Water resources and development of women in arid regions in northern China

This paper describes the difficult situation faced by women living in arid areas of China, based on research carried out by the author. She describes the causes and effects of poverty in the targeted areas, and postulates what roles women could play to alleviate poverty and improve the environment in arid areas. In addressing policies which could lead to sustainable development, she discusses improved education in a number of areas; public policies aimed at improving women's conditions; ways to involve women in environmental protection; encouraging migration to reduce environmental degradation; and improving child-bearing conditions.     

Agricultural Development and Associated Environmental and Ethical Issues in South Asia

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world, where despite a slow growth, agriculture remains the backbone of rural economy as it employs one half to over 90 percent of the labor force. Both extensive and intensive policy measures for agriculture development to feed the massive population of the region have resulted in land degradation and desertification, water scarcity, pollution from agrochemicals, and loss of agricultural biodiversity. The social and ethical aspects portray even a grimmer picture of the region with growing poverty mainly, amongst small farmers, food scarcity, and overall poor quality of life. This article reviews the historical perspective of agriculture development in the region and gives a panoramic view of the policy initiatives and their environmental as well as social and ethical spin-offs. The aim is to explore the environmental and ethical dimensions of the agricultural development in South Asia and recommend a holistic approach in formulating plans and programs to combat environmental degradation, hunger, and poverty resulting from unsustainable agricultural practices.     

A multicriteria model for planning agricultural regions within a context of groundwater rational management

Current international research focuses on topics like sustainable development, regional planning, environmental decision making and implementation, biodiversity conservation plus a number of other relevant issues, especially at times of economic crisis as today. Economic growth and environmental protection can go hand in hand, provided that decision makers develop and use tools and insights targeting in the implementation of successful and robust long term policies. This paper was developed in the framework of a European research project and implements a Multicriteria Mathematical Programming model that optimises the sustainable management of agricultural regions taking in account the available resources (land, labour, capital) and environmental parameters (agrochemicals, water consumption). The model achieves the optimum farm plan in the area combining different criteria to a utility function under a set of constraints and the spatial integration of the vulnerability maps of the regions into the model enables the regional authorities to design policies for the optimal agricultural development and the groundwater protection from the agricultural land uses. Furthermore, the model is used to simulate different scenarios and policies by the local stakeholders, due to changes on different social, economic and environmental parameters. In this way the decision makers can achieve alternative farm plans and agricultural land uses as well as to estimate economic, social and environmental impacts of different policies. The model has been applied to an agricultural region in Northern Greece and proved to be a valuable tool in the implementation of environmental policies and actions, especially in agricultural regions in a delicate balance as the study area.     

Reconciling people's livelihoods and environmental conservation in the rural landscapes in Kenya: Opportunities and challenges in the Amboseli landscapes

Two of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2000 are: eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; and ensuring environmental sustainability. The link between depressed livelihoods and unsustainable use of land and natural resources can be seen in Kenyan rangelands. Here, the local community is dependent on land and its resources for livelihoods, but the demand and competition is increasing, endangering both the resources they depend on and threatening environmental health. Amboseli is an Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) area that experiences ecological constraints, resource limitations, and low economic investment. Local communities in such landscapes are resource-dependent for their daily livelihoods, and have few socio-economic opportunities. Pastoralism, which is the main source of their wealth, continues to decline and exploitation by a few local elites and poor local leadership further depresses livelihoods. Other challenges to these poor rural landscapes are increasing human population which increases demands on natural resources and environment; persistent hunger; low universal primary education; poor gender equality and empowerment of women; environmental degradation; and lack of local and global partnership for development. This paper focuses on the two Millennium Development Goals mentioned above. Linkages, challenges and opportunities in enhancing rural livelihoods while promoting environmental sustainability in rural landscapes of the Amboseli Rural Landscape are discussed.     

Women and energy resources management

Women need access to energy resources in order to meet their basic needs for food, shelter, clean water, health care and employment and to improve their family's living conditions. Due to population growth and economic development the demand for the main energy sources in low-income rural areas, biomass, is far greater than the supply, and women have no choice but to overexploit the increasingly scarce resources just to survive. Improvements in energy efficiency and an increased use of renewable energy sources could help women to balance their immediate livelihood needs and the long-term ecological needs. However, women generally lack access to these improved energy technologies. This article explores the causes of women's limited access to improved energy technologies and why energy polices and programmes often fail to address women's specific needs and concerns. Strategies of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) are outlined as examples of approaches aiming at improving women's access to information and sustainable technologies and promoting women's full participation in environmental decision and policy making.     

