scholarly journals Disaggregating the Value of Conservation Agriculture to Inform Smallholder Transition to Sustainable Farming: A Mexican Case Study

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1214
Author(s):  
Marta Monjardino ◽  
Santiago López Ridaura ◽  
Jelle Van Loon ◽  
Khondoker Mottaleb ◽  
Gideon Kruseman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Farmer Adoption ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Agricultural Innovations ◽  
The Many ◽  
Representative Farms

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is promoted by research and development (R&D) agencies to sustainably intensify agricultural systems with the goals of improving food security and livelihoods and adapting food systems to global climate change. Despite the many benefits of CA, there are few farmers around the world that have simultaneously implemented all facets of the strategy. In part, this reflects the challenges in applying, adapting, and understanding this complex and multi-dimensional agricultural innovation in the context of diverse farming systems. In this paper, we applied an integrated framework that combines bioeconomic simulation, risk analysis, adoption theory, and impact assessment to investigate how various combinations of CA components (no-tillage, soil cover, crop diversification, plus growing a new crop or variety) performed over a 10-year period in representative farms in a central Mexican case study. We found significant differences in profit, net value, downside risk, and risk-aversion cost between double-component scenarios (and improved CA to a lesser extent) and all other scenarios, which suggested that disaggregating CA into smaller component packages could increase farmer adoption in risky contexts. Our findings provided valuable insights on CA feasibility and could help establish policy and reporting metrics. The study highlighted the need for employing a range of research tools to understand the relative value of agricultural innovations and to identify and reduce trade-offs and uncertainty in farming systems.

Value-Ag: An integrated model for rapid ex-ante impact evaluation of agricultural innovations in smallholder systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-649
Author(s):  
Marta Monjardino ◽  
Geoff Kuehne ◽  
Jay Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Integrated Modelling ◽  
Production Risk ◽  
Household Dynamics ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Agricultural Innovations ◽  
Smallholder Systems

AbstractEvaluation of agricultural Research, Development, Extension and Management requires knowledge of farming systems economics and risk as well as broader adoption drivers. But until now, these factors have not been effectively combined when determining the success of agricultural research projects. To fill this gap, we developed Value-Ag, an integrated modelling platform using whole-farm economic analysis and prediction of the scaling potential in the context of production risk and household dynamics to provide an ex-ante estimate of the benefits of adopting an innovation. In this paper, we use a hypothetical case study to illustrate Value-Ag’s potential to evaluate agricultural innovations in a rigorous, systematic and participatory manner across a range of scenarios, thereby stimulating thinking and learning opportunities with the relevant stakeholders, and increasing the scrutiny of projects so that they deliver greater value for money while fostering a more results-focused culture in developing countries.

scholarly journals Legumes as a Cornerstone of the Transition Toward More Sustainable Agri-Food Systems and Diets in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Ferreira ◽  
Elisabete Pinto ◽  
Marta W. Vasconcelos
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Major Protein ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Gastrointestinal Side Effects ◽  
Legume Production

Legume grains are important sources of nutrients in human and animal diets and have been so for millennia. Their history as part of traditional diets dates to the origins of agriculture when their benefits for soil health and agricultural productivity started to be realized, mostly empirically, by farmers. In time, legumes have lost their popularity as human food, either because of a negative connotation as “poor man's meat,” occasional gastrointestinal side effects, or habitually longer preparation times when compared to other types of plant foods. Also, the steep rise in the consumption of meat derived foods in the last half of a century has taken a toll on replacing legumes as a major protein source. Alongside this negative trend in consumption, a negative drift in production was also observed, especially in Europe, where legumes currently occupy a minimal fraction of agricultural land. One of the main factors is a loss in competitive edge amongst farmers due to sustained lower public and private investments in breeding programs and legume adapted technology for planting, managing, harvesting, processing, and storing, when compared to cereals. Recently, increased awareness of the need to move to sustainable food systems is revitalizing legume production and consumption in Europe, leading to a compilation of policies and initiatives that aim to put legumes again as foundations for this transition. Legumes have been reinvented in a multitude of products (drinks, cereal bars, bread, meat replacers, snacks, flours, and several others) and included in farming systems of conservation agriculture, organic production, intercropping, and crop rotation, combining ancient traditions of legume production “with a spin,” incorporating new legume technological knowledge in farming systems. However, the transition has been slow and hampered by many cultural, societal, political, and economic impediments. This paper summarizes initiatives that aim to enable the comeback of legumes and their placement in a more prominent position in human diets and agricultural fields and highlights strategies that aim at overcoming the obstacles that impede achieving the development of more sustainable agri-food systems and sustainable diets in Europe.

