Partnership for Success—Community-Based Economic Development: A Case Study of Ngolowindo Cooperative, Malawi

10.1068/c8p ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
T R Hill ◽  
E L Nel ◽  
P Illgner
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Weak States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Agricultural Cooperative ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Africa has a disproportionate share of the world's poorest countries and within this context economically weak states generally lack the ability to provide the ideal level of support and opportunities for their citizens. This paper examines how, in Malawi, a community-based economic development initiative, with the aid of a supportive NGO, has significantly improved rural livelihoods and facilitated market access in the formal market economy. Active government and NGO support for small scale irrigation farming coupled with their encouragement of community development led to the emergence of the Ngolowindo agricultural cooperative which serves as a useful model and example of locality-based development in Africa. After providing a context for the study in terms of both contextual literature and details specific to the Malawian context, the paper examines how the cooperative emerged, how it operates, what role the supporting NGO plays, and how products are sold. The study concludes with an overview of key findings and an examination of the lessons for local development in Africa.

The Plan Guidelines for Villages under the Background of Nomadic Settlement — A Case Study of Luqu County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

2012 ◽  
Vol 518-523 ◽  
pp. 5886-5893
Author(s):  
Lu Cang Wang ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Jing Gao
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Yellow River ◽  
Functional Area ◽  
Spatial Displacement ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Construction Tasks ◽  
The Village ◽  
Pastoral Farming ◽  
Better Than

“The Project of Nomadic Settlement” is one of the major construction tasks for “Gannan Important Water Supply Ecological Functional Area of Yellow River”. Because of the distribution of population and settlements have obvious discreteness and wavering in alpine pasture, it is necessary to plan and guide agricultural and grazing villages during the process of the construction of nomadic settlements, spatial displacement and integration of population and settlement. The nomadic habitation mode in Luqu county undergoes four stages. At present, it adopts four settlement modes, that is, centralized settlement mode in the county town, settlement mode in the village, settlement along the highway mode and dispersed settlement mode, involving a total of 2,645households,13,783people and be arranged in 21 settlements. The paper adopts 14 indicators related conditions of economic development, social development conditions, geographic conditions, measures the overall strength of 24 administrative villages in Luqu, the whole villages are divided into four grade. The results show that the suburban villages are better than the surrounding villages and towns, pure pastoral farming are better than farming-pastoral villages. Accordingly, 24 villages are divided into four types—community-based villages, developing villages, controlling villages, and revoking-merging villages. Finally, it also proposes the path on village plan guidelines.

scholarly journals Shallow groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa: neglected opportunity for sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gowing ◽  
Geoff Parkin ◽  
Nathan Forsythe ◽  
David Walker ◽  
Alemseged Tamiru Haile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Abstract. There is a need for an evidence-based approach to identify how best to support development of groundwater for small scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We argue that it is important to focus this effort on shallow groundwater resources which are most likely to be used by poor rural communities in SSA. However, it is important to consider constraints, since shallow groundwater resources are likely to be vulnerable to over-exploitation and climatic variability. We examine here the opportunities and constraints and draw upon evidence from Ethiopia. We present a methodology for assessing and interpreting available shallow groundwater resources and argue that participatory monitoring of local water resources is desirable and feasible. We consider possib le models for developing distributed small-scale irrigation and assess its technical feasibility. Because of power limits on water lifting and also because of available technology for well construction, groundwater at depths of 50 m or 60 m cannot be regarded as easily accessible for small-scale irrigation. We therefore adopt a working definition of shallow groundwater as < 20 m depth. This detailed case study in the Dangila woreda in Ethiopia explores the feasibility of exploiting shallow groundwater for small-scale irrigation over a range of rainfall conditions. Variability of rainfall over the study period (9 % to 96 % probability of non-exceedance) does not translate into equivalent variability in groundwater levels and river baseflow. Groundwater levels, monitored by local communities, persist into the dry season to at least the end of December in most shallow wells, indicating that groundwater is available for irrigation use after the cessation of the wet season. Arguments historically put forward against the promotion of groundwater use for agriculture in SSA on the basis that aquifers are unproductive and irrigation will have unacceptable impacts on wetlands and other groundwater-dependent ecosystems appear exaggerated. It would be unwise to generalise from this case study to the whole of SSA, but useful insights into the wider issues are revealed by the case study approach. We believe there is a case for arguing that shallow groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa represents a neglected opportunity for sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture.

scholarly journals Construction of ecological security pattern based on the importance of ecosystem service functions and ecological sensitivity assessment: a case study in Fengxian County of Jiangsu Province, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 563-590
Author(s):  
Xingxing Jin ◽  
Luyao Wei ◽  
Yi Wang ◽  
Yuqi Lu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Ecological Environment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ecological Security ◽  
Ecological Sensitivity ◽  
Resistance Surface ◽  
Ecological Resistance ◽  
Security Pattern