Land Use Change and Land Degradation in Southeastern Mediterranean Spain

The magnitude of the environmental and social consequences of soil erosion and land degradation in semiarid areas of the Mediterranean region has long been recognized and studied. This paper investigates the interrelationship between land use/cover (LULC) changes and land degradation using remotely sensed and ancillary data for southeastern Spain. The area of study, the Xaló River catchment situated in the north of the Alicante Province, has been subjected to a number of LULC changes during the second half of the 20th century such as agricultural abandonment, forest fires, and tourist development. Aerial photographs dating back to 1956 were used for the delineation of historic LULC types; Landsat ETM+ data were used for the analysis and mapping of current conditions. Two important indicators of land degradation, namely, susceptibility to surface runoff and soil erosion, were estimated for the two dates using easily parametrizable models. The comparison of 1956 to 2000 conditions shows an overall “recuperating” trend over the catchment and increased susceptibility to soil erosion only in 3% of the catchment area. The results also identify potential degradation hot-spots where mitigation measures should be taken to prevent further degradation. The readily implemented methodology, based on modest data requirements demonstrated by this study, is a useful tool for catchment to regional scale land use change and land degradation studies and strategic planning for environmental management.     

Investments in agricultural water management for poverty reduction in Africa: Case studies of Limpopo,Nile, and Volta river basins

Much of Sub‐Saharan Africa is burdened with water scarcity and poverty. Continentally, less than four percent of Africa's renewable water resources are withdrawn for agriculture and other uses. Investments in agricultural water management can contribute in several ways to achieving the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability. Increased yield and cropping area and shifts to higher valued crops could help boost the income of rural households, generate more employment, and lower consumer food prices. These investments can also stabilize output, income and employment, and have favourable impacts on education, nutrition and health, and social equity. Investments in agricultural water management can cut poverty by uplifting the entitlements and transforming the opportunity structure for the poor. The overall role of investments in agricultural water management in eradicating hunger and poverty is analyzed. This paper contributes to the present debate and efforts to identify strategies and interventions that can effectively contribute to poverty reduction in Africa. It provides an overview of population growth, malnutrition, income distribution and poverty for countries in three case study river basins — Limpopo, Nile, and Volta. With discussions on the contribution of agriculture to national income and employment generation, the paper explores the linkages among water resources investments, agricultural growth, employment, and poverty alleviation. It examines the potential for expansion in irrigation for vertical and horizontal growth in agricultural productivity, via gains in yield and cropping area to boost the agricultural output. Factors constraining such potential, in terms of scarcity and degradation of land and water resources, and poor governance and weak institutions, are also outlined. The paper argues that increased investments in land and water resources and related rural infrastructure are a key pathway to enhance agricultural productivity and to catalyze agricultural and economic growth for effective poverty alleviation.     

Climate change and adoption of sustainable land management practices in the Niger basin of Benin

Due to the important role that the agricultural sector plays in sustaining growth and reducing poverty in developing countries, the adoption of practices that have the potential to simultaneously improve agricultural productivity while minimizing environmental impacts is essential. This paper examines the determinants of farmers’ perceptions of climate change and subsequent adoption of sustainable land management practices in the Niger basin of Benin. Binary and multivariate probit models are applied in a two‐stage regression procedure to cross‐sectional data collected through a survey of 545 randomly selected farm households in 28 villages. The findings indicate that there are substitutabilities among three pairs of sustainable land management practices being used by the farmers. Climate change perception is positively related to land tenure, experience in farming, number of relatives, tractor use, and membership in farmers’ organizations, and negatively related to household size, remoteness, and plough use. Moreover, the findings reveal that the uptake of land management practices is related to assets, land tenure, education level of the household head, remoteness, social network, non‐irrigated land size, having a farm located near a river/lake/stream, tractor and plough use, being a subsistence farmer or not, and memberships in farmers’ organizations. The adoption of sustainable land management practices could be encouraged through improving access to markets, adequate roads, and technologies, as well as by promoting membership in farmers’ organizations.     

Artisanal mining: an economic stepping stone for women

Artisanal mining is about reaping the riches of the earth to make a living. Artisanal mining is the informal, and more primitive type of small-scale mining. It is usually characterized by individuals or groups who very inefficiently exploit superficial mineral deposits, often illegally and with simple equipment. Artisanal mining is also about women who take employment which involves dangerous working conditions and seldom leads to economic security. Artisanal mining is, furthermore, about women venturing into new and challenging territories and subsequently changing their role. This article on women and artisanal mining is a vignette that underscores all the obstacles to women's fulfilment. These critical and cross-sectoral obstacles are, to cite a few, economic exclusion, discrimination in terms of access to land and natural resources, the increasing feminization of poverty and the lack of recognition of women's valuable work. Two-pronged action is recommended: to give women themselves hope and recognition for their isolated efforts, and that their endeavours are acknowledged breakthroughs; and to reshape the environment, which is oppressing these women, to create a new one.     

