of the rural poor, policies and pro-poor adaptation strategies can be strengthened.

In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the NCCR North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 107-130.

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Cotreatment of sewage and septage in waste stabilization ponds

A.M. Ingallinella, R.G. Fernández, Agnes Montangero, Graciela Sanguinetti, Martin Strauss, 2002

"A one year study was carried out in a waste stabilization ponds system where septage and sewage are cotreated. The system consists of two septage ponds which operate alternately followed by two ponds in series which receive the combined effluent. The septage ponds also act as evaporation ponds for the accumulated sludge. The monitoring program was divided in two phases. The results of the first phase indicate that the effluent of septage ponds has an adequate quality to be discharged into the waste stabilization ponds designed to treat sewage and that is possible to use the septage ponds to dry the accumulated sludge. Further investigation is needed to find suitable post-treatment of the sludge in order to use it in agriculture."

Water Science & Technology 2002, Vol .45, No. 1, pp. 9–15

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The Challenge of Faecal Sludge Management in Urban Areas

Strategies, Regulations and Treatment Options

A.M. Ingallinella, Thammarat Koottatep, Agnes Montangero, Graciela Sanguinetti, Martin Strauss, 2002

In urban centres of industrialising countries, the majority of houses are served by on-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks and unsewered toilets. The faecal sludges (FS) collected from these systems are usually discharged untreated into the urban and peri-urban environment, posing great risks to water resources and to public health. Contrary to wastewater management, the development of strategies to cope with faecal sludges, adapted to the conditions prevailing in developing countries, have long been neglected. The authors describe the current situation and discuss selected issues of FS management. A proposal is made for a rational setting of sludge quality or treatment standards in economically emerging countries [...].

Water Science and Technology 2002, Vol. 46, No. 10, pp. 285-294.

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Problems of managing water resources for the irrigation systems of Kyrgyzstan under market economy conditions

Fundatmental problems of studying and using water and water resources

Natalia Ivanova, Bakyt Askaraliev, Viktor Bilenko, G. Frolova, 2005

Presentation on Irrkutsk Scientific Conference.

In Russian

Irrkutsk Scientific Conference, Institute of Geography, pp. 185 - 187.

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Migration trends from Pakistan

Maqsood Ahmed Jan, 2008

There are several forms of international migration from Pakistan towards many regions: North America, European Union states, Persian Gulf and East Asia. These forms of trans-border movement vary extensively over time and place of destination. Pakistan was also among the other countries that supplied work force to European progression towards industrialization in the 1950s. That trend changed in the 1970s when geo-political changes and economic configurations resulted in sharp decline in expatriate labor to Europe. Later that trend transformed into re-unification of immediate family members of settled migrant workers and immigration to North America. Migration to East Asia and specifically to Persian Gulf States is of more significance both in terms of numbers and the new pattern of return migration due to short contractual arrangements.

Available from: SPDI

Community Perceptions and Priorities for Managing Water and Environmental Resources in the River Njoro Watershed in Kenya

M. W. Jenkins , L. W. Chiuri, Francis K. Lelo, S. N. Miller, W. A. Shivoga, 2009

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VIH/sida, genre et vulnérabilité

Lutte contre la vulnérabilité des femmes infectées par une association de femmes vivant avec le VIH/sida à Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)

Cléopâtre Kablan, Guéladio Cissé, Brigit Obrist, Marcel Tanner, Ismaïla Touré, Kaspar Wyss, 2006

"L'une des préoccupations majeures qui apparaît lorsqu'on s'intéresse au VIH/sida dans les pays du sud, est celle de la vulnérabilité des femmes infectées. Face à cette vulnérabilité, quelles réponses une association de femmes vivant avec le VIH/sida peut-elle apporter ? Pour répondre à cette question, nous avons mené une enquête de terrain auprès d'une association de femmes vivant avec le VIH/sida à Abidjan. Cette enquête qui a combiné approche quantitative et approche qualitative visait à cerner les réponses de l'association face aux risques auxquels sont exposées ces femmes. Les résultats indiquent que face à la vulnérabilité des femmes qui se traduit soit par une rupture des liens sociaux soit par le silence imposé par le risque d'une telle rupture, les soutiens moral, matériel et financier constituent les principales actions menées par l'association."

VertigO - la revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement 2006, hors série 3, Article 6

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"I am the head of the household now"

The Impacts of Outmigration for Labour on Gender Hierarchies in Nepal

Heidi Kaspar, 2006

In: Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 285-303.


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Ethnic Federalism, Exclusion and Human Insecurity threats to Minority Farming Groups in Soami Region

A case study of Garrimarro in Dollo Odo/Ado District (Wereda), the Somali Region, Ethiopia

Getachew Kassa, 2006

Research Report

Cost-description of a pilot parenteral vaccination campaign against rabies in dogs in N'Djaména, Chad

U. Kayali, G. Hutton, R. Mindekem, Guelmbaye Ndoutamia, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"In the discussion about policies and strategies for rabies prevention in developing countries, intervention costs arise as a major issue. In a pilot mass vaccination campaign against rabies in N'Djaména, Chad, 3000 dogs were vaccinated. We assessed vaccination coverage and cost, showing the cost per dog vaccinated for the public sector and for society. An extrapolation to city level calculated the approximate cost of vaccinating all 23 600 dogs in N'Djaména. In the pilot mass campaign with 3000 dogs the average cost per dog was 1.69 €. to the public and the full societal cost was 2.45 €. If all 23 600 dogs in N'Djaména were vaccinated, the average cost would fall to 1.16 € to the public and 1.93 € to society. Private sector costs account for 31% of the cost to vaccinate 3000 dogs, and 40% of the cost to vaccinate 23 600 dogs. Mass dog vaccination could be a comparatively cheap and ethical way to both control the disease in animals and prevent human cases and exposure, especially in developing countries. The cost-effectiveness of dog vaccination compared with treating victims of dog bites for prevention of human rabies should be further assessed and documented."

Tropical Medicine & International Health 2006, Vol. 11, Issue 7, pp. 1058

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Coverage of pilot parenteral vaccination campaign against canine rabies in N’Djaména, Chad

U. Kayali, Y. Kaninga, R. Mindekem, Yemadji N’Diékhor , Guelmbaye Ndoutamia, Penelope Vounatsou, Jakob Zinsstag, 2003

"Canine rabies, and thus human exposure to rabies, can be controlled through mass vaccination of the animal reservoir if dog owners are willing to cooperate. Inaccessible, ownerless dogs, however, reduce the vaccination coverage achieved in parenteral campaigns. This study aimed to estimate the vaccination coverage in dogs in three study zones of N’Djaména, Chad, after a pilot free parenteral mass vaccination campaign against rabies. We used a capture–mark–recapture approach for population estimates, with a Bayesian, Markov chain, Monte Carlo method to estimate the total number of owned dogs, and the ratio of ownerless to owned dogs to calculate vaccination coverage. When we took into account ownerless dogs, the vaccination coverage in the dog populations was 87% (95% confidence interval (CI), 84–89%) in study zone I, 71% (95% CI, 64–76%) in zone II, and 64% (95% CI, 58–71%) in zone III. The proportions of ownerless dogs to owned dogs were 1.1% (95% CI, 0–3.1%), 7.6% (95% CI, 0.7–16.5%), and 10.6% (95% CI, 1.6–19.1%) in the three study zones, respectively. Vaccination coverage in the three populations of owned dogs was 88% (95% CI, 84–92%) in zone I, 76% (95% CI, 71–81%) in zone II, and 70% (95% CI, 66–76%) in zone III. Participation of dog owners in the free campaign was high, and the number of inaccessible ownerless dogs was low. High levels of vaccination coverage could be achieved with parenteral mass vaccination. Regular parenteral vaccination campaigns to cover all of N’Djaména should be considered as an ethical way of preventing human rabies when post-exposure treatment is of limited availability and high in cost."

Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2003, Vol. 81, No. 10, pp. 739-744

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Incidence of canine rabies in N’Djaména, Chad

U. Kayali, R. Mindekem, Yemadji N’Diékhor , S. Naïssengar, Guelmbaye Ndoutamia, A. Oussiguéré, Jakob Zinsstag, 2003

"This work describes for the first time the incidence risk of passively reported canine rabies, and quantifies reported human exposure in N’Djaména (the capital of Chad). To diagnose rabies, we used a direct immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFAT). From January 2001 to March 2002, we were brought 34 rabies cases in dogs and three cases in cats. Canine cases were geographically clustered. The annual incidence risk of canine rabies was 1.4 (95% CI: 1.2, 1.7) per 1000 unvaccinated dogs. Most of the rabid dogs were owned—although free-roaming and not vaccinated against rabies. Most showed increased aggressiveness and attacked people without being provoked. Eighty-one persons were exposed to rabid dogs and four persons to rabid cats (mostly children<15 years old). Most of the exposed persons were neighbours or family members of the animal owner. Most exposures were transdermal bites, but nearly half of all exposed persons did not apply any first wound care or only applied a traditional treatment. In N’Djaména, humans are often exposed to canine rabies but do not use the full-course post-exposure treatment and wound care is insufficient. Most rabid dogs would be accessible to parenteral vaccination. Pilot vaccination campaigns are needed to determine the success of dog mass vaccination in N’Djaména as a way to prevent animal and human rabies."

Preventive Veterinary Medicine 2003, Vol. 61, Issue 3, pp. 227-233

Available from: ScienceDirect

Traintement de la pollution microbienne de l'eau par le rayonnement solaire: Puisse cette technologie être adapté à la potabilisation de l' eau de boisson pour les communautées rurales dans les pays à fort taux d' ensoleillement?

