scholarly journals Resilience strategies of West African pastoralists in response to scarce forage resources

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Ouédraogo ◽  
Alhassane Zaré ◽  
Gabin Korbéogo ◽  
Oumarou Ouédraogo ◽  
Anja Linstädter
Keyword(s):  
Crop Residues ◽  
West African ◽  
Defence Mechanisms ◽  
Ecological Disturbance ◽  
Senna Obtusifolia ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Dactyloctenium Aegyptium ◽  
Andropogon Gayanus ◽  
The Face ◽  
Forage Value

AbstractFinding sufficient natural fodder resources to feed livestock has become a challenge for herders in the Sahel zone of Burkina Faso. Despite the existence of pastoral reserves, the issue of fodder shortage remains unsolved. This article highlights the changes in behaviour and the evolution of pastoral practices caused by the scarcity of forage resources. These changes are defined and classified as resilience strategies. Thus, this paper aims to analyse these strategies using new semantics that calls for other forms of perceptions or approach to the questions of pastoralists’ resilience strategies. Interviews (semi-structured and casual conversations), ethnographic observations and ethnobotanical surveys were used to collect data. In rangelands, such high value fodder species as Andropogon gayanus, Pennisetum pedicellatum and Dactyloctenium aegyptium that were abundant herbaceous plants during the last decades are disappearing. Concomitantly, species with lower forage value, such as Senna obtusifolia, which are more resilient to ecological disturbance factors, are colonizing rangelands. Faced with these ecological changes, pastoralists are trying to redefine and reconfigure their practices, and this implies a redefinition of their identity. They use resilience strategies such as mowing grasses, building up fodder bundles, conserving crop residues, exploiting Senna obtusifolia (a previously neglected species), using woody fodder and adapting the type of livestock and the size of the herds to the ability of pastoralists to feed them. Strategies that are older than these are the integration of agriculture with livestock and decollectivized transhumance. It is these resilience strategies that this article exposes and analyses as defence mechanisms of Sahelian pastoralists in the face of the depletion of forage resources in their environments.

scholarly journals Increased vulnerability to wildfires and post fire hydro-geomorphic processes in Portuguese mountain regions: what has changed?

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Nunes ◽  
L. Lourenço
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Mountain Regions ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Ecological Vulnerability ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
High Level ◽  
Common Lands ◽  
Sedimentation Processes

AbstractThe main objectives of this study were to understand the frequency of forest fires, post-fire off-site hydrological response and erosional processes from a social and ecological perspective in two basins located in the central cordillera, Portugal. It also discusses the driving forces that contribute towards increasing the social-ecological vulnerability of systems in the face of hazards and emphasizes the importance of learning from disasters. Based on the historical incidence of wildfires, it is possible to identify several areas affected by two, three or four fires, since 1975. Following the two major fires, in 1987 and 2005, flash floods, intense soil erosion and sedimentation processes were generated, causing severe damage. Significant socioeconomic, political and ecological changes have been affecting mountain regions in the last decades. Approximately 80% of the population and more than 90% of the livestock have disappeared, common lands have been afforested with Pinus pinaster, and several agricultural plots have been abandoned. These factors have all contributed towards creating non- or submanaged landscapes that have led to a dramatic increase in the magnitude and frequency of wildfires and to post-fire hydrological and erosional processes when heavy rainfall occurs. Moreover, the low population density, high level of population ageing and very fire-prone vegetation that now covers large areas of both basins, contribute to a situation of extreme socio-ecological vulnerability, meaning that disasters will continue to occur unless resilience can be restored to improve the capacity to cope with this high susceptibility to hazards.

scholarly journals Hospedeiros alternativos de Xanthomonas campestris pv. viticola

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Rosa Peixoto ◽  
Rosa L.R. Mariano ◽  
José Osmã T. Moreira ◽  
Ivanise O. Viana
Keyword(s):  
Azadirachta Indica ◽  
Xanthomonas Campestris ◽  
Commelina Benghalensis ◽  
Senna Obtusifolia ◽  
Dactyloctenium Aegyptium

Xanthomonas campestris pv. viticola (Xcv), que causa o cancro bacteriano da videira, sobrevive em plantas infectadas, epifiticamente em órgãos da parte aérea e pode ser veiculada em mudas e/ou bacelos infectados. O trabalho teve como objetivo investigar possíveis hospedeiros alternativos do patógeno, visando fornecer subsídios para o manejo da doença. A partir das plantas invasoras Alternanthera tenella, Amaranthus sp., Glycine sp. e Senna obtusifolia com sintomas similares aos do cancro bacteriano da videira, coletadas em parreirais de Juazeiro e Petrolina, no Submédio São Francisco, foram isoladas bactérias semelhantes a Xcv. No entanto, nenhuma bactéria foi isolada de plantas de Commelina benghalensis e Azadirachta indica com sintomas semelhantes. A patogenicidade dos isolados bacterianos obtidos foi confirmada em plantas de A. tenella, Amaranthus sp., Glycine sp., S. obtusifolia e em mudas de videira cv. Red Globe, em condições de casa de vegetação. As plantas invasoras Chamaesyce hirta, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Eragrostis pilosa e Pilea sp., inoculadas artificialmente com os isolados Xcv1 e UnB1216, também desenvolveram sintomas típicos do cancro bacteriano.

scholarly journals Control of lung defence by mucins and macrophages: ancient defence mechanisms with modern functions

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1201-1214 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Janssen ◽  
Adrianne L. Stefanski ◽  
Bruce S. Bochner ◽  
Christopher M. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Defence Mechanisms ◽  
Environmental Challenges ◽  
Mucin Glycoproteins ◽  
The Face ◽  
Direct Regulation ◽  
Do So

