scholarly journals Fempreneurs or organic tea farmers? Entrepreneurialism, resilience and alternative agriculture in Darjeeling, India

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debarati Sen
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Fair Trade ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Women Farmers ◽  
Alternative Agriculture ◽  
Economic Resilience ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Trading Partners ◽  
Organic Tea ◽  
And Gender

AbstractIn this article I underscore how women organic tea farmers build economic resilience through dual enactments as "organic farmers" and as "entrepreneurs." In substantiating both, women question the limited optics through which Fair Trade type sustainability ventures measure their work for a tea cooperative, as well poorly recognizing their entrepreneurial work in their households and community. Women are deeply aware of the politics of Fair Trade where their productive and reproductive labor is appropriated through the labor of organics, where women not only produce the organic green leaf tea but also produce narratives of Fair Trade's success in its certification and gender audits. Thus, to understand what sustains the new wave of "sustainable agriculture" in the global South, we must explore the intersections of organic farming practices with emerging discourses and practices of gendered entrepreneurialism in organic farming communities. In Darjeeling, India, women provide the labor necessary to sustain organics that should ideally come from the Indian state or international trading partners. They fill the gap through their labor, time, creativity and risk-taking. I contend that the success of organic farming depends on critical maneuvers that entail economic and cultural entrepreneurialism, and demonstrate forms of resilience expressed through which women farmers identify and navigate the inadequacies of alternative agriculture and related Fair Trade practices.Keywords: Women organic tea farmers, women entrepreneurs, Fair Trade, rural Darjeeling, risk-taking, resilience

scholarly journals Socio economic aspect of organic farming practices for improving farmer’s income in some locations of Kerala, India

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408
Author(s):  
N Karunakaran ◽  
MS Sadiq
Keyword(s):  
Organic Farming ◽  
Fair Trade ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Open Market ◽  
Organic Certification ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Certified Organic ◽  
Crop Income

Agriculture is the major source of livelihood and is under the big threat of liberalization and modernization. Organic farming is eco-friendly, promotes sustainable development, protects the fertility of the soil and ensures long term crop income to the farmer. In 2018, total area under organic certification process is 3.56 million hectare and produced around 1.70 million MT of certified organic products. In Kerala, the total area under organic farming stands at 15790.49 hectare. Organic farmers fail to capture the market for selling their products and have less capacity in the competing world, leads to worse financial situation of farmers. The total volume of export during 2017-18 was 4.58 lakh MT. Fair trade has flourished as an initiative for lifting poor organic farmers by providing higher price, credit and improved community life. It is also a market for high value products in the global trade policies. Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) is a small farmers’ organisation to access global market on fair trade in an equitable trading terms and improved income. The system provides better price to products compared to open market and benefited fair trade exporting. This paper by studying FTAK focused the impacts of it on income and highlights the increased production of organic crops, better prices, premium and schemes to farmers. The study revealed that fair trade farmers earned higher price (20 to 50 percent) for commodities and marketing of products to foreign countries without intermediaries and organic farming is a better option for increasing farmer’s income in India. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 44(3): 401-408, September 2019

scholarly journals Potential and limitations of organic and fair trade cotton for improving livelihoods of smallholders: evidence from Central Asia

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicitas Bachmann
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Fair Trade ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cotton Production ◽  
Farm Work ◽  
Organic Cotton ◽  
Organic Farmers

AbstractCotton is a leading agricultural non-food commodity associated with soil degradation, water pollution and pesticide poisoning due to high levels of agrochemical inputs. Organic farming is often promoted as a means of addressing the economic, environmental and health risks of conventional cotton production, and it is slowly gaining ground in the global cotton market. Organic and fair trade cotton are widely seen as opportunities for smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods thanks to higher returns, lower input costs and fewer risks. Despite an increasing number of studies comparing the profitability of organic and non-organic farming systems in developing and industrialized countries, little has been published on organic farming in Central Asia. The aim of this article is to describe the economic performance and perceived social and environmental impacts of organic cotton in southern Kyrgyzstan, drawing on a comparative field study conducted by the author in 2009. In addition to economic and environmental aspects, the study investigated farmers’ motivations toward and assessment of conversion to organic farming. Cotton yields on organic farms were found to be 10% lower, while input costs per unit were 42% lower; as a result, organic farmers’ cotton revenues were 20% higher. Due to lower input costs as well as organic and fair trade price premiums, the average gross margin from organic cotton was 27% higher. In addition to direct economic benefits, organic farmers enjoy other benefits, such as easy access to credit on favorable terms, provision of uncontaminated cottonseed cooking oil and cottonseed cake as animal feed, and marketing support as well as extension and training services provided by newly established organic service providers. The majority of organic farmers perceive improved soil quality, improved health conditions, and positively assess their initial decision to convert to organic farming. The major disadvantage of organic farming is the high manual labor input required. In the study area, where manual farm work is mainly women's work and male labor migration is widespread, women are most affected by this negative aspect of organic farming. Altogether, the results suggest that, despite the inconvenience of a higher workload, the advantages of organic farming outweigh its disadvantages and that conversion to organic farming improves the livelihoods of small-scale farmers.

