scholarly journals Using Participatory Spatial Tools to Unravel Community Perceptions of Land-Use Dynamics in a Mine-Expanding Landscape in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane J. Aggrey ◽  
Mirjam A. F. Ros-Tonen ◽  
Kwabena O. Asubonteng
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Food Crop ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
The Future

AbstractArtisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa creates considerable dynamics in rural landscapes. Many studies addressed the adverse effects of mining, but few studies use participatory spatial tools to assess the effects on land use. Hence, this paper takes an actor perspective to analyze how communities in a mixed farming-mining area in Ghana’s Eastern Region perceive the spatial dynamics of ASM and its effects on land for farming and food production from past (1986) to present (2018) and toward the future (2035). Participatory maps show how participants visualize the transformation of food-crop areas into small- and large-scale mining, tree crops, and settlement in all the communities between 1986 and 2018 and foresee these trends to continue in the future (2035). Participants also observe how a mosaic landscape shifts toward a segregated landscape, with simultaneous fragmentation of their farming land due to ASM. Further segregation is expected in the future, with attribution to the expansion of settlements being an unexpected outcome. Although participants expect adverse effects on the future availability of food-crop land, no firm conclusions can be drawn about the anticipated effect on food availability. The paper argues that, if responsibly applied and used to reveal community perspectives and concerns about landscape dynamics, participatory mapping can help raise awareness of the need for collective action and contribute to more inclusive landscape governance. These findings contribute to debates on the operationalization of integrated and inclusive landscape approaches and governance, particularly in areas with pervasive impacts of ASM.

scholarly journals Within-Season Changes in Land-Use Impact Pest Abundance in Smallholder African Cassava Production Systems

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kalyebi ◽  
Sarina Macfadyen ◽  
Andrew Hulthen ◽  
Patrick Ocitti ◽  
Frances Jacomb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Bemisia Tabaci ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Manihot Esculenta Crantz

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an important commercial and food security crop in East and Central Africa, continues to be adversely affected by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. In Uganda, changes in smallholder farming landscapes due to crop rotations can impact pest populations but how these changes affect pest outbreak risk is unknown. We investigated how seasonal changes in land-use have affected B. tabaci population dynamics and its parasitoids. We used a large-scale field experiment to standardize the focal field in terms of cassava age and cultivar, then measured how Bemisia populations responded to surrounding land-use change. Bemisia tabaci Sub-Saharan Africa 1 (SSA1) was identified using molecular diagnostics as the most prevalent species and the same species was also found on surrounding soybean, groundnut, and sesame crops. We found that an increase in the area of cassava in the 3–7-month age range in the landscape resulted in an increase in the abundance of the B. tabaci SSA1 on cassava. There was a negative relationship between the extent of non-crop vegetation in the landscape and parasitism of nymphs suggesting that these parasitoids do not rely on resources in the non-crop patches. The highest abundance of B. tabaci SSA1 nymphs in cassava fields occurred at times when landscapes had large areas of weeds, low to moderate areas of maize, and low areas of banana. Our results can guide the development of land-use strategies that smallholder farmers can employ to manage these pests.

scholarly journals Fast high-energy X-ray imaging for Severe Accidents experiments on the future PLINIUS-2 platform

2018 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 08003
Author(s):  
L. Berge ◽  
N. Estre ◽  
D. Tisseur ◽  
E. Payan ◽  
D. Eck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Spot Size ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
X Ray ◽  
X Ray Imaging ◽  
The Future ◽  
Set Up

The future PLINIUS-2 platform of CEA Cadarache will be dedicated to the study of corium interactions in severe nuclear accidents, and will host innovative large-scale experiments. The Nuclear Measurement Laboratory of CEA Cadarache is in charge of real-time high-energy X-ray imaging set-ups, for the study of the corium-water and corium-sodium interaction, and of the corium stratification process. Imaging such large and high-density objects requires a 15 MeV linear electron accelerator coupled to a tungsten target creating a high-energy Bremsstrahlung X-ray flux, with corresponding dose rate about 100 Gy/min at 1 m. The signal is detected by phosphor screens coupled to high-framerate scientific CMOS cameras. The imaging set-up is established using an experimentally-validated home-made simulation software (MODHERATO). The code computes quantitative radiographic signals from the description of the source, object geometry and composition, detector, and geometrical configuration (magnification factor, etc.). It accounts for several noise sources (photonic and electronic noises, swank and readout noise), and for image blur due to the source spot-size and to the detector unsharpness. In a view to PLINIUS-2, the simulation has been improved to account for the scattered flux, which is expected to be significant. The paper presents the scattered flux calculation using the MCNP transport code, and its integration into the MODHERATO simulation. Then the validation of the improved simulation is presented, through confrontation to real measurement images taken on a small-scale equivalent set-up on the PLINIUS platform. Excellent agreement is achieved. This improved simulation is therefore being used to design the PLINIUS-2 imaging set-ups (source, detectors, cameras, etc.).

