scholarly journals Agroecological Strategies to Safeguard Insect Pollinators in Biodiversity Hotspots: Chile as a Case Study

Author(s):  
Patricia A Henríquez-Piskulich ◽  
Constanza Schapheer ◽  
Nicolas J Vereecken ◽  
Cristian A. Villagra

Industrial agriculture (IA) is the predominant model of food production since the Green Revolution in the 1950s. IA has been recognized among the main drivers of biodiversity loss, climate change and native pollinator decline. This is controversial, given that native agricultural pollinators are an important resource biota already contributing to crop yield, especially in areas defined as "world biodiversity hotspots” (WBH). These areas often overlap with agricultural zones hosting a significant proportion of cultivated land, mainly through intensive agricultural practices. Pollinator biodiversity and pollination services in these places are currently under threat due to the negative consequences of IA. The dual role of insects as key players allowing the maintenance of the natural ecosystem, as well as main crop pollinators, is particularly exacerbated and urgently requires conservation actions in WBH and food-producing zones. Here we summarize the known negative effects of IA on pollinator biodiversity and illustrate these problems by considering the case of Chile. Food exports represent a considerable part of the economy in this OECD “developing country” in the “Global South”, and a large part of its surface has been highlighted as a unique WBH. This area is currently being replaced by IA businesses at a fast pace, threatening local biodiversity. We present agroecological strategies for sustainable food production and pollinator conservation in food-producing WBHs like Chile. These alternatives recognize native pollinators as internal inputs that cannot be replaced by IA technological packages or external inputs and support the development of agroecological and biodiversity restoration practices to protect their existing biodiversity. We suggest a strategy that integrates four fundamental pillars for producing food in a sustainable way, recognizing biodiversity and local cultural heritage: 1) Share the land, restore and protect; 2) Ecological intensification; 3) Localized knowledge, research and technological development; and 4) Territorial planning and implementation of socio-agroecological policies. We suggest that this approach does not need greater modification of native pollination services that sustain the world with food and basic subsistence goods, but a paradigm change where the interdependency of nature and human wellbeing are recognized for ensuring the present and future of the world’s food security and sovereignty as well as considering the reduction of consumerism and food waste.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6728
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Henríquez-Piskulich ◽  
Constanza Schapheer ◽  
Nicolas J. Vereecken ◽  
Cristian Villagra

Industrial agriculture (IA) has been recognized among the main drivers of biodiversity loss, climate change, and native pollinator decline. Here we summarize the known negative effects of IA on pollinator biodiversity and illustrate these problems by considering the case of Chile, a “world biodiversity hotspot” (WBH) where food exports account for a considerable share of the economy in this country. Most of Chile’s WBH area is currently being replaced by IA at a fast pace, threatening local biodiversity. We present an agroecological strategy for sustainable food production and pollinator conservation in food-producing WBHs. In this we recognize native pollinators as internal inputs that cannot be replaced by IA technological packages and support the development of agroecological and biodiversity restorative practices to protect biodiversity. We suggest four fundamental pillars for food production change based on: (1) sharing the land, restoring and protecting; (2) ecological intensification; (3) localized knowledge, research, and technological development; and (4) territorial planning and implementation of socio-agroecological policies. This approach does not need modification of native pollination services that sustain the world with food and basic subsistence goods, but a paradigm changes where the interdependency of nature and human wellbeing must be recognized for ensuring the world’s food security and sovereignty.


Author(s):  
Annika Lonkila ◽  
Minna Kaljonen

AbstractIncreasing concerns for climate change call for radical changes in food systems. There is a need to pay more attention to the entangled changes in technological development, food production, as well as consumption and consumer demand. Consumer and market interest in alternative meat and milk products—such as plant based milk, plant protein products and cultured meat and milk—is increasing. At the same time, statistics do not show a decrease in meat consumption. Yet alternatives have been suggested to have great transitional potential, appealing to different consumer segments, diets, and identities. We review 123 social scientific journal articles on cell-based and plant-based meat and milk alternatives to understand how the positioning of alternatives as both same and different in relation to animal-based products influences their role within the protein transition. We position the existing literature into three themes: (1) promissory narratives and tensions on markets, (2) consumer preferences, attitudes, and behavioral change policies, (3) and the politics and ethics of the alternatives. Based on our analysis of the literature, we suggest that more research is needed to understand the broader ethical impacts of the re-imagination of the food system inherent in meat and milk alternatives. There is also a need to direct more attention to the impacts of meat and milk alternatives to the practices of agricultural practices and food production at the farm-level. A closer examination of these research gaps can contribute to a better understanding of the transformative potential of alternatives on a systemic level.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 4436-4440 ◽  

The goal of the research is to cover the problem of digital inequality considering its negative consequences for society, to conduct a geospatial analysis of the distribution of informational resources among the countries around the world and to determine the main trends of their technological development. Methods. This article uses the following methods: empirical, systematic, analytical, economic and other methods for the research of digital technologies as a driver of intellectual stratification of human resources. Results. The author has studied digital technologies as a driver of intellectual stratification of human resources. The article analyzes the phenomenon of digital inequality as one of the key problems of microsystem development, as well as the geospatial characteristics of this problem.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Alvaro Cristian Sánchez Mercado

Throughout history the development of the countries has been generated mainly by the impulse in two complementary axes: Science and Technology, and Trade. At present we are experiencing an exponential scientific and technological development and the Economy in all its fronts is driven by the intensive application of technology. According to these considerations, this research tries to expose the development of Innovation Management as a transversal mechanism to promote the different socioeconomic areas and especially those supported by engineering. To this end, use will be made of Technology Watch in order to identify the advances of the main research centres related to innovation in the world. Next, there will be an evaluation of the main models of Innovation Management and related methodologies that expose some of the existing Innovation Observatories in the world to finally make a proposal for Innovation Management applicable to the reality of Peru, so that it can be taken into consideration by stakeholders (Government, Academy, Business and Civil Society) committed to Innovation Management in the country


