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.
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)
"A situation analysis with regard to the vulnerability of water resources systems in the Eastern Nile Basin was carried out. The focus was on using internationally recognized indicators and indices that can provide an insight about the situation in the region in a concise and illustrative fashion. A generic operational framework for assessing vulnerability of water systems was outlined and applied to the Eastern Nile Basin. Based on a careful survey, a list of 31 indicators used for vulnerability assessment were identified and categorized according to an outlined categorical structure designed to separate hydrological and physical indicators from other indicators of socio-economic or political nature. [...]"
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.
This study investigated the type and form of inorganic N fertiliser that is capable of improving the nitrogen content of Co and monitored the changes in the properties of this N-enriched product under storage.
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.
Geographic Analysis of Livelihood Strategy in Jagritinagar Squatter Settlement, Kathmandu
Rajip Adhikari, 2009
The general objective of this study is to analyse the urban poverty issue from the livelihood and vulnerability perspective in Jagritinagar squatter settlement of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The specific objectives are:
* to examine the socio-economic condition of the people of Jagritinagar squatter settlement
* to explore the types of livelihood means
* to assess the strategies adopted by the squatters
* to analyse the vulnerability context of the people in Jagritinagar squatter settlement
Abstract of Master Thesis at Tribhuvan University.
Livelihood Options of Dalits, an Analysis with Reference to Land Resources
Study in Dhangadi Municipality
Samana Adhikari, 2008
Dalits are considered as synonymous to landlessness. They do not have enough land to support their family. They have to depend on landlords for their subsistence. Many studies are conducted on the issue of Dalit, their empowerment, caste untouchability, their access and control over resources. However, no reports have been found addressing their livelihood options or about the decent jobs they can perform. This study has attempted to examine the various options available and adopted by the Dalits and their level of standard within their own community.
Jaganath Adhikari , C. Bhadra, K. Gurung, Gurung, Ganesh Gurung, Ganesh, B. Niroula, Seddon, David Seddon, David, 2006
The process whereby Nepali women migrate to foreign countries for work and the consequences of their migration, in terms of its impact on Nepali economy and society, are both poorly understood even though women's migration abroad is not a recent phenomenon. Indeed, women have been migrating on a seasonal, temporary, and permanent basis for more than two centuries.
The research on which this report is based was conducted with a view to enhancing our understanding of the different aspects of women's foreign labour migration. The 'problems' associated with women's migration have been much emphasised by the media, but it is impossible to understand the phenomenon and to develop effective and appropriate measures and mechanisms to support women migrants if we do not have a comprehensive and reliable picture of women's migration as a whole and of its implications for Nepalese economy and society. The research reported here will help build such a picture.
NIDS, 211 pp., Kathmandu: UNIFEM
Street Sweeping as a Livelihood Strategy of Pode Community in KMC
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
"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."
Motivating and Impeding Factors for Corporate Engagement in Peacebuilding
Rina M. Alluri, 2009
The goal of the working paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the motivating and deterring factors for corporate engagement in peace. Focusing the empirical research on the conflict-vulnerable tourism sector in Croatia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka, the working paper argues that economic incentives are an important though not a sufficient motivation for most forms of corporate engagement in peace. Other factors such as the terms (or costs) of peace and the relationships to or dependence from the government can also strongly influence corporate willingness to actively contribute to peacebuilding.
Joras U. with contributions from Rina Alluri and Karsten Palme. Motivating and Impeding Factors for Corporate Engagement in Peacebuilding. Working Paper 1/2009. swisspeace.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
This thesis addresses the use and management of the Nile waters from a legal/institutional, security, environmental and economic point of view. On the national level the limited institutional and economic capacity to make use of Ethiopia's waters was highlighted as a key factor, slowing development and minimizing Ethiopia's clout to influence international relations to her advantage. On the international level the downstream's (Egypt and Sudan) holding on to the status quo of historical agreements and the principle of "acquired rights" was identified as a major factor blocking cooperative development. The Nile Basin Initiative, since 1999, gives hope for a more cooperative future. The success of the NBI, however, will only be assured if a legal/institutional framework can be agreed on. The PhD ends with various options to increase cooperation, also on non-water issues.
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
Sustainable water management in the intermediate zone of the Sokuluk river basin, Tien-Shan, Kyrgyzstan – issues and options from an integrative perspective
Bakyt Askaraliev, 2008
In Russian
PhD thesis at the Kyrgyz Agrarian University, Bishkek
"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."
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."
Im Forschungsprojekt «Die Macht der Bilder» wurde untersucht, wie zwei Regionen anlässlich der Umsetzung von Naturschutzvorhaben visuell präsentiert wurden. Die bei den Beispielregionen «Biosphäre Entlebuch» (UBE) und «Weltnaturerbe Iungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn» (JAB) streben eine nachhaltige Entwicklung an. Es konnte aufgearbeitet werden, wie die Vorhaben bzw. das abstrakte Konzept nachhaltiger Entwicklung in Printmedien veranschaulicht und der Bevölkerung vennittelt wurde. Weil eine grosse Mehrheit der Stimmberechtigten den Vorhaben zugestimmt hat, konnten erfolgreiche Beispiele der Kommunikation nachhaltiger Entwicklung untersucht werden. Es wurden 800 Bilder mit einer eigens entwickelten Bildanalysemethode ausgeweliet. Die Resultate zeigen Unterschiede zwischen «Innensicht» und «Aussensicht», aber auch die Veränderung von Sichtweisen. Schliesslich wurden davon Empfehlungen für die Praxis partizipativer Prozesse abgeleitet.
Buchecker M, Frick J, Tobias S, editors. Gesellschaftliche Ansprüche an den Lebens- und Erholungsraum: Eine praxisorientierte Synthese der Erkenntnisse aus zwei Forschungsprogrammen. Birmensdorf: WSL, pp. 67-70.
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.
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.
What kind of pictures from mass media determine our decisions on developing landscapes? Idyllic mountain scenes, exciting ski-runs, children playing in the village street, the trust-? Worthy look in the mayor’s eyes or an innovative industrial company? Pictures play an important, often decisive part in shaping public opinion. This book is about the exhibition «The Power of Images. Notions about sustainable development – a game with options», that is the result of the cooperation between the Institute of Geography of the University of Zurich and the Seminar for Cultural Science and European Ethnology of the University of Basel.