Simeon Kenfack, Guéladio Cissé, M. Kampara, AH. Maiga, C. Pulgarin, S. Rincón, 2005

Info CREPA no. 50, décembre 2005: 22-30.

Accroissement des connaissances des acteurs et décideurs sur les risques sanitaires liés aux déchets (solides et liquides) en milieu urbain et sur les stratégies de prévention.

Kientga, Mathieu Kientga, Mathieu, 2006

Contribution des Systèmes d'Informations Géographiques à la maîtrise des risques sanitaires en milieu urbain dans les pays en voie de développement: Cas des liens Santé Déchets Croissance urbaine à Ouagadougou/Burkina Faso.

Kientga, Mathieu Kientga, Mathieu, 2006

Preventing and Resolving Water Use Conflicts in the Mount Kenya Highland–Lowland System through Water Users' Associations

Boniface Kiteme, John Gikonyo, 2002

"In recent decades, the Mount Kenya highland–lowland system, which includes the Ewaso Ngiro North Basin, has experienced complex ecological and socioeconomic dynamics. These are reflected in changing land use systems and practices as well as in a rapidly growing human population, especially in the footzones and adjacent lowlands. These changes have exerted unremitting pressure on water resources, especially because the demand for water by different user groups has continued to grow, against the backdrop of expensive alternative sources (rainwater and groundwater harvesting) and increasingly dwindling river water resources. As each of the user groups moves to make substantial claims to available river water, competition for the resource becomes even sharper, thus setting the stage for conflicts related to scarcity that intensify during the dry season, at times resulting in fatal physical conflicts among different user groups in the basin, especially between upstream and downstream users. Different approaches have been used to address these scarcity-related conflicts. The present article discusses Water Users' Associations as one of the most effective initiatives launched to address the problem of water use conflicts in the basin in the recent past."

Mountain Research and Development 2002, Volume 22, Issue 4, pp. 332-337

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Sustainable River Basin Management in Kenya: Balancing Needs and Requirements.

Boniface Kiteme, Urs Wiesmann, 2008

This chapter presents an example of transdisciplinarity based on 25 years of continuous research in the upper Ewaso Ng’iro north basin on the north-western slopes of Mount Kenya. It shows how the research facility evolved from a district and project planning support institution, based on needs, to a regionally oriented and integrated facility addressing the requirements of sustainability. Projecting on the basis of long-term implications of changes in ecological processes and socio-economic and institutional dynamics on water availability, research activities were embedded in a multilevel, multistakeholder transfer strategy to ensure integration of scientific and local knowledge systems and long-term ownership of preferred interventions. In conclusion, the chapter lists seven recommendations on salient issues of transdisciplinary research.

In: Hirsch Hadorn et al, editors. Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research. Springer Verlag, pp 63-78.

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Re-evaluating the burden of rabies in Africa and Asia

Darryn L. Knobel, Sarah Cleaveland, Paul G. Coleman, Eric M. Fèvre, Martin I. Meltzer, François-Xavier Meslin, M. Elizabeth G. Miranda, Alexandra Shaw, Jakob Zinsstag, 2005

Rabies remains an important yet neglected disease in Africa and Asia. Disparities in the affordability and accessibility of post-exposure treatment and risks of exposure to rabid dogs result in a skewed distribution of the disease burden across society, with the major impact falling on those living in poor rural communities, in particular children.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2005, Vol. 83, Number 5, pp. 321-400

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Seasonal epidemiology of ticks and aspects of cowdriosis in N’Dama village cattle in the Central Guinea savannah of Côte d’Ivoire

Lea Knopf, B. Betschart, B. Gottstein, F. Jongejan, C. Komoin-Otaka, Jakob Zinsstag, 2002

In the Central Guinea savannah of Côte d’Ivoire, cattle breeding started only 30 years ago. The impact of parasitism on the overall health status and productivity of the trypanotolerant N’Dama cattle in this area is unknown. In close collaboration with national veterinary institutions and local farmers, we studied spectrum, burden and seasonal dynamics of ticks (including aspects of cowdriosis) on N’Dama village cattle.

Preventive Veterinary Medicine 2002, Vol. 53, Issues 1-2, pp. 21-30

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Mountain infrastructure: Access, communications, and energy

Thomas Kohler, Hans Hurni, Andreas Kläy, Urs Wiesmann, 2004

In: Price MF, Jansky L, Iatsenia AA, editors. 2004. Key issues for mountain areas. Tokyo, New York, Paris: United Nations University Press, pp. 38-62

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Mountains: Special Places to be Protected?

An analysis of worldwide nature conservation efforts in mountains

Michael Kollmair, Ghana Gurung, Kaspar Hurni, Daniel Maselli, 2005

Mountains are regularly a focus of international efforts to conserve the environment and promote sustainable development. The present article analyses the extent of protection in mountainous compared to non-mountainous areas, sheds light on the rationales behind the establishment of mountain protected areas, and proposes directions for future conservation endeavours with reference to mountain protected areas.

The International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management 2005, Volume 1, Number 4, pp. 181-189(9)

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New Figures for Old Stories: Migration and Remittances in Nepal

Michael Kollmair, Siddhi Manandhar, Bhim P. Subedi, Susan Thieme, 2006

"Labour migration and remittances are major economic mainstays for Nepal’s economy. However, there is still insufficient documentation on scale and significance of this process. Estimations of migration figures suggest that real numbers are several times higher than official statistics show. Therefore this article contributes to the emerging debate of the last years comparing latest national statistics with own empirical data. The paper concludes that the total numbers of migrants calculated by the authors closely corresponds with official statistics, while amount of remittances seems to be higher indeed, highlighting once more that labour migration and remittances are an important mainstay of Nepal’s economy."

Migration Letters 2006, Vol. 3, Issue 2, pp. 151-160

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Etude de la morbidité palustre à l’Hôpital Général d’Adiaké, Côte d’Ivoire de 1998 à 2000

Atioumouna Kone, B. V. J. Benié, N. S. Dagnan, K. D. Ekra, B. Kakou, E. Konan, J. Tagliante-Saracino, I. Tiembré, P. Zengbé, 2005

Notre travail est une étude rétrospective de la morbidité palustre sur 3 ans (de 1998 à 2000) dans un hôpital général situé en zone lagunaire (Adiaké).
Il ressort de cette étude que le tiers (34,79 %) des patients ayant consulté présentait un paludisme et que plus de la moitié des hospitalisations étaient des cas de paludisme. Nous avons noté une légère prédominance féminine (52,11 %) en consultation. La population infanto-juvénile était la plus touchée tant en consultation qu’en hospitalisation avec respectivement 58,38 % et 54,97 % ; elle concerne surtout la tranche d’âge de 1 à 4 ans.
Le mois de Juillet pendant ces trois années a enregistré le plus de cas de paludisme. Nous avons constaté que le paludisme se transmet toute l’année avec une légère prédominance à la grande saison des pluies. La principale complication du paludisme qui a occasionné une hospitalisation était l’anémie (82,62 %) qui avait touché les enfants de 0 à 15 ans dans 88, 29 % des cas et les adultes dans 11,71 % des cas. Le paludisme représentait la principale cause de décès en hospitalisation. Ces décès étaient dus dans 81,84 % à l’anémie.

Médecine d'Afrique Noire 2005, No. 5203, pp. 188-192

Free online version available from: Médecine d'Afrique Noire.
Hard copy available from: Médecine d'Afrique Noire.

Impact de la démoustication sur les populations d’Aedes aegypti de deux communes de la ville d’Abidjan (Port-Bouët et Yopougon), Côte d'Ivoire

Atioumouna Kone, P. Carnevale, N. S. Dagnan, J. Tagliante-Saracino, I. Tiembré, 2005

Devant les résultats nous pouvons conclure que les pulvérisation aériennes spatiales d'insecticides permettent de réduire les densités de moustique en général et d'Aedes aegypti en particulier mais que cette réduction est de courte durée. Cette réduction est beaucoup plus marquée sur les populations exophagues que d'endophagues d'où la nécessité de tenir compte de la bio écologie des moustiques lors de l'application de cette technique.

Dakar Médical 2005, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 113-117

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Importance des pneus abandonnés dans la prolifération d’Aedes aegypti en milieu urbain

Cas de la ville de Sassandra

Atioumouna Kone, K. Adou, B. V. J. Benié, N. S. Dagnan, K. D. Ekra, L. Kouadio, K. P. Odéhouri, I. Tiembré, 2006

L’analyse montre que les pneus abandonnés représentent en moyenne 50% de l’ensemble des gîtes larvaires de la ville de Sassandra. Ils sont les plus productifs car 70% d’entre eux en moyenne contiennent des larves d’Aedes aegypti. Ainsi, ce travail met en évidence, le rôle prépondérant que jouent les pneus abandonnés dans la prolifération d’Aedes aegytpi dans la ville de Sassandra. Ainsi, la lutte antivectorielle prend une place de choix dans la lutte contre la fièvre jaune.

Médecine d’Afrique Noire 2006, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 167-170

Hard copy available from: Médecine d'Afrique Noire.

