Implications of Land Use Land Cover Transformation for Gendered Livelihoods: Insights from Moyna Basin of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India

The Moyna basin of West Bengal is experiencing a rapid transformation in land use and land cover (LULC) as waterbodies are rapidly increasing at the expense of low-lying agricultural lands. The transformation in the LULC pattern in Moyna basin has been studied earlier based on the focus of climate change, biodiversity and other environmental issues. However, very little is known about the implications of this transformation on gender roles, responsibilities and livelihoods. This study examines the interconnectedness between LULC transformation and its differential impact on the livelihoods and workload of men and women using an intersectional perspective in three villages across Moyna block. The data were collected using a mixed-method approach and comprised of three major sources of information—observations, photographs and interviews. Results show that the changes in LULC have occurred partly as an impact of climate change and partly due to the inclination towards aquaculture due to decline in profitability of agriculture and farming practices. In the context of these livelihood changes, a fundamental shift in gendered roles has occurred. It has been found that the switch to aquaculture has led to two prominent outcomes, that is, depeasantisation of agricultural workers and defeminisation of the overall workforce. While women and men were equally displaced from agriculture with the advent of aquaculture, women were faced with additional challenges of unequal social gender norms and limited opportunities for alternative employment. It further shows that, the impacts of land use change on livelihoods are diverse and is a complex process as factors, like—class, caste, patriarchal family relations, family structure and the nature of the labour market intersect with gender and it also makes some women more vulnerable than other men and women.

Indonesian professionals’ perspectives on flexible working arrangements as an alternative employment option post-Covid 19 recovery

The objective of the study is to assess how industry professionals perceive the implementation of flexible work arrangements (FWA) and what challenges are likely to enable or hinder its adoption in Indonesian companies. We conducted an intensive qualitative study for three months, guided by phenomenology, with 15 industry professionals representing multi-sectorial industries, as respondents. Laddered open-ended interviewing using two series of focus group discussions was employed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Our findings show that industry professionals are in favor of FWA due to the many benefits it could bring to the employees like work-life balance, health and safety, flexible hours, convenience and comfort, and efficiency in the utilization of office space facilities.

ACTUALIZATION OF EXTRA-ECONOMIC FACTORS OF INFORMATION SOCIETY IN NEW ECONOMY SYSTEM OF STATE, REGIONS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL STRUCTURES

The article substantiates the actualization of extra-economic factors in context of transformation processes and globalization challenges of information development of socioeconomic relations. The need to study this part of the components is also associated with the processes of modernization, regresstion of moral and spiritual qualities, loss of cultural identity and originality in achieving individual and regional goals. The formation and establishment of these factors in the information society requires new coordinaton efforts from the state regarding the effectiveness of activity of economic entities. The purpose of the article is to identify the role and particularities of the influence of extra-economic factors on the development of the Ukrainian economy and society as a whole during informatization. Methods of research are used in the work are the following: scientific generalization (when systematizing various components of extraeconomic factors); abstract-logical and theoretical generalization (when formulating conclusions); comparison (in the process of identifying the degree of influence of individual factors); concretization (when clarifying the concept of extra-economic factors); systematization, sociological analysis (when determining the rating of the importance of factors), etc. The author’s clarification of the essence of extra-economic factors, which are presented mainly as moral and spiritual, creative components connected with consciousness by eternal human values, is carried out. The object of research is the partcularities of the formation of such socio-cultural components as political aspects, trust, information, culture, mentality, religion, format of generation of Millennials, which can be decisive in achieving the goals of social transformation and can also hinder the development of these processes during informatization. The particularities of the impact of extra-economic factors on the development of socio-economic processes and phenomena are outlined, in particular: increasing profitability and reducing business depenses, intensifying innovation, increasing employment, forming value-labor orientations of workers, overcoming loss of the employees’ personal identity, modernization, cultural-spiritual and economic reproduction, opportunities for alternative employment, etc. The results of a sociological study regarding the determination of importance rating of extra-economic factors, which allowed to determine the main positions of these factors in the social and labor attitudes of domestic respondents and to outline certain social creativity in the development of socio-economic processes. Keywords: information society, new economy system, extra-economic factors, trust, state and regions, entrepreneurship, innovations. JEL Classification D83, J22, O33 Formulas: 0; fig.: 0; tabl.: 2; bibl.: 22.

