An overview of family fish farming: social, politics and food security implications

One characteristic that can be observed in family farming is the diversity of activities that are carried out concurrently on the property, providing and guaranteeing products for personal consumption or sale over the course of the year. Fish farming, an activity destined for fish production, is often one of these activities developed by family farmers and contributes to the access to quality protein for rural families and to increase income. Furthermore, the techniques used for fish production in family farming can foment a sustainable form of production. However, the lack of incentives regarding extension projects, marketing barriers, the lack of integration of traditional communities in decision making, and the absence of adequate technical information for the reality of rural properties make this activity limited and even ineffective in some regions. The encouragement of this activity could provide family farmers with improved economic conditions and food security and, consequently, the reduction of poverty in rural areas. The present study originated from a bibliographic review that addresses the activity of fish production and its impacts on the development of rural family activities, food security, and public and social policies for the maintenance, regularity, and quality of the final product.

Design and Development of a Hybrid DC-DC Converter for Solar-Battery-Based Standalone Milk Vending Machine

Dairying has become a major secondary source of income for several rural families. The easily perishable nature of milk increases the spoilage of the product and reduces the dairy farms' productivity in rural areas due to power supply shortage issues. In order to overcome the inaccessibility of proper preservation strategies, this chapter proposed a hybrid DC-DC converter for a solar battery-powered milk vending machine. This proposed system can work continuously and provides an uninterrupted power supply to maintain the milk quality at an optimum level. Moreover, the proposed system utilized a novel converter to reduce the number of power conversion stages and compact the system. Besides, the proposed converter can achieve a higher gain ratio with fewer components. Furthermore, a proper algorithmic-based control scheme has been implemented to maintain effective power flow management. Finally, to verify the feasibility and performance of the system, detailed results are obtained at different dynamic conditions, and various case studies are presented in this chapter.

Impact of MAPs on improving the socio-economic situation of rural families in Kosovo

he medicinal and aromatic plants sector is considered a very important sector for the economy of Kosovo since it can provide employment, income, and export growth. Based on this, we assess the impact of the subsidy schemes from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Development (MAFRD) using a propensity score matching improving the farmers' gross income. The main purpose of the study was to assess whether subsidy schemes have an impact on the farmer's gross income by using a propensity score matching model to match beneficiaries to non-beneficiaries. Results showed that beneficiaries of subsidy schemes make 3,682.09 Euros more per year than non-beneficiaries (95% confidence interval 2,349.9 Euros to 5,012.90 Euros). Using logistic regression, we found that subsidy schemes, market prices, and reductions of unfair competition are the three most important factors affecting farmers' decisions to collect and cultivate MAPs.

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Agroecological Family Farming in the Backlands Territory from Araripe in Pernambuco

The present reality of the Pandemic caused by the COVID-19, is characterized by new adaptations in the decrease of the social and economic activities, with the social isolations, in cities and countryside communities, causing a decrease in the commercialization of food by the familiar agriculture, damaging the activities of social organization and rural technical advice in the sustainable development of agricultural activities, by the non-governmental institutions and representative entities of the civil society, in the implementation of public policies assisted to the farmers, having a greater consequence in the social vulnerability and rural poverty. The present article aims to study the effects of the pandemic on family farming in the territory of the backlands from Araripe in the state of Pernambuco, describing the strategies adopted in the social organization of countryside communities, in reducing the social impacts of the pandemic on family farming. Through a bibliographical research, based on academic literature, newspapers and institutional reports, on the activities of rural technical assistance with principles of agro-ecology, developed during the period of incidences of the pandemic. As a result, technological strategies were identified in the remote media, for the activities of rural technical assistance, organization of marketing of food products from family farming, at home, in greengrocers and emporiums of solidary marketing, assisted by non-governmental institutions, in the development of motivational initiatives for rural families, in overcoming social and economic difficulties, during this phase of social isolation and safety protocols to the health of countryside area families and the entire world population.

Transformation of family-based entrepreneurial activities in rural areas

The shift in policy focus from agriculture to rural development enables rural families to diversify their economic activities. Household-based resources, particularly human capital, are essential for capitalizing on newly developed opportunities. Locals with sufficient resources seize possibilities in agriculture and emerging economic sectors such as tourism. A case study (33 in-depth interviews) of Caucasus mountain households in Kazbegi and Mestia municipalities revealed the importance of human capital in attaining other types of resources, such as social and financial capital, and, ultimately, in the process of family-based economic development. Local families are encouraged to engage in and embrace contemporary farming practices in order to determine the most effective sustainable livelihoods. Along with long-established industries, households employ traditional knowledge to enter entrepreneurial tourism activities.

