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Many people today feel that something has gone wrong with British society and British politics. The quality of like seems to be declining. Crime soars. Traffic and pollution spiral. Mass unemployment is undiminished, while many people experience insecurity and stress at work. Growing poverty and inequality have left many of Britain's citizens excluded from mainstream society. Everywhere, the sense of community seems to be breaking down. In the world as a whole, poverty and conflict cause immense suffering and threaten the security of nations. Global environmental degradation - from the greenhou.

An analysis of sub-Saharan Africa's food production & consumption that uses a nutrition-system model provides a more complex & differentiated picture than generalized pronouncements of the continent's food insecurity based on international statistics. The model emphasizes household-level food security, taking into account household-specific factors in addition to global economic conditions/changes & national agrarian policies. The analysis draws on macrolevel economic data, microstudies of the nutrition risks/deficits & security strategies of rural households in several countries, & a detailed case study of Mali's food situation. It shows how individual coping strategies have interacted with post-1980 agricultural market liberalization to define the conditions of household food security. Coping strategies have included income diversification, agrarian innovation, migration, & consumption changes. Implications for agricultural policy & research are discussed. 2 Figures, 49 References. Adapted from the source document.

In June 1998 IFPRI and the Marga Institute organized a 2020 South Asia workshop in Colombo to continue the dialogue begun in a 2020 South Asia workshop in Kathmandu in March 1995. The meeting in Colombo revisited the 2020 Vision for South Asia in light of the major economic developments of recent years inside and outside the region. G. L. Pieris, the Sri Lankan minister of justice, constitutional affairs, ethnic affairs, and national integration, inaugurated the workshop. About 40 researchers, technical experts, and policymakers from 5 South Asian countries participated in the meeting. The objectives and strategies are those agreed upon by the workshop participants. Projections by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) indicate that even with an annual average rate of economic growth of 5.5 percent during the next two decades and substantial investment in health and education, South Asia will still have about 70 million malnourished children by 2020. Food insecurity and poverty will continue to affect about 200 million people. If economic growth drops below the projected level by about 25 percent, the region is unlikely to see any reduction in malnutrition and poverty. In such conditions, social and political tensions could reach proportions that governments might find difficult to manage in an orderly manner. With these concerns in mind, workshop participants addressed the following issues: The realistic goals that countries should set to eradicate food insecurity, poverty, and malnutrition and ensure a reasonably high quality of life by 2020; The combination of strategies that would enable countries to manage their natural resources on a sustainable basis while achieving the goals set for 2020; The improvements and changes in policy that should have high priority for the purpose of achieving these goals; and The main areas of regional cooperation for realizing the goals. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; 2020 ; DGO

Gegenstand der Untersuchung sind Einkommensstruktur und Einkommensungleichheit im Bulgarien der Transformationsperiode (1989 bis 1992). Die Verfasser geben zunächst einen Überblick über Niveau, Zusammensetzung und Verteilung der Haushaltseinkommen in Bulgarien. Es schließt sich ein Vergleich der Einkommensverteilung in Bulgarien mit derjenigen in anderen Staaten Osteuropas, in Entwicklungsländern und in OECD-Staaten an. Im folgenden werden zentrale Merkmale von Haushalten mit niedrigem Einkommen herausgearbeitet. Auf dieser Basis wird gefragt, welche Haushalte von Sozialleistungen profitieren, um so abschließend Hinweise für einen zielgenaueren Zuschnitt des sozialen Netzes erarbeiten zu können. (BIOst-Wpt)

Implications of the Islamic Refah Party's acquisition of power through democratic means in contemporary Turkey for civil society & future economic & political movements are examined. Although Turkey's poor economic conditions are perceived as contributing to the Refah Party's popularity, most of its support is derived from the party's attempt to create a just political system based on the God-believer covenant. Even though the Refah Party has permitted political pluralism in Turkey, it is maintained that Turkish citizens must be allowed to participate in politics as both individuals & members of political parties. Several limitations on Turkish citizens' political participation are discussed: segregation of citizens into small groups; religious organizations' attempts to stagnate individual development; potential corruption of Turkey's young generations by religious orders; & continued low status of women. Despite the uncertain prospects for establishing civil society in current Turkey, several factors that could combat social fragmentation & political insecurity are identified. J. W. Parker

