scholarly journals Perception and knowledge of grasshoppers among indigenous communities in tropical forest areas of southern Cameroon: Ecosystem conservation, food security, and health

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-130
Author(s):  
Charly Oumarou Ngoute ◽  
David Hunter ◽  
Michel Lecoq
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Landscape Conservation ◽  
Health Food ◽  
Crop Fields ◽  
Southern Cameroon ◽  
Dry Seasons ◽  
Biological Methods

The increased attention given to health, food security, and biodiversity conservation in recent years should bring together conventional scientists and indigenous people to share their knowledge systems for better results. This work aims to assess how grasshoppers are perceived by the local people in southern Cameroon, particularly in terms of food, health, and landscape conservation. Villagers were interviewed individually using a rapid rural assessment method in the form of a semi-structured survey. Nearly all people (99%) declared that they are able to identify local grasshoppers, generally through the color of the insect (80%). Crop fields were the most often cited landscape (16%) in terms of abundance of grasshoppers, with forest being less mentioned (8%). In general, villagers claimed that grasshopper abundance increased with forest degradation. Grasshoppers were found during all seasons of the year but noted to be more abundant during the long dry seasons. People found grasshoppers both useful and harmful, the most harmful reported being Zonocerus variegatus, an important crop pest. Cassava is the most attacked crop with 75–100% losses. Industrial crops, such as cocoa, coffee, and bananas, were not cited as being damaged by grasshoppers. The most effective conventional method cited for the control of pest grasshoppers is the use of pesticides (53%) with, in most cases (27%), a 75–100% efficiency. The traditional method of spreading ash was also often cited (19%), with an estimated efficiency of 25–75%. Biological methods were neither cited nor used by the villagers. Most of them (87%) declared that they eat grasshoppers; some sold these insects in the market (58%) and some used them to treat diseases (11%).

Nimíciwinán, nipimátisiwinán – “Our food is our way of life”: On-Reserve First Nation perspectives on community food security and sovereignty through oral history in Fisher River Cree Nation, Manitoba

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shailesh Shukla ◽  
Jazmin Alfaro ◽  
Carol Cochrane ◽  
Cindy Garson ◽  
Gerald Mason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Community Food Security ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Indigenous Foods ◽  
Oral History Interviews

Food insecurity in Indigenous communities in Canada continue to gain increasing attention among scholars, community practitioners, and policy makers. Meanwhile, the role and importance of Indigenous foods, associated knowledges, and perspectives of Indigenous peoples (Council of Canadian Academies, 2014) that highlight community voices in food security still remain under-represented and under-studied in this discourse. University of Winnipeg (UW) researchers and Fisher River Cree Nation (FRCN) representatives began an action research partnership to explore Indigenous knowledges associated with food cultivation, production, and consumption practices within the community since 2012. The participatory, place-based, and collaborative case study involved 17 oral history interviews with knowledge keepers of FRCN. The goal was to understand their perspectives of and challenges to community food security, and to explore the potential role of Indigenous food knowledges in meeting community food security needs. In particular, the role of land-based Indigenous foods in meeting community food security through restoration of health, cultural values, identity, and self-determination were emphasized by the knowledge keepers—a vision that supports Indigenous food sovereignty. The restorative potential of Indigenous food sovereignty in empowering individuals and communities is well-acknowledged. It can nurture sacred relationships and actions to renew and strengthen relationships to the community’s own Indigenous land-based foods, previously weakened by colonialism, globalization, and neoliberal policies.

Food security variation among Indigenous communities in South-western Uganda

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Kaitlin Patterson ◽  
Lea Berrang-Ford ◽  
Shuaib Lwasa ◽  
Didacus B. Namanya ◽  
James Ford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Western Uganda

scholarly journals Mediators and moderators of nutrition intervention effects in remote Indigenous Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (12) ◽  
pp. 1424-1433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Brimblecombe ◽  
Megan Ferguson ◽  
Federica Barzi ◽  
Clare Brown ◽  
Kylie Ball
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Dietary Intervention ◽  
Vegetable Intake ◽  
Soft Drink ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Fruit And Vegetables ◽  
Dietary Behaviour ◽  
The Impact

AbstractWe conducted a longitudinal dietary intervention study to assess the impact of a store-based intervention on mediators and moderators and consequent dietary behaviour in Indigenous communities in remote Australia. We assessed dietary intake of fruit, vegetable, water and sweetened soft drink, mediators and moderators among 148, eighty-five and seventy-three adult participants (92 % women) at baseline (T1), end of intervention (T2) and at 24 weeks post intervention (T3), respectively. Mediators included perceived affordability and self-efficacy. Moderators were barriers to eat more fruit and vegetables and food security. Mixed-effects models were used to determine changes in mediators and moderators with time and associations between these and each dietary outcome. Perceived vegetable affordability increased from T1 (19 %; 95 % CI 11, 27) to T2 (38 %; 95 % CI 25, 51) (P=0·004) and returned to baseline levels at T3. High self-efficacy to eat more fruit and vegetables and to drink less soft drink decreased from T1 to T3. A reduction in soft drink intake of 27 % (95 % CI −44, −4; P=0·02) was reported at T3 compared with T1; no changes with time were observed for all other outcome measures. Regardless of time, vegetable intake was positively associated with self-efficacy to cook and try new vegetables, no barriers and food security. The dietary intervention went someway to improving perceived affordability of vegetables but was probably not strong enough to overcome other mediators and moderators constraining behaviour change. Meaningful dietary improvement in this context will be difficult to achieve without addressing underlying constraints to behaviour change.