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Revalorisation des déchets solides plastiques à la zone industrielle de Yopougon (Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) et risques sanitaires associés

Brama Koné, Guéladio Cissé, Simeon Kenfack, 2007

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Vulnérabilité et résilience des populations riveraines liées à la pollution des eaux lagunaires de la métropole d'Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

Brama Koné, Guéladio Cissé, Pascal Valentin Houenou, Brigit Obrist, Peter Odermatt, Marcel Tanner, Kaspar Wyss, 2006

"La lagune d'Abidjan est polluée par les déchets urbains. Les populations périurbaines, riveraines de cette lagune sont exposées à la pollution. L'étude porte sur l'évaluation des aspects de vulnérabilité et de résilience des populations exposées. Neuf "focus groups" ou groupes de discussion ont été réalisés sur trois sites qui bordent la lagune. Les populations étudiées se disent victimes de "la ville". Les aspects de leur vulnérabilité rapportés par elles sont entre autres les mauvaises odeurs qui émanent des eaux lagunaires, les mouches et moustiques qui se multiplient en lagune et qui leur apportent des maladies comme le paludisme et les diarrhées, les démangeaisons de corps dont les pêcheurs se plaignent. En ce qui concerne les aspects de résilience, des actions individuelles d'entretien des berges lagunaires sont menées par endroit. Le capital financier, humain et social des malades ou de leur famille joue un rôle important dans leur résilience en cas de maladie."

VertigO - la revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement 2006, hors série 3, Article 5

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Integrated faecal sludge treatment and recycling through constructed wetlands and sunflower plant irrigation

Thammarat Koottatep, Sukon Hadsoi, Chongrak Polprasert, 2006

"Faecal sludge (FS) from the on-site sanitation systems is a nutrient-rich source but can contain high concentrations of toxic metals and chemicals and infectious micro-organisms. The study employed 3 vertical-flow CW units, each with a dimension of 5×5×0.65 m (width×length×media depth) and planted with cattails (Typha augustifolia). At the solid loading rate of 250 kg total solids (TS)/m2.yr and a 6-day percolate impoundment, the CW system could achieve chemical oxygen demand (COD), TS and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) removal efficiencies in the range of 80–96%. A solid layer of about 80 cm was found accumulated on the CW bed surface after operating the CW units for 7 years, but no clogging problem has been observed. The CW percolate was applied to 16 irrigation sunflower plant (Helianthus annuus) plots, each with a dimension of 4.5×4.5 m (width×length). In the study, tap water was mixed with 20%, 80% and 100% of the CW percolate at the application rate of 7.5 mm/day. Based on a 1-year data in which 3 crops of plantation were experimented, the contents of Zn, Mn and Cu in soil of the experimental plots were found to increase with increase in CW percolate ratios. In a plot with 100% of CW percolate irrigation, the maximum Zn, Mn and Cu concentrations of 5.0, 12.3 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively, were detected in the percolate-fed soil, whereas no accumulation of heavy metals in the plant tissues (i.e. leaves, stems and flowers) of the sunflower were detected. The highest plant biomass yield and oil content of 1000 kg/ha and 35%, respectively, were obtained from the plots fed with 20% or 50% of the CW percolate."

Water Science and Technology 2006, Vol. 54, No. 11-12, pp. 155–164

Available from: IWA Publishing

Research Partnerships for Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia

Highlights of the NCCR North-South Program in Southeast Asia, 2005-2009

Thammarat Koottatep, Antoine Morel, Chongrak Polprasert, Roland Schertenleib, 2009

Highlights of the work conducted over the past four years in Southeast Asia are the focus of a brochure just out. The brochure - Research Partnerships for Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia - was published by the NCCR North-South team based in Bangkok.

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Treatment of septage in constructed wetlands in tropical climate

Lessons learnt from seven years of operation

Thammarat Koottatep, Udo Heinss, A. S. M. Kamal, Doulaye Kone, Agnes Montangero, Chongrak Polprasert, Martin Strauss, Narong Surinkul, 2005

In tropical regions, where most of the developing countries are located, septic tanks and other onsite sanitation systems are the predominant form of storage and pre-treatment of excreta and wastewater, generating septage and other types of sludges. The septage is disposed of untreated, mainly due to lack of affordable treatment options. This study presents lessons that have been learned from the operation of pilot-scale constructed wetlands (CWs) for septage treatment since 1997. The experiments have been conducted by using three CW units planted with narrow-leave cattails (Typha augustifolia) and operating in a vertical-flow mode. Based on the experimental results, it can be suggested that the optimum solids loading rate be 250 kg TS/m2 yr and 6-day percolate impoundment. At these operational conditions, the removal efficiencies of CW units treating septage at the range of 80–96% for COD, TS and TKN were achieved. The biosolid accumulated on the CW units to a depth of 80 cm has never been removed during 7 years of operation, but bed permeability remained unimpaired. The biosolid contains viable helminth eggs below critical limit of sludge quality standards for agricultural use. Subject to local conditions, the suggested operational criteria should be reassessed at the full-scale implementation. Keywords Nutrient removal; operation; helminth eggs; septage treatment; vertical-flow constructed wetlands

Water Science and Technology 2005, Vol. 51, No. 9, pp. 119–126

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Wastewater Effluent Polishing Systems of Anaerobic Baffled Reactor Treating Black-water from Households

Thammarat Koottatep, Antoine Morel, Atitaya Panuvatvanich, 2006

"This paper presents the outcomes of pilot-scale experiments on anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) and polishing systems for the treatment of domestic blackwater, aimed at determining the treatment performance of different integrated low-cost wastewater treatment systems, comprising one ABR as first treatment step followed by three polishing steps operated in parallel, namely an anaerobic filter an intermittent sand filter and a vertical flow constructed wetland. A mixture of septage and domestic wastewater was used as influent wastewater, resulting in influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) concentrations of 1,000 and 300 mg/L, respectively. The ABR system operated at a HRT of 48h could achieve average COD, suspended solids (SS) and total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiencies of 90%, 93% and 50%, respectively. The highest treatment performances in the sand filter and constructed wetland units were reached at HLR of 7 – 10 and 6 – 10 cm/day, respectively, while HRT in the range of 3 - 4 days led to the highest treatment efficiencies in the anaerobic filter. The national effluent standards of Thailand were respected by all systems in terms of average TSS and BOD concentrations. Rather than concluding which system is the most appropriate, the paper discusses specific fields of application for the different systems."

Proceedings of the 7th Specialised Conference on Small Water and Wastewater Systems, 7-10 March 2006, Mexico City, Mexico

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Assessment of soil ecological state of Sokuluk River Basin

A. Kosenko, 2005

In Russian

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Effect of agricultural activities on prevalence rates, and clinical and presumptive malaria episodes in central Côte d'Ivoire

Benjamin G. Koudou, Guéladio Cissé, O. Girardin, Jennifer Keiser, Kouassi Klero, Mamadou Kone, Eliézer K. N'Goran, Marcel Tanner, Yao Tano, Jürg Utzinger, Penelope Vounatsou, 2009

Acta Tropica 111:268-274.

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Décentralisation participative et ethnicisation en Bolivie, 1994-2005

Laurent Lacroix, 2007

In: CESU [Centro de estudios universitarios superiores], CIDES [Postgrado multidisciplinario en ciencias del desarrollo], IFEA [Instituto francés de estudios andinos] , IRD [Institut de recherche pour le développement], Gobernabilidad y gobernanza de los territorios en América Latina, Cochabamba / La Paz: 94-118.

For further information, please contact the author.

Commentary - Save Darfur: A Movement and its Discontents

David Lanz, 2009

African Affairs 108 (433): 1-9.

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Erosion Damage Mapping: Assessing Current Soil Erosion Damage in Switzerland

Thomas Ledermann, Karl Herweg, Hans Hurni, Hanspeter Liniger, V. Prasuhn, Flurina Schneider , 2009

Advances in GeoEcology 39:263-283

Verbreitung der Direktsaat in der Schweiz

Ledermann, Thomas Ledermann, Thomas, Flurina Schneider , 2009

Agrarforschung 15(8):408-413

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Managing Riparian Resources in the River Njoro Watershed in Kenya: The Challenge of Conflicting Laws, Policies and Community Priorities

Francis K. Lelo, M. W. Jenkins , C Wanjiku, 2005

Assessing and Managing Scarce Tropical Mountain Water Resources

The Case of Mount Kenya and the Semiarid Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin

Hanspeter Liniger, John Gikonyo, Boniface Kiteme, Urs Wiesmann, 2005

The present article documents increasing water abstraction and the difficulties in establishing limits for low flows such as the Q80 value (flow available on 80% of the days per year). The article also presents the role of Water Users' Associations (WUAs) in mitigating water conflicts related to over-abstraction. Evaluation of the activities of 13 WUAs showed that they solved 45 of 52 conflicts. WUAs are also involved in activities such as environmental education, awareness creation, improved irrigation practices, afforestation, and regulating water. The recent restructuring of the government ministry resulted in a formalized role for WUAs. Long-term data on availability, abstraction, and use of water are needed to mitigate water conflicts within and between WUAs, negotiate water allocation, and establish allocation thresholds.

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 163–173

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Enhanced Decision-Making Based on Local Knowledge

The WOCAT Method of Sustainable Soil and Water Management

Hanspeter Liniger, Gudrun Schwilch, 2002

Many types of problems caused by land degradation can be documented worldwide. The main natural resources affected are soils, water, natural vegetation, and wildlife; but cultivated plants are exposed to even greater damage, which poses a threat to food security as well. Soil degradation is one of the most crucial processes of land degradation and environmental change. Over a quarter of the world's agricultural land has been damaged by long-term soil degradation, corresponding to one-tenth of the earth's land surface.
Every day land users and soil and water conservation (SWC) specialists evaluate experience and generate know-how related to land management, improvement of soil fertility, and protection of soil resources. Most of this valuable knowledge, however, is not well documented or easily accessible, and comparison of different types of experience is difficult. The World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) has the mission of providing tools that allow SWC specialists to share their valuable knowledge in soil and water management, assist them in their search for appropriate SWC technologies and approaches, and support them in making decisions in the field and at the planning level.