Author(s):  
Roberto D. Hernández

This article addresses the meaning and significance of the “world revolution of 1968,” as well as the historiography of 1968. I critically interrogate how the production of a narrative about 1968 and the creation of ethnic studies, despite its world-historic significance, has tended to perpetuate a limiting, essentialized and static notion of “the student” as the primary actor and an inherent agent of change. Although students did play an enormous role in the events leading up to, through, and after 1968 in various parts of the world—and I in no way wish to diminish this fact—this article nonetheless argues that the now hegemonic narrative of a student-led revolt has also had a number of negative consequences, two of which will be the focus here. One problem is that the generation-driven models that situate 1968 as a revolt of the young students versus a presumably older generation, embodied by both their parents and the dominant institutions of the time, are in effect a sociosymbolic reproduction of modernity/coloniality’s logic or driving impulse and obsession with newness. Hence an a priori valuation is assigned to the new, embodied in this case by the student, at the expense of the presumably outmoded old. Secondly, this apparent essentializing of “the student” has entrapped ethnic studies scholars, and many of the period’s activists (some of whom had been students themselves), into said logic, thereby risking the foreclosure of a politics beyond (re)enchantment or even obsession with newness yet again.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
Vesa Kilpi ◽  
Tomi Solakivi ◽  
Tuomas Kiiski

AbstractShipping plays an important role in the world, transporting over 80% of international trade and employing over 1.5 million seafarers. The maritime industry, including shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing, is extensive. Both of these interconnected businesses are facing rapid change caused by increasingly speedy technological development and the tightening of environmental regulation. This survey-based research analyzes the current and future competence needs of firms operating in maritime logistics and the maritime industry. The findings indicate that in both contexts, the increasing importance of various general competences is understood and the need is recognized in particular to improve those related to environmental regulation as well as technology and automation. Overall, the gap between current and desired levels of competence is expected to widen. In terms of education, this is likely to affect vocational training and university-level learning differently in that functional competences are emphasized more in the former and social and meta-competences in the latter.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 817
Author(s):  
Giulia Marrone ◽  
Cristina Guerriero ◽  
Daniela Palazzetti ◽  
Paolo Lido ◽  
Alessandro Marolla ◽  
...  

Plant-based diets (PBDs) are increasingly consumed by the Italian population and around the world. In particular, among PBDs, the vegan diet is a food pattern characterized by the exclusion of all animal-origin foods. What drives people to adopt this model are mainly ethical, health and environmental reasons. A vegan diet, if well-balanced and varied, can help in achieving and maintaining an optimal state of health. However, this nutritional approach, if not well-balanced, can cause deficiencies in proteins, ω-3 fatty acids, iron, vitamin D and calcium, zinc, iodine and, above all, vitamin B12. Oral food supplements especially fortified foods are recommended in these cases to restore the nutritional deficiencies. A vegan diet generally reduces the risk of developing chronic non-communicable degenerative diseases, such as metabolic syndrome (MetS) and, in addition, requires fewer natural resources for food production than an omnivorous diet. The aim of this review is to analyze the possible impact of the vegan diet on MetS onset and its treatment.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ghislain de Marsily

In 2000, the World population was 6.2 billion; it reached 7 billion in 2012 and should reach 9.5 billion (±0.4) in 2050 and 11 billion (±1.5) in 2100, according to UN projections. The trend after 2100 is still one of global demographic growth, but after 2060, Africa would be the only continent where the population would still increase. The amount of water consumed annually to produce the food necessary to meet the needs varies greatly between countries, from about 600 to 2,500 m<sup>3</sup>/year per capita, depending on their wealth, their food habits (particularly meat consumption), and the percentage of food waste they generate. In 2000, the total food production was on the order of 3,300 million tons (in cereal equivalents). In 2019, about 0.8 billion inhabitants of the planet still suffer from hunger and do not get the nutrition they need to be in good health or, in the case of children, to grow properly (both physically and intellectually). Assuming a World average water consumption for food of 1,300 m<sup>3</sup>/year per capita in 2000, 1,400 m<sup>3</sup>/year in 2050, and 1,500 m<sup>3</sup>/year in 2100, a volume of water of around 8,200 km<sup>3</sup>/year was needed in 2000, 13,000 km<sup>3</sup>/year will be needed in 2050, and 16,500 km<sup>3</sup>/year in 2100. Will that much water be available on earth? Can there be conflicts related to a food deficit? Some preliminary answers and scenarios for food production will be given from a hydrologist viewpoint.


Author(s):  
Marina Yiasemidou

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic and infection control measures had an unavoidable impact on surgical services. During the first wave of the pandemic, elective surgery, endoscopy, and ‘face-to-face’ clinics were discontinued after recommendations from professional bodies. In addition, training courses, examinations, conferences, and training rotations were postponed or cancelled. Inadvertently, infection control and prevention measures, both within and outside hospitals, have caused a significant negative impact on training. At the same time, they have given space to new technologies, like telemedicine and platforms for webinars, to blossom. While the recovery phase is well underway in some parts of the world, most surgical services are not operating at full capacity. Unfortunately, some countries are still battling a second or third wave of the pandemic with severely negative consequences on surgical services. Several studies have looked into the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training. Here, an objective overview of studies from different parts of the world is presented. Also, evidence-based solutions are suggested for future surgical training interventions.


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