Degradation–environment–society spiral: A spatial auto‐logistic model in Thailand

In this contemporary interpretation of the widespread land degradation problem in Southeast Asia, it is hypothesized that spatial interplay of environmental and socioeconomic predictors determines the occurrence of land degradation. Village surveys, remote sensing and spatial auto‐logistic modelling of the relationship between degradation and land use dynamics in Lam Phra Phloeng watershed of Thailand enabled 80.2% of land to be classified correctly in terms of the presence or absence of erosion and explained 53.2% of the total variation. Cultivation and dependence on agriculture for livelihood positively and significantly affect degradation. Lack of access to institutional credit and land titles significantly increased the probability of occurrence of degradation. On the other hand, education and social cohesion are negatively associated with the occurrence of degradation. The Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to measures the performance of the model. The calculated area under the curve (0.879) suggests that significant predictor variables in the model can be confidently used to forecast the likelihood of occurrence of degradation and thus to identify priority areas for intervention. Policies to reduce land degradation should include measures to reduce pressure on the land, including alternative income sources. Policies could mobilize capital to invest in encouraging nature‐based tourism and other off‐farm income options.     

新疆北疆地区少数民族贫困县可持续发展水平时空变化解构——以木垒哈萨克自治县为例

可持续发展水平时空解构表明,木垒县可持续发展能力很弱,资源问题成为限制其经济发展、社会发展及环境保护的主要因素。近8年来,木垒县可持续发展水平虽然呈良性上升状态,但其上升主要归功于社会发展因素,经济发展指数、资源指数等对其上升的推动性并不强。仅以提高经济发展水平为目的的掠夺式开发,使得资源匮乏的木垒县因此出现较为严重的资源性环境问题,并制约经济水平的提高。上述分析表明,资源指数成为新疆北疆地区少数民族贫困县可持续发展的基础,少数民族贫困县的贫困现状与其可持续发展能力弱是密切联系的。消除贫困的前提条件是实现可持续发展,因此,提高新疆少数民族贫困县的可持续发展水平这项任务迫切而重要。     

Reforestation Strategies Amid Social Instability: Lessons from Afghanistan

Foreign and domestic government agencies and other international organizations pursue reforestation programs in rural upper watershed areas of Afghanistan over the past decade to alleviate poverty, combat the insurgency and rehabilitate a depleted forest resource base. Popular programs incorporate cash-for-work to conduct hillside terracing, check dam construction and tree-planting for nut production, fuel wood, timber, dune stabilization, and erosion abatement. Programmatic approaches have varied as a function of accessibility, security and local objectives. Uncertain land tenure and use rights, weak local environmental management capacity, and a focus on agricultural production to meet immediate needs limit interest, nationally and locally. Unreliable security, a lack of high quality tree planting stock, limited technical knowledge and coordination among government agencies, and poor security hamper program expansion. Reforestation success would be most likely where these issues are least acute. The Afghan government should focus on supporting community based natural resource management, developing and disseminating improved conservation tree nursery strategies, and promoting watershed management schemes that incorporate forestry, range management and agronomic production. Reforestation practitioners could benefit from the human and material resources now present as part of the international war effort. Successes and failures encountered in Afghanistan should be considered in order to address similar problems in insecure regions elsewhere when reforestation may help reverse environmental degradation and contribute to broader social stabilization efforts.     

Environmental change in the mid-Boteti area of north-central Botswana: Biophysical processes and human perceptions

Increased interest in environmental change issues has led researchers to consider more integrated approaches to change dynamics. This paper examines change in terms of land degradation in north-central Botswana from both biophysical and human perspectives. Although seasonal and periodic droughts were prevalent, analysis of rainfall data over the past 70 years revealed no downward trend. However, indicators of declining productivity such as soil erosion, loss of vegetation cover, and a declining groundwater table were amply evident. The GIS analysis of remotely sensed data has shown that complete vegetation recovery after drought is not taking place, particularly in the south-central part of the study area. These areas contained the highest human and livestock population densities. The local people acknowledged facing increasing resource depletion and indicated drought as the main cause. Pressures on available resources, particularly during drought periods, appeared to have impeded the regenerative capacity of the natural vegetation cover, thereby inducing land degradation. This situation may not easily be rectified because of widespread poverty and inappropriate local perceptions of the solutions. Both of these hinder the adoption of sustainable land management.     