Mountain Research and Development 2002, 22(1), pp. 14-18

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Towards sustainable land management

"Common sense" and some of the other key missing elements (the WOCAT experience)

Hanspeter Liniger, M. Douglas, Gudrun Schwilch, 2004

A recent review of the data gathered for the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) program revealed a number of the key elements, which if missing, will limit the effectiveness of local efforts to achieve sustainable land management. A review of the WOCAT database indicates a wealth of untapped knowledge but also knowledge gaps, especially concerning the coverage and impact of soil and water conservation (SWC). The methodology and tools developed by WOCAT have been used by SWC specialists for critical sharing and review of their often fragmented knowledge, development of a database, identification of gaps and contradictions, and questioning and evaluation of their current perceptions and field experiences. This process builds understanding and capacity to support successful advancement of SWC and helps to avoid expensive and demoralizing mistakes.

Proceedings of ISCO Conference 2004, Brisbane.

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"But now men also listen to the women"

Women’s-Development Approach in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Project, East Nepal

Martina Locher, Ulrike Müller-Böker, 2007

Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques 2007, LXI - 4/2007, pp. 1113-1139.

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"We could show the men, that we are able to do it"

Women's-Development Approach in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Project, East Nepal

Martina Locher, 2006

In: Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 267-284

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The Tajik Pamirs: Managing high pastures in the Eastern Pamirs

Eva Ludi, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 22-23.

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Umweltkonflikte – Katalysatoren für Kooperation?

Eva Ludi, 2003

In: Steinmetz, E (ed.). 2003. Naturschutz - (Aus-)Löser von Konflikten? Dokumentation einer Tagung des Bundesamtes für Naturschutz und der Heinrich Böll Stiftung vom 25. - 27. November 2002 in Berlin. pp. 73-81

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Les bassins hydrographiques internationaux

Conflits et gestion des ressources hydriques

Samuel Luzi, 2006

"Alors que le discours sur la « gestion de l'eau » privilégiait autrefois une approche axée sur l'ingénierie, il adopte désormais une perspective plus globale qui privilégie la protection de l'environnement, l'efficacité, ainsi que les aspects politiques et institutionnels de la gestion et de la planification intégrée et coopérative de l'eau. C'est la crainte d'une « guerre de l'eau » qui a permis d'accélérer l'intégration de la gestion de l'eau dans les bassins versants partagés ; les questions hydriques figurent désormais à l'ordre du jour de décideurs haut placés et d'organisations internationales spécialistes des questions de sécurité, et des cadres spécifiques ont été créés pour gérer les relations conflictuelles entre groupes d'opérateurs à différents niveaux."

Les Cahiers de la Sécurité 2006, No. 63, pp. 35-39

Available from: INHES

Definition of environmental sanitation system for Hatsady Tai

D Maniseng, T. Chanthala, Antoine Morel, S. Thammanosouth, 2008

A description of steps 5 and 6 in the HCES planning approach conducted in Laos

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UESS Assessment Report

D Maniseng, T. Chanthala, Antoine Morel, S. Thammanosouth, 2008

Project report on outcomes of the HCES project step 3 in Hatdady Tai. Vientiane, Lao PDR.

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Improving Small Ruminant Production

A Pathway to Better Livelihoods in Three Test Valleys in Pakistan

Daniel Maselli, Eva Syfrig, Inam Ur-Rahim, 2005

"Livestock production is a key livelihood strategy and a way of life for most smallholders in the Hindukush. Depending on ethnicity, access to land, labor force, and ecological conditions, small to large herds of goats, sheep, cattle and buffalo serve as a primary or secondary source of livelihood. Ongoing deterioration of environmental conditions — frequently due to overgrazing — and the depletion of timber and firewood resources — often linked to demographic and economic pressure both in the highlands and the lowlands—increasingly worsen living conditions. Alternative livelihood strategies and pathways to more sustainable natural resource use are needed. [...]"

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 104-108

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Making north-south research partnerships more effective

Reflections on how to best achieve impacts.

Daniel Maselli, 2007

Global Change in Mountain Regions: Mountain regions cover a quarter of the global land surface, and a quarter of the global population lives in or around them. They are the Earth’s ‘water towers’ and global centres of biological and cultural diversity. However, these important regions are increasingly influenced by various types of global change, from climate change to globalisation. The 200 extended abstracts in this book, prepared by experts on six continents, bring together the state of the art on many of these changes.

In: Price M F, editor. Global Change in Mountain Regions. Sapiens, Duncow, Dumfriesshire, UK, pp. 21-23

“Trickling down or spilling over?”

Exploring the links between international and sub-national water conflicts in the Eastern Nile and Syr Daria Basin

Simon Mason, Christine Bichsel, Tobias Hagmann, 2003

Paper presented at the ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Edinburgh, 28 March to 2 April 2003

This paper focuses on the linkages between international and subnational water conflicts in the Eastern Nile and Syr Daria Basins. It follows the notion of “conflict system”, to conceptualize dynamic linkages between different “water conflict arenas”. The aim of our paper is to categorize possible linkages, describe examples and explore implications for water conflict mitigation, with the goal of a better problem-solving potential.

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Are we Scorpions? The Role of Upstream-Downstream Dialogue in fostering Cooperation in the Nile Basin

Simon Mason, 2005

Water consumed upstream does not flow downstream. Consequently, upstream–downstream relations along a shared river may entail competitive use or even conflict. What is the role of communication in preventing or transforming such behavior? The present article addresses this question based on lessons learned in 3 Dialogue Workshops carried out between 2002 and 2004 in the Eastern Nile Basin, with participants from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. It indicates that the danger of upstream–downstream relations is not primarily “scorpion-like” behavior (damaging an opponent), but rather “ostrich-like” behavior (burying one's head in the sand, ignoring unilateral developments). Dialogue is shown to be a key determinant in rectifying this situation, as it is the basis for trust-building, exchange of information, and development of mutually acceptable management options. Other key factors to be considered are the balance of power between highland–lowland actors and the legal/institutional framework governing their interaction.

Mountain Research and Development 2005, 25(2), pp. 115-120

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Dialogue Workshop Methodology

Adapting the Interactive Problem-Solving Method to an Environmental Conflict: Evaluation of an Eastern Nile Basin Dialogue Workshop

Simon Mason, 2007

NCCR North-South Dialogue Series

Bern, NCCR North-South

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Riparian perspectives of international cooperation in the Eastern Nile Basin

Preface

Simon Mason, 2005

Aquatic Sciences 2005, Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 1-2

Available from: SpringerLink

Transforming Environmental and Natural Resource Use Conflicts

Simon Mason, A. Müller, 2007

In: Steininger K, Cogoy M, editors. The Economics Of Global Environmental Change: International Cooperation for Sustainability. Edward Elgar.

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Environmental stress and demographic change in Nepal

Underlying conditions contributing to a decade of insurgency

Richard Matthew, Bishnu Raj Upreti, 2005

"In a report of the Environmental Change and Security Program, Richard Matthew and Bishnu Raj Upreti review the broad dynamics of Nepal’s current civil conflict and argue that environmental stress and population factors have played significant roles in creating the underlying conditions for acute insecurity and instability.
Through a brief case study of the Koshi Tappu Wetland area, the authors show that this situation is evident not just in the Maoist strongholds of western Nepal, but even in remote areas of the east, thus encircling the capital region."

Environmental Change and Security Program Report 2005, No. 11, pp. 29-39

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Le réseau social des maraîchers à Abidjan agit sur la perception des préoccupations et des risques sanitaires liés à l’eau

Barbara Matthys, Francis A. Adiko, Guéladio Cissé, Marcel Tanner, Andres Tschannen, Jürg Utzinger, Kaspar Wyss, 2006

"L'objectif de la présente étude conduite dans des zones de production maraîchère d'Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, était d'analyser les problèmes principaux des cultivateurs; leur perceptions des maladies et des risques sanitaires et la corrélation entre les risques sanitaires et le statut socio-économique des ménages ainsi que la cohésion sociale dans les communautés maraîchères. Les problèmes principaux sont l'insécurité foncière et de difficultés de commercialisation. Les préoccupations sanitaires sont la fatigue et l'insalubrité. En l'absence d'une éducation sanitaire fondée et des interventions localement adaptées, les cultivateurs n'accordent pas une attention particulière à la prévention des risques sanitaires. Le support technique, en concordance avec l'éducation et la communication de la prévention des risques sanitaires, promettent une augmentation de la productivité et une amélioration des moyens de subsistance des ménages cultivateurs à Abidjan."

VertigO - la revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement 2006, hors série 3, Article 8

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Urban farming and malaria risk factors in a medium-sized town of Côte d’Ivoire

Barbara Matthys, Guéladio Cissé, Emmanuel Gbede Becket, Laura Gosoniu, Eliézer K. N'Goran, Giovanna Raso, Marcel Tanner, Andres Tschannen, Jürg Utzinger, Penelope Vounatsou, 2006

"Urbanization occurs at a rapid pace across Africa and Asia and affects people’s health and well-being. A typical feature in urban settings of Africa is the maintenance of traditional livelihoods, including agriculture. The purpose of this study was to investigate malaria risk factors in urban farming communities in a medium-sized town in Côte d’Ivoire. Two cross-sectional surveys were carried out among 112 households from six agricultural zones. [...] Our findings indicate that specific crop systems and specific agricultural practices may increase the risk of malaria in urban settings of tropical Africa."

