scholarly journals Application of the Rural Water Sustainability Index (RWSI) in Amazon rural communities, Pará, Brazil

Water Policy ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Lima Crispim ◽  
Lindemberg Lima Fernandes

Abstract This paper proposes an adaptation of the Rural Water Sustainability Index (RWSI) to the Brazilian Amazon region. Policymakers can use this tool to identify areas of water stress and develop actions to guarantee water access to rural communities. Multi-criteria analysis and a geographical information system were integrated to incorporate various indicators and produce maps displaying spatial water sustainability levels in rural communities. The RWSI was employed on a case study at 16 rural communities in Santa Luzia do Pará, Pará, Brazil. In total, 380 closed and structured interviews were conducted with people living in the area to collect local information for the model application. The results showed a varied spatial behavior between rural communities of Santa Luzia do Pará, with similarities and differences based on the overall condition of water resources (final index values). Half of the locations had ‘Poor’ or ‘Poor-Medium’ water quality. The remaining sample obtained scores ranging from ‘Medium-Good’ to ‘Good’ water sustainability. RWSI’ scores varied widely (from 5.7 to 6.5) among the communities. It was also found that localities more distant from surface water presented more water stress.

2022 ◽  
pp. 898-916
Author(s):  
Vanessa Ratten ◽  
Leo-Paul Dana

There has been increasing recognition that for regional competitiveness in rural areas there needs to be a focus on sustainable farming initiatives especially for family farms that are competing with global conglomerates. Family farms, whilst declining in number, are the purpose of this paper studying the rural entrepreneurship in family farms as they are at the heart of rural communities and the overall agricultural industry and comprise a high percentage of total farms. This paper takes a case study approach using in-depth semi structured interviews to delve into the types of entrepreneurial strategies that are distinctive of family farms in terms of their sustainability approach to farming. Dairy farms in the West Victorian area of Australia are studied and the findings suggest that family farms can increase their regional competitiveness and international standing by focusing on their collaborative, social and sustainable entrepreneurial strategies.


Author(s):  
Munirah Motala ◽  
Jacqueline Van Wyk

Background: The year 2017 marked the 21st anniversary of the South African Cuban Medical Collaboration (SACMC) programme that offers disadvantaged South African (SA) students an opportunity for medical training in Cuba. Graduates are expected to return to practice at a primary care level in rural communities; however, little is known about the professional trajectories and career choices of graduates from the programme.Aim: This study explored the reasons why students enrolled in the programme, their professional and career choices as graduates and their career intentions.Setting: The study setting was the whole of SA although participants were primarily drawn from KwaZulu-Natal.Methods: An exploratory, qualitative case study used a purposive sampling strategy to gather data through semi-structured interviews from participants.Results: Graduates (N = 20) of the SACMC programme were all practicing in local SA settings. Participants preferred the SACMC programme as it offered them a full scholarship for medical training. Nineteen doctors had fulfilled their obligation to work in rural areas. Thirteen doctors are engaged in primary healthcare practice, either as private practice generalists or as public service medical officers. Three doctors had completed specialty training: one doctor was training towards specialisation, one doctor was employed at national government and two doctors were employed as medical managers. At the time of the study, 11 doctors were practicing in rural locations and 19 had indicated a long-term intention to work and live within South Africa.Conclusion: The participants of this study who graduated from the SACMC programme are fulfilling their obligations in rural communities. They all intend to contribute to the SA medical workforce in the long-term.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 8798
Author(s):  
Zainab Khalid ◽  
Xing-Min Meng ◽  
Abda Khalid