Disruptive innovation and operationalization in local and sustainable food systems: Examining the University of Toronto-Local Food Plus partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-139
Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.

The Nonconformist Inheritance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
John Bunyan ◽  
John Wesley ◽  
Religious Attitudes ◽  
Pilgrim's Progress ◽  
The Many ◽  
John Owen

This chapter analyses the editions, abridgements, and recommendations of texts by seventeenth-century nonconformists that were made by eighteenth-century dissenters, Methodists, and Church of England evangelicals. The nonconformist writers they chose include Joseph Alleine, Richard Baxter, John Flavel, John Owen, and John Bunyan. The editors and recommenders include Philip Doddridge, John Wesley, Edward Williams, Benjamin Fawcett, George Burder, John Newton, William Mason, and Thomas Scott. Detailed accounts are provided of the large number of Baxter’s works that were edited, notably A Call to the Unconverted and The Saints Everlasting Rest, and a case study is devoted to the many annotated editions of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and the ways in which they were used. The editors took into account length, intelligibility, religious attitudes, and cost, and sometimes criticized their rivals’ versions on theological grounds.

Orchestrating the nation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barley Norton
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Ancestor Worship ◽  
National Heritage ◽  
The City ◽  
Historical Periods ◽  
Party State

This chapter addresses the cultural politics, history and revival of Vietnamese court orchestras, which were first established at the beginning of the Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945). Based on fieldwork in the city of Hue, it considers the decolonizing processes that have enabled Vietnamese court orchestras to take their place alongside other East Asian court orchestras as a display of national identity in the global community of nations. The metaphor of ‘orchestrating the nation’ is used to refer to the ways in which Vietnamese orchestras have been harnessed for sociopolitical ends in several historical periods. Court orchestras as heritage have recourse to a generic, precolonial past, yet they are not entirely uncoupled from local roots. Through a case-study of the revival of the Nam Giao Sacrifice, a ritual for ‘venerating heaven’, the chapter addresses the dynamics of interaction and exchange between staged performances of national heritage and local Buddhist and ancestor worship rituals. It argues that with growing concern about global climate change, the spiritual and ecological resonances of the Nam Giao Sacrifice have provided opportunities for the Party-state to reassert its position as the supreme guardian of the nation and its people.

Managing Water for Food and Agricultural Transformation in Africa

2019 ◽  
pp. 469-487
Author(s):  
Timothy O. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Rural Transformation ◽  
Agricultural Transformation ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
Food Value

This chapter examines the links between water, food and society in Africa. Agricultural transformation to promote growth, eliminate poverty and hunger and sustain ecosystems is one of the central pillars of current development agenda in Africa. Achievement of this agenda will crucially depend on sustainable water management. However, agri-food systems and water resources are under greater pressure than ever before due to demographic, economic and climatic changes. The nature and scale of these changes suggest that only a holistic and integrated management of all shades of water resources, green, blue and grey, will allow Africa to eliminate hunger and poverty. Research-based technical solutions as well as institutional and policy measures are proposed that would allow available water resources to be sustainably used to promote climate-resilient farming systems, improve agricultural productivity and food security and spur the development of viable food value chains needed for agricultural and rural transformation.

scholarly journals Morphological Change of Dhaka City Over a Period of 55 Years: A Case Study of Two Wards