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2006, 75(6), pp. 1223-1231

Available for purchase from: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Conservation for whose benefit? Challenges and opportunities for management of Mkomazi Game Reserve, Tanzania.

Gimbage Ernest Mbeyale, N. A. Songorwa, 2008

The Mkomazi Game Reserve (MGR) in north-eastern Tanzania is a protected area where different social groups are involved in contest for natural resources. Using MGR as a case study, we examine and discuss how the fortress approach to conservation has led to management problems. We present an overview of conflicts between the MGR authorities and communities, analyse strategies used to deal with the situation and discuss the different ideologies involved.
On one hand this is a successful story of fortress conservation. There is proof of increasing bird numbers and improvement in vegetation cover. However, this is at the expense of livelihood security of the local population. We recommend alternative conservation pathways that adopt new participatory conservation approaches instead of the fortress approach currently implemented in MGR.

In: Galvin M, Haller T, editors. People, Protected Areas and Global Change: Participatory Conservation in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 3. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 221-251.

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Ujamaa Policy and Open Access in Pangani River Basin and Rufiji Floodplain, Tanzania

Gimbage Ernest Mbeyale, Patrick Meroka, 2005

The Common Property Resource Digest 2005, No. 74, pp. 5-7

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Identifying the Institutional Decision Process to Introduce Decentralized Sanitation in the City of Kunming (China)

Edi Medilanski, Liang Chuan, Tove Larsen, Hans-Joachim Mosler, Roland Schertenleib, 2007

"We conducted a study of the institutional barriers to introducing urine source separation in the urban area of Kunming, China. On the basis of a stakeholder analysis, we constructed stakeholder diagrams showing the relative importance of decision-making power and (positive) interest in the topic. A hypothetical decision-making process for the urban case was derived based on a successful pilot project in a periurban area. All our results were evaluated by the stakeholders. We concluded that although a number of primary stakeholders have a large interest in testing urine source separation also in an urban context, most of the key stakeholders would be reluctant to this idea. However, the success in the periurban area showed that even a single, well-received pilot project can trigger the process of broad dissemination of new technologies. Whereas the institutional setting for such a pilot project is favorable in Kunming, a major challenge will be to adapt the technology to the demands of an urban population. Methodologically, we developed an approach to corroborate a stakeholder analysis with the perception of the stakeholders themselves. This is important not only in order to validate the analysis but also to bridge the theoretical gap between stakeholder analysis and stakeholder involvement. We also show that in disagreement with the assumption of most policy theories, local stakeholders consider informal decision pathways to be of great importance in actual policy-making."

Environmental Management 2007, Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 648-662

Available from: SpringerLink

Wastewater Management in Kunming, China

A Stakeholder Perspectives on Measures at the Source

Edi Medilanski, Liang Chuan, Tove Larsen, Hans-Joachim Mosler, Roland Schertenleib, 2006

"Large sewer systems with central wastewater treatment plants were long considered a successful model that could be exported to practically any city of the world. This centralized, highly water-consuming system has, however,
shown its limits in some developing and transition countries, especially in fastgrowing cities with limited water resources. This study from around Lake Dianchi in Yunnan, China, investigated the feasibility of introducing measures at the source for the different urban wastewater contributions in the city of Kunming, and the stakeholder perspectives on this approach. In addition, the stakeholders evaluated the potential of two different sanitation alternatives that allowed the separation and re-use of human excreta as fertilizer."

Environment and Urbanization 2006, Vol 18, No. 2, pp. 353–368

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Dynamics of Irrigation Institutions

A Case Study of a Village Panchayat in Kerala

Vineetha Menon, K.N. Nair, Antonyto Paul, 2005

Economic and Political Weekly 2005, Vol. 26, February, pp. 893-904

Available from: Economic and Political Weekly

Bridging Research and Development

Partnership Actions for Mitigating Syndromes (PAMS) in the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South: Capitalising on Experience

Peter Messerli, Thomas Breu, Karl Herweg, Franziska Pfister, Annika Salmi, 2007

NCCR North-South Dialogue Series

Bern, NCCR North-South

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The Mountain and Highland Focus of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North–South

Peter Messerli, Hans Hurni, Urs Wiesmann, 2005

Mountain Research and Development 2005, Volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 174–179

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The Tajik Pamirs: A rich historical and cultural heritage

Robert Middleton, 2003

The Tajik Pamirs: Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region: The present publication provides a summary of the outcomes of the Pamir Strategy Project (PSP). It portrays life in the Pamirs, along with development challenges and options, and presents practical and participatory approaches that can lead to sustainable mountain development. In addition, this publication outlines the lessons learnt within the PSP by presenting and evaluationg methods and apporaches such as participatory village studies, multi-level stakeholder workshops for strategy development, knowledge generation processes, and Geographic Information Systmes as decision support tools for sustainable mountain development.

In: Breu T, and Hurni H, editors. The Tajik Pamirs. Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Isolated Mountain Region. Bern: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, pp 12-15

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Vulnérabilité et résilience des métropoles

«elles sont si fragiles»

Isabelle Milbert, 2003

In: Da Cunha A, Ruegg J. 2003. Développement durable et aménagement du territoire, Presses Polytechniques et Universitaires Romandes, pp. 313-330.

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La démographie canine et son importance pour la transmission de la rage humaine à N'Djaména

R. Mindekem, U. Kayali, Guelmbaye Ndoutamia, N Yemadji, Jakob Zinsstag, 2005

Revue de Médecine Tropicale 65(1):53-58.

People need education to conserve forests

E. Mohammed , 2010

In: The Post 07.07.2010

This newspaper article deals with the workshop of PAMS "Research based policy advocacy & dialogues for sustainable forest governance" organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with the NCCR North-South, held in Islamabad on 6th July 2010.

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The Local Impact of Under-Realisation of the Lumbini Master Plan

A Field Report

Kate Molesworth, Ulrike Müller-Böker, 2005

Contributions to Nepalese Studies 2005, Volume 32, Issue 2

Available for purchase from: Center for Nepal and Asian Study Center

Assessing nutrient flows in septic tanks by eliciting expert judgement

A promising method in the context of developing countries

Agnes Montangero, Hasan Belevi, 2007

"Simple models based on the physical and biochemical processes occurring in septic tanks, pit and urine diversion latrines were developed to determine the nutrient flows in these systems. Nitrogen and phosphorus separation in different output materials from these on-site sanitation installations were thus determined. Moreover, nutrient separation in septic tanks was also assessed through literature values and by eliciting expert judgement. Use of formal expert elicitation technique proved to be effective, particularly in the context of developing countries where data is often scarce but expert judgement readily available. In Vietnam, only 5–14% and 11–27% of the nitrogen and phosphorus input, respectively, are removed from septic tanks with the faecal sludge. The remaining fraction leaves the tank via the liquid effluent. Unlike septic tanks, urine diversion latrines allow to immobilise most of the nutrients either in form of stored urine or dehydrated faecal matter. These latrines thus contribute to reducing the nutrient load in the environment and lowering consumption of energy and non-renewable resources for fertiliser production."

Water Research 2007, Volume 41, Number 5, pp. 1052-1064

Available from: ScienceDirect

Material flow analysis as a tool for environmental sanitation planning.

Agnes Montangero, Hasan Belevi, TKN Thai , 2005

This paper illustrates how the method of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) can be applied to assess measures aiming at optimizing nitrogen recovery through improved excreta management in Viet Tri, Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the application of MFA could be rendered more affordable for planners and decision-makers in developing countries confronted with poor data availability and quality.

SANDEC News 6

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Migration, poverty, security and social networks: A Central American perspective.

Morales, A Morales, A, Daniel Villafuerte Solis, 2010

This article provides a critical introduction to understanding the migration–poverty relationship from a different perspective, i.e. by focusing on the migration–livelihoods nexus from the point of view of social structures and people’s living conditions. The discussion presented here is based on analysis of different analytical approaches to migration in Central America and the Caribbean, developed within the framework of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR), an international research programme focusing on mitigating syndromes of global change. The present appraisal provides a broader explanation of the scope of relationships in the development of social life reproduction strategies, envisaging migration as
an answer to problems of inequality and as a resource for poverty alleviation strategies, from a Central American perspective.

In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 417-433.

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Formulating Waste Management Strategies Based on Waste Management Practices of Households in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Hans-Joachim Mosler, Tamara Cabellero Rodriguez, Silke Drescher, Miranda Guzman, Christian Zurbruegg, 2006

Rapid urbanisation, population growth and changes in lifestyles in low- and middle-income countries contribute to increasing the per capita domestic waste generation. This trend leads to deplorable environmental and public health conditions, especially in rapidly expanding cities of low- and middle-income countries lacking appropriate waste management systems, Santiago de Cuba is no exception. To improve solid waste management in the city of Santiago de Cuba, the generation of household waste was studied and individual waste treatment approaches were assessed.
The paper contains the results of the composition and distribution of the waste generated by the households as a function of socio-demographic data. Furthermore, the paper describes the various household treatment strategies dependent on specific waste material types.