ATUAÇÃO DO AGENTE COMUNITÁRIO DE SAÚDE NA ESTRATÉGIA SAÚDE DA FAMÍLIA NA ZONA RURAL

The Community Health Workers (CHW) performs the initial care in households, in order to collect information and interact in a healthy way with the community. It is important to understand the role that these professionals perform in rural areas, as their duties are of fundamental importance within the Family Health Strategy (FHS). Given this, the present study seeks, through a narrative review, to find scientific evidence and information in the available literature regarding the difficulties and challenges of CHW's work in rural areas. After surveying and collecting the results, 15 articles were selected, which showed that the difficulties faced by the CHWs who work in the Family Health Strategy (FHS) in the rural area are mainly related to 1) difficulty of access to rural families, 2) overload of tasks inherent to other professionals of the ESF, 3) low qualification and 4) little recognition. Even with all these difficulties, it was proven that the role of this professional is of extreme significance in promoting health actions and improving the quality of life in the communities in which they act. This study concludes that these professionals have changed the reality of many communities; and that they can optimize their potential in promoting health in rural areas through public policies and initiatives that contribute to minimizing the difficulties related to their work standards.

Exploring the Effect of Family Life and Neighbourhood on the Willingness of Household Waste Sorting

For developing countries, garbage classification has become an important measure to handle the environmental pollution crisis. This empirical study examined urban and rural families’ willingness to sort and deposit garbage at fixed recycling points. We found that urban residents demonstrated a significantly higher willingness to sort and deposit garbage at designated points compared to rural residents. The average number of family meals per month, average monthly household food expenditure, household cleanliness, and household crowding (spaciousness) are significantly related to a family’s willingness to sort garbage. In terms of neighbourhood factors, families living in neighbourhoods with property management are more likely to have a higher willingness to sort garbage. The degree of air pollution in the neighbourhood also has an impact on the family’s willingness to sort garbage. This study proposes that neighbourhood factors have a non-negligible influence on a household’s willingness to sort and put garbage in designated locations. Especially in urban neighbourhoods, the willingness of residents living in commodity housing neighbourhoods to sort and place garbage at designated locations is significantly higher than that of residents living in other neighbourhoods. To improve the implementation effect of the waste sorting policy, we suggest that the configuration of neighbourhood garbage recycling services and facilities should be improved so that people can sort garbage more conveniently.

Telehealth May Reduce Rural-Urban Disparities in Accessing Pediatric Psychiatry Services: A Case Study of Trends in Central Ohio from 2020 to 2021 (Preprint)

BACKGROUND The rural-urban disparities in access to child behavioral health services are well known and are further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic related restrictions on travel and in person visits. Fortunately, regulatory flexibilities allowed rapid transition of telehealth to reduce contagion while maintaining continuity of care. However, there has been contradicting evidence on whether telehealth narrows the rural-urban gap. OBJECTIVE To examine the telehealth utilization trends and no-show rates between urban vs rural areas for pediatric psychiatry visits after the public health emergency was declared. METHODS Using 2020-2021 electronic health records (EHR) data from the psychiatry department at a large urban academic pediatric hospital, we calculated the telemedicine utilization rates by patient’s residence area (urban vs rural). We used two proportions z-tests to examine whether the observed differences in no-show rates among 4 types of visit (urban office visit, urban telemedicine visit, rural office visit, and rural telemedicine visit) were statistically significant. RESULTS Telemedicine utilization rates (~80%) are comparable in urban and rural areas. The average no-show rates for telemedicine visits were around 17% for both urban and rural patients, while the average no-show rates for office visits were around 20% for urban patients and fluctuated between 15% and 36% for rural patients. Two proportions z-tests indicated that, for rural patients, telemedicine visits had significantly lower no-show rates than office visits between Sept 2020 and Feb 2021, but such difference turned insignificant after March 2021. CONCLUSIONS Telehealth improved access to child psychiatric services for rural families when primary delivery of services was telehealth-based. Returning to in-person only options and limiting telehealth access would be detrimental to behavioral health outcomes of rural children that have been traditionally underserved. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

Chatbot as Rural Extensionist for Small Beekeepers

Beekeeping is an important activity for the country, generating jobs and income for several rural families. However, the lack of technical assistance reduces the chances of success in production. So our objective with this work was to create a chatbot capable of taking technical assistance to small producers. We created the chatbee and delivered it to beekeepers and small producers who intend to enter the area, and at the end of 90 days we sent a form with some questions to be answered, and from the answers we realized that the function of bringing technical assistance was carried out by the chatbot.