Gendered vulnerability from women’s point of view has gained popularity in disaster studies in recent decades especially in the Global South. The positioning of women in society during normal times gives rise to vulnerabilities that are revealed when a disaster strikes. These vulnerabilities are often deep-rooted in societal makeup, cultural and traditional norms, and the economic fabric of society. In the context of Pakistan, the role of women in disaster risk reduction programs is still an under-researched area. In this paper, the gendered vulnerability progression in one of the mountain rural communities of Hassanabad in Hunza Valley (Northern Pakistan) is analyzed post-Shishper glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) in 2019 and 2020. The study uses empirical qualitative data. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with men and women of different age groups within Hassanabad village. A thematic gendered analysis unveiled several interlinked social, economic, and institutional vulnerabilities. The gendered transitional phase of Hassanabad society positively indicates women’s involvement in different spheres of life, including disaster management and mitigation. However, the lack of gender consideration on a formal institutional level exacerbates the gendered vulnerabilities in Hassanabad village. The case study of Hassanabad demonstrated that women not only have an awareness of hazards but are also willing to participate proactively in disaster mitigation activities. Therefore, to reduce community vulnerability and yield long-term positive outcomes of disaster management and mitigation strategies, women must be involved at the formal institutional levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117822182110397
Author(s):  
Brandn Green ◽  
Danielle Christine Rhubart ◽  
Matthew R Filteau

Purpose: Access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) varies across the rural-urban continuum. The Hub & Spoke Model (H&S) emerged to address these gaps in service whereby hubs with staff expertise in MOUD support delivery of specialized care to a network of spoke locations, often located in rural communities with workforce shortages. This paper presents a case study of efforts to implement the hub and spoke model in a frontier and rural (FAR) state: Montana. Methods: The primary data are structured interviews with 65 MOUD program staff in hub and spoke locations within Montana. Both inductive and deductive coding were used to analyze the transcripts. Findings: Using the H&S structure to expand access to MOUD in Montana led to mixed results. There were consistent themes identified in the interviews about the reasons why hubs struggled to successfully recruit spokes, including (1) geographic barriers, (2) a lack of interest among medical providers, (3) fears about excessive demand, (4) concerns about the financial viability of the model, and (5) a preference for informal technical assistance rather than a formal H&S relationship. In addition to these 5 themes, efforts to implement H&S across different medical systems were unsuccessful, whereas the H&S model worked more effectively when H&S locations were within the same organization. Conclusion: This case study identified limits to the H&S model utility in supporting states’ abilities to expand access to MOUD treatment and offers suggestions for adapting it to accommodate variation across divergent rural contexts. We conclude with recommendations for strategies that may assist in expansion of MOUD in rural communities that are like those found in Montana.


2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 915-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minerva Hidalgo-Milpa ◽  
Carlos Manuel Arriaga-Jordán ◽  
Alfredo Cesín-Vargas ◽  
Angélica Espinoza-Ortega

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to characterize consumers of traditional foods, taking as case study fresh cheeses produced in a village, in Central Mexico. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were applied to a sample of 150 consumers, selected by non-probabilistic convenience sampling. A factorial analysis by principal component analysis was performed to the data, followed by a cluster analysis. Findings – Four factors were obtained, named: artisanship, health and well-being, liking, and satisfaction with the purchase. Three consumer groups were identified: practical, in the process of valorization, and with liking and tradition. The socioeconomic characteristics of consumers do not have a relationship in the classification of groups. It is concluded that the consumption of fresh cheeses is due to a number of social and cultural attributes, and in lesser proportion, to economic aspects. Originality/value – At present, as part of life in a dynamic society, people have the power of choice in the food they consume, a process that involves cultural, social, economic, political, and ideological aspects, established by the consumers themselves, or by a determined social group to which they belong. This has not been researched in Mexico. Being an emerging economy immersed in a rapid process of globalization, studies like this contribute in similar countries of Latin America and other places to find ways to valorize local foods and products that play important roles in the development of rural communities.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-74
Author(s):  
Carlos Ricardo Rossetto ◽  
Elaine Ferreira ◽  
Adriana Marques Rossetto