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.
Potentials and Limitations of Existing Technical Alternatives on Waste and Wastewater Management in Cat Bi Ward, Haiphong City, Vietnam
Pham Ngoc Bao, 2006
Master's Thesis, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
"This study focus on investigation in details the potential and limitations of existing technical alternatives on human excreta and domestic wastewater management in Haiphong, with a case study in Cat Bi ward, where there is a huge potential for using of onsite and decentralised sanitations for human excreta and wastewater disposal and where people having high potential of willing to pay for wastewater and sanitation fee. SWOT analysis technique has been used in the evaluation process. [...]"
Constitutional arrangements for peripheral areas in India reflect the national government’s instrumentalist attempts at decentralising bureaucratic and administrative control in far-flung (essentially hill) areas. Karbi Anglong is one of the two hill districts in Assam where there are special constitutional provisions for indigenous ethnic groups to elect and run their own councils. The constitutional provisions allow for nominal control over forest and land by allocating certain areas of the territory to the Autonomous Council, which then re-allocates these areas to its political constituencies. This article explores the reasons why, despite the constitutional efforts at decentralisation of powers to Autonomous Councils, violence between different ethnic groups and the state continues to define the civic and political discourse in
Anglong district.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 191-215.
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.
"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."
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."
This article attempts to find a way to grant poor people's rights to the land they cultivate. It takes a look at the question of land reform in Nepal and develops suggestions for future actions ensuring sustainable peace and livelihood security. In order to do this, the historical process of land controlling, the present situation as well as the role of different institutions and organizations in securing land rights are analyzed before suggestions for future actions are made.
In this chapter, the understanding of land reform, historic control over land, current situation, power structure of land, debate of land reform since the start of the Maoist movement to the drafting of the Interim Constitution and alternative land reform models are presented. Since land is both political and class issue, economic stability and social justice cannot be established without addressing it. There is no other alternative to a transformative land reform in New Nepal. Hence, in this chapter, attempts are made to explain the concept of a transformatice land reform and its importance in achieving stability, social justice, economic growth and protecting livelihoods of the poor farmers.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Basnet J, editors. Land Politics and Conflict in Nepal: Realities and Potentials for Agrarian Transformation. Kathmandu: Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR North-South and Human and Natural Resources Studies Centre (HNRSC), Kathmandu University, pp. 243-265.
The Metropolisation of the Leman Crescent
Michel Bassand, Lena Poschet, Sebastian Wust, 2003
In: Schneider M, Eisinger A. editors. 2003. Urbanscape Switzerland: Investigations and Case Studies on Topology and Regional Development in Switzerland. Basel, Birkhäuser.
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
"In September 2002, an armed conflict erupted in Côte d'Ivoire which has since divided the country in the government-held south and the remaining territory controlled by the 'Forces Armées des Forces Nouvelles' (FAFN). There is concern that conflict-related population movements, breakdown of health systems and food insecurity could significantly increase the incidence of HIV infections and other sexually-transmitted infections, and hence jeopardize the country's ability to cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Our objective was to assess and quantify the effect this conflict had on human resources and health systems that provide the backbone for prevention, treatment and care associated with HIV/AIDS. We obtained data through a questionnaire survey targeted at key informants in 24 urban settings in central, north and west Côte d'Ivoire and reviewed relevant Ministry of Health (MoH) records. We found significant reductions of health staff in the public and private sector along with a collapse of the health system and other public infrastructures, interruption of condom distribution and lack of antiretrovirals. On the other hand, there was a significant increase of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), some of which claim a partial involvement in the combat with HIV/AIDS. The analysis shows the need that these NGOs, in concert with regional and international organizations and United Nations agencies, carry forward HIV/AIDS prevention and care efforts, which ought to be continued through the post-conflict stage and then expanded to comprehensive preventive care, particularly antiretroviral treatment."
A Comparative Study of Mobile and Static Vendors in Kathmandu Metropolis
Madhav Bhattarai, 2008
This study has been made among the street vendors of KM who are using the street public space and pavement of KM for their survival. Within the KM, Ratnapark-Asan-Indrachowk (core of city), Koteswor, Kalanki and Balaju Buspark (main entry points of KM) are selected as study areas. Among the street vendors, the study focused on watch and bag sellers. Among the watch sellers and bag sellers a sample of 64 was selected and asked some questions. Other vendors were observed on the field study.
The major methods of primary data collection used in this study were questionnaires, field observation, focus group discussion and in-depth interviews.
The Status of Public Agricultural Extension Services in Maharashtra
A Case-study of Rural Maharashtra
Reddy Bheemeshwar, 2008
Master's thesis at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the status of public agricultural extension services in terms of it access, the investment incurred on it and to suggest certain measures for more accessible and effective agricultural extension service to support farmers of Maharashtra.
Reflections on the conceptual framework of the NCCR North-South based on a comparative study of international labour migration in Mexico, India and Kyrgyzstan
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.
This book provides the first systematic analysis of peace-building in Central Asia for inter-ethnic conflicts over water and land in the Ferghana Valley based on concrete, in-depth and on-site investigation. The core analysis centres on peacebuilding projects in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan by three international aid agencies – an international NGO, a bilateral governmental donor and a multilateral agency – and the shared approach which the donors developed and used for conflict transformation. Using ethnographic case material, the author critically examines both the theoretical assumptions guiding this approach and its empirical outcomes when put into practice. Building on existing work in conflict transformation and the ethnography of international assistance in Central Asia, the book sheds light on Western attempts to transform the post-socialist societies of Central Asia and provides fresh empirical data on and insights into irrigation practices, social institutions, and state and identity formation in the Ferghana Valley.
The book was published by Routledge in its Central Asian Studies series.
"The present study focuses on irrigation disputes and 'conflict transformation' in Central Asia. It analyses three projects by international and bilateral donors who share common approach to transforming irrgation conflicts in the Ferghana Valley. [...] Three major research foci guide this study. First, it addresses the environment-conflict nexus. It explores the relationship between irrigation and the occurence of inter-group conflict. Second, the thesis examines the prescriptive approach of 'conflict transformation'. It focuses on the norms and values that construe conflict and its mitigation. Third, the research addresses the issue of power. It examines both conflicts and interventions studied for their embeddedness in power relations."