Market Gardening as a Livelihood Strategy: a Case Study of Rural-Urban Migrants in Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia

<p>This research investigates the role market gardening plays in the livelihood strategies of rural-urban migrants. It contributes to the literature on market gardening, livelihood strategies and migration by positioning market gardening as a highly flexible and adaptable mechanism for managing the rural-urban transition among households with few labour alternatives. Such perspective elevates market gardening from simply being a land use category to being an active instrument in the management of rural-urban migration processes. The expanding urban centre of Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia is used as a case study of a rapidly expanding small town in a predominantly rural domain. Market gardening emerges as an important source of income for both individuals and households as rural-urban migrants negotiate the transition between farming and urban settlement. Many rural-urban migrants adopt market gardening or associated market selling as their first employment in urban centres. First generation migrants often have low off-farm skills which limit their ability to take on alternative occupations. While a rise in market gardening activity is enabled by a growth in demand for fresh vegetables, in the context of Sarawak it is also heavily influenced by the involvement of the state that actively encourages participation, provides advice to farmers and offers subsidies. The expansion of roads from rural to urban areas also plays an important role in improving market gardeners access to urban markets, as well as their access to material inputs. At the same time, increased access has heightened competition by attracting new entrants to urban vegetable markets. Interviews with 10 sellers and 30 market gardeners from Kapit were conducted in 2004. In contrast to market gardening in larger centres documented in the literature, this small isolated town case identifies market gardeners as typically middle-aged, rural-urban migrant women with limited education and employment skills other than subsistence farming. Market gardening and associated selling is adopted because they are unable to acquire alternative employment to support their household and children’s education. As such, market gardening in the urban setting is a logical extension of the woman’s role as the primary farmer in rural areas.</p>

Market Gardening as a Livelihood Strategy: a Case Study of Rural-Urban Migrants in Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia

<p>This research investigates the role market gardening plays in the livelihood strategies of rural-urban migrants. It contributes to the literature on market gardening, livelihood strategies and migration by positioning market gardening as a highly flexible and adaptable mechanism for managing the rural-urban transition among households with few labour alternatives. Such perspective elevates market gardening from simply being a land use category to being an active instrument in the management of rural-urban migration processes. The expanding urban centre of Kapit, Sarawak, Malaysia is used as a case study of a rapidly expanding small town in a predominantly rural domain. Market gardening emerges as an important source of income for both individuals and households as rural-urban migrants negotiate the transition between farming and urban settlement. Many rural-urban migrants adopt market gardening or associated market selling as their first employment in urban centres. First generation migrants often have low off-farm skills which limit their ability to take on alternative occupations. While a rise in market gardening activity is enabled by a growth in demand for fresh vegetables, in the context of Sarawak it is also heavily influenced by the involvement of the state that actively encourages participation, provides advice to farmers and offers subsidies. The expansion of roads from rural to urban areas also plays an important role in improving market gardeners access to urban markets, as well as their access to material inputs. At the same time, increased access has heightened competition by attracting new entrants to urban vegetable markets. Interviews with 10 sellers and 30 market gardeners from Kapit were conducted in 2004. In contrast to market gardening in larger centres documented in the literature, this small isolated town case identifies market gardeners as typically middle-aged, rural-urban migrant women with limited education and employment skills other than subsistence farming. Market gardening and associated selling is adopted because they are unable to acquire alternative employment to support their household and children’s education. As such, market gardening in the urban setting is a logical extension of the woman’s role as the primary farmer in rural areas.</p>

Shy Times in 1850s Wellington: will the real architects please stand up?

Wellington was in a period of transition in the 1850s. The first flurry of settlement was easing somewhat and trading was becoming established. However, the earthquakes of 1848 and 1855 shook not only buildings not designed to withstand them, but also the confidence of the immigrant population. People were quick to realise that timber flexed better than brick or cob, but, in the process, they lost several of the earliest buildings with any pretensions to architectural merit. Together with the shaky nature of the economy, and the fact that Auckland was the capital city, there was little incentive for men whose sole training was in architecture to attempt to practice full time.The paucity of architectural records from the 1850s further complicates accurate evaluation of the situation, but it is clear that many of the people designing buildings had multiple skills in several other fields besides architecture. Buildings definitely dated to the 1850s that remain in Wellington can be numbered on one hand and not one of them can be said to have been designed by an architect. The two men with the largest tallies of Wellington building designs in the 1850s also claimed skills in surveying and civil engineering, whereas the two (possibly three) trained architects that we know of seem to have obtained minimal work in their field and to have largely diversified into other occupations. A further five names are associated with Wellington architecture in some way during the 1850s, either with the design of single buildings or simply advertising their services in local newspapers - with no evidence they actually obtained any work. In this paper we look at the backgrounds of the major designers including the trained architects, their work and a few of the factors which caused most of them to seek alternative employment.

