scholarly journals The need to understand the cultural biographies of alpine and subalpine landscapes during Later Prehistory: Upland Archaeology in the Cantabrian Mountains

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. González-Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Landscape Archaeology ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Cantabrian Mountains ◽  
North West ◽  
Marginal Areas ◽  
Western Area ◽  
Environmental Sequences

Current debates around the Anthropocene tend to focus on recent planetary-scale processes. However, regional and small-scale processes can be very telling about human agency in the shaping of landscapes overtime. Indeed, anthropogenic impacts of different intensities can be observed on landscapes since Prehistory – even in such remote and allegedly marginal areas as deserts, wetlands or mountains. In this article, I reflect on the long-term anthropization of alpine and subalpine areas in the western area of the Cantabrian Mountains (North-West of Iberia) in Later Prehistory. Studying the earlier anthropogenic pressure on upland environs in this period reminds us of the potential of landscape archaeology to enhance interdisciplinarity in debates about the Anthropocene. With the aim of emphasizing the role of archaeology as a mediating arena between social sciences, humanities and earth sciences, I analyse the scarce archaeological information available for upland landscapes of this study area to show how these datasets can nuance evolutionary interpretations of paleo-environmental sequences studied at natural deposits. Only through integrated and comprehensive discussions around the cultural and environmental traits of landscapes will we be able to fully understand the complex social contexts where agrarian labour and collective action shaped the alpine and subalpine areas in the Cantabrian Mountains since the spread of the Neolithic.

Profitability and Efficiency Analyses of Small Scale Rice processing units in Ngoketunjia Division, North West Region, Cameroon.

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-182
Author(s):  
Bime M.J ◽  
Fon D.E ◽  
Ngalim S.B ◽  
Ongla J
Keyword(s):  
Value Added ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Fixed Cost ◽  
Cost Ratio ◽  
Parboiled Rice ◽  
North West ◽  
Benefit Cost Ratio ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
Rice Processing

Rice production and processing over the years has been on an increase with more small holders entering the business. This study on profitability of processing and marketing of small scale rice processors had as objective to analyse the profitability levels of rice processing and marketing by small scale processors, determine the value added to the commodity at each stage  and also identify the constraints faced by these processors. The study used primary data collected using well-structured questionnaire from millers only, miller traders for white/parboiled rice through a multistage sampling technique. Results showed that the net processing income (3,151,201), value added (8,147,456) and efficiency (138) for miller-traders of white rice was highest, followed by miller-traders for parboiled rice and lastly millers only. Results further showed that millers only had Benefit/cost ratio of 0.4 indicating that milling only is not profitable due to small quantities milled, and high fixed cost. Miller-traders for parboiled rice had a benefit/cost ratio of 2.3 implying that their venture is most profitable. Based on the results, it was recommended that millers only should purchase large quantities of paddy to enable them reduce the overhead cost. Also the services of parboilers should reflect in the sales price of parboiled rice so that the parboiling services can be paid for.

scholarly journals Socio-economic characteristics influencing small-scale farmers' level of knowledge on climate-smart agriculture in mahikeng local municipality, North West province, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
K.L. Setshedi ◽  
S. Modirwa
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
North West ◽  
Local Municipality ◽  
Level Of Knowledge ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Small Scale Farmers

ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to identify knowledge gaps and the level of knowledge on climate-smart agriculture among small-scale farmers in Mahikeng Local Municipality. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 170 respondents from a population size of1449. A descriptive and quantitative research design was used for this study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse data. Most respondents were males, married, had high school education and farming experience of more than 20 years. Livestock farming, was found to be the main agricultural activity amongst the respondents. Knowledge test statements revealed that, respondents had a low level of knowledge about climate-smart agriculture. Age, access to climate information, farm income per month and access to off-farm income had statistically significant relationships with respondents' level of knowledge on climate-smart agriculture. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that, there should be training and education activities which should be implemented to assist small-scale farmers in Mahikeng Local Municipality in increasing their knowledge on climate-smart agriculture. Keywords: Climate-smart agriculture, Knowledge, Small-scale farmers, Socio-economic characteristics

scholarly journals Co-constructing feminist research: Ensuring meaningful participation while researching the experiences of criminalised women

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 205979912092526
Author(s):  
Nicola A Harding
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Feminist Methodology ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
Transformative Action