For further information, please contact the author
In Search of Harmony: Repairing Infrastructure and Social Relations in the Ferghana Valley
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.
Water Quality Assessment and Analysis in the Tha Chin River Basin, Thailand
Franziska Bieri, 2005
The thesis investigates into the relation between river water quality, land-use and nutrient pollution processes in Tha Chin River Basin, and aims at obtaining a spatial and temporal overview on water quality. The results allow a preliminary identification of key parameters and priority areas for remedial actions.
"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. [...]"
Recognition of the limitations of the traditional ‘fortress approach’ to governance of protected areas has led to a new model that seeks to reconcile environmental conservation with human development and promote participation by local populations. Based on a comparative analysis of four case studies in Bolivia and Peru, the present article shows the processes, problems and potentialities that emerge from the inclusion of indigenous peoples in the governance of protected areas. It demonstrates that there are many political, economic, social and cultural obstacles to reconciling conservation with development. [...]
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U.; with an international group of co-editors (eds). Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. University of Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 501-515
This thesis has the overall goal of contributing to the development of the emerging approach of “nature-society hybrids” by setting the fundaments for a dialogue between the needs of biodiversity conservation and the needs and claims of indigenous and traditional people. It is based on the assumption that indigenous and traditional people may not be conservationists “by default”, because the concept of biodiversity conservation has emerged from a concern of modern science and global policy in the developed world that they do not share necessarily. Nevertheless, indigenous communities may have traditional land use practices that are at the same time deeply rooted in their traditional knowledge and specific cultural worldview, and highly relevant for the conservation of biodiversity. The main objective of the thesis was to analyze the links between traditional ecological knowledge, land use and the diversity of ecosystems, as a basis for the promotion of sustainable development, understood as results emerging from the dialogue between scientific and traditional ecological knowledge.
"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. [...]"
In: Dansereau F, Navez-Bouchanine F, editors. 2002. Gestion du développment urbain et stratégies résidentielles des habitants. Paris: L'Harmattan (Collection Villes et Entreprises)
"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."
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...
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.
"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."
"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."
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."
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.
Kyrgyzstan reported 77.5 new human brucellosis cases per 100,000 people in 2007, which is one of the highest incidences worldwide. In Kyrgyzstan, the currently used diagnostic tests in humans and animals are the Rose Bengal Test and the Huddleson test. A national representative cross-sectional study using cluster sampling proportional to size in humans, cattle, sheep, and goats was undertaken to assess the apparent seroprevalence in humans and animals. A total of 4,936 livestock sera and 1,774 human sera were tested in Naryn, Chuy, and Osh Oblasts. The overall apparent seroprevalences of brucellosis were 8.8% in humans (95% CI 4.5-16.5), 2.8% (95% CI 1.6-4.9%) in cattle, 3.3% (95% CI 1.5-6.9%) in sheep, and 2.5% (95% CI 1.4-4.5%) in goats. Naryn Oblast had the highest seroprevalences in humans and sheep. More men than women were seropositive (OR = 1.96; P < 0.001). Human seroprevalence was significantly associated with small ruminant seroprevalence but not with cattle seroprevalence. Annual incidence of human brucellosis exposure, measured by serological tests, was more than ten times higher than the annual incidence of reported clinical brucellosis cases. This indicates an under-reporting of human brucellosis cases, even if only a fraction of seropositive people have clinical symptoms. In conclusion, this study confirms the high seroprevalence of brucellosis in Kyrgyzstan and warrants rapid effective intervention, among others, by mass vaccination of sheep and goats but also of cattle.
In: EcoHealth, 6 December 2011 [Epub ahead of print]
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.
Master's Thesis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
"This thesis deals with the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in preventing and managing conflicts arising from water development projects in Ethiopia. It seeks to find out development organization’s comprehension of a conflict, their perception of their role in a conflict setting and their relationship to other organizations. Besides a descriptive part, the thesis also examined reasons seeking to explain the success or failure of NGOs’ efforts in conflict prevention. [...]"
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.
"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."
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.
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.
The goals of this study were on the one hand to generate knowledge on the status of and dynamics of the different dimensions of sustainability in the Tajik Pamirs. This process not only consisted of the compilation of features in the economic, socio-cultural and ecological spheres, but also included the appraisal and negotiation of development objectives by different stakeholders levels for a development strategy of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO). On the other hand this study was dedicated to appraise land resources problems, land degradation causes and sustainable land management opportunities from a stakeholder perspective. From a conceptual point of view, the research looked at knowledge at different stakeholder levels and its role for sustainable land management.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Institutional Framework of Urban Environmental Sanitation in Hanoi
Isabelle Bucher, 2005
Master's Thesis, Graduate Institute of Development Studies (iuéd), Geneva, Switzerland
This thesis describes the legal and institutional framework related to urban environmental sanitation in Hanoi, Vietnam. It analyses recent changes as well as potentials and limitations.
Características sociales, económicas y culturales que influyen en la adopción de métodos de innovación
Carmen Lucila Camargo López, 2005
Master's Thesis, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia
Concretamente se realizo un estudio acerca de las características sociales, económicas y culturales, que influyen en la difusión y adopción de la innovación SODIS en familias de distritos de Cochabamba, Potosí, Oruro y Santa Cruz.
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.
"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."
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
In: Campero A, editor. IV Jornadas de Investigación de la Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento. Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento
"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."
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.
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 33-48.
Etudes Connaissances, Attitudes et Pratiques des Communautés des départements de Bangolo et de Duékoué face au Soins Obstétricaux et Néonataux d’Urgences (SONU), au Paludisme, à la Diarrhée et aux IRA des enfants de moins de 5 ans
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
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...
Access to Health Care among Transhumant Fulani Pastoralists in Mauritania: Using the Health Access Livelihood Approach
Corinne Corradi, 2009
The focus of this study was set on pastoralist's livelihood capitals as well as qualitative dimensions of access. Available resources were identified and impeding factors when mobilising those were described. The financial means for health care were found to be limited by pastoralists themselves, despite the possession of cattle and a milk selling contract to a dairy plant. Further, insufficient and unreliable transport possibilities, as well as certain shortcomings in the quality of health services were pointed out by pastoralists. Mutual understanding and communication between Fulani pastoralist and health care personnel was also found to be insufficient and impeding for accessing health care. Limited access was also related to economic structures on the market, social norms within Fulani society and individual strategies, depending for example on pulaaku, the Fulani code of conduct. The lack of infrastructure and medical supplies further did not contribute to the utilisation of health services, either.