Owing to the need to balance the requirement for efficient respiration in the face of tremendous levels of exposure to endogenous and environmental challenges, it is crucial for the lungs to maintain a sustainable defence that minimises damage caused by this exposure and the detrimental effects of inflammation to delicate gas exchange surfaces. Accordingly, epithelial and macrophage defences constitute essential first and second lines of protection that prevent the accumulation of potentially harmful agents in the lungs, and under homeostatic conditions do so effectively without inducing inflammation. Though epithelial and macrophage-mediated defences are seemingly distinct, recent data show that they are linked through their shared reliance on airway mucins, in particular the polymeric mucin MUC5B. This review highlights our understanding of novel mechanisms that link mucus and macrophage defences. We discuss the roles of phagocytosis and the effects of factors contained within mucus on phagocytosis, as well as newly identified roles for mucin glycoproteins in the direct regulation of leukocyte functions. The emergence of this nascent field of glycoimmunobiology sets forth a new paradigm for considering how homeostasis is maintained under healthy conditions and how it is restored in disease.

Moving with the Face of the Devil: The Politics of Art in a West African City

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 286
Author(s):  
Christopher Fyfe ◽  
John W. Nunley
Keyword(s):  
West African ◽  
African City ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Devil

scholarly journals The Middle East and Brazil

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-107
Author(s):  
Philipp Bruckmayr
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
South America ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Political History ◽  
West African ◽  
Diplomatic History ◽  
American Power ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Arab States

The title at hand is a valuable and timely edited volume that sheds light onthe economic, political, literary, social, cultural, religious, and historical connectionsbetween Brazil and the Middle East. Whereas the Middle East in thisrespect primarily means the area historically referred to as bilād al-shām (i.e.,Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel), the book also tackles the historicallinkages among Brazil, Muslim Andalusia, and West Africa. Structurally,the volume is divided into three parts, which are preceded by anintroduction by the editor.Part 1, “South-South Relations, Security Politics, Diplomatic History,”includes five papers, the first four of which are more or less straightforwardtreatments of political history/science. Paul Amar sketches the dynamic strategicchanges in policy toward the region and hegemonic American power duringthe early presidency of Dilma Rousseff (2010-13) in the face of majorchanges in the Middle East that rendered her continuation of the “handshakepolitics” that her predecessor Lula had extended toward the now-crumblingdictatorial regimes unfeasible. In the following chapter, Paulo Daniel EliasFarah discusses one of the fruits of Lula’s endeavors: the formation of theSummit of South America-Arab States in 2003. He situates this diplomaticconcord within a long history of contacts between Brazil and the Arab/Muslimworld as well as the transnational flows of forced and free migration, as epitomizedby the presence of enslaved West African Muslims and then, later on,Syro-Lebanese settlers in Brazil.Carlos Ribeiro Santana’s contribution sheds light on Brazil’s pragmatismin fostering relationships with the Middle East to secure its oil supplies againstthe background of the energy crises of the 1970s. This thread is also pickedup in the following paper by Monique Sochaczweski, which details how thesevery configurations caused Brazil to abandon its “equidistance” policy ...

Conclusion

1999 ◽  
pp. 231-232
Author(s):  
Diane Frost
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Second World War ◽  
West African ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
World War ◽  
The West ◽  
West African Coast ◽  
The Face ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

The Kru communities of Freetown and Liverpool emerged in response to, and as a consequence of, British maritime interests. Kru were actively encouraged to leave their Liberian homeland and migrate to Freetown, where they came to constitute an important part of its maritime trade. The Kru formed a significant nucleus of Freetown’s seafarers, as well as the majority of ships’ labourers or ‘Krooboys’ that were recruited to work the West African coast. The occupational niche that the Kru eventually came to occupy in Britain’s colonial trade with West Africa had important social repercussions. The Kru were labelled as unusually competent maritime workers by shipowners and colonial administrators, and the Kru encouraged this label for obvious expedient reasons. The gradual build-up of the Kru’s dominance in shipping during the nineteenth century and until the Second World War contrasts sharply with their position in the post-war period. The breaking down of their occupational niche due to circumstances beyond their control had direct social consequences on the nature of their community. Whilst many Kru clubs and societies depended on seafaring for their very existence, the demise of shipping undermined such societies’ ability to survive in the face of increasing unemployment and poverty....

Abdullah Quilliam’s International Influence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent D. Singleton
Keyword(s):  
British Empire ◽  
West African ◽  
The West ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Muslim Communities

News concerning Abdullah Quilliam and his establishment of a community of British converts to Islam in Liverpool quickly spread across the world. This chapter agues that, as a well-placed convert in the heart of the British Empire, Quilliam symbolized many things to Muslim communities worldwide. Correspondingly, each group of Muslims perceived him in whatever light they needed to see him. The American converts to Islam saw a model, a mentor, and a mediator. For Muslims in the British Empire, particularly Africa, Quilliam provided a morale boost, a legitimatization for holding on to their religion and culture in the face of colonialism. Muslims outside of the British Empire considered Quilliam an agent for the spread of Islam in the West. This chapter discusses Quilliam’s relationship with these communities, focusing on American and West African Muslims.

Assessment of dry-matter yield from grain yield in the West African Savannah Zone

1984 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 695-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Powell
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Crop Residue ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Grain Legumes ◽  
West African ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Savannah Zone ◽  
West African Savannah

Crop residues, consisting of cereal stovers and hays made from the vegetative parts of grain legumes, are important dry-season feeds for ruminant livestock in the Savannah Zone of West Africa (van Raay, 1975; McCown, Haaland & de Haan, 1979; Jahnke, 1982). With the increasing demand on land to produce more crops and animal products, traditional systems are under pressure. There is need for a reliable means to quantify the supply of feed from various sources and to monitor the type, quantity and quality of crop residue available to livestock.

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