Agriculture, Diversification, and Gender in Rural Africa: What Lessons Can We Learn?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt ◽  
Fred Mawunyo Dzanku ◽  
Aida Cuthbert Isinika
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Cash Income ◽  
Crop Diversification ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Yield Gaps ◽  
Rural Africa ◽  
And Gender ◽  
High Share

Smallholder-friendly messages, albeit not always translated into action, returned strongly to the development agenda over a decade ago. Smallholders’ livelihoods encompass social and economic realities outside agriculture, however, providing opportunities as well as challenges for the smallholder model. While smallholders continue to straddle the farm and non-farm sectors, the notion of leaving agriculture altogether appears hyperbolic, given the persistently high share of income generated from agriculture noted in the Afrint dataset. Trends over the past fifteen years can be broadly described as increasing dynamism accompanied by rising polarization. Positive trends include increased farm sizes, rising grain production, crop diversification, and increased commercialization, while negative trends include stagnation of yields, persistent yield gaps, gendered landholding inequalities, gendered agricultural asset inequalities, growing gendered commercialization inequalities, and an emerging gender gap in cash income. Regional nuances in trends reinforce the need for spatial contextualization of linkages between the farm and non-farm sectors.

Acquiring penmanship and writing skills from the first to fifth grade of primary school: Joined-up writing vs. Comenia Script

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Olga Kučerová ◽  
Anna Kucharská
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
Fifth Grade ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
The Past ◽  
School Year ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Developmental Dynamics ◽  
The Given

Abstract The project presented here deals with a typical human means of communication – writing. The aim of the project is to map the developmental dynamics of handwriting from the first to the fifth grade of primary school. The question remains topical because of the fact that several systems of writing have been used in the past few years. Our project focuses on comparing the systems of joined-up handwriting (the standard Latin alphabet) and the most widespread form of printed handwriting: Comenia Script. The research can be marked as sectional; pupils took a writing exam at the beginning and at the end of the 2015/2016 school year. The total number of respondents was 624 pupils, evenly distributed according to the school year, system of writing and gender. To evaluate handwriting, the evaluation scale of Veverková and Kucharská (2012) was adjusted to include a description of phenomena related to graphomotor and grammatical aspects of writing, including the overall error rate and work with errors. Each area that was observed included a series of indicators through which it was possible to create a comprehensive image of the form handwriting took in the given period. Each indicator was independently classified on a three-point scale. Thanks to that, a comprehensive image of the form of writing of a contemporary pupil emerged.

Baumartenwechsel in den Walliser Waldföhrenwäldern verstärkt nach grossen Störungen

2018 ◽  
Vol 169 (5) ◽  
pp. 260-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wohlgemuth ◽  
Violette Doublet ◽  
Cynthia Nussbaumer ◽  
Linda Feichtinger ◽  
Andreas Rigling
Keyword(s):  
Scots Pine ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Tree Regeneration ◽  
Fire Disturbance ◽  
Pine Forests ◽  
The Past ◽  
Vegetation Shift ◽  
Tree Demography ◽  
Scots Pine Forests ◽  
High Share

Vegetation shift in Scots pine forests in the Valais accelerated by large disturbances In the past dozen years, several studies have concluded a vegetation shift from Scots pine to oak (pubescent and sessile) forests in the low elevated zones of the Valais. It is, however, not fully clear in which way such a vegetation shift actually occurs and on which processes such a shift would be based. Two studies, one on the tree demography in the intact Pfynwald and the other on the tree regeneration on the large Leuk forest fire patch, serve to discuss different aspects of the shift from Scots pine to oak. The forest stands of Pfynwald consist of 67% Scots pines and 14% oaks. Regenerating trees are 2–3.5 times more frequent in small gaps than under canopy. In gaps of the Upper Pfynwald, seedlings and saplings of Scots pine are three times more abundant than oaks, while both species regenerate in similar quantities under canopy. In the Lower Pfynwald, young oaks – especially seedlings – are more frequent than Scots pines. A different process is going on at the lower part in the Leuk forest fire patch where Scots pines prevailed before the burn of 2003. While Scots pines regenerate exclusively close to the edge of the intact forest, oaks not only resprout from trunk but also profit from unlimited spreading of their seeds by the Eurasian jay. Regeneration from seeds are hence observed in the whole studied area, independent of the proximity of seed trees. After the large fire disturbance, a mixed forests with a high share of oaks is establishing, which translates to a rapid vegetation shift. The two trajectories are discussed in the light of climate change.

Children’s Lives and Deaths in Merovingian Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 185-213
Author(s):  
Émilie Perez
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
New Method ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Grave Goods

The role of children in Merovingian society has long been downplayed, and the study of their graves and bones has long been neglected. However, during the past fifteen years, archaeologists have shown growing interest in the place of children in Merovingian society. Nonetheless, this research has not been without challenges linked to the nature of the biological and material remains. Recent analysis of 315 children’s graves from four Merovingian cemeteries in northern Gaul (sixth to seventh centuries) allows us to understand the modalities of burial ritual for children. A new method for classifying children into social age groups shows that the type, quality, quantity, and diversity of grave goods were directly correlated with the age of the deceased. They increased from the age of eight and particularly around the time of puberty. This study discusses the role of age and gender in the construction and expression of social identity during childhood in the Merovingian period.