The Vienna Risk-Taking Test - Traffic

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 198-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Hergovich ◽  
Martin E. Arendasy ◽  
Markus Sommer ◽  
Bettina Bognar
Keyword(s):  
Construct Validity ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Personality Test ◽  
Educational Levels ◽  
Item Level ◽  
Degree Of Risk ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Homeostasis Theory

Abstract. The study reports results regarding the dimensionality and construct validity of a newly developed, objective, video-based personality test that assesses the willingness to take risks in traffic situations. On the basis of the theory of risk homeostasis developed by Wilde, different traffic situations with varying degrees of objective danger were filmed. During the test the respondents are asked to indicate at which point the action that is contingent on the described situation will become too dangerous to carry out. Latencies at the item level were recorded as a measure for the subjectively accepted degree of a person's willingness to take risks in the sense of the risk homeostasis theory by Wilde. In a study on 274 people with different educational levels and gender, the unidimensionality of the test as corresponding to the latency model by Scheiblechner was investigated. The results indicate that the Vienna Risk-Taking Test - Traffic assesses a unidimensional, latent personality trait that can be interpreted as subjectively accepted degree of risk (target risk value).

The 1980s to the Present

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Barton
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Health Food ◽  
Organic Certification ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Mainstream Press

While a few positive stories on organic farming appeared in the 1970s most mainstream press coverage mocked or dismissed organic farmers and consumers. Nevertheless, the growing army of consumer shoppers at health food stores in the United States made the movement impossible to ignore. The Washington Post and other newspapers shifted from negative caricatures of organic farming to a supportive position, particularly after the USDA launched an organic certification scheme in the United States under the leadership of Robert Bergland. Certification schemes in Europe and other major markets followed, leading to initiatives by the United Nations for the harmonization of organic certification through multilateral agencies. As organic standards proliferated in the 1990s the United Nations stepped in to resolve the regulatory fragmentation creating a global market for organic goods.

The Role of Traumatic Childhood Experiences in Predicting a Disposition to Risk-Taking and Aggression in Turkish University Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 1998-2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hatice Odacı ◽  
Çiğdem Berber Çelik
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Emotional Neglect ◽  
Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Adolescent Risk ◽  
And Gender

The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not traumatic childhood experiences in childhood predict a disposition to risk-taking and aggression among university students. The participants consisted of 851 students: 477 (56.1%) females and 374 (43.9%) males attending various faculties at the Karadeniz Technical University in Turkey. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Adolescent Risk-Taking Scale, Aggression Questionnaire, and Personal Information Form were used for data collection. The analysis results revealed a positive correlation between traumatic experiences (physical, sexual, emotional maltreatment, and emotional neglect) and risk-taking and aggression. Physical and sexual abuse and gender are significant predictors of risk-taking. Physical abuse and gender are some of the predictors of aggression. Another finding from the study is that physical and emotional abuse and emotional neglect vary by gender. This study concludes that exposure to traumatic experiences in childhood prepares the foundation for negative behaviors in adulthood.

scholarly journals Effects of Organic Energy Crop Rotations and Fertilisation with the Liquid Digestate Phase on Organic Carbon in the Topsoil

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1393
Author(s):  
Karin S. Levin ◽  
Karl Auerswald ◽  
Hans Jürgen Reents ◽  
Kurt-Jürgen Hülsbergen
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Organic Farming ◽  
Biogas Production ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Energy Crop ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Liquid Digestate ◽  
Organic Farmers ◽  
Positive Effect

Combining organic farming and biogas production from agricultural feedstocks has been suggested as a way of achieving carbon (C) neutrality in Europe. However, as the long-term effects of C removal for methane production on soil organic carbon (SOC) are unclear, organic farmers in particular have questioned whether farm biogas production will have a positive effect on soil fertility. Eight years of data from an organic long-term field trial involving digestate fertilisation and various crop rotations (CRs) with differing proportions of clover-grass leys were used to calculate C inputs based on the CANDY model, and these modelled changes compared with measured changes in SOC content (SOCc) over the same period. Measured SOCc increased by nearly 20% over the eight years. Digestate fertilisation significantly increased SOCc. Fertilised plots with the highest proportion of clover-grass in the CR had the highest SOCc. The C inputs from clover-grass leys, even if they only made up 25% of the CR, were high enough to increase SOCc, even with the removal of all aboveground biomass and without fertilisation. Our results show that biogas production based on clover-grass leys could be an important part of sustainable farming, improving or maintaining SOCc and improving nutrient flows, particularly in organic farming, while simultaneously providing renewable energy.

Solo Sailing: An “Ordinary Girl”, Voluntary Risk-Taking and (Ir)Responsibility

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Brown ◽  
Dawn Penney
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Public Reaction ◽  
Contemporary Western Society

This article draws on material associated with a solo sailing circumnavigation, undertaken by 16 year old Jessica Watson in 2009–2010, to discuss how her voyage provided a focal point for debates relating to voluntary risk-taking conducted within the sport and leisure context. Specifically, we illustrate how public and media commentaries on her voyage reflect discourses of risk being infused and conflated with discourses of responsibility, youth and gender. Our analysis brings to the fore the contested, moral and political nature of risk discourses in contemporary western society. Public reaction to Watson’s voyage indicates that descriptions of western society as risk-averse fail to capture the situated and dynamic perceptions of risk.

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