scholarly journals The Dammed Body: Thinking Historically about Water Security & Public Health

Daedalus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-158
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Derr
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Water Security ◽  
River Networks ◽  
Nile River ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Large Dams ◽  
Historical Relationship ◽  
Aswan High Dam ◽  
Biomedical Treatment

Abstract This essay traces the historical relationship between the construction of the Nile River and the prevalence of disease in Egypt in the long twentieth century, with an eye to the relevance of this history to other regions on the African continent impacted by the construction of large dams. Beginning in the second decade of the nineteenth century and stretching through the 1970s, the Nile River underwent a dramatic process of transformation. Two large dams–the 1902 Khazan Aswan and the Aswan High Dam–were constructed on the river. Networks of perennial irrigation canals facilitated the practice of year-round agricultural production and the High Dam provided electricity. The remaking of Egypt's riparian ecologies also had important implications for the health of Egypt's population as these ecologies were associated with new landscapes of disease and approaches to biomedical treatment.

Recent advances in transgenic arthropod technology

2004 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.G. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Natural Population ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Field Biology ◽  
Field Release ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Foreign Genes ◽  
Considerable Work

AbstractThe ability to insert foreign genes into arthropod genomes has led to a diverse set of potential applications for transgenic arthropods, many of which are designed to advance public health or improve agricultural production. New techniques for expressing foreign genes in arthropods have now been successfully used in at least 18 different genera. However, advances in field biology are lagging far behind those in the laboratory, and considerable work is needed before deployment in nature can be a reality. A mechanism to drive the gene of interest though a natural population must be developed and thoroughly evaluated before any field release, but progress in this area has been limited. Likewise, serious consideration of potential risks associated with deployment in nature has been lacking. This review gives an overview of the most promising techniques for expressing foreign genes in arthropods, considers the potential risks associated with their deployment, and highlights the areas of research that are most urgently needed for the field to advance out of the laboratory and into practice.

scholarly journals Water Security in Africa in the Age of Global Climate Change

Daedalus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Allen Isaacman ◽  
Muchaparara Musemwa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Well Being ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Water Shortages ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This essay explores the multiple ways in which the nexuses between water scarcity and climate change are socially and historically grounded in ordinary people's lived experiences and are embedded in specific fields of power. Here we specifically delineate four critical dimensions in which the water crises confronting the African continent in an age of climate change are clearly expressed: the increasing scarcity, privatization, and commodification of water in urban centers; the impact of large dams on the countryside; the health consequences of water shortages and how they, in turn, affect other aspects of people's experiences, sociopolitical dynamics, and well-being, broadly conceived; and water governance and the politics of water at the local, national, and transnational levels. These overarching themes form the collective basis for the host of essays in this volume that provide rich accounts of conflicts and struggles over water use and how these tensions have been mitigated.

A neuro-fuzzy model for inflow forecasting of the Nile river at Aswan high dam

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed El-Shafie ◽  
Mahmoud Reda Taha ◽  
Aboelmagd Noureldin
Keyword(s):  
Fuzzy Model ◽  
Nile River ◽  
Neuro Fuzzy ◽  
Inflow Forecasting ◽  
Aswan High Dam

scholarly journals Editor's Note

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. v-vi
Author(s):  
Harlan Koff ◽  
Carmen Maganda
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Health Food ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Passionate Debate

The following question was asked during the 2017 International Conference of the Consortium for Comparative Research on Regional Integration and Social Cohesion (RISC) on “Integrated and Coherent Sustainable Development”: “If forced to choose one of the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] to prioritize, which would it be?” Of course, this provocation elicited numerous responses, and passionate debate as each of the SDGs is worthy and the policy community supporting sustainable development is heterogeneous, including stakeholders who are implicated in discussions on the environment, human rights, public health, food security, water security, gender equality, and so on. None of the responses forwarded can be considered “wrong.”

Promoting Healthy Diets and Tackling Obesity and Diet-Related Chronic Diseases: What are the Agricultural Policy Levers?

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2_suppl2) ◽  
pp. S312-S322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Hawkes
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Agricultural Policies ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Production Practices ◽  
Policies And Practices

Background Diet-related chronic diseases are now a serious global public health problem. Public health groups are calling for the agricultural sector to play a greater role in tackling the threat. Objective To identify potential points of policy intervention in the agricultural sector that could be leveraged to promote healthy diets and tackle obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. Methods A review of the literature on the dietary implications of agriculture, a conceptual analysis of the issues, and the identification of relevant examples. Results There are two main potential points of intervention in the agricultural sector that could be leveraged to promote healthy diets: agricultural policies and agricultural production practices. Agricultural policies and practices affect diet through their influence on food availability, price, and nutrient quality, which in turn affects food choices available to consumers. Agricultural policies amenable to intervention include input, production, and trade policies; agricultural production practices amenable to intervention include crop breeding, crop fertilization practices, livestock-feeding practices, and crop systems diversity. Conclusions It is well-known that agricultural policies and production practices influence what farmers choose to grow. Agricultural policies and production practices could also play a role in influencing what consumers choose to eat. To identify how agricultural policies and practices can usefully contribute toward promoting healthy diets and tackling obesity and diet-related chronic diseases, health policymakers need to examine whether current agricultural policies and production practices are contributing to—or detracting from—efforts to attain dietary goals; where and how could agricultural intervention help achieve dietary goals; and whether there are trade-offs between these interventions and other important concerns, such as undernutrition and the livelihoods of agricultural producers. Given the potential of agriculture to contribute to large-scale, population-level dietary improvements, these questions warrant closer attention from health policymakers.