scholarly journals Determining a Carbon Reference Level for a High-Forest-Low-Deforestation Country

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Pirker ◽  
Aline Mosnier ◽  
Tatiana Nana ◽  
Matthias Dees ◽  
Achille Momo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Monte Carlo ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Reference Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Reference Period ◽  
Activity Data ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Land Use Model ◽  
Southern Cameroon

Research Highlights: A transparent approach to developing a forest reference emissions level (FREL) adjusted to future local developments in Southern Cameroon is demonstrated. Background and Objectives: Countries with low historical deforestation can adjust their forest reference (emission) level (FREL/FRL) upwards for REDD+ to account for likely future developments. Many countries, however, find it difficult to establish a credible adjusted reference level. This article demonstrates the establishment of a FREL for southern Cameroon adjusted to societal megatrends of strong population—and economic growth combined with rapid urbanization. It demonstrates what can be done with available information and data, but most importantly outlines pathways to further improve the quality of future FREL/FRL’s in light of possibly accessing performance-based payments. Materials and Methods: The virtual FREL encompasses three main elements: Remotely sensed activity data; emission factors derived from the national forest inventory; and the adjustment of the reference level using a land use model of the agriculture sector. Sensitivity analysis is performed on all three elements using Monte Carlo methods. Results: Deforestation during the virtual reference period 2000–2015 is dominated by non-industrial agriculture (comprising both smallholders and local elites) and increases over time. The land use model projections are consistent with this trend, resulting in emissions that are on average 47% higher during the virtual performance period 2020–2030 than during the reference period 2000–2015. Monte Carlo analysis points to the adjustment term as the main driver of uncertainty in the FREL calculation. Conclusions: The available data is suitable for constructing a FREL for periodic reporting to the UNFCCC. Enhanced coherence of input data notably for activity data and adjustment is needed to apply for a performance-based payment scheme. Expanding the accounting framework to include forest degradation and forest gain are further priorities requiring future research.

scholarly journals Aiming for Sustainability and Scalability: Community Engagement in Forest Payment Schemes

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 444
Author(s):  
Laura F. Kowler ◽  
Arun Kumar Pratihast ◽  
Alonso Pérez Ojeda del Arco ◽  
Anne M. Larson ◽  
Christelle Braun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Engagement ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Forest Monitoring ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Community Monitoring ◽  
Payment Schemes

Community-based forest monitoring is seen as a way both to improve community engagement and participation in national environmental payment schemes and climate mitigation priorities and to implement reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+). There is a strong assumption among community-based monitoring advocates that community monitoring is a desirable approach. However, it is unclear why community members would want to participate in their own surveillance or be involved in a program likely to limit livelihood uses of forest areas and possibly even sanction them based on the data provided. This paper explores these issues by examining three communities involved in Peru’s Conditional Direct Transfer Program, in which indigenous communities are compensated for protecting communal forests through various mechanisms, including forest monitoring. The case studies focus specifically on communities that received smartphones and were trained in their use for monitoring. The results affirm the importance that benefits outweigh the costs of local participation to sustain motivation. They also point to key factors supporting the legitimacy of the program, specifically to overcome historical tensions between the state and indigenous communities. These include the nature of engagement by program implementers and the importance of building trust over time.

Way forward to bring insects in the human food chain

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Vantomme
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Health Food ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Food And Feed ◽  
Legal Frameworks

The recognition that insects can contribute to food security has received a remarkable boost by the media, and is getting more attention from researchers and from food and feed agencies worldwide. This paper reviews major activities and achievements over the past 4 years and suggests ways forward mainly from an FAO perspective. To assure that insects can remain part of the diets of 2 billion people, action is urgently needed to protect and ensure sustainability in gathering wild insect populations, to promote simple semi-domestication techniques, and to farm insects at household or industrial scale levels. Integrating edible insects as healthy food into the agenda and campaigns of food agencies will require a more comprehensive understanding on the nutritional and health values of more insect species. Further investigation is needed particularly of impacts on consumer's health, food safety, environmental impacts and risk assessments of using insects in the food chain. National and international poverty alleviation agencies and aid programmes need to be made aware that gathering and farming insects is a viable option to help people improve their livelihoods. For this to happen, a comprehensive awareness raising campaign needs to be launched on the socio-economic benefits that insect gathering and farming can offer, with a special focus on improving the food security of the poorest of society. Legislators and policy makers are called on to deliberate and include insects as feed and food into existing national policy and legal frameworks covering the food, health and feed sectors. Research is needed to investigate the sustainability and quantify the environmental impacts of harvesting and farming insects as compared with traditional farming and livestock-raising practices. This would help to inform the public about the real footprint and cost of our food choices and on their socio-economic and environmental consequences.

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