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
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.
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.
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.
De la Fuente M. 2007. El triunfo de Evo Morales: início de una nueva institucionalidad o etorno de los conflictos sociales? Búsqueda. Cochabamba: IESE-UMSS, 29, pp 9-35.
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.
David Choquehuanca, foreign minister of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, said the following of this volume: "Reflecting on this book I perceive a search for complementarity among our academic brothers, who believe in the process of change and contribute to it with their own experience; they are demonstrating how our idea of "vivir bien" can be operationalised in order to reconstruct our history, our music, our fashions, our culture, our languages, our natural resources...This implies exploring and experimenting with new projects that draw on our ancestral ‘cosmobio’-vision and the knowledge contributed by ‘modernity’, seen from the perspective of a profound respect for the life and the rights of the ‘Pachamama’-Mother Earth.’”
A pilot project carried out in the valley of Cochabamba in Bolivia illustrates how such principles might be translated into concrete, operational public administration. The authors describe how principles of endogenous development enhance social learning processes among communitarian, public, and private actors. This can lead to creation of social interfaces through which regional, local, and context-specific principles of "vivir bien" may be systematised and harmonised with the general principles of "vivir bien" articulated in Bolivia’s new constitution and corresponding national policies.
This book presents a critical analysis of the potentials and constraints of past and present models of developing agrarian innovations.
These innovations had low to non-existent impacts on the sovereignty and security of food production. They focused on linking indigenous food production to a market economy that was not able to guarantee reasonable prices to farmers, preventing them from covering production costs and basic needs for their livelihoods.
The attempt to overcome this one-sided policy in order to develop agrarian innovations in the context of a dialogue among scientific, indigenous and popular forms of knowledge was presented as an institutional experience developed by AGRUCO. This experience was developed during the last 15 years with active support from the Centre for Development and Environment, NCCR North-South and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Read an extensive account of the book launch by Stephan Rist
Haliyas and Haruwas, despite ploughing the landlord's land for generations, are not entitled to tenancy rights. According to the Land Reform Act, people tilling land should be granted those rights. This is a serious problem, and only by redistributing land, the inhumane bonded labor system can be abolished, which is possible only by a radical land reform programme from the state. Transformative land reform is possible only by restructuring the state, with total dismantling of the feudal system. At least in the short run, land should be granted to those who have been cultivating since generations, even if the possess no land registration certificates.
Exploitation by landlords, lack of alternative mode of livelihood, heavy dependence on agriculture, and the changing livelihood pattern, etc. are jeopardizing the livelihood of Haliyas/Haruwas and Charuwas. Therefore, context specific support programmes should be combined with a transformative land reform to address the problems of Haruwas, Haliyas and Charuwas.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Basnet J, editors. Land Politics and Conflict in Nepal: Realities and Potentials for Agrarian Transformation. Kathmandu: Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR North-South and Human and Natural Resources Studies Centre (HNRSC), Kathmandu University, pp. 210-218.
Implantation et dimensionnement d’une station de traitement des boues de vidange dans la commune de Ouahigouya (Burkina Faso)
Etienne Diagne, 2005
Mater's Thesis, Ecole Inter-Etats d’Ingénieurs de l’Equipement Rural de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
"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."
"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."
"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."
If we define actors (social, political, economic) as groups having a distinctive public profile and defined interests vis-à-vis the system they seek to preserve, replace, or simply change, then it is extremely difficult to speak of actors in Cuba. Because of the way in which Cuban society has evolved over the past several decades and the unique characteristics of its political system, the emergent actors referred to here (those that have appeared in the past decade as a result of a changing society) are all larval, with little or no organization, and scripts so surreptitious as to be incomprehensible to the uninitiated....
"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."
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
"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."
Nutrient recycling from human waste for production of animal feed provides an alternative to the use of chemical fertilisers and commercial animal feed. It also contributes to minimising water and soil pollution.
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.
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).
The purpose of this study was to contribute to syndrome mitigation related to deficiencies in the management of urban drainage and solid and liquid waste in Abidjan’s informal settlements in order to assist in improving living conditions of these populations. The study focuses on solid and liquid waste management in 6 informal settlements (Doukouré, Yaoséhi, Mami Faitai, Yamoussoukro, Gbinta and Niangon Continu) which are located along a main drainage channel.
Dongo K. 2006. Analysis of Deficiencies in the Management of Urban Drainage and Solid and Liquid Waste in the Slums of Yopougon (Abidjan, Ivory Coast): GIS Mapping, Modelling, and Social Anthropology Approaches [PhD thesis]. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire: Université de Cocody.
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.
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.
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.
Urban agriculture and operational mosquito larvae control: mitigating malaria risk in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Stefan Dongus, 2009
This study describes how simple participatory mapping, GIS and remote sensing applications can enable successful urban malaria control.
Dongus S. 2009. Urban agriculture and operational mosquito larvae control: mitigating malaria risk in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. PhD thesis. University of Basel.
This study provides an integral analysis of the energy situation and its consequences for land and energy resource use in rural areas of the Tajik Pamirs. It focuses on three main topics: (1) Energy consumption patterns at household and village levels, (2) use of micro and mini hydropower stations and their potential to relieve pressure on local biomass fuels, and (3) land degradation related to unsustainable energy resource use.
Die Ermittlung des landschaftsästhetischen Potenzials im UNESCO Welterbe Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn mittels Methoden der Geoinformatik
Marcel Droz, 2007
Master's Thesis, University of Salzburg, Austria
Die touristisch enorm attraktive Hochgebirgslandschaft des Welterbe-Gebiets steht in direkter Wechselbeziehung mit der Umgebungslandschaft. Das sich daraus ergebende Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Schutz und Nutzung lässt die langfristige Sicherung der von der UNESCO ausgezeichneten Alleinstellungsmerkmale als grosse Herausforderung erscheinen. Erschwerend für das Gebietsmanagement kommt hinzu, dass die Natur- und Kulturlandschaft durch naturbedingte Veränderungsprozesse (Stichwort Klimawandel) sowie durch den (land-)wirtschaftlichen Strukturwandel fortwährend überprägt wird.