scholarly journals Evaluating the Contribution of Trees outside Forests and Small Open Areas to the Italian Landscape Diversification during the Last Decades

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Sallustio ◽  
Marco di Cristofaro ◽  
Maaz Hashmi ◽  
Matteo Vizzarri ◽  
Tommaso Sitzia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Trees Outside Forests ◽  
Large Scale Assessment ◽  
Average Size ◽  
Policy And Planning

Land use by humans strongly alters the landscape mosaic, either by reducing or increasing its heterogeneity. One of the most recent and widespread land use changes in Europe has been the spontaneous reforestation of marginal agricultural lands. These primarily affected small landscape patches, such as trees outside forests (TOF) and small open areas (SOA), often represent the most diversifying features of landscape’ structures. Nevertheless, only small-scale studies can be found in the literature and thus it remains a relatively unexplored issue. Integrating inventory and cartographic approaches, this work assesses changes in abundance, coverage, and average size of small patches in Italy between 1990 and 2013. Main results showed an overall increase in number and coverage of small patches during the reference period. The average patch size remains unaltered for TOF but decreases significantly for SOA, due to trees encroachment and canopy cover increasing in forests. Our findings confirm the important changes in Mediterranean land mosaics and contribute to a better understanding of current conditions and recent trends regarding TOF and SOA. The integrated approach has proven to be helpful for the large-scale assessment of small patches dynamics, representing a viable monitoring tool to encourage the inclusion of small patches in landscape policy and planning.

Health-2000: An Integrated Large-scale Expert System for the Hospital of the Future

1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (02) ◽  
pp. 92-94
Author(s):  
S. F. Boyom ◽  
D. A. Asoh ◽  
C. Asaah ◽  
F. Kengne ◽  
S. Y. Kwankam
Keyword(s):  
Expert System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Equipment Management ◽  
Care Environment ◽  
The Future ◽  
Health Management Information Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract:Decision making and management are problems which plague health systems in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where there is significant waste of resources. The need goes beyond national health management information systems, to tools required in daily micromanagement of various components of the health system. This paper describes an integrated expert system, Health-2000, an information-oriented tool for acquiring, processing and disseminating medical knowledge, data and decisions in the hospital of the future. It integrates six essential features of the medical care environment: personnel management, patient management, medical diagnosis, laboratory management, propharmacy, and equipment management. Disease conditions covered are the major tropical diseases. An intelligent tutoring feature completes the package. Emphasis is placed on the graphical user interface to facilitate interactions between the user and the system, which is developed for PCs using Pascal, C, Clipper and Prolog.

scholarly journals Potential rents vs. potential lives

2020 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2097130
Author(s):  
Eric Clark ◽  
Annika Pissin
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Rural Landscapes ◽  
Accumulation By Dispossession ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Rent Gap Theory

The seeking of potential rents directs flows of investment into built and natural environments, suffusing volatility into urban and rural landscapes, generating gentrification and other forms of land use change, and displacing lives and livelihoods to make space for ‘improvement’, ‘highest and best use’, ‘revitalization’, or the like. In this paper we argue that potential rents are captured at the cost of potential lives, and that rent gap theory, long central (and limited) to gentrification theory, is more widely applicable to the dynamics of land use change and uneven geographical development in capitalist societies. By reading David Harvey’s analyses of rent and accumulation by dispossession as a sophisticated formulation of rent gap theory, we relate the seeking and capturing of potential rents to the power of landed developer interests and a broadened conceptualization of rentiership. We furthermore relate the seeking of potential rents to an ideology of limitless accumulation, and the striving to rein in potential rents to ideas of degrowth and the need for a culture and a politics of limits. Brief vignettes from the ‘primary sector’ (fisheries in the Baltic Sea, dairy farming in Europe, and small-scale farming in Sweden) suggestively illustrate our central argument that the seeking and capturing of potential rents stand in stark opposition to potentials for wellbeing and flourishing of human and non-human lives. We conclude that constraining potential rents – founded as they are on faith in limitless growth – requires a culture of self-limitation and politically imposed limitations commensurable with post-capitalist societies.

