Suchergebnisse

Adapting to Change in the Andean Highlands: Practices and Strategies to Address Climate and Market Risks in Vulnerable Agro-ecosystems (SANREM CRSP LTRA 4) is focused on identifying the consequences of climate change for one of the poorest and most vulnerable regions in the Western Hemisphere and develop adaptive capacities. The project uses a cross disciplinary and participatory approach, linking biophysical and social sciences research with local knowledge systems through participatory institutions. This presentation concentrates on social science findings regarding attitudes and practices for addressing climate change ; LTRA-4 (Practices and Strategies for Vulnerable Agro-Ecosystems)

Purpose: Describe preferences toward COVID-19 testing features (method, location, hypothetical monetary incentive) and simulate the effect of monetary incentives on willingness to test. Design: Online cross-sectional survey administered in July 2020. Subjects: 1,505 nationally representative U.S. respondents. Measures: Choice of preferred COVID-19 testing options in discrete choice experiment. Options differed by method (nasal-swab, saliva), location (hospital/clinic, drive-through, at-home), and monetary incentive ($0, $10, $20). Analysis: Latent class conditional logit model to classify preferences, mixed logit model to simulate incentive effectiveness. Results: Preferences were categorized into 4 groups: 34% (n = 517) considered testing comfort (saliva versus nasal swab) most important, 27% (n = 408) were willing to trade comfort for monetary incentives, 19% (n = 287) would only test at convenient locations, 20% (n = 293) avoided testing altogether. Relative to no monetary incentives, incentives of $100 increased the percent of testing avoiders (16%) and convenience seekers (70%) that were willing to test. Conclusion: Preferences toward different COVID-19 testing features vary, highlighting the need to match testing features with individuals to monitor the spread of COVID-19.

AbstractMany sustainable agricultural practices are based on local and traditional farming knowledge. This article examines the conservation and loss of three traditional practices in the Bolivian Altiplano that agronomic research has shown increase the resiliency of small farmers in the face of climate‐related risks. These practices are the use of manure, the use of local forecasts and risk‐management strategies, and the preservation of crop biodiversity. Although these practices are widely used today, farmers have been steadily abandoning them during the past decade. This article examines the characteristics of those who maintain and those who abandon traditional practices to see if the abandonment of local knowledge can be explained by the adoption‐diffusion literature. This research does not support the adoption‐diffusion literature; although the factors related to conservation are slightly different for each practice, the findings do not support the idea that young, educated, and wealthier farmers are more likely to reject local knowledge. Instead, off‐farm activities such as migration, employment, and trade seem to be related to the decline in local practices as each affects the availability of labor and the availability of people to learn these practices.

Abstract Agroforestry, the practice of raising crops and trees together in ways that are mutually beneficial, provides farmers with an alternative to more conventional farming practices. In this paper, we apply Bourdieu's concepts of "field" and "habitus" in an attempt to better understand the practice of farming and the role that agroforestry may have in farming systems. Analysis is based on qualitative and quantitative interviews of farmers and other key informants in two regions, Fox‐Wyaconda Watershed in northeast Missouri and Scott County in southeast Missouri. Within the field of farming, farmers emphasized the importance of economic, family and rental relations. Important habitus considerations include different interpretations of what constitutes farming and what constitutes forestry. Based on Bourdieu's theoretical framework, we offer three alternative paths of social change that may lead to more widespread utilization of agroforestry.

Presentation made at Latinos in the Heartland (8th : 2010 : St. Louis, Mo.) and published in the annual conference proceedings. ; Migration patterns of Hispanics changed dramatically in the 1990s from large metropolis to rural towns (Lazos and Jeanetta 2002). Migration patterns have also changed, from temporary and male to permanent male and female settlement, in rural areas of the south and the Midwest (Hernandez 2005). The heartland of rural America is experiencing demographic changes that are unprecedented in both their fast pace and diversity they bring to otherwise uniform areas. According to the 2000 Census, Hispanic?s earnings are low, and Hispanics live in homes in which multiple adults work full time and have low skills and limited English proficiency (Hernandez 2005; NCLR 2004; Gibbs, Kusmin and Cromartie 2005). For change to be beneficial and sustainable for every community today and for future generations, the integration process must be based on sound research. Although the challenges faced by education, health care and other service delivery systems are well-documented (Gozdziak & Martin 2005), our attention turns to the assets or capital Latinos bring with them as they settle. Recent developments in the cultural identity literature view culture as a resource from which individuals draw to create strategies to function in various domains of society (Berry 2003). This new orientation shifts us away from a deficit model for thinking about how individuals of different cultures gain and lose in the process of integration to recognizing the multiple ways individuals can adapt in new and ever-changing environments without suffering loss of identity in the process. We focus on what the newcomers offer and how we can engage them in the future development and prosperity of the new settlement communities. A model of capital, capabilities and strategies is developed informed by the sustainable livelihoods framework. The sustainable livelihood strategies model incorporates social and cultural capital into an examination of strategies newcomers employ to accumulate assets, minimize their vulnerability to risk exposure and become part of their new communities. The model accounts for the community climate as a proxy for context of reception in new settlement regions and identifies how it impacts strategies? outcome. Output from focus groups of men and women and photovoice, our qualitative research techniques, informs social and cultural capital constructs in three distinct regions of a Midwestern state. Income impacts of acculturation strategies, social capital, cultural capital and human capital are measured through their regression on income earnings of native and foreign born Latinos. Results provide lessons for policy.

"Developing-country rangelands are vast and diverse. They are home to millions who are often poor, politically marginalized, and dependent on livestock for survival. Here we summarize our experiences from six case-study sites in sub-Saharan Africa, central Asia, and Latin America generally covering the past 25 years. We examine issues pertaining to population, natural resource management, climate, land use, livestock marketing, social conflict, and pastoral livelihoods. The six study sites differ with respect to human and livestock population dynamics and the resulting pressures on natural resources. Environmental degradation, however, has been commonly observed. Climate change is also having diverse systemic effects often related to increasing aridity. As rangelands become more economically developed pastoral livelihoods may diversify, food security can improve, and commercial livestock production expands, but wealth stratification widens. Some significant upgrades in rural infrastructure and public service delivery have occurred; telecommunications are markedly improved overall due to widespread adoption of mobile phones. Pressures from grazing, farming, mining, and other land uses-combined with drought-can ignite local conflicts over resources, although the intensity and scope of conflicts markedly varies across our case-study sites. Pastoralists and their herds have become more sedentary overall due to many factors, and this can undermine traditional risk-management tactics based on mobility. Remote rangelands still offer safe havens for insurgents, warlords, and criminals especially in countries where policing remains weak; the resulting civil strife can undermine commerce and public safety. There has been tremendous growth in knowledge concerning developing-country rangelands since 1990, but this has not often translated into improved environmental stewardship or an enhanced wellbeing for rangeland dwellers. Some examples of demonstrable impact are described, and these typically have involved longer-term investments in capacity building for pastoralists, local professionals, and other stakeholders. Research is shifting from ecologically centered to more human-centered issues; traditional academic approaches are often being augmented with participatory, community-based engagement. Building human or social capital in ways that are integrated with improved natural resource stewardship offers the greatest returns on research investment. Our future research and outreach priorities include work that fortifies pastoral governance, enhances livelihoods for a diverse array of rangeland residents, and improves land and livestock management in a comprehensive social-ecological systems approach."