Deshalb sind Monitoring- und Controllinginstrumente erforderlich, um Veränderungen zu erkennen und ihren Einfluss auf die Werte und Potenziale des Welterbes einschätzen zu können. Während Datengrundlagen aus bestehenden Monitoringsystemen in einzelnen Bereichen eine wertvolle Ausgangslage darstellen, fehlt bislang ein operationeller Ansatz zur Identifizierung und Überwachung der von der UNESCO dem Gebiet attestierten aussergewöhnlichen natürlichen Schönheit und ästhetischen Bedeutung. Die Operationalisierung von Landschaftsästhetik stellt damit das Kernstück dieser Arbeit dar.
"[...] 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. [...]"
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Health risks related to wastewater reuse in Thailand using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA)
Aleix Ferrer Duch, 2008
In the context of the Work Package 3 (Health and Environmental sanitation)within the NCCR North-South, a conceptual framework has been developed using an approach combining health, ecological, socio-economic and cultural assessments.
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
"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."
A la recherche des déterminants institutionnels du bien-être des populations sédentaires et nomades dans la plaine du Waza-Logone de la frontière camerounaise et tchadienne
"Cette contribution présente les articulations d’une étude actuellement en cours dans la région du Logone et Chari au Cameroun et dont le but est d’oeuvrer pour l’élaboration des savoirs et des connaissances pour le développement pastoral. De nombreux groupes de populations sédentaires et nomades vivent dans cette localité et dépendent des plaines inondées du Sud du lac Tchad pour leur subsistance. Or, les ressources naturelles connaissent de grandes variations saisonnières et deviennent parfois la propriété des groupes sédentaires. De ce fait, les éleveurs nomades éprouvent de nombreuses difficultés pour accéder non seulement aux pâturages et à l’eau, mais aussi aux services de santé de qualité (centres hospitaliers, médicaments efficaces). L’ambition ici est de définir de nouvelles conditions institutionnelles d’accès aux soins de santé pour les populations sédentaires et nomades. En fait, la plupart des problèmes auxquels sont confrontés les nomades de nos jours seraient dus à l’inadaptation des règles formelles en vigueur aux stratégies de survie des populations rurales. Celles mises en place à l’époque pré-coloniale ne sont plus opérationnelles. L’on pourrait conclure, sous forme d’hypothèse à vérifier, que la définition de nouveaux cadres institutionnels de gestion des ressources naturelles pourrait contribuer à l’amélioration des conditions de santé des pasteurs nomades."
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.
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.
In: Bill, R. (ed.) 2007. GIS - Theory and Applications, Textbook for the DAAD Summer School, Internal Report, Volume 16, Rostock University, pp. 177-188.
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
"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."
"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."
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.
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.
Metis Knowledge. Analysis of the Traditional Knowledge Policy in Peru:
This research aimed to produce a critical analytical framework to understand the process of international norms creation, transmission into a national context and implementation at the local level. This objective has been addressed by choosing traditional knowledge (TK) issue as a strategy to analyze the multi-level governance process, and by studying especially the Peruvian Law for TK protection. This law voted in 2002 intended regulate the encounter of local supply with international demand. But a number of doubts have appeared: Is this law an efficient way of protecting traditional knowledge? Why is its implementation so slow? What is the potential of TK for nature conservation and sustainable development?
"This is an important contribution to the literature on protected areas and the political ecology of natural resource management and conservation. It provides a very timely analysis of "participatory" PA governance and management, examining "new paradigm" PA approaches which - in policy and rhetoric if not always in practice - offer alternatives to the fortress conservation approaches that have so often proved environmentally ineffective, socially disastrous and morally questionable. The editors and 31 contributors "tried to determine how the participatory approach to conservation evolved in specific settings and who profits from the new approach." Drawing on research by 13 research groups working in diverse regions of the global South (South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia) and in Switzerland, the book offers a set of coordinated case studies that are attentive to historical, geographical, political, social, and economic contexts and dynamics." Stan Stevens, Univ. of Massachusetts
Frontier Encounters: Indigenous communities and settlers in Asia and Latin America
Danilo Geiger, Marina T. Campos, Christian Erni, Søren Hvalkov, Sabino Padilla, Jr., Devasish Roy, Ranabir Samaddar, 2008
Poverty and the maldistribution of land in core areas of developing countries, together with state schemes for the colonization of unruly peripheries, have forced indigenous peoples and settlers into an uneasy co-existence. On the basis of case study material from various Asian and Latin American countries, Frontier Encounters identifies characteristic patterns of interaction between these groups, explores the dynamics of some of the open conflicts that dot the map of the two continents, and situates them in the context of the politics and economics of the “frontier”.
Daniel Geiger is a doctoral candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Luzern, Switzerland. He has lectured on political anthropology and indigenous movements. His research experience includes fieldwork in the Philippines and Indonesia. Under the auspices of the NCCR North-South, he has coordinated a comparative research project on conflicts between indigenous communities and settlers in South and Southeast Asia.
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.
"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."
"Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity brings together insights from eight case studies in Latin America and South Asia that provide nuanced descriptions and analyses of the experiences of decentralised natural resource management. The studies are compared in a non-reductionist way through an interpretative framework drawing upon various contemporary state–society theories and human–environment perspectives.
The book goes beyond an identification of universal mechanisms of effective decentralisation. It provides a useful examination of how political contestations within and between heterogeneous communities and a non-monolithic state produce complex and often unintended outcomes for the management of natural resources as well as for the realisation of political participation as a fundamental human right. Decentralisation meets Complexity is an invaluable resource for both practitioners and researchers in the field of decentralisation and community-based natural resource management."
This article summarises and discusses eight case studies from Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Pakistan, India and Nepal that focus on the everyday realities of decentralisation. It recalls the mainstream arguments favouring decentralisation as a basic human right (i.e. to be able to participate in decision-making) and in a more utilitarian sense (i.e. decentralisation for development). The eight case studies support aspects of the mainstream; however, they also present new insights. To position these insights, the article deconstructs mainstream decentralisation discourses as based on a functionalist ontology, often leading to rather managerial and mechanistic approaches. To contrast such a functionalist position, three critical social science perspectives are introduced: the neo-Marxist view of the hegemonic state (including the notion of subalterns), Scott’s simplifying state techniques, and Midgal’s state-in-society approach.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 15-55.