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 30-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bayes Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Rakibul Hasan Raj ◽  
KM Maniruzzaman
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Morphologic Change ◽  
Dhaka City ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
The Many

Dhaka City has undergone radical changes in its physical form, not only by territorial expansion, but also through internal physical transformations over the last decades. These have created entirely new kinds of fabric. With these changes, the elements of urban form have changed. Plots and open spaces have been transformed into building areas, open squares into car parks, low land and water bodies into reclaimed built-up lands etc. This research has its general interest in the morphologic change of Dhaka City. It focuses on the spatial dynamics of urban growth of Dhaka over the last 55 years from 1952-2007. In the research, the transformation of urban form has been examined through space syntax. The aim behind using this technique is to describe aspects of relationships between the morphological structure of man-made environments and social structures and events. To conduct this research, Wards 49 and 72 of Dhaka City Corporation were selected as the study areas, of which Ward 72 is an indigenous and Ward 49 is a planned type of settlement. Being a planned residential area, the syntactic measures from this morphological analysis are showing quite unchanged and high values in all phases for Ward 49 and the physical characteristics of Ward 72 (Old Dhaka) still represent the past. The syntactic values are found to be higher for Ward 72 and than Ward 49. Higher values indicate that the street network is highly connective among each other. Time affects differently the layout of cities and the architecture of buildings. Of the many human creations, street systems are among the most resistant to change. This has been emphasized in this study, thereby facilitating the comparison of urban layouts across space and time. The interpretation of history in the light of quantitative accounts, as demonstrated in this study, will be of value to urban planners and urban designers for the future planning of modern Dhaka City.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbip.v2i0.9554  Journal of Bangladesh Institute of Planners Vol. 2, December 2009, pp. 30-38

Logistics management in China: A case study of Haier

2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Jason C.H. Chen ◽  
Binshan Lin ◽  
Lingli Li ◽  
Patty S. Chen
Keyword(s):  
Communication Networks ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Collaborative Advantage ◽  
Logistics Systems ◽  
Business Partners ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
Global Brand ◽  
The Many ◽  
Foreign Competitors

Chinese businesses began with a weak foundation in the intense world trade environment, similar to the many other companies that grew from developing countries. How were these Chinese businesses able to compete with foreign competitors armed with strong capital structures and efficient communication networks? Haier is an excellent example of how Chinese companies have successfully adapted to and prospered in the global economy, using information technology as a strategic weapon to improve its competitive advantage and further to create collaborative advantage. Haier's growth is miraculous: in less than two decades, it grew from a state-owned refrigerator factory into an innovative international giant. The company has become China's first global brand and the fifth largest appliance seller in the world. What are the secrets of Haier's success? Many researchers have conducted extensive studies on Haier's management and found the key is Management Information Systems such as e-Commerce and logistics systems that improve business operations between its suppliers, customers, and business partners. This article recounts the journey of Haier's achievements to excellence through its MIS, and provides analyses of the company's business model, the market chain management model.

scholarly journals Grassroots and Global Governance: Can Global–Local Linkages Foster Food System Resilience for Small Northern Canadian Communities?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2415
Author(s):  
Carla Johnston ◽  
Andrew Spring
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Global Networks

Communities in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) are at the forefront of the global climate emergency. Yet, they are not passive victims; local-level programs are being implemented across the region to maintain livelihoods and promote adaptation. At the same time, there is a recent call within global governance literature to pay attention to how global policy is implemented and affecting people on the ground. Thinking about these two processes, we ask the question: (how) can global governance assist northern Indigenous communities in Canada in reaching their goals of adapting their food systems to climate change? To answer this question, we argue for a “community needs” approach when engaging in global governance literature and practice, which puts community priorities and decision-making first. As part of a collaborative research partnership, we highlight the experiences of Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation, located in Kakisa, NWT, Canada. We include their successes of engaging in global network building and the systemic roadblock of lack of formal land tenure. Moreover, we analyze potential opportunities for this community to engage with global governance instruments and continue connecting to global networks that further their goals related to climate change adaptation and food sovereignty.

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