scholarly journals A Blueprint for Digital Climate-Informed Advisory Services: Building the Resilience of 300 Million Small-Scale Producers by 2030

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Ferdinand ◽  
Emma Illick-Frank ◽  
Louise Postema ◽  
Jim Stephenson ◽  
Alison Rose ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Climate Information ◽  
Agricultural Producers ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Advisory Services ◽  
International Research Institute ◽  
The World ◽  
Working Groups

In 2019, nearly 750 million people faced food insecurity, with that number expected to increase in the coming years. Climate change could significantly depress global crop yields, but adaptation efforts could help decrease this risk. The Blueprint for Digital Climate-Informed Advisory Services lays the conceptual foundation for building the climate resilience of at least 300 million small-scale agricultural producers by 2030. Digital climate-informed advisory services (DCAS) are tools and platforms that integrate climate information into agricultural decision-making. These services include digital mobile apps, radio and online platforms, as well as to digitally enabled printed bulletins based on climate models and extension services that use climate information platforms. DCAS can help agricultural producers and other value chain actors build resilience to climate impacts that threaten present and future agri-food systems. Scaling up efforts, while leaving no one behind, is critical to safeguarding the millions of small-scale producers vital to our global food security. This working paper outlines key principles for good practice, explores how to build the resilience of at least 300 million small-holder producers by 2030 and provides a preliminary typology of how to target investments so they reach the most vulnerable and under-resourced. Additionally, it puts forward potential next steps to accelerate growth in this community of practice and increase meaningful investment in these services. The blueprint was created by more than 150 stakeholders organized into three working groups on data quality and governance, equity and co-creation, and financially sustainable business models. These working groups were led by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University, the World Food Programme and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, respectively. In addition to working group reports, the blueprint was developed based on an extensive literature review and expert consultations undertaken by the World Resources Institute and the Global Center on Adaptation.

Anthropology and the Fair Trade Movement

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 33-36
Author(s):  
Kimberly Grimes ◽  
Dvera Saxton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Fair Trade ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Agricultural Producers ◽  
International Production ◽  
Fair Trade Movement ◽  
The World ◽  
The Many

In a world of increasing poverty, anthropologists have used their knowledge and research as proactive agents for marginalized producers who strive to meet the task of daily survival. Among the many strategies developed to improve the plight of impoverished peoples at home and abroad, one area that has particularly enhanced producers' livelihoods and standard of living is the Fair Trade movement. A global grassroots movement, fair trade fosters democratic and equitable international production and exchange. Small-scale craft, clothing and agricultural producers throughout the world trade directly with US, Canadian, European, Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand marketers who guarantee fair prices and other services.1 A number of anthropologists are currently working in the Fair Trade movement as advisors, consultants, curators and marketers (Grimes and Milgram 2000).

Psychology Within and Without the State

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Clark Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The World ◽  
Psychological Similarity

Psychological research in small-scale societies is crucial for what it stands to tell us about human psychological diversity. However, people in these communities, typically Indigenous communities in the global South, have been underrepresented and sometimes misrepresented in psychological research. Here I discuss the promises and pitfalls of psychological research in these communities, reviewing why they have been of interest to social scientists and how cross-cultural comparisons have been used to test psychological hypotheses. I consider factors that may be undertheorized in our research, such as political and economic marginalization, and how these might influence our data and conclusions. I argue that more just and accurate representation of people from small-scale communities around the world will provide us with a fuller picture of human psychological similarity and diversity, and it will help us to better understand how this diversity is shaped by historical and social processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Het Hoge Kempen ruraal-industrieel transitielandschap

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-207
Author(s):  
PIET GELEYNS
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Coal Miners ◽  
Garden Cities ◽  
World Heritage List ◽  
The World ◽  
Outstanding Universal Value ◽  
Extensive Farming

The Hoge Kempen rural industrial transition landscape: a layered landscape of Outstanding Universal Value? Up until the beginning of the 20th century, the eastern part of the Belgian province of Limburg was a sparsely populated and not very productive part of the country. The dominating heathland was maintained with sheep, which were an essential part of a small-scale extensive farming system. This all changed when coal was discovered in 1901. Seven large coalmines were established in a few decades, each one employing thousands of coal-miners. This also meant that entire new garden cities were built, to house the coal-miners and their families. The confrontation between the small-scale traditional land-use and the new large-scale industrial developments defines the landscape up to today. The scale and the force of the turnover are considered unprecedented for Western Europe, which is why it is being presented by Belgium for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

Fishing for a Career: Alternative Livelihoods and the Hardheaded Art of Academic Failure

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-167
Author(s):  
Deb Cleland
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Academic Failure ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
South East Asia ◽  
Alternative Livelihoods ◽  
Alternative Livelihood ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

Charting the course: The world of alternative livelihood research brings a heavy history of paternalistic colonial intervention and moralising. In particular, subsistence fishers in South East Asia are cyclical attractors of project funding to help them exit poverty and not ‘further degrade the marine ecosystem’ (Cinner et al. 2011), through leaving their boats behind and embarking on non-oceanic careers. What happens, then, when we turn an autoethnographic eye on the livelihood of the alternative livelihood researcher? What lexicons of lack and luck may we borrow from the fishers in order to ‘render articulate and more systematic those feelings of dissatisfaction’ (Young 2002) of an academic’s life’s work and our work-life? What might we learn from comparing small-scale fishers to small-scale scholars about how to successfully ‘navigate’ the casualised waters of the modern university? Does this unlikely course bring any ideas of ‘possibilities glimmering’ (Young 2002) for ‘exiting’ poverty in Academia?

