Suchergebnisse

This paper examines rural livelihood systems in Haiti from both a political andecological perspective. While political developments in Haiti have taken center stage inmost analyses, the environmental impacts of population growth, highly varied livelihoodstrategies, and migration opportunities appear to have played a major role in the current tragic situation. Illegal migration not only seems to alleviate short term poverty but also appears to benefit households long term as revenues from migration improve households' land holding situation. Nevertheless, the steadily declining ecological situation may already be exceeding the creative livelihood strategies of Haitian producers.Key words: Haiti, political economy, political ecology, livelihood strategies,households, livestock, agriculture, migration.

Societies and Nature in the Sahel. Claude Raynaut. ed. New York: Routledge, 1997.352 pp.

This review examines the persistence of chronic hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century and reviews dominant famine theories, concepts of vulnerability, and household livelihood security and responses to recent food crises in the region. The authors argue that famine occurrences are linked to historical and contemporary socioeconomic processes that have increased over time the vulnerability of African households to hunger and reduced their resilience to environmental and economic shocks, political conflict, and the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. Approaches to famine need to move away from the "emergency relief" framework to better address the underlying conditions that make food shortages endemic. Future food security for Africa requires an integrated long-term response to household vulnerability on the part of African governments, civil society, and international partners by incorporating new technologies, local expertise, and active involvement of African communities living with the realities of recurrent famine.

This paper provides a statistical evaluation of the methodology of the NSF funded Six Cities Project. The project develops a methodology for surveying densely inhabited areas by processing diachronic remote sensing imagery to create habitation strata or urban classes. These classes become part of a sampling strategy which gives every pixel associated with habitation a specified chance of selection and then draws a representative sample of pixels. These pixels become center points for household surveys which can study a variety of issues including health, environment, livelihood strategies, demographics and household labor, expenditures and income. The methodology lends itself to GIS construction and the generation of data that can be easily compared and can be of maximal use to municipalities, governments, scholars and NGOs. It also provides a long term basis for inexpensive surveys that can have a high claim to reliability and representativity.Key words: remote sensing, urbanism, survey methodology, National Science Foundation, health, environment, livelihood strategies, demographic, household labor, expenditures, income, Africa, Middle East, Morocco, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Tanzania, Botswana, Marrakech, Dakar, Bamako, Niamey, Dodoma, Gaborone.

Mauritania is a vast country covering over a million square kilometers, where a relatively small population of 3.5 million people lives on just one-fifth of the country's total area. With extremely advanced desertification, the country is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change and other external shocks. The main sources of income in Mauritania are agriculture, which is either irrigated or rain-fed, and livestock. This is especially the case in the Senegal River Valley, where people make their living farming, raising livestock, and fishing, while mining is prevalent in the north. Arable land is therefore one of the country's main resources, but it is also a major source of contention due to increasing urbanization and the limited availability of arable land. This presentation relies on the key recommendations emphasized in the Land Governance Framework Report (LGAF), published by the World Bank in 2014. This report established a far-reaching and more inclusive national land policy that strengthens the security of land tenure for vulnerable groups, including women. This framework was the first to propose a national platform for all stakeholders, including women, to openly discuss and reach consensus around land issues. The inclusive workshops that were held by LGAF helped stimulate discussion at all levels, from civil society, both men and women, to senior officials, promoting a national debate on land issues with a strong gender perspective. The workshops were particularly beneficial for many female participants, as these women now have increased access to information about land issues in their own communities.

Drawing on a broad range of case studies, the contributors to Terrestrial Transformations explore the political and economic forces entangled in environmental and ecological problems and look at humanity's future in light of climate change and existing environmental problems.