The purpose of this research was to compare the level of corporate sustainability at Cooperativa Tritícola Gaúcha Cotribeta between 2006 and 2010 by means of using the Strategic Planning Model for Business Sustainability (PEPSE), developed by Coral (2002). This period was chosen because the studied company has undergone several marketing changes, thus we sought to understand whether these changes have impacted on the sustainability index. Based on a qualitative research, and drawing from a case study, information was collected through semi-structured interviews with twenty-five employees in 2006 as a master's thesis core. In 2010 the interview process was retaken with five employees, due to the organization’s reshuffling since 2006. The company posted a decline in its environmental and social reference scale. In 2006 Cotribeta’s level of corporate sustainability had been classified as potentially ordinary sustainable, and in 2010 as potentially critical sustainable.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAFAEL CORRÊA PROTA DOS SANTOS REINALDO ◽  
Flávia Rosa Santoro ◽  
ULYSSES PAULINO ALBUQUERQUE ◽  
PATRÍCIA MUNIZ MEDEIROS

Abstract Background We aimed to verify whether the taste and chemical composition influence the selection of plants in each medicinal category, whether within a socio-ecological system or between different socio-ecological systems. To this end, we use the theoretical bases of the Utilitarian Redundancy Model and the Utilitarian Equivalence Model. We studied the local medical systems of four rural communities in northeastern Brazil, used as models to test our assumptions. Methods The data on medicinal plants and local therapeutic function were obtained from semi-structured interviews associated with the free-listing method, allowing to generate indexes of similarity of therapeutic use between the plants cited in each region. During the interviews, each informer was also asked to report the tastes of the plants cited. Subsequently, we classified each plant in each region according to the most cited taste. The data about the chemical composition of each plant were obtained from a systematic review, using Web of Knowledge and Scopus databases. Results Pairs of plants with similar tastes are 1.46 times more likely to have the same therapeutic function within a local medical system (redundancy), but not between medical systems (equivalence). We also find that chemical compounds are not primarily responsible for utilitarian redundancy and equivalence. However, there was a tendency for alkaloids to be doubly present with greater expressiveness in pairs of equivalent plants. Conclusions The results indicate that each social group can create its means of using the organoleptic characteristics as clues to select new species as medicinal. Furthermore, this study corroborates the main prediction of the Utilitarian Equivalence Model, that people in different environments choose plants with traits in common for the same functions.


Author(s):  
Vanessa Ratten ◽  
Leo-Paul Dana

There has been increasing recognition that for regional competitiveness in rural areas there needs to be a focus on sustainable farming initiatives especially for family farms that are competing with global conglomerates. Family farms, whilst declining in number, are the purpose of this paper studying the rural entrepreneurship in family farms as they are at the heart of rural communities and the overall agricultural industry and comprise a high percentage of total farms. This paper takes a case study approach using in-depth semi structured interviews to delve into the types of entrepreneurial strategies that are distinctive of family farms in terms of their sustainability approach to farming. Dairy farms in the West Victorian area of Australia are studied and the findings suggest that family farms can increase their regional competitiveness and international standing by focusing on their collaborative, social and sustainable entrepreneurial strategies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jenny Woodley Higgins

<p>Over the past three years there has been an increased focus on reducing global maternal mortality in developing countries. While substantial progress has been made, improvement remains slow in some areas. Making formal maternal healthcare services more acceptable, affordable and accessible to rural communities where the majority of maternal deaths occur, remains a considerable challenge. This study looks at the model of professional midwifery training employed at La Escuela de Partería Profesional de CASA [the CASA School of Professional Midwifery] in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, whose aim is to train professional midwives who will provide culturally acceptable services in rural communities. It examines how the school's model reflects the development concept of community participation. This study adopted a single case study methodology to examine community participation at the CASA School of Professional Midwifery. Data collection techniques included the use of Semi-structured interviews, Focus Groups, Participant Observation and Document analysis. The study found that the CASA School included elements of participation within its model and highlights the different ways in which outsiders and insiders may arrive at implementing community participation-type processes in development initiatives. The study also finds that because of differences between the biomedical and development paradigms, the reality for many communities is that they are only permitted to participate in the maternal healthcare paradigms and models sanctioned by the state. The conclusion was that the CASA model of professional midwifery offers a new way to think about the relationship between maternal health professionals and the community, and of integrating communities back into the maternal health discourse.</p>


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