AbstractThe construction of ecological security pattern is one of the important ways to alleviate the contradiction between economic development and ecological protection, as well as the important contents of ecological civilization construction. How to scientifically construct the ecological security pattern of small-scale counties, and achieve sustainable economic development based on ecological environment protection, it has become an important proposition in regulating the ecological process effectively. Taking Fengxian County of China as an example, this paper selected the importance of ecosystem service functions and ecological sensitivity to evaluate the ecological importance and identify ecological sources. Furthermore, we constructed the ecological resistance surface by various landscape assignments and nighttime lighting modifications. Through a minimum cumulative resistance model, we obtained ecological corridors and finally constructed the ecological security pattern comprehensively combining with ecological resistance surface construction. Accordingly, we further clarified the specific control measures for ecological security barriers and regional functional zoning. This case study shows that the ecological security pattern is composed of ecological sources and corridors, where the former plays an important security role, and the latter ensures the continuity of ecological functions. In terms of the spatial layout, the ecological security barriers built based on ecological security pattern and regional zoning functions are away from the urban core development area. As for the spatial distribution, ecological sources of Fengxian County are mainly located in the central and southwestern areas, which is highly coincident with the main rivers and underground drinking water source area. Moreover, key corridors and main corridors with length of approximately 115.71 km and 26.22 km, respectively, formed ecological corridors of Fengxian County. They are concentrated in the western and southwestern regions of the county which is far away from the built-up areas with strong human disturbance. The results will provide scientific evidence for important ecological land protection and ecological space control at a small scale in underdeveloped and plain counties. In addition, it will enrich the theoretical framework and methodological system of ecological security pattern construction. To some extent, it also makes a reference for improving the regional ecological environment carrying capacities and optimizing the ecological spatial structure in such kinds of underdeveloped small-scale counties.

scholarly journals Transnational Localism: Empowerment through Standard Setting in Small-Scale Fisheries

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerneja Penca
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Fisheries Governance ◽  
Small Scale Fisheries ◽  
Transnational Law ◽  
Marine Stewardship Council ◽  
Technical Rules

AbstractIn order to advance both the mapping and theorizing of transnational law, this article considers a range of tactics used by small-scale fisheries (SSFs) in Europe and North America to improve market access, political influence, and legal recognition. Transnational law enables the framing of initiatives not only as implementation practices that occur as a result of international law, but also as transnational regulation in support of SSFs. The article uses the case study of SSFs to draw attention to the rise of ‘transnational localism’. This is defined as the reinforcement of local-specific approaches (reflecting local ecologies, values, and socio-economic specificities) within a transnational structure that provides support and recognition. It offers an alternative to the view that globalization necessitates global, uniform regulatory solutions. Transnational localism challenges the fascination with large certification schemes such as that administered by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) in fisheries governance. It implies a need to reconcile transnational challenges with heterogeneous values and community approaches. To capture the simultaneous demand for the local and transnational within transnational law, this article proposes treating the described empowerment tactics within the scope of transnational standards. This requires a rethinking of standards away from fixed technical rules that are uniformly applicable across the globe.

Labour Aristocracy–a Northern Nigerian Case Study

1974 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Hinchliffe
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
Rural Farmers ◽  
Detailed Survey ◽  
Urban Workers ◽  
Wage Labour ◽  
Term Labour

The term ‘labour aristocracy’ first appeared in the literature on African economic development in 1968,1 although African wage labour had previously been described as a privileged elite on many occasions. I wish to question the accuracy and relevance of the type of calculation upon which these descriptions are based, and to present the situation which prevails today in Northern Nigeria, using detailed survey data on the earnings of rural farmers, urban workers, and those employed in small-scale enterprises.

scholarly journals Visiting Dark Murals: An Ethnographic Approach to the Sustainability of Heritage

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 677
Author(s):  
María de-Miguel-Molina
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Local Economic Development ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Community Solidarity ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
History Of

Political, war-themed and controversial murals aim to show the history of a community, making the intangible tangible, and, because these events are still recent, they stir people’s emotions. Visitors to this type of heritage have a mixture of artistic and dark interests that lead to what we call ‘dark mural attractions’. These political murals need a public strategy to be preserved, become better known and attract local economic development funds to make them sustainable. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how communities could build a co-narrative around murals to generate a sustainable local development. To achieve this goal, an in depth study needs to be performed to establish what kind of narrative will enable political murals to attract dark visitors and examine how communities can build a sustainable co-narrative around a dark mural. As a case study, we analyse the Battle of Cable Street mural in London, located in the non-touristic borough of Tower Hamlets, by means of an ethnographic qualitative approach based on stakeholders’ opinions, among other sources. In this case, results show that dark murals have the potential to attract visitors, but they require a public strategy for the sustainability of heritage, based on a narrative of community solidarity for educational and discovery purposes.

scholarly journals What small NGOs can deliver: A case study of a Canadian community-based project making fabric scrub caps for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 851-856
Author(s):  
Qiuyu Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Local Healthcare

This essay examines how a small-scale non-governmental organization mobilizes community members in Montreal, Canada, to respond to the city’s shortage of personal protective equipment during COVID-19 by making more than 1600 scrub caps for local healthcare workers. As the CAP-MTL project has progressed, organizers have constantly adjusted how they run the project in order to meet evolving needs through three major phases: (1) centralizing resource allocation, (2) building a self-sufficient production team and (3) pairing volunteers with healthcare workers. This case study highlights how in crisis response projects, organizers must be flexible and adapt to fluid and dynamic situations.

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