Are the policies to combat unemployment and social exclusion really ways of getting the jobless back to work or do they represent alternative forms of exclusion in already vulnerable sectors such as social protection and employment? Do the changing nature of work and the wage insecurity this entails augur a deepening of the current rift in society or an opportunity for new and appropriately devised social plans to safeguard the social and economic cohesion of Europe and citizenship extended to and exercised by all? The reduction of working time, the active use of unemployment benefits, the modernisation of education and training systems and generalised access to them, new sources of employment and the social economy may offer new paths to thinking about the current modes of production which generate exclusion.

Conference paper on macroeconomic policy making in Zimbabwe. A conference paper on the impact on international environmental management policies on trade relations between developed and developing nations such as Zimbabwe. Originally prepared for: "Conference on Zimbabwe: macroeconomic policy, management and performance since independence: lessons for the 21st century," 19-21 August, Sheraton Hotel, Harare. ; Macroeconomic policy making normally seeks to achieve sustainable economic growth and efficiency in resource allocation and utilisation through the use of the appropriate monetary, fiscal and trade policies. Conventional wisdom postulates that the free market system is the best mechanism for the achievement of this goal. However, depending on the initial conditions of resource distribution and power relations in society, the free market outcome may not be socially acceptable as it tends to be characterised by inequalities. It is under this situation of "market failure" to efficiently allocate social goods and services that governments normally should intervene with social policies (i.e state regulation of the market to protect the public from the bad effects of imperfect competition). Social policies could be in the form of resource redistribution, improving access to health, education, housing, water and sanitation, intervening in certain markets to improve income distribution etc (Mwanza 1997). It is generally difficult to foster development efforts in a nation whose majority population is plagued by social insecurity. Thus, macroeconomic policy making, political decisions and social security are strongly interdependent. This means that it is in the interest not only of the poor people, but also of national governments, to reduce or minimise social insecurity in order to achieve the best from development efforts.

This article examines environmental security in Haiti and specifically the connection between human security and fertility. Rather than viewing population growth as a causal factor leading to the breakdown in Haiti's social order, this article examines the ways in which the lack of social order in Haiti has created a context in which fertility rates have remained high. It attempts to move beyond simplified views of population-environment-security links to a fuller appreciation of the institutional factors that have contributed to the country's socioeconomic decline and the breakdown of public order. The principal conclusion is that the tremendous human insecurity in Haiti—which is due to failures in governance, widespread poverty, and environmental degradation—has contributed to large desired family size. To succeed, future efforts to reduce fertility rates will need first to address the economic and environmental security of poor Haitians and particularly women.

The outbreaks of social unrest in Latin American cities in the last decade are attributed to a problem of governance, ie, a form of governing whereby the state, market, & civil society combine to settle conflicts & share costs & benefits. Employment insecurity, the shift away from manufacturing, the passing of social responsibilities from the national government to the city, inability of the market to provide solutions, & decentralization of the state -- resulting from the transformation of the world economic system & the transition to democracy -- have placed new demands on cities. City poverty has caused deterioration of public services, a financial crisis, & a low level of productivity. Moreover, the present view of poverty & the social policies designed to cope with it do not take into account the differential vulnerability of social sectors. In the context of governance, city government is not exclusive to the local government institution; the final distribution of costs & benefits depends on coalitions of various social actors, the private sector, & other national & international governmental bodies & institutions. 2 Tables, 1 Photograph, 26 References. Adapted from the source document.