"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."
The floods are among the worst disasters that hit Pakistan and its people. And they pose a whole series of incredible challenges to the country's citizens, administration, political parties, civil society, and academia. In the following sections, we mention just a few of them, being aware that there are many more to be tackled. We start with issues of emergency aid delivery and coordination, moving to challenges of raising funds amidst Pakistan's "bad image", then gradually moving towards questions regarding the causes for the disaster, and capabilities to cope with them.
"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."
The forests in northwestern Pakistan are being threatened. They will survive only of the population and the local authorities can manage to work together constructively to solve problems. A research project shows how the difficult relationship between them can be improved.
In:KFPE: Cooperating for Success – Benefits of Research Partnerships with Developing Countries. Bern: Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT).
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).
"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."
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.
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.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 211-239.
The discussion in this chapter assesses, interprets and analyses the syndromes of urban crime as one of the post-conflict challenges for state building. It eyes upon the issues of crime from the angle of post-conflict security. The chapter gives attention to the increasing bureau-political tensions, and by the use of delineating the functions and malfunctions of police administration also to the loopholes to be corrected as well as the strengths to be accelerated.
The livelihood strategies of internally displaced people are affected by the various factors and the new contexts that they encounter in the host communities. This topic has also been of great interest in the broader framework of migration studies. Taking the case of the Rajhena Camp in the Western Terai, Nepal, this Chapter examines
the livelihood strategies of conflict-induced internally displaced persons using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (DFID 2002) and the Rural Livelihood System (Baumgartner 2006) as analytical tools. This Chapter attempts to understand how the circumstances endured by internally displaced persons affect their capacity
to build assets or capitalise on available assets and, thus, shape their livelihood strategies. This chapter also discusses the relevance of livelihoods frameworks in studying the livelihood strategies of special categories of people.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 217-256.
In: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Pyakuryal KN, Ghimire S. (eds). The Remake of a State: Post-conflict Challenges and State Building in Nepal. Kathmandu, South Asia Regional Coordination Office of the Swiss National Centere of Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and Human and Natural Ressources Studies Centre (HNRSC), pp. 167-191.
Ducks, Rice and People – the Key to HPAI Risk in the Mekong Region.
Marius Gilbert, Stephen Boles, Prasit Chaitaweesub, Christina Czarnecki, Michael Epprecht, Wantanee Kalpravidh, Vincent Martin, Phan Q. Minh, Joachim Otte, Dirk U. Pfeiffer, Jan Slingenbergh, Xiangming Xiao, 2009
HPAI Research Brief No. 8
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..."
"This study was initiated with the aim of using long term monitoring data collected at two representative semi arid stations to examine the impact of biophysical environment (climate and soil) and cultivation method (with and without water conservation) on crop performance (growth and production). Using the knowledge gained from this analysis, the study evaluated and adapted the Agricultural Production Simulator (APSIM) model to develop a simulation tool for the production system practiced by the smallscale farmers in the study area. The adapted APSIM model was used to examine the impact of water conservation on maize growth and production."
"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."
Domestic Workers in Their Living: A Study of Selected Localities in Kathmandu District
M Gotame, 2009
The present study attempts to examine issues of domestic workers by analyzing their socio-economic status, gender division of labor and power relations in their working place. These are general but important and often ignored aspects of domestic workers.
Their socio-economic status suggests that most are not poor, but there are varying reasons why they moved to urban areas and started to work as domestic workers, mostly by their parent’s choice. Domestic workers are mostly female. However, males too have entered this sphere. Therefore, the study’s conclusion is that the male invasion in the profession is narrowing the gap in the division of labor. A very positive sign is that the majority of the domestic workers are attending school. They are also allowed to use their free time for entertainment. Further, there has been a change in the way of addressing the owners, showing a change of attitude of the owners towards the workers. This change may be a positive first step towards a shift in power relations.
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
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
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
Reuse and Recycle of Bio-residue (percolate) from Constructed Wetland Treating Septage
Sukon Hadsoi, 2005
Master's Thesis, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
"The prime objective of this research is to investigate the suitability of percolate from constructed wetland (CW) treating septage in agricultural application with the specific focus on determination of appropriate application ratio of percolate on sunflower plantation and crop yields."
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.
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.
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.
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)) [...].
African Floodplains in semi-arid areas are important for local livelihoods as they harbor many common-pool resources such as fisheries, pasture, wildlife, veldt products, water and land for irrigation. However, in many of these areas resources are under pressure. With a Foreword by Nobel prize-winner Elinor Ostrom, this book presents seven case studies from Mali, Cameroon, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana based on anthropological fieldwork (2002-08) and explores how these common-pool resources have been managed in pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial times.
The major focus of the study is on how institutional change has contributed to resource management problems; the book offers a comparative analysis based on the New Institutionalist approach (Jean Ensminger, Elinor Ostrom), which is combined with a special focus on ideology, discourse and narratives while focusing on conflict and power issues.
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
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.
"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."
In the Tajik National Park (TNP) - a high-altitude area of nearly 26,000 km2 in Central Asia - past and present human activities visibly contrast with standard conservation requirements for protected areas worldwide. This paper focuses on resource management, and highlights three major processes that threaten both the sustainable use of natural resources and the preservation of nature per se: (i) intensified use of biomass as a fuel resource, (ii) inappropriate pasture management, and (iii) increased pressure on endangered wildlife. From analysis of these processes - their historical background, root causes, trends and interrelationships - options and needs to improve park management are proposed and discussed.
The distinction between what is defined as international or internal migration depends on the (in)stability of the borders that surround and encapsulate nation-states. Simplistically, the former operates on the basis of individuals moving between one nation-state and another while the latter represents movement within the borders of one nation-state. The aim of this working paper is to contribute to the limited amount of literature on the “forgotten migrants”: those that migrate internally within the borders of their own country or nation-state (Laczko, 2008).
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).
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.
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.