Habitat International 2006, Volume 30, Issue 4, pp. 849-862

Available online from: Science Direct

African 1; An Epidemiologically Important Clonal Complex of Mycobacterium bovis Dominant in Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad

Borna Müller, Stefan Berg, Bassirou Bonfoh, Markus Hilty, Jakob Zinsstag, 2009

J. Bacteriol. 191(6):1951-1960.

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Die Erweiterung des Schweizerischen Nationalparks

Der Planungsprozess 1995-2000, betrachtet aus partizipationstheoretischer Sicht

Urs Müller, Michael Kollmair, 2004

"It seems to be increasingly recognised worldwide that the aims of nature conservation or of regional planning can only be achieved with adequate involvement of the concerned communities themselves. This article analyses the social processes during the proposed extension of the Swiss National Park between 1996 and 2000 from a participatory viewpoint. It is based on an analysis of relevant newspaper articles and in-depth interviews with representatives of involved stakeholders. Considering that participation is a very popular, yet contested term, we distinguish between normative (i.e., the aim is participation) and instrumental (i.e., the aim is to achieve predefined goals) participation, notions that supplement rather than exclude each other. While the local population rejected the majority of the proposed extensions of the Park, results show that this should not be perceived as a failure of the process. That the outcome was not perceived by local people to be satisfactory could be explained by the lack of awareness of the basic principles of participatory processes, like openness and transparency of planning, a sufficient timeframe, and independent mediation. These organisational shortcomings resulted in fundamental opposition from groups of local stakeholders and constrained the future development potential of the region."

DISP 2004, Vol. 159, No. 4,pp. 44-51

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Molecular characterisation of Mycobacterium bovis isolated from cattle slaughtered at the Bamako abattoir in Mali

B Müller, Bassirou Bonfoh, A. Fané, NH Smith, B Steiner, Jakob Zinsstag, 2008

Two groups of M. bovis were detected in cattle slaughtered at the Bamako abattoir. The spoligotype pattern of the first group has similarities to strains previously observed in Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria. The additional absence of spacer 6 in the majority of these strains suggests a Mali specific clone. The spoligotype patterns of the remaining strains suggest that they may have been of European origin.

BMC Veterinary Research 4:26.

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Regionalisierungen: Fallbeispiel Biosphäre Entlebuch

Urs Müller, 2006

In autumn 2000 the population of the Entlebuch decidedly voted for its candidature as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. In the following year this label was granted and thus the Entlebuch became a model region for sustainable development. This article analyses the factors that made the self-determined regionalisation as a biosphere reserve possible and focuses on the role of visual images. The case study shows clearly that ‹the power of images› is strongly dependent on the context in which the images are embedded. In the Entlebuch images were avoided that have a potential for conflict (i.e. those referring to past conflicting issues). Rather images were published, which had an integrative effect on the broader public. This view from within, which emphasises economic activities and aspects of the living space is in stark contrast to the clichéd outside view as a harmonic and nature space that was published in supra-regional media.

In: Backhaus N & Müller-Böker U, Editors. 2006. Gesellschaft und Raum: Konzepte, Kategorien. Human Geography Series Vol. 22, Zurich: Department of Geography, University of Zurich, pp 53-71.

Where Are the Poor and Where Are the Trees?

Targeting of poverty reduction and forest conservation in Vietnam

Daniel Müller, Michael Epprecht, William D. Sunderlin, 2006

"This paper highlights the spatial linkages of forest quality with poverty incidence and poverty density in Vietnam. Most of the Vietnamese poor live in densely populated river deltas and cities while remote upland areas have the highest poverty incidences, gaps, and severities. Forests of high local and global value are located in areas where relatively few poor people live, but where the incidence, gap, and severity of poverty are strongest, and where the livelihood strategies are based on agricultural and forest activities. Analysis was conducted combining country-wide spatial data on commune-level poverty estimates and the geographic distribution of forest quality. The results suggest the usefulness of targeting investments in remote areas that combine poverty reduction and environmental sustainability."

Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) 2006, Working Paper No. 34

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Arbeiten beim grossen Nachbarn

Arbeitsmigration von Far West Nepal nach Delhi

Ulrike Müller-Böker, Susan Thieme, 2007

Stellt die internationale Arbeitsmigration eine Chance für Nepal dar? Trägt sie zur Reduzierung von Armut bei? Können insbesondere arme Haushalte durch die Arbeitsmigration nach Indien ihren Lebensunterhalt sichern? Immer häufiger betonen internationale Entwicklungsorganisationen die wachsende Bedeutung und das grosse Potenzial der Migration. Gleichzeitig hat sich die Migrationsforschung facettenreich weiterentwickelt und befasst sich u.a. auch mit der Frage, wie Migrationshaushalte eine plurilokale Lebensunterhaltsstrategie meistern. Der Artikel zeigt Beispiele von Organisationsformen, mit denen Migrierende aus Far West Nepal die Möglichkeit schaffen, in der Megastadt Delhi ihre Existenz zu sichern.

Nepal Information 99(2):70-73

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Livelihood strategies in a marginal area of Nepal (Far West Nepal) with an emphasis on labour migration to India.

Ulrike Müller-Böker, Susan Thieme, 2007

Labour migration to India is a very important livelihood strategy for people living in marginal areas of Nepal. How is this strategy embedded in the local context? Which institutions shape the migrants' everyday life in India? What are the opportunities to improve the crucial institutions for money transfer and money saving? These questions are on the research agenda of an ongoing project at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

In: Jones G, Leimgruber W, Nel E, editors. Issues in Geographical Marginality: Papers presented during the Meetings of the Commission on Evolving Issues of Geographical Marginality in the Early 21st Century World, 2001-2004. Grahamstown: Rhodes University.

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Governing violence in the pastoralist space:

Karrayu and state notions of cattle raiding in the Ethiopian Awash Valley

Allemmaya Mulugeta, Tobias Hagmann, 2008

Africa Focus 21(2):71-87.

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Resource based conflict framing among the Kereyu in the Upper and Middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia

Allemmaya Mulugeta, 2005

This article presents aspects of a research project on so-called «violent resource based conflicts» in pastoral areas. It focuses on the question of how various actors of the main involved parties interpret and «frame» conflicts differently. It is a case study conducted among the Kereyu pastoral community in the upper and middle Awash valley of Ethiopia who relate with other neighbouring groups and share common resources through both violent and non-violent conflicts.

Tsantsa 2005, 10: pp. 23-26

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Lessons From Two Long-term Hydrological Studies in Kenya and Sri Lanka

D. N. Mungai, W. Elkaduwa, Boniface Kiteme, C. K. Ong, R. Sakthivadivel, 2004

The rate and characteristics of land use change in tropical watersheds due to changing demographic, economic and policy factors have important consequences for catchment health and environmental services. Few tropical watershed studies have lasted long enough to facilitate a credible analysis of the long-term effects of land use change on the environmental services provided by watersheds. This paper examines the driving forces and patterns of historical land use change in two long-term watershed studies in Kenya and Sri Lanka and their hydrological impacts.

Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 2004, 104, pp. 135–143

Available online from: Science Direct

Agrarian Distress and Livelihood Strategies

A Study in Pulpalli Panchayat, Wayand District, Kerala

K.N. Nair, Vineetha Menon, C. P. Vinod, 2007

"This paper examines the household livelihood strategies under agrarian distress in Pulpalli Panchayat of Kerala. It also looks at the relationship between household assets and livelihood strategies. The negotiations of institutions by the marginalized and depressed sections of the society were analysed in detail."

CDS Working Paper no. 396. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.

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Agrarian Distress and Rural Livelihoods

A Study in Upputhura Panchayat, Idukki District, Kerala

K.N. Nair, R. Ramakumar, 2007

"This study examines the impact of agrarian distress on the different socio-economic groups, the strategies of livelihood adopted by households and the local institution in shaping these strategies. The study is based on the data collected from in-depth socio-economic enquiries conducted in Upputhara Panchayat in Idukki District. An important conclusion of the study is that the strategies of livelihood framed in response to a shock could vary across households depending on the extent of their asset ownership."

CDS Working Paper no. 392. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.

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Distress Debt and Suicides among Agrarian Households

Findings from three Village Studies in Kerala

K.N. Nair, Vineetha Menon, 2007

"This paper examines the factors and process underlying agrarian distress in Kerala by undertaking the case studies of three villages situated in Wayanad and Idukki districts namely, Cherumad, Kappikkunnu and Upputhara. The impact of distress on household livelihoods and indebtedness and how they cope up with the situation are examined with entire village and intra village analysis of data. The process of agrarian distress which resulted in suicides were analysed through a few in-depth studies."

CDS Working Paper no. 397. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies

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Lease farming in Kerala: Findings from micro level studies

K.N. Nair, Vineetha Menon, 2005

"[...] This paper examines some micro-level studies on tenancy in Kerala, more specifically, its prevalence across locations and crops, characteristics of lessors and lessees, the terms of lease, and the income derived from lease cultivation and in the light of the analysis, argues for institutionalised arrangements for the expansion of lease cultivation, rather than sterner measures to check it. [...]"

CDS Working Paper no. 378. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.

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Livelihood Risks and Coping Strategies

A Case Study in the Agrarian Village of Cherumad, Kerala

K.N. Nair, Vineetha Menon, Antonyto Paul, 2007

"This paper examines the various dimensions of livelihood risk as informed by a in-depth case study of an agrarian village namely, Cherumad in Kerala. The livelihood risk in Cherumad since the last quarter of the 1990’s has been unique and unprecedented in their nature and intensity. The effect of price risk and productivity risk of crops became an income risk to the farming community. For agricultural labour too it was an income risk with double effects of wage risk and employment risk. These risk have resulted in a general fall in the living standards of people."