Traditional forms of knowledge production can serve to reproduce the power imbalances present within the social contexts that research and knowledge production occur. With the interests of the discipline of criminology so closely entwined with the criminal justice system, it is no surprise that crime, punishment, rehabilitation and desistance have not been adequately examined from a gendered perspective. This article examines a participatory action research process conducted with criminalised women subject to community punishment and probation supervision in the North West of England. By examining the feminist methodology within which this research is framed, discussions about meaningful collaboration offer insights into the potential for creativity in research to become transformative. Using a range of creative qualitative research methods, specifically map making, photovoice and creative writing, this research attempts to understand the experience of criminalised women. Charting the way in which this research prioritises the collaboration of criminalised women at all stages of the research process, this article proposes that ‘meaningful’ participation is about more than process management. It is only by moving beyond typologies of participation, towards an understanding of how participation in the created research space responds to the groups wider oppression, in this case by overcoming trauma or demonstrating reform, that collaboration with holders of lived experience can uncover subjugated knowledge and facilitate transformative action.

Small animal species in the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in tropical Bolivia

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
R.T. Paterson ◽  
F. Rojas
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Small Animal ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
The West ◽  
North West ◽  
Ph Values ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
The City

In the Bolivian Department of Santa Cruz, the Provinces of Sara and Ichilo lie some 100 km North-West of the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, where they occupy an area of about 21,000 km2. Most of the region is a flat, alluvial plain, 350-450 m above sea level, with young soils prone to localized, seasonal waterlogging, although the land becomes undulating and rises to 800 m as it approaches the foothills of the Andes to the west. The soils are moderately fertile with pH values often in the range of 4.5 to 5.5.

A qualitative approach to evaluating the impact of human interventions on the middle Charente River (West France)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Duquesne ◽  
Christine Plumejeaud-Perreau ◽  
Jean-Michel Carozza
Keyword(s):  
Human Impact ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
River Management ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Human Intervention ◽  
Impact Index ◽  
Human Interventions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

<p><span>Although many studies have analyzed the impact of human interventions on European rivers over decades or centuries, researchers have rarely evaluated the geomorphological effects of these anthropogenic pressures on fluvial systems. However, quantifying anthropogenic impacts is fundamental to understanding how rivers are affected by human interventions and to improving the river management and restoration. The aim of this study is to propose a new and original qualitative method to estimate the importance of human impacts on rivers over the last three centuries using the middle Charente River as a test case. The study area is an anastomosing, low-energy and little mobile river of the lowlands of Western France. It extends from the city of Angoulême (Charente) to the city of Saintes (Charente-Maritime), with a length of approximately 100 km. The study segment has been subjected to high anthropogenic pressure since the High Middle Ages, and it was enhanced during the 19th century to facilitate navigation and terrestrial transportation, to ensure the exploitation of the water's driving force (water mills and paper mills), to maintain the local people (fishing dams and agro-pastoral uses) and to allow for flood protection. To understand and estimate the anthropogenic heritage of the Charente River, this study employed a two-stage method: 1) an inventory of the human interventions on the fluvial system through the consultation of geo-historical data (textual archives, historical maps and iconography) dating from the end of the 17th century to the 2010s and 2) an evaluation of the human impact of each human intervention, sub-category and category of intervention based on the calculation of the Cumulative Human Impact Index. The Cumulative Human Impact Index is composed of several qualitative attributes graded by an evaluator. The results allow one 1) to generate a database and typology of the human interventions affecting the middle Charente River over the long term; 2) to map the cumulative impacts of human interventions on the study area; and 3) to analyze the unitary and overall impact of each human intervention, sub-category and category of intervention on the river landscape's heritage. Finally, this study concludes with 1) a discussion of the advantages of using a qualitative methodology for the estimation of anthropogenic impacts and 2) a reflection on the use of the maps of cumulative human impacts for Charente River management and restoration.</span></p>

Long Term Changes in Abundance of Eggs of the Cornish Pilchard (Sardina Pilchardus Walbaum) Off Plymouth

1974 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 641-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Southward
Keyword(s):  
Small Scale ◽  
Personal Communications ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Inshore Waters ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Hearsay Evidence ◽  
The Relationship