Throughout Europe - from town halls and regional governments, through national Parliaments and ministries, to the high institutions of the European Union - there runs a vigorous debate on organised crime, municipal safety and private conduct. Drug problems and what to do about them often occupy center-stage at these debates. Throughout the 1990s the focus of legal attention has been primarily on the criminal law. New criminal offenses have been created, partly in response to influences `from above' (from international and European agreements) and partly in response to pressure `from below' (concerns of citizens at national and sub-national levels). But although criminal law certainly is important as far as the development of drug controls is concerned, it is by no means the whole story. There is a parallel history, a regulatory one, consisting of the increasing use of administrative measures, some of which are directly concerned with drugs while others are more general but equally applicable. These responses, together with civil law, variously function as adjuncts to criminal law or as alternatives to it, in relation to drug trafficking at European and national levels, drug-related public nuisance as it concerns citizens at municipal level, and drug users. After charting existing measures in the legal orders of Member states and of the Community, Regulating European Drug Problems looks at prospects for administrative drug controls after Amsterdam - in the context of the development of the Single Market, cooperation against crime and insecurity, subsidiarity, and human rights. At a practical level, the study offers provocative ideas to policy-makers and administrators working at the intersection of city-level, national, and European responses to drugs. For scholars and students, the book offers comparative legal research and European synthesis, and forges new links between fields of law, suppresion of organised crime, and economic and social regulation

Examines the factors that have contributed to the increased construction of prisons & concomitant increase of the number of prisoners in the US. The popular explanations for prison development in the US (eg, the public perception that drug trafficking has increased the threat to social well-being) are offered; alternative explanations that identify structural racism & the economic potential of prisons are also considered. It is asserted that prisons provide a geographic resolution to the socioeconomic problems caused by globalization. The beginning of the prison construction movement in 1967/68 is attributed to the Right's attempt to control domestic & foreign disorder & the termination of an escalated profit rate that commenced immediately prior to WWII. The legacy of this "military Keynesianist" approach in CA resulted in (1) an increase in economic inequality, (2) accumulation of property & interest income for wealthy elite, (3) transformation of agricultural lands into suburbs, (4) creation of job insecurity because of a labor surplus, & (5) an inability to create new markets that would appropriate the capital of dying markets. It is maintained that these factors prompted the explosive construction of prisons in CA & the state government's increased concern with incarceration. How CA will continue to finance prison construction is considered. 34 References. J. W. Parker

Cover -- Contents -- Notes on the Contributors -- 1 Introduction and Summary -- PART I: MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE -- 2 Deforestation in Central America: Historical and Contemporary Dynamics -- 3 Macroeconomic Conditions for Sustainable Agriculture in Central America -- PART II: SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS -- 4 Policies Affecting Deforestation for Cattle in Central America -- 5 Production Systems in the Humid Tropics of Nicaragua: A Comparison of Two Colonization Areas -- 6 Food Insecurity as a Sustainability Issue: Lessons from Honduran Maize Farming -- 7 Diversity and the Nature of Technological Change in Hillside Farming in Honduras -- PART III: NATURAL RESOURCE RESERVES AND PROTECTED AREAS -- 8 Livelihoods, Land Rights and Sustainable Development in Nicaragua's Bosawas Reserve -- 9 Alternative Approaches and Problems in Protected Area Management and Forest Conservation in Honduras -- PART IV: AGRARIAN POLICIES FOR SUSTAINABLE LAND USE -- 10 Land Reform and Resource Management within Agrarian Production Cooperatives in Honduras -- 11 Land Titling and Prospects for Land Conservation: Lessons from a Case-Study in Honduras -- 12 Non-Conventional Rural Finance and the Crisis of Economic Institutions in Nicaragua -- 13 Rural Lending by Projects: Another Cycle of Unsustainable Interventions in Credit Markets? An -- Index.

The Green Revolution has tried to fight against poverty and food shortages by selecting varieties and improved production systems, by the massive use of fertilizers and pesticides. Its impact was very important but only in countries with high production capacity, water surpluses and high population density. The aim of the Doubly-Green Revolution consists of changing the agricultural development rationale based on the control of the environment to another based on the harmony with the ecosystems : working with and not against the variability of systems and making agriculture profit from the knowledge acquired by the ecological sciences. It aims to increase production without depleating the environment nor affecting the bio-diversity for future generations. It also seeks to alleviate poverty and decrease food insecurity guaranting economic viability and social equity. Thus, Doubly-Green Revolution requires an interdisciplinary, intersectorial and spatial approach which was dis-cussed in the seminar. Organized by CIRAD and the Innovation et Prospective Foundation at Poitiers (France) with scientists and decision makers from developed and developing countries, it allowed a better understanding of the challenges related to food security and renewable resource management in the world.