Multiple pathways towards achieving a living income for different types of smallholder tree-crop commodity farmers

Many sources indicate that smallholder tree-crop commodity farmers are poor, but there is a paucity of data on how many of them are poor and the depth of poverty. The living income concept establishes the net annual income required for a household in a place to afford a decent standard of living. Based on datasets on smallholder cocoa and tea farmers in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Kenya and literature, we conclude that a large proportion of such farmers do not have the potential to earn a living income based on their current situation. Because these farmers typically cultivate small farm sizes and have low capacity to invest and to diversify, there are no silver bullets to move them out of poverty. We present an assessment approach that results in insights into which interventions can be effective in improving the livelihoods of different types of farmers. While it is morally imperative that all households living in poverty are supported to earn a living income, the assessment approach and literature indicate that focussing on short- to medium-term interventions for households with a low likelihood of generating a living income could be: improving food security and health, finding off-farm and alternative employment, and social assistance programmes. In the long term, land governance policies could address land fragmentation and secure rights. Achieving living incomes based on smallholder commodity production requires more discussion and engagement with farmers and their household members and within their communities, coordination between all involved stakeholders, sharing lessons learnt and data.

Surviving Amidst COVID-19 Economic Impacts in Tanzania: Learning from Porters and Guides at Kilimanjaro National Park

In Tanzania, tourism industry employed about one million people which is 11.2 percent of total work force in Tanzania. This is due to the fact that Tanzanian is having many distinct natural features that attract tourists such as Kilimanjaro Mountain which is the roof of Africa. Among those one million jobs in tourism industry, porters and guides of Mount Kilimanjaro are included. COVID-19 has impacted tourism industry negatively to the point that the industry was shut down in 2020 and all jobs and employment were cut off. Among the most affected groups are porters and guides in Mount Kilimanjaro their jobs are temporary and depend on seasons. This study sought to explore the economic impact caused by COVID-19 pandemic to porters and guides and the strategies that they used to survive amidst the difficult period of COVID-19 to make a living and fulfill their family’s basic needs. Learning from these porters and guides the study revealed the major negative economic impact they faced was reduction in the individual and family income caused by decrease in the number of visitors due to COVID-19 pandemic. The study further revealed that, there are number of aspects that made them survive amidst COVID-19 pandemic such personal saving, gifts and grants from once served tourists, subsistence allowances from their employers and engaging in other income generating activities such as subsistence small scale farming, sedentary livestock keeping, seeking for alternative employment and engaging in small business and entrepreneurship. The study recommends that porters and guides have to develop some plans that can make them well prepared to cope up with the negative economic impacts that will be caused by any other disasters to the industry in future time. Keywords: COVID-19, Economic Impacts, Porters, Guides

Proposition and Validation of Retention Model for Managers in Select Indian Private Sector Banks

Purpose- Focusing on private banking industry in Delhi (India), the study intent to identify the direct and indirect influence of select individual, internal (organizational) and external (environment) variables on retention of bank managers. Three retention models for banking industry with the said variables had been hypothesized and tested to find that most appropriate model. Design/Methodology/Approach - The required data of 301 lower and middle level managers was finalized using stratified random sampling. The managers examined for the study were with minimum two years of experience in the same bank. The study was conducted in two phases- (i) Significant determinants of retention were identified using multiple and hierarchical regression analysis, (ii) Involving only significant determinants three retention models were created and tested using Structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings- SEM result of best fit model suggests that perceived alternative employment opportunities, perceived organizations prestige, perceived competitiveness of pay, pay and benefits satisfaction, career advancement opportunities, work-life balance, and job satisfaction have significant effect on retention of managers and the result is consistent with regression analysis of the work. Moreover, final model showed retention acting as mediator between other variables and retention, though the indirect effect was found to be very weak. Practical Implications- The findings of the study will be serviceable for the banks want to keep those managers who had already spend a good amount of time in the bank. Originality/Value- Rather than including two or three predictors, the current work has considered determinants of retention from various dimensions. The study extended its area by making an effort to involve only those who retained in the organization for two years and can actually have an opinion on the matter or factors affecting their stay.

Money Matters: Sector Differences, Competition, and the Public Personnel System

This study explores whether public personnel systems, particularly their compensation systems, are flexible and responsive to market wages in a competitive labor market. Focusing on registered nurses, we explore whether and how the public, private nonprofit, and for-profit labor markets influence each other in determining wages. We also examine if sector plays a role in determining wages. We use American Community Survey data from 2016 and 2017 to test these expectations. Fixed effects regressions and seemingly unrelated regressions with Chow tests reveal that higher wages in the dominant for-profit sector appear to drive up wages in the other two sectors, and vice versa. The results imply that public personnel systems are not so rigid and inflexible as perceived. Rather, they are sensitive to supply and demand and offer wages responding to competition from other sectors. Moreover, public employees do not ignore competitive opportunities in alternative employment markets in the private sectors. Students of public employment should not overlook the private sectors either. The markets are distinctive but not independent.