The Oxford Handbook of American Women's and Gender History

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Women Of Color ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Gender History ◽  
Artistic Production ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Power ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Free Women

The Oxford Handbook of American Women’s and Gender History boldly interprets the history of diverse women and how ideas about gender shaped their access to political and cultural power in North America over six centuries. In twenty-nine chapters, the Handbook showcases women’s and gender history as an integrated field with its own interpretation of the past, focused on how gender influenced people’s lives as they participated in migration, colonialism, trade, warfare, artistic production, and community building. Organized chronologically and thematically, the Handbook’s six sections allow readers to consider historical continuities of gendered power as well as individual innovations and ruptures in gender systems. Theoretically cutting edge, each chapter bursts with fascinating historical characters, from young Chicanas transforming urban culture, to free women of color forging abolitionist doctrines, to Asian migrant women defending the legitimacy of their marriages, to working-class activists mobilizing international movements, to transwomen fleeing incarceration. Together, their lives constitute the history of a continent. Leading scholars from multiple generations demonstrate the power of innovative research to excavate a history hidden in plain sight. Scrutinizing silences in the historical record, from the inattention to enslaved women’s opinions to the suppression of Indian women’s involvement in border diplomacy, the authors challenge the nature of historical evidence and remap what counts in our interpretation of the past. They demonstrate a way to extend this more capacious vision of history forward, setting an intellectual agenda informed by intersectionality and transnationalism, and new understandings of sexuality.

scholarly journals A Survey of the Knowledge of Truffles among Polish Foresters and Implications for Environmental Education

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 365
Author(s):  
Dorota Hilszczańska ◽  
Aleksandra Rosa-Gruszecka ◽  
Bogusław Kosel ◽  
Jakub Horak ◽  
Marta Siebyła
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Education ◽  
Forest Ecology ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Hypogeous Fungi ◽  
The Public ◽  
Age Cohorts ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ecology Education ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Tuber Spp

While the use of truffles in Poland has a long tradition, for historical reasons this knowledge was almost lost. Currently, truffles and truffle orchards are again receiving public attention. For example, the Polish State Forests supported the establishment of truffle orchards by the Forestry Research Institute. In recent years, knowledge concerning these unique hypogeous fungi has been disseminated systematically through scientific and popular publications, films, and electronic media. This study investigates the awareness of economically and culinary valued truffle fungi (Tuber spp.) among more than 1400 Polish foresters. The results show that 70% of interviewees were familiar with historical and contemporary information about growing and using truffles in Poland. Based on respondents’ age, education, type of work, and gender we attempted to identify whether these elements were associated with the state of knowledge about truffles. The results indicated that younger foresters were better informed about the presence of truffles in Poland and also about their use in the past in Polish cuisine. Environmental education was an important source of knowledge about truffle harvesting and the soils that are conducive to truffle development. Foresters who have provided forest ecology education and who are 36–65 years of age generally possessed better knowledge about truffles than other age cohorts. More than 30% of respondents expressed interest in educational courses to improve their knowledge of truffles. The results point to the need for forestry education concerning truffles and indicate the need for fostering sustainable agroforestry-centered initiatives disseminating this knowledge to the public.

Neighborhoods and Intimate Partner Violence: A Decade in Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 155708512098763
Author(s):  
Emily M. Wright ◽  
Gillian M. Pinchevsky ◽  
Min Xie
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Neighborhood Context ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Economic Disadvantage ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
And Gender

We consider the broad developments that have occurred over the past decade regarding our knowledge of how neighborhood context impacts intimate partner violence (IPV). Research has broadened the concept of “context” beyond structural features such as economic disadvantage, and extended into relationships among residents, collective “action” behaviors among residents, cultural and gender norms. Additionally, scholars have considered how the built environment might foster (or regulate) IPV. We now know more about the direct, indirect, and moderating ways that communities impact IPV. We encourage additional focus on the policy implications of the research findings.

scholarly journals Custody and Care of Children in Spain: Can the Two Rights be Reconciled?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Jabbaz Churba
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Parental Authority ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Judicial Process ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Children’S Voices ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis study aims to analyse the legal decision-making process in the Community of Valencia (Spain) regarding contentious divorces particularly with respect to parental authority (patria potestas), custody and visiting arrangements for children, and the opinions of mothers and fathers on the impact these judicial measures have had on their lives. It also considers the biases in these decisions produced by privileging the rights of the adults over those of the children. Three particular moments are studied: (1) the situation before the break-up, focusing on the invisible gender gap in care; (2) the judicial process, where we observe the impact of hidden gender-based violence and gender stereotypes; and (3) the situation post-decision, showing how any existing violence continues after divorce, by means of parental authority. The concept of ‘motherhood under threat’ is placed at the centre of these issues, where children’s voices are given the least attention.

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