"The present study seeks to generate a comparable information and knowledge base about land cover change on a mesoscale level for the entire Lower Mekong Basin. Such information is crucial to both informed decision making and the transboundary negotiations on the use and protection of the shared natural resources in regional bodies such as the Mekong River Commission. It may form the basis for achieving a common understanding regarding resource management in the Basin despite diverging national interests. [...]"
"In recent years, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have increasingly been used in a wide array of application contexts for development cooperation in lowlands and mountain areas. When used for planning, implementation, and monitoring, GIS is a versatile and highly efficient tool, particularly in mountain areas characterized by great spatial diversity and inaccessibility. However, the establishment and application of GIS in mountain regions generally presents considerable technical challenges. Moreover, it is necessary to address specific institutional and organizational issues regarding implementation."
Secondary forests in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) are increasingly recognized as a valuable component of land cover, providing ecosystem services and benefits for local users. Large proportions of secondary forests in the LMB are maintained by swidden cultivation. An analysis of existing regional land cover data for 1993 and 1997 was carried out and forms the basis of this paper. The investigations revealed that secondary forests make up the largest share of forest cover in the LMB, with over 80% located in Laos and Cambodia. The deforestation rates for secondary forests are 3 times higher than the rates for other forest categories and account for two-thirds of the total deforestation. These dynamics are particularly pronounced in the less advanced countries of the LMB, especially in Laos.
"Ein großer Anteil der in tropischen Großstädten eingesammelten Fäkalschlämme gelangt unbehandelt in die Umwelt. Daher ist es notwendig, neben angepassten Schlammbehandlungsverfahren auch Fäkalschlammmanagement-Konzepte zu entwickeln. Eine mögliche Behandlungsoption, die Schlammvererdung in bepflanzten Trockenbeeten, konnte erfolgreich in Bangkok getestet werden. Dabei wurde eine hohe optimale Feststoffbeladung von 250 kg TS/m2 d gefunden."
KA- Abwasser, Abfall 2003, Vol. 50, No. 9, pp. 1162-1167
Investigations on Land Cover and Land Use of Gorno Badakhshan (GBAO) by Means of Land Cover Classifications Derived from LANDSAT 7 Data Making Use of RemoteSensing and GIS Techniques
This thesis assesses land and vegetation resources in the Tajik Pamir Mountains with the help of land cover classification derived from LANDSAT ETM+ imagery acquired in summer 2000 and ancillary data sources.
Factors from Diffusion of Innovations Theory Influencing the Adoption of Solar Water Disinfection
A Field Study in Bolivia
Simone Heri, 2006
Master's Thesis, University of Zurich, Switzerland
"In this study we examine a broad array of theory-based factors derived from diffusion research that influence the current use and intention to use of solar water disinfection (SODIS), a simple, low-cost technology for the treatment of drinking water on household-level. The perceived attributes of an innovation, the nature of the social system in which an innovation is diffused, the extend of change agents’ promotion efforts in diffusing the innovation and the nature of the communication channels were operationalized resulting in 16 variables to assess the use and intent to use of the innovation of SODIS. The aim of the study is to determine the influence of each factor and its predictive power. [...]"
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
Despite the huge amount of information available on soil and water conservation (SWC), there seems to be a considerable gap in knowledge about the impact of SWC technologies, such as the effectiveness of on-farm technologies in controlling soil erosion, their impact on human and natural resources, cost-benefit ratios, the level of integration into prevailing farming systems, etc. This paper introduces a methodology for impact monitoring and assessment developed by an international expert group over the past years. More than anything else, impact monitoring requires a significant change of mind. This involves looking beyond one’s own profession and even one’s own mandate. The focus of the methodology presented is on sustainable land management, which puts SWC into a wider thematic framework and thus helps to identify a broader range of the side-effects and impacts of SWC activities.
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.
Transdisciplinarity – An option for applied landscape ecology in complex and uncertain contexts.
In: Die Erde: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde 141(4):321-339.
Applied landscape ecology is considered to have a limited impact on decision-making. To improve the effectiveness of research, above all, closer cooperation between researchers and nonacademic actors is needed. We argue that a suitable research approach in this context is transdisciplinarity (td). We refer to td as interdisciplinary research that takes place in a complex environment-society context with a strong involvement of non-academic actors during the entire research process. A brief synthesis of a case study focusing on ‘Off-site Effects of Soil Erosion on the Swiss Plateau’ illustrates a promising application of a td approach.
Sensing Soil Properties in the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin by means of Reflectance Spectroscopy and GIS
Conny Hett, 2005
Master's Thesis, University of Bern, Switzerland
This thesis is a proof of method study of the Soil Sensing Approach, a new approach for rapid assessment of soil properties using near-infrared spectroscopy. The study was carried out in a small tests area of ten by ten km in the Upper Ewaso Ng’iro Basin, Kenya. The topical aim was to assess soil chemical properties in relation to land cover/land use. Through application of chemometric models soil carbon and nitrogen were predicted based on their near-infrared reflectance curves. CART classification and regression trees were used for modelling the two properties. It was shown that classification trees did not perform nearly as good on the samples as the regression trees. Finally relationships between land cover/land use and soil carbon and nitrogen were assessed and soil carbon and nitrogen showed very similar results. The good results of the Soil Sensing Approach make its use possible for mapping soil carbon and nitrogen properties using satellite imagery.
The Alps will experience some of the most pronounced effects of climate change due to a combination of their latitudinal positioning, altitude and unique eco-systems, placing socioeconomic stresses on alpine communities, particularly those that rely on seasonal tourism. How stakeholders need to respond to climate change within the Alps has been well documented in the academic literature, with studies focussing on measures to minimise damage on winter ski tourism and from increased natural hazards. During the winter of 2006/2007 there was increasing academic and media attention on the ability of mountain areas to maintain successful winter tourism. Studies into tourism adaptation within the Swiss Alps have so far focussed on the adaptation options and needs of different stakeholders. These concepts of adaptation measures were tested on stakeholders from the private and public sector within two case study areas within the Swiss Alps, both part of the communes of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jungfrau Aletsch Bietschorn. The qualitative methodology aimed to better ascertain the barriers to adaptation that local communities faced.
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.
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."