A Tale of Eight Pesticides: Risk Regulation and Public Health in China

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis SNYDER ◽  
Lili NI
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
Principal Characteristics ◽  
Chinese Law ◽  
Specific Policy

AbstractThis article focuses on the use and regulation of eight toxic pesticides in agricultural production in China. The pesticides are bifenthrin, chlorpyrifus, diazinon, dimethoate, methidathion, omethoate, phosmet and phosphamidon. These pesticides pose widely recognised public health risks in China. So far as we know, the article is the first article in English ever to treat these pesticides systematically from the standpoint of the regulation of risks to human beings and to the environment. Adopting perspectives from public health, economic sociology and law, the article considers the principal characteristics of these pesticides, the main health risks associated with their use in agricultural production and how these pesticides in agricultural production are currently regulated in Chinese law. It identifies a series of policy implications and makes specific policy recommendations concerning risk regulation of these eight pesticides.

scholarly journals The Mysteries of Lake Copais and the Island Fortress of Gla

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38
Author(s):  
Therese Ghembaza ◽  
David Windell
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
History Of Research ◽  
Large Dams ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Helladic ◽  
The Bronze Age

The Bronze Age drainage of Lake Copais, Boeotia, is unique within Europe as the largest and most complex work of engineering of the period. Comprising large dams, polder dykes, canals, massive levees, cuttings and tunnels, it made at least 95km² of drained lake bed available for agricultural production. The first polders were established in the Middle Helladic period with great extensions in the Late Helladic. During the latter period the largest of all the Mycenaean citadels was constructed at Gla which had been a rocky island in the lake prior to the drainage. But exactly what type of settlement it was still remains something of a mystery. This paper draws together the history of research on the citadel of Gla.

scholarly journals Effect of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Water Footprint of Aswan High Dam Hydropower

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherine Ahmed Elbaradei ◽  
Sarah Ehab Abdelkader
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Nile River ◽  
High Aswan Dam ◽  
Aswan Dam ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Aswan High Dam ◽  
Reservoir Filling

Abstract Construction of the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance dam (GRD) has many impacts and implication on the water share and future use in Egypt. Especially the period of the reservoir filling will have a great effect on the Nile River and its water in Egypt. Many of these effects of the GRD on Egypt has been studied before, but no study was done on the effect of its existence on the hydropower water footprint of the High Aswan dam. This research is concerned by simulating the effect of the different GRD reservoir filling scenarios on the water footprint of the hydropower generated from the High Aswan dam. Also, the effect on the hydropower of the Aswan dam itself is also simulated and assessed. Mathematical modeling is used to reach those goals. Three filling scenarios of the GRD were investigated: namely 3 years, 5 years, and 6 years. It was found that as the filling duration of the GRD decreases the negative effect on the hydropower water footprint increases.

Swampy Sugar Lands: Irrigation Dams and the Rise and Fall of Malaria in Puerto Rico, 1898–1962

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-271
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Puerto Ricans ◽  
Sugar Production ◽  
Large Dams ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Engineering Projects

AbstractTwo environmental re-engineering projects clashed in south-eastern Puerto Rico in the early twentieth century. Between 1910 and 1914 the Puerto Rican Irrigation Service built three large dams to water canefields owned by US sugar companies. The new canals and holding ponds created ideal breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and demand for fieldworkers encouraged greater numbers of Puerto Ricans to work and live near these mosquito swarms. Malaria rates soared as a result. Meanwhile, public health officials tried to control malaria, but their efforts faltered, especially when efficient irrigation was prioritised above all else. It was not until the 1940s and 1950s that health officials controlled and then eliminated malaria. In Puerto Rico, malaria rose with the commitment to irrigated canefields and remained tenacious until wartime exigencies inspired greater control efforts, DDT became available and, most importantly, manufacturing eclipsed sugar production as the island's dominant economic activity.

Water Security and Public Health

2020 ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Rhett B. Larson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Disease Vectors ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Related Disease ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Waterborne Infections ◽  
Malaria Outbreak

This chapter discusses the Blue, Green, and Red Agendas of water law and policy. Thousands die every day from diseases related to water. Yet water law largely focuses on two agendas. The first agenda, the Blue Agenda, focuses on water supply and sustainability. The second agenda, the Green Agenda, focuses on water quality in nature and for human use and consumption. These two agendas often ignore, or are implemented in ways inconsistent with, the “Red Agenda.” The Red Agenda focuses on the prevention of waterborne infections, like cholera, and the control of water-related disease vectors, like mosquitoes transmitting malaria. Laws motivated by the Blue Agenda, like building a dam or irrigation system, can interfere with the Red Agenda by bringing mosquito habitat closer to humans. And laws motivated by the Green Agenda, like prohibiting discharges of pesticides into a river, can interfere with the Red Agenda by preventing a response to a malaria outbreak. This chapter describes these agendas, how and why they conflict, and how they can be better reconciled to achieve water security in public health.

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