scholarly journals Rethinking Landscape Conservation: Linking Globalized Agriculture to Changes to Indigenous Community-Managed Landscapes

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 194008291988950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted J. Lawrence ◽  
Richard C. Stedman ◽  
Stephen J. Morreale ◽  
Sarah R. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Indigenous Community ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Landscape Conservation ◽  
Crop Cultivation ◽  
Causal Pathway ◽  
Managed Landscapes

Community-managed landscapes have valuable conservation potential. In particular, indigenous community management has slowed deforestation. However, globalized agriculture is an underlying driver of changes to indigenous community-managed landscapes. Our objective is to explain a hypothesized global-to-local causal pathway that stems from processes of globalized agriculture and changes to indigenous community-managed landscapes. The global-to-local pathway involves a nested hierarchy of political–economic processes, specifically land and natural resource privatization, commodification, and acquisition. At the local landscape level, we focus on changes to land tenure, livelihoods, land use, and land cover. Changes to land tenure involve a shift away from community and toward individual ownership and management. Concurrently, livelihoods shift away from subsistence and toward market-oriented activities. Subsequently, land use shifts away from small-scale extensive and toward large-scale intensive crop cultivation, away from diverse crop cultivation and toward monocropping, and away from crop toward livestock farming. Ultimately, land cover shifts away from diverse agro-forested and toward homogeneous deforested lands. We illustrate our approach using ejidos, a type of community-managed lands, in Yucatán, México as an exploratory example. We use descriptive statistics to initially assess the shift in ejido land tenure, from community to individually parcelized systems, and the shift in a principal subsistence livelihood and land use activity, from maize cultivation to cattle rearing. We highlight that individually parceled areas within ejidos are more deforested than community-managed areas. In all, we urge landscape conservation scientists to more fully consider not just local actions but also impacts stemming from globalized agriculture and to advance the breadth and depth of more extensive studies and analyses.

Appropriate technologies for the future

1980 ◽  
Vol 209 (1174) ◽  
pp. 183-186 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Prophylactic Measures ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Third World

Crystal ball gazing is a hazardous occupation: the sharper the picture, the greater the possibility of error. In the future, appropriate technologies that will raise standards of health and diminish the prevalence of disease in the Third World must take cognizance of such factors as burgeoning population growth, impossibly high cost of energy sources, a widening gap between food requirements and food production, increasing urbanization, and inherent difficulties of control of disease vectors and water-borne diseases. The technologies that must be made available will be both large-scale and small-scale, low-cost and simple, improving life for the individual and the community, mediated by appropriately trained and adequately supervised polycompetent auxiliaries. The present reappraisal of health needs in the context of food (seeds, soils, irrigation, protection against loss of the harvested products) and of prevention of disease by appropriate prophylactic measures and its treatment, will necessitate hard thinking and greater cooperation between all concerned.

scholarly journals Wideband Hybrid Precoding Techniques for THz Massive MIMO in 6G Indoor Network Deployment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeyakumar P ◽  
Vishnu V ◽  
Srinitha S ◽  
Muthuchuchidambaranathan P ◽  
Arvind Ramesh
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Path Loss ◽  
Propagation Delay ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Scale Parameters ◽  
Hybrid Precoding ◽  
Split Effect ◽  
The Future ◽  
Array Gain ◽  
Channel Simulator

Abstract Terahertz (THz) communication is becoming an up-and-coming technology for the future 6G networks as it provides an ultra-wide bandwidth.Appropriate channel models and precoding techniques are essential for supporting the desired coverage and mainly to resolve the severe path loss in THz signals. Initially, the Sub-THz channel (140 GHz) impulse response by using NYUSIM Channel Simulator for 6G indoor office scenario is investigated in this work. The highlight is on Large scale and Small scale parameters like propagation delay and path loss, antenna array gain, etc. The beam split effect is a critical challenge of THz wideband communication.Therefore We have proposed three different THz precoding methodologies like the hybrid precoding, analog beamforming, and the delay-phase precoding to address this challenge. We then extensively investigate its diverse number of time delayers, varying number of antenna elements, and comparison with frequency - mmWave and Sub-THz have been discussed. Finally, the proposed delay-phase precoding techniques outperforms the other precoding techniques with 97% of optimal precoding. So, this an efficient approach for implementing the future indoor communication network deployment for 6G.

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