CDS Working Paper no. 394. Trivandrum, Kerala, India: Centre for Development Studies.

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The declining rice-fish farming

A case study from North Kerala

K.N. Nair, Ramachandran Mahesh, Vineetha Menon, 2004

"In the coastal regionns of India, a complex and ecologically responsive farming system has evolved over centuries. In this system, rice an fish cultivation alternates trough a mechanism of water control. This paper discusses the evolution of the socio-political and institutional arrangements in such and integrated farming system (Know as kaipad cultivation) in Ezhome Panchayat in Kerala that emerged out of collective action, and documents how they could not be sustained. The decline of kaipad cultivation has been adversely affecting the livehoods of a segment of agricultural labour households, especially the women and the elderly. They are several constraints to the revival of this cultivation. Nevertheless, reviving this is vital for ecorestoration and to ensure justice to the disadvantaged people."

Sociological Bulletin 2004 , Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 178-206

Available from: Article@INIST

Risk perception, risk management and vulnerability to landslides in the hill-slopes in the city of La Paz, Bolivia

Nathan, Fabien Nathan, Fabien, 2008

The article begins by describing the difficult living conditions of many people in the hill slopes
(laderas) of La Paz, Bolivia, demonstrating that they are exposed to a combination of natural
and social hazards.1 It shows that residents, community leaders and city planners tend to underestimate
or deny risk, with important consequences for risk management, such as a failure to raise
risk awareness. The article then proposes some hypotheses to explain risk perceptions in La Paz, discarding the usual single-approach interpretations and suggesting instead more nuanced theoretical explanations to account for why people build their homes in such hazardous environments.

In: Disasters, 32/3, Autumn 2008.

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Local Urban Observatory for Nakuru Municipality, Kenya

NCCR North-South, 2004

The Nakuru Local Urban Observatory Project aims at providing a framework for sustainable urban planning and management practices through building technical skills and improving participation of the various local stakeholders. To achieve this goal, a Local Urban Observatory (LUO) was created to stimulate the development of municipal spatial and environmental planning and management practices, informed by accurate, timely and accessible information.

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Accords et conflits d?intérêts dans la gestion de la gare routière Pétersen de Dakar

El Hadji Mamadou Ndiaye, Jerome Chenal, Yves Pedrazzini, Cheikh Samba Wade, 2009

In: Chenal J, Pedrazzini Y, Cissé G, Kaufmann V, éditeurs. Quelques rues d?Afrique. Observation et gestion de l?espace public à Abidjan, Dakar et Nouakchott. Lausanne : Les éditions du Lasur, pp 81-92.

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Managing water resources in dynamic settings: A multi-level, multi-stakeholder perspective.

James Ngana, A Chitiki, Gimbage Ernest Mbeyale, Peter Messerli, T Msuya, Benedikt Notter, Urs Wiesmann, 2010

The aim of the present article is to contribute to the debate on the role of research in sustainable management of water and related resources, based on experiences in the Upper Ewaso Ng’iro and Pangani river basins in East Africa. Both basins are characterised by humid, resource-rich highlands and extensive semi-arid lowlands, by growing demand for water and related resources, and by numerous conflicting stakeholder interests. Issues of scale and level, on the one hand, and the normative dimension of sustainability, on the other hand, are identified as key challenges for research that seeks to produce relevant and applicable results for informed decision-making. A multi-level and multi-stakeholder perspective, defined on the basis of three minimal principles, is proposed here as an approach to research for informed decision-making. Key lessons learnt from applying these principles in the two river basins are presented and iscussed in the light of current debate.

In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 91-106.

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Atmospheric heavy metal deposition in Northern Vietnam: Hanoi and Thai Nguyen case studies using the moss biomonitoring technique, INAA and AAS

Hung Nguyen-Viet, Nadine Bernard, Marina Vladimirovna Frontasyeva, Daniel Gilbert, Thu My Trinh Thi, 2009

The paper studied the metal atmospheric deposition in Hanoi and Thai Nguyen (Vietnam) using the technique of moss monitoring and combining 2 analytical analyses Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA).

Available from: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. DOI 10.1007/s11356-009-0258-6

Improving environmental sanitation, health and well-being - a conceptual framework for integral interventions.

Hung Nguyen-Viet, Bassirou Bonfoh, Guéladio Cissé, Doulaye Kone, Thammarat Koottatep, Agnes Montangero, Antoine Morel, Brigit Obrist, Roland Schertenleib, Narong Surinkul, Marcel Tanner, Jakob Zinsstag, Christian Zurbruegg, 2009

We introduce a conceptual framework for improving health and environmental sanitation in urban and peri-urban areas using an approach combining health, ecological, socio-economic and cultural assessments.

Available from: EcoHealth. DOI 10.1007/s10393-009-0249-6

Ciudades Americanas. Territorios, proyectos, imágenes y representaciónes

Alicia Novick, H Caride, 2008

In Spanish

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Pensar y construir la ciudad moderna. Planes y proyectos para Buenos Aires

Alicia Novick, 2008

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Engaging anthropology in urban health research

Issues and prospects

Brigit Obrist, Trudy Harpham, Marcel Tanner, 2003

"Urbanisation remains a challenge in the new millennium and will continue to have important implications for human health. This leads to lively debates in the field of international health, but with minimal engagement of anthropology. To stimulate active involvement, our paper highlights main issues addressed in this special issue and maps directions for future research. Our collection of papers addresses hot topics in urban health research, ranging from everyday health practice to mental health, chronic and degenerative illness, old age and social safety networks, and examines them from a complementary, anthropological perspective. Most priority concerns refer to four core issues commonly considered as characteris tics of urban life, namely, levels of environmental hazards, commodification, social fragmen tation and health service provision. We thus advocate for fresh perspectives, moving from a medical anthropology to a health anthropology, and from risk approaches to frameworks centring on affliction, vulnerability and resilience. Future research should concentrate on comparisons and longitudinal design to sharpen key distinctions, e.g. between rural, peri-urban and urban, use dynamics, diversity and complexity as analytical frameworks and investigate emerging issues like trust and care. With an active engagement in and commitment to urban health research, anthropology can enhance conceptual clarity and contribute to locally relevant public health actions."

Anthropology & Medicine 2003, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 361-371

Available from: informaworld

Health anthropology and urban health research

Brigit Obrist, Peter Van Eeuwijk, Mitchell G. Weiss, 2003

"We live in a rapidly urbanising world. According to the 2001 statistics of the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers rose from 30% in 1950 to 47% in 2000 and will probably attain 60% in 2030. Almost 70% of these urban dwellers live in cities of developing regions. At the current rates of urbanisation, the number of city dwellers in the world will equal that of their rural counterparts by 2007. In the late 1980s, researchers became increasingly concerned about the combined impact of rapid urban growth and economic recession on the health of a majority of people in African and Asian cities. Several books established urban health research with a focus on developing countries as a multidisciplinary field of inquiry (Harpham et al., 1988; Salem & Jeannée, 1989). It is now widely recognised that urbanisation per se is not necessarily bad for health, but it becomes so if urban governments fail to establish and support necessary infrastructure and services to protect citizens from environmental hazards and from social, economic and political insecurity."

Anthropology & Medicine 2003, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 267-274

Available from: informaworld

Kranksein, Heilen und Gesundbleiben im Schnittpunkt von Religion und Medizin

Brigit Obrist, W Bruchhausen, H Dilger, 2005

CURARE

Medicalization and morality in a weak state

Health, hygiene and water in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Brigit Obrist, 2004

"Inspired by Foucault, many studies have examined the medicalization of everyday life in Western societies. This paper reconsiders potentials and limitations of this concept in an African city. Grounded in ethnographic research in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, it concentrates on cleanliness, health and water in a lower middle-class neighbourhood. The findings show that women are familiar with professional health development discourses emphasizing cleanliness as a high value linked to bodily and domestic health. These discourses have been diffused in schools, clinics and other institutions during the colonial and socialist period. Women not only refer to these discourses, they try to reproduce them in daily practice and even demand them. This coercive yet voluntary nature of institutionalized discourses points to 'paradoxes of medicalization' also found in Western societies. It acquires, however, different meanings in a weak state like contemporary Tanzania which hardly manages to institutionalize medicalization through professional practice. Under such conditions, women who choose to follow health development discourses suffer a heavier practical, intellectual and emotional burden than those who are less committed. This may at least partly explain why many women assume a pragmatic stance towards the medicalization of everyday life."

Anthropology & Medicine 2004, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 43-57

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Ohne Sauberkeit keine Gesundheit. Hygiene im Alltag von Dar es Salaam, Tansania

Brigit Obrist, 2002

«Gesundheit» ist ein Zauberwort der Moderne. Es ist ein positives Konzept, das wir mit vielen Bereichen des alltäglichen Lebens in Beziehung setzen, von Umwelt über Ernährung bis hin zu Arbeit , Freizeit und sozialen Beziehungen. Was bedeutet «Gesundheit» jedoch für Menschen, die in einer ganz anderen Umgebung leben, nämlich einer schnell wachsenden afrikanischen Stadt?