Climate change could intensify Sahel conflicts

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Droughts And Floods ◽  
Political Conditions ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Significance It will increase rainfall variability and extreme events such as droughts and floods, as well as raising temperatures. These effects may trigger cascading risks to economic, social and political stability. Impacts The EU could play a key role in moderating climate effects as it shapes migration and security policy in the Sahel. The likelihood and severity of climate impacts will depend on socio-economic and political conditions in the region. Small-scale irrigation, climate-adapted seeds and traditional soil conservation techniques can help increase resilience to climate change.

scholarly journals The Unbearable Lightness of Trust: Trade, conviviality, and the life-world of Indian export agents in Yiwu, China

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Filippo Osella
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Export Trade ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Life World ◽  
Extreme Caution ◽  
The World ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
World Centre

Abstract Drawing on ethnographic data collected in China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and India, this article explores the life-world and practices of small-scale Indian export agents based in Yiwu, China, the world centre for the export of small commodities. It shows that in a market overdetermined by fast-moving goods, short-term gains, and low margins, export agents have to steer their way between acting with extreme caution or taking risks with their clients and suppliers. These apparently contradictory dispositions or orientations are negotiated by the judicious exercise of mistrust and suspicion. The article suggests not only that mistrust is valued and cultivated as an indispensable practical resource for success in Yiwu's export trade, but that contingent relations of trust between market players emerge at the interstices of a generalized mutual mistrust, via the mobilization of practices of hospitality, commensality, and masculine conviviality. Indeed, feelings of amity and mutuality elicited by the performance of modalities of social intimacy become the affective terrain upon which divergent economic interests might be reconciled and taken forward. That is, mistrust might not lead to generalized distrust, instead a situational or contingent trust might actually emerge through the judicious exercise of mistrust.

scholarly journals Comparison and display on small-scale maps and diagrams of the territorial resources of the largest countries of the World and their major cities

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-157
Author(s):  
Olga Markova ◽  
Valentina Maslennikova
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
The State ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
World Heritage Sites ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Area Efficiency ◽  
The World ◽  
Per Capita

The largest countries of the world are inevitably involved in various global processes, both natural and socio-economic. These countries have common features and characteristic differences in the state of their territorial resources; the study of these characteristics is of interest for the global prospects of sustainable development. A large territory provides a variety of natural conditions and resources for the country; however, not in all countries it is possible to effectively use them in the economy throughout the all country. An analysis of their territorial resources was carried out for the six largest countries of the world according to the following parameters: area, efficiency, environmental load on the territory of the country, number, density, forecast of population growth or decline for 2050, main agricultural land (arable land, pastures, the provision of the population, degradation and pollution of the soils), forest resources (including security per capita, share in the area of countries), fresh water resources (including per capita provision and availability), greenhouse gas emissions, including per capita, the proportion of mammals endangered, proportion of areas of preserved ecosystems. The data obtained was displayed on the maps; a common legend is built for them in tabular form. A number of other parameters of the state of territorial resources and the environment were also studied. In the process of research, the most important cities of these countries were also studied and diagrams showing their similarities and differences in a number of indicators were constructed: area, population and population density, time of foundation, climatic and landscape parameters, the presence of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, high-rise construction parameters. The developed methodology is effective for assessing a variety of data on territorial resources that can be used to build models of sustainable development of the largest countries and regions of the Earth.

scholarly journals Controversial topics in agroecology: A European perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-173
Author(s):  
Paola Migliorini ◽  
Paolo Bàrberi ◽  
Stéphane Bellon ◽  
Tommaso Gaifami ◽  
Vassilis D. Gkisakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
European Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
Points Of View

Seven potential controversial topics in agroecology are presented and discussed from a European perspective comparing the position of Agroecology Europe (AEEU) obtained from an iterative, participatory approach with members and compared with published literature, including views from other parts of the world. The seven controversial topics as follows: i) use of agrochemicals; ii) small-scale and peasant farming versus larger farms; iii) technological innovations in agriculture and precision farming; iv) biotechnology and genetic engineering in agriculture; v) local and short food circuits; vi) social justice; vii) gender perspective. The analysis shows that there are diverse points of view related to geographical area and sociopolitical contexts. However, there are several convergences in the ambition to redesign farming and food systems, as a lever acting on several topics, and in considering agroecology with a holistic, participatory, multiactor approach for the needed transition.

scholarly journals Applying the Best-Fit Framework to Assess and Strengthen National Extension and Advisory Services

2017 ◽  
pp. 80-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin Davis ◽  
David J. Spielman
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Extension Agents ◽  
Performance Incentives ◽  
Advisory Services ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Small Scale Farmers ◽  
Best Fit

Agricultural extension and advisory services are critical to supporting technological and institutional changes that can improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in developing countries. However, many extension services are under-resourced, out of date, and need of structural and content changes. However, efforts to systematically strengthen local extension systems often fall into the trap of promoting blueprints that are insufficiently adapted to local context. To that end, researchers developed the best-fit framework in the 2000s to provide impetus for pursuit of more locally-tailored extension solutions. Today, almost a decade later, researchers test the framework under real-world conditions in a cross-country application. This paper examines the application of this framework across six dimensions and seven countries to formulate a set of best-fit recommendations that are also broadly appreciable. The findings show that it is possible to apply the framework to the analysis of EAS across countries while also maintaining a very localized perspective on recommendations. Across the seven countries, certain obvious commonalities exist: The growth in pluralism in extension providers, the persistence of weak incentives for extension agents, and the lack of enabling policies. At the same time, innovative solutions to many of the challenges held in common—ICT-enabled extension, performance incentives, and value-chain oriented extension—are heterogeneous. The framework allows users to pursue change processes in EAS in response to their own local realities.

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