"One approach of molecular epidemiology of mycobacteria is the genotyping and comparison of DNA of infectious strains in order to monitor the transmission pathways of diseases. It is based on the assumption that patients infected with clustered strains are epidemiologically linked. Such results may help in understanding the modes of transmission and therefore in putting in place an adapted control strategy. [...] Therefore the overall aim of this study was to contribute to the development and refinement of innovative molecular typing tools in order to study Mycobacterium tuberculosis, bovis and ulcerans infections."
Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Susette Biber-Klemm, Walter Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Dominique Joye, Christian Pohl, Urs Wiesmann, Elisabeth Zemp, 2008
Springer
Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research: The emergence of Transdisciplinarity as a Form of Research
Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Susette Biber-Klemm, Walter Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Dominique Joye, Christian Pohl, Urs Wiesmann, Elisabeth Zemp, 2007
By transgressing disciplinary paradigms and surpassing the practical problems of single actors, transdisciplinary research is challenged by the following requirements: to grasp the complexity of the problems, to take into account the diversity of scientific and societal views of the problems, to link abstract and case specific knowledge, and to constitute knowledge with a focus on problem-solving for what is perceived to be the common good. Transdisciplinary research relates to three types of knowledge: systems knowledge, target knowledge and transformation knowledge, and reflects their mutual dependencies in the research process. Research that addresses problems in the life-world comprises the phase of problem identification and problem structuring, the phase of problem investigation and the phase of bringing results to fruition.
In ecological economics the terms sustainable development and transdisciplinarity are closely related. This close relation is due to the fact that research for sustainable development has to be issue oriented and reflect the diversity, complexity and dynamics of the processes involved as well as their variability between specific problem situations. Furthermore, the knowledge of people involved and their needs and interests at stake have to be included. There are three interrelated questions about issues to be addressed in sustainability research: 1. How do processes constitute a problem field and where are the needs for change? 2. What are more sustainable practices? 3. How can existing practices be transformed? To treat them, transdisciplinary research is needed. The emergence of transdisciplinary research in the North and the South is described. By distinguishing analytically among basic, applied and transdisciplinary research the challenges that have to be tackled are analyzed.
Improved sanitation has been shown to have great impacts on people’s health and economy. However, the progress of
achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on halving the proportion of people without access to clean water and basic sanitation by 2015 has thus far been delayed. One of the reasons for the slow progress is that policy makers, as well as the general public, have not fully understood the importance of the improved sanitation solutions. This paper, by gathering relevant research findings, aims to report and discuss currently available evidence on the economic aspects of sanitation, including the economic impacts of unimproved sanitation and the costs and economic benefits of some common improved sanitation options in developing countries.
"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."
In: Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Entwicklungspolitik. Öffentlich-private Partnerschaften und internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, Band 24, Nr. 2. 2005. iuéd, Genf, pp. 183-194.
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.
"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."
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
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.
Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) have been identified in 736 sites in 59 countries. The important role of TMCF in sustaining the livelihoods of local populations by protecting watersheds and sustaining unpolluted freshwater sources has been generally recognised. Cloud forests are important sources of nontimber forest products and are an essential habitat for many endemic and threatened plant and animal species. During the past 20 years, cloud forests worldwide have been disappearing rapidly. Sustainable management and conservation of cloud forests faces many challenges including population pressure, poor awareness of their value and the lack of reliable information, political will and donor assistance [...].
PhD Thesis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland
In his thesis, Dong-Bin Huang developed an event-based dynamic material flow and life-cycle-inventory modeling method and applied it in the urban area of Kunming (China) for urban water resource planning and pollution control of Dianchi Lake.
"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."
"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."
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."
"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."
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.
"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."
The GAF was validated in the NCCR international conference held in Geneva in November 2007. This text presents the tool and is at the disposition of the scientific community.
The breakdown of the Soviet Union had significant effects for the people of the isolated Tajik Pamir Mountains. Since the independence of Tajikistan increasing poverty, dependence from foreign aid, and degradation of the ecosystem are obvious. At the same time the Pamir Mountains show high potentials regarding hydropower, the unique beauty of the landscape, and the high level of education. However, up to now these potentials have not been exploited. For the conservation of the Pamir Mountains as unique landscape and habitat and for a sustainable use of the available resources the Pamir Strategy Project has been implemented in 2001 and 2002. Knowledge about the status and the dynamics of this region has been gathered and made available in order to support the elaboration of a development strategy.
"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."
Humankind today is challenged by numerous threats brought about by the speed and scope of global change dynamics. A concerted and informed approach to solutions is needed to face the severity and magnitude of current development problems. Generating shared knowledge is a key to addressing global challenges. This requires developing the ability to cross multiple borders wherever radically different understandings of issues such as health and environmental sanitation, governance and conflict, livelihood options and globalisation, and natural resources and development exist.
Global Change and Sustainable Development presents 36 peer-reviewed articles written by interdisciplinary teams of authors who reflected on results of development-oriented research conducted from 2001 to 2008. Scientific activities were – and continue to be – carried out in partnerships involving people and institutions in the global North, South and East, guided by principles of sustainability. The articles seek to inform solutions for mitigating, or adapting to, the negative impacts of global dynamics in the social, political, ecological, institutional and economic spheres.
For the print version, please send your order to: (price: CHF 45.00 / EUR 30.00, excluding postage)
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.
The Ethiopian Highlands cover over 50% of the country and are home to more than 90% of Ethiopia's population of over 80 million people (estimate for 2010); 60% of the livestock and 90% of the area suited for agriculture are also located here. Although more than 90% of the Highlands was once forested, today a mere 20% of this area is covered by trees, and the percentage
of forest cover is less than 4%. This is evidence of a high incidence of degradation of vegetation in the past, which has continued to the present. Land-use and land-cover changes have been particularly dynamic in the 20th century, during which climate change also began to have effects; wildlife in natural habitats have been restricted to those few areas that were preserved naturally due to rugged topography or natural aridity. Soil erosion has been severe throughout the Highlands, but mainly on agricultural land; the current
severity and extent of soil degradation seriously threaten food security. [...]
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 187-207.
In: Bearth, Barbara Becker, Rolf Kappel, Gesine Krüger, Roger Pfister, editors. 2007. Thomas Afrika im Wandel. vdf Hochschulverlag AG, ETH Zürich, pp. 123-136