Tsantsa 2002, 7: 66-76

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Urban health in daily practice

Livelihood, vulnerability and resilience in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Brigit Obrist, 2003

"Health is the core value and ultimate goal of health development, yet we know very little about health conceptions in everyday life. Inspired by investigations into lay health concepts in Europe, our study explores experiences and meanings of health in a strikingly different context, namely, in a low-income neighbourhood of an African city. Grounded in ethnographic research in Dar es Salaam, we introduce the concept of 'health practice' and examine health definitions, explanations, and activities of urban Swahili women. Our findings show that representations of health form a set of experiences, meanings and embodied practice centring on the links between body, mind, and living conditions. We suggest that 'livelihood', 'vulnerability' and 'resilience' best capture women's main concerns of health practice in such a setting. All women face an emotional burden of being exposed to urban afflictions and an intellectual and practical burden of overcoming them, but some meet this challenge more successfully than others do. This approach tips the balance towards a positive view of health that has been neglected in medical anthropology. It also opens new lines of inquiry in urban health research by consequently following a resource orientation that acknowledges women's struggle to stay healthy and directs attention to their agency."

Anthropology & Medicine 2003, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 275-290

Available from: informaworld

Migration and Fertility Relationship

A Case Study of Kenya

Charles Ochola Omondi, Elias Ayiemba, 2003

"Migration patterns in Kenya in general differentially affect fertility levels, patterns and behaviour. For economically dynamic areas, out-migration and the associated spousal separation and differential sex ratios seem to be associated with falling fertility, though migration is not the only or even the principal factor involved. In lagging and/or peripheral areas, by contrast, the demographic effect of migration seems to promote high fertility by undermining some critical factors of fertility determinants and behaviour. Examples from Africa in general and Kenya in particular are invoked to examine and explain this important association between migration and fertility. Furthermore, the paper incorporates the geography of economic and social development to help understand the relationship between migration and fertility."

African Population Studies 2003, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 97-113

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Estimating Emissions in Latin America: An Alternative to Traffic Models

Margarita Ossés de Eicker, Hans Hurni, Rainer Zah, 2008

Emissions from traffic are a serious pollution problem in Latin American cities. Traffic models at street level allow precise estimations of these emissions but are too expensive for a broad application. A simplifed approach for estimating traffic emissions at city level proved to be a reasonable alternative for Latin American mid-sized cities.

Poster presented at the International Conference on Research for Development (ICRD), National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR North-South, University of Bern. 02-04 July 2008, Bern.

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Urban malaria in the Sahel: prevalence and seasonality of presumptive malaria and parasitaemia at primary care level in Chad

Nadjitolnan Othnigué, Blaise Genton, Marcel Tanner, Kaspar Wyss, 2006

The objective of this study was to assess malaria prevalence rates and seasonal patterns among clinically diagnosed malaria cases at the level of primary care facilities in an urban Sahelian setting.
Clinical diagnosis of malaria has a very low positive predicted value in this low endemicity urban setting, and its low specificity leads to inappropriate care for a large proportion of patients. This has a major impact on economic costs for health services and households. In the Sahel, systematic use of microscopy-based diagnosis and/or rapid diagnostic tests should be considered to appropriately manage malaria and non-malaria cases.

Tropical Medicine & International Health 2006, Vol. 11, Issue 2, page 204

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Le désert existe aussi dans la ville

Regard sur la lutte contre la maladie chez des populations défavorisées en milieu périurbain de Nouakchott (Mauritanie)

Moustapha Ould Taleb, Guéladio Cissé, Séraphin Essane, Baïdy Lô, Brigit Obrist, Esther Schelling, Kaspar Wyss, Jakob Zinsstag, 2006

"Ce travail porte sur la perception des déterminants de la vulnérabilité à la maladie et la gestion des problèmes de santé qui surviennent dans les ménages au niveau des populations d'origine nomade en milieu urbain défavorisé à Nouakchott. La méthodologie utilisée est qualitative basée sur des entretiens approfondis et l'observation participante. La perception de la santé est largement rapportée à la mauvaise qualité de l'habitat et au manque de moyens financiers pour l'accès aux services de santé. Les maladies les plus citées sont le paludisme, les problèmes gastriques et les maladies pédiatriques. Les épisodes de maladie sont gérés grâce à l'appui du réseau familial ou tribal qui se manifeste à travers la ''loha'', la solidarité du groupe de parenté. Il y a un besoin de stratégies de développement adaptées pour assurer l'intégration de ces populations spécifiques dans le tissu urbain à travers (1) l'implantation de services sociaux d'éducation et de santé, (2) le financement de microprojets pour combattre le chômage et (3) l'appui en formation pour les coopératives."

VertigO - la revue électronique en sciences de l'environnement 2006, hors série 3, Article 4

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People and “Territories”

Urban Sociology Meets the Livelihood Approach in the South

Luca Pattaroni, Jean-Claude Bolay, Vincent Kaufmann, Yves Pedrazzini, Adriana Rabinovich, 2008

NCCR North-South Dialogue, No. 20

Bern, NCCR North-South

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Environmental Peacebuilding: Managing Natural Resource Conflicts in a Changing World

swisspeace Annual Conference 2007

Didier Péclard, 2009

With the current attention given to climate change and global warming, the issue of “environmental security” is back high on the agenda of the international community. Environmental degradation is increasingly considered as a potential cause for the (re-)emergence of violent conflicts due to shrinking natural resources such as drinkable water and land. However, research on the issue has shown that there is very little empirical evidence of a direct causal link between environmental degradation and violent conflict. In order to set effective priorities for environmental peacebuilding, it is important to understand - particularly in situations of environmental stress - how natural resource conflicts are embedded in social and political dynamics, how they are managed by local institutions, and how these institutional arrangements can be supported through outside intervention. Based on a research project conducted by swisspeace within the framework of the NCCR North-South, the swisspeace annual conference 2007 explored those complex linkages and formulated entry points for improving intervention strategies by external actors.

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L’Angola dans la paix: Autoritarisme et reconversions

Didier Péclard, 2008

Politique Africaine 110: 5-120.

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Les chemins de la "reconversion autoritaire" en Angola

Didier Péclard, 2008

Politique Africaine 110: 5-20.

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Caracas Terminal: enfants de la rue, nomades et sans-papiers

Yves Pedrazzini, 2008

Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales 2008, Vol. 20, No. 2.

Available from: Nouvelles Pratiques Sociales

La sociologie urbaine de Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe

Une pensée en action dans le Sud

Yves Pedrazzini, 2000

"Paul-Henry Chombart de Lauwe est connu en France et ailleurs en Europe pour avoir été un pionnier de l'anthropologie appliquée dans les années 30, puis, après-guerre, pour avoir participé à " l'invention " de la sociologie urbaine. Mais un autre aspect de ses travaux est valorisé dans les pays du Sud, notamment en Amérique Latine : c'est là qu'il a su inaugurer un champ d'études avec des chercheurs de terrain particulièrement engagés dans la transformation culturelle de leur société ; c'est également dans le Sud qu'il a énoncé les principes de la "recherche-action", dont l'élément central est la participation des habitants aux projets, qu'ils soient riches ou pauvres. C'est ainsi que l'on peut dire qu'il n'est pas étranger à l'actuelle reconnaissance de la culture des quartiers, cités, barrios ou favelas."

Espaces et Sociétés 2000, No. 103, pp. 97-111

Available from: Espaces et Sociétés

Bosque Urbano: proyecto modelo de comunidad verde. El ejemplo de Los Guido-Orowe

Maria Angelina Perez Gutierrez, 2007

In: Larangeira , Adriana de Araujo, eds., Regularización de Asentamientos Informales en América Latina (CD-Rom), Cambridge, USA

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An analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of highly pathogenic avian influenza occurrence in Vietnam using national surveillance data

Dirk U. Pfeiffer, Michael Epprecht, Vincent Martin, Phan Q. Minh, M. J. Otte, 2007

The Veterinary Journal. 174(2):302-309

Sexual and Reproductive Resilience of Adolescents in Ghana and Tanzania

Constanze Pfeiffer, Collins Ahorlu, 2010

Flyer of research project on "Sexual and reproductive resilience".

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Preservation of Modern Architecture: The neglected heritage of modern architecture and why it needs to be preserved

Yongtanit Pimonsathean, 2008

In: Keeping Up Modern Thai Architecture. Bangkok: Thailand Creative & Design Center, pp 80-85.

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Researchers' roles in knowledge co-production: Experience from sustainability research in Kenya, Switzerland, Bolivia and Nepal

Christian Pohl, Sebastien Boillat, Patricia Fry, Ghana Gurung, Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Boniface Kiteme, Stephan Rist, Flurina Schneider , Elvira Serrano, Urs Wiesmann, Anne B. Zimmermann, 2010

Co-production of knowledge between academic and non-academic communities is a prerequisite for research aiming at more sustainable development paths. Sustainability researchers face three challenges in such co-production: (a) addressing power relations; (b) interrelating different perspectives on the issues at stake; and (c) promoting a previously negotiated orientation towards sustainable development. A systematic comparison of four sustainability research projects in Kenya (vulnerability to drought), Switzerland (soil protection), Bolivia and Nepal (conservation vs. development) shows how the researchers intuitively adopted three different roles to face these challenges: the roles of reflective scientist, intermediary, and facilitator of a joint learning process. From this systematized and iterative self-reflection on the roles that a researcher can assume in the indeterminate social space where knowledge is co-produced, we draw conclusions regarding training.

Science and Public Policy 37(4):267-281. DOI: 10.3152/030234210X496628

Beyond Economics: Analysing Micro-Finance from Women's Perspectives Using Sustainable Livelihood Framework

Smita Premchander, Jason Klinck, 2006

In: Premchander S, Müller C, editors. 2006. Gender and Sustainable Development: Case Studies from NCCR North-South. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 147-170.