The inshore fishery for the pilchard in Cornish waters has existed for several hundred years, and such records as are available concerning fluctuation in catches and market conditions have been reviewed by Couch (1865), Cushing (1957) and Culley (1971). Although pilchard have been landed from Lyme Bay, from the eastern half of the Channel, and from the southern North Sea (Couch, 1865; Furnestin, 1945; Cushing, 1957; personal communications G. T. Boalch) the catches have usually been incidental to other fisheries and more sporadic than in Cornish waters. Traditionally there are three areas fished for the Cornish pilchard: on the north-west coast around St Ives; in Mounts Bay and towards the Scillies; and between the Lizard Pt and Bolt Tail in Devon (Couch, 1865; Culley, 1971). The latter region, constituting the inshore waters of south-east Cornwall and south Devon, effectively forms the eastern limits of the regular occurrence of commercial shoals. Knowledge of the breeding and life-history of the fish in this region has always been scarce and subject to much hearsay evidence (reviewed in Southward, 1963). Up to quite recently it was thought that the main spawning area lay well to the west of the entrance to the Channel, and it was not until the investigations reported by Corbin (1947,195°) a nd Cushing (1957)tnat it was conclusively shown that extensive spawning can occur within the English Channel from May to October. The relationship of the spawning in the western Channel to the other areas of spawning off the entrance to the Channel and in the northern Bay of Biscay is illustrated in a recent series of reports (Arbault & Boutin, 1968; Arbault & Lacroix-Boutin, 1969; Arbault & Lacroix, 1971; Wallace, P. D. & Pleasants, C. A., duplicated ICES meeting paper CM 1972/J: 8), and is further demonstrated by Demir & Southward (1974) in discussing the results of a study of small scale seasonal changes in spawning intensity in inshore waters.

scholarly journals Do Rural Policies Impact on Tourism Development in Italy? A Case Study of Agritourism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Giaccio ◽  
Luigi Mastronardi ◽  
Davide Marino ◽  
Agostino Giannelli ◽  
Alfonso Scardera
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Policy ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Marginal Areas ◽  
Farm Accountancy Data Network ◽  
The Common ◽  
Programming Period ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

This paper investigates how and to what extent European and national policies, through the analysis of financial support derived from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (First and Second Pillar) and national and local subsidies, have financed Italian agritourism. For this purpose, the authors have proposed a comparative analysis between Italian agritourism and farms without tourism activities, by stressing the distribution of public financial supports concerning the 2007-2013 programming period of the European Union (EU) for Rural Development. The empirical analysis is based on the Italian Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) dataset. The data were stratified by altimetry zone and farm size. Descriptive statistics and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for each group were used. The main results show how the Second Pillar has mainly supported small and medium-sized farms with tourism activities and located in disadvantaged areas. This study could be useful to policymakers regarding evaluation of the mission for diversification in agriculture, represented here by the carrying out of tourist activities on farms and the contribution for the retention of small-scale farms in marginal areas.

scholarly journals Changes of Taxonomic Diversity of Soils’ Mеasopopulation in the Range of Environmental Conditions of the Northern Macroslope of Khamar-Daban

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 55-66
Author(s):  
E. P. Bessolitsyna ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Main Trend ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Ecological Analysis ◽  
High Rise ◽  
Landscape Ecological

Landscape-ecological analysis of taxonomic diversity and structure of soil invertebrates’ community in the geosystems of the Hamar-Daban Region was carried out on the main levels: local (biogeocenotic), topological (facies) and regional. The paper considers regularities of transformation of communities’ structure in landscape-zonal range under the influence of natural conditions: phytocenotic (peculiarities of vegetation), edaphical and climatic (hydrothermal regime of the soil) and anthropogenic factors. On the models groups: Сarabidae, Staphylinidae, Elateridae, Formicidae altitudinal changes of community' structure have been traced; in all landscape-high-rise complexes (in species composition and abundance of species) was revealed forest preference. The main trend of changes in taxonomic diversity of invertebrate’s communities is a decrease in the species number in the gradient of an increase of climate aridity, and strengthening of the hypothermal character and anthropogenic pressure. Peculiarities of structures invertebrate’s communities and their changes due to the climate change and anthropogenic impacts can serve as one of diagnostic criteria of soil conditions and can be used for estimation of landscapes’ transformation and monitoring.

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