栽种沙枣以改善黄河三角洲地区生态环境

胜利油田位于我国黄河三角洲地区，潜水位高，水的矿化度大。生态环境恶劣，对植物尤其对木本植物的生长不利，整个地区生长的多是抗盐碱能力强的草本植物。针对油田的特殊环境条件，综合有关资料，介绍了以沙枣为代表的植物特性，特别强调了其抗盐碱、降低土壤矿化度和潜水位、增加土壤有机质和引起植被变化的特性。指出黄河三角洲也有些土质较好的、适于作物和木本植物生长的地区，改良盐碱地可以以这些地区为基点，放射性地向外逐步试验沙枣的种植，以探索改善生态环境的途径。努力做到边发展经济，边改善环境，达到经济效益、社会效益和环境效益三统一。     

Water and the potential for social instability: Livelihoods, migration and the building of society

In much of the Third World, access to secure water for irrigation, particularly groundwater, reduces vulnerability, stabilizes livelihoods,alleviates poverty and 'entitles' populations to education and other forms of capital accumulation. Water resource development can, as a result, be used as a key tool for addressing the social roots of instability. The reverse is also true — problems such as groundwater overdraft contribute to poverty and are often at the root of forced migration and the creation of underemployed and unstable displaced populations. Water is fundamental to regional as well as local security.
The benefits of water resource development and the risks associated with unsustainable use patterns are particularly critical in arid regions. Patterns of water use that are unsustainable can play a positive role in the transition of populations from nomadic or migratory to stable communities, where people have access to education and asset accumulation. The exit is, however, as important as the entry. In many regions, the majority of the population now need to make the transition from agriculture to non–agricultural livelihoods. Many people, particularly the wealthy, may already be doing this. Understanding and enabling transition represents one of the most important policy challenges for coming decades.
Using examples from India, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other countries, this article documents some of the connections between water and security and clarifies the importance of effective solutions to water problems and to social transition in arid regions.     

Vulnerability of the South African farming sector to climate change and variability: An indicator approach

This paper analyses the vulnerability of South African agriculture to climate change and variability by developing a vulnerability index and comparing vulnerability indicators across the nine provinces of the country. Nineteen environmental and socio‐economic indicators are identified to reflect the three components of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The results of the study show that the regions most exposed to climate change and variability do not always overlap with those experiencing high sensitivity or low adaptive capacity. Furthermore, vulnerability to climate change and variability is intrinsically linked with social and economic development. The Western Cape and Gauteng provinces, which have high levels of infrastructure development, high literacy rates, and low shares of agriculture in total GDP, are relatively low on the vulnerability index. In contrast, the highly vulnerable regions of Limpopo, Kwazulu‐Natal and the Eastern Cape are characterised by densely populated rural areas, large numbers of small‐scale farmers, high dependency on rain‐fed agriculture and high land degradation. These large differences in the extent of vulnerability among provinces suggest that policymakers should develop region‐specific policies and address climate change at the local level.     

Knowledge,attitude and behavior of farmers in farmland conservation in China: an application of the structural equation model

We analyzed the relationship between the conservation behavior of farmers and their environmental attitude and knowledge, whilst controlling for exogenous socio-economic factors. We employed the structural equation model with cross-sectional data from 442 farmers from the Guanzhong Plain of China. Results showed that local farmers generally possessed a positive environmental attitude and undertook considerable conservation action. Conservation behavior was directly affected by environmental attitude and indirectly by environmental knowledge (via attitude). Social networks, farm size, land rights, age and incentives were significant exogenous explanatory variables. Thus, understanding the importance of socio-behavioral characteristics, including the environmental attitude and knowledge of farmers, is important for the development of farmland conservation policies. Specifically, farmers in this area were found to significantly depend on each other for information on farmland conservation practices. Thus, role model farmer discussions, dissemination of environmentally friendly techniques via social networks and the rewarding of environmentally friendly behavior among farmers should be used to encourage ongoing restoration endeavors, and thereby help mitigate environmental degradation.     

Poverty and biodiversity in rural areas based on two investigations in Pujiang County,China

This study presents an integrated framework for the analysis of options of agricultural development and natural resource management at the ecosystem level. Pujiang County in Zhejiang Province, China, is used as a case-study area. The IMGLP model is applied to maximize regional agricultural economic surplus and labor market conditions in Pujiang. The consequences of four poverty reduction strategies (intensification of production, diversification toward livestock production, land expansion, and exit from agriculture) are determined for a set of regional poverty and biodiversity indicators. Diversification seems to be the most promising poverty reduction strategy, but requires an efficient use of animal manure in cropping systems to avoid environmental problems. Improved nutrient management in cropping systems is effective in reducing the regional nitrogen surplus, but less effective in increasing per capita income. The exit strategy is beneficial for reducing poverty and achieving biodiversity, but may have important social consequences that are not addressed in this study. Further reduction of rural poverty is hampered by labor constraints during the harvesting period for high-value crops such as vegetables and fruits. These constraints can be overcome by intensive research and development in the field of agricultural mechanization.     

川渝地区天然气钻井作业环境影响及防治措施

针对天然气钻井作业特点、川渝地区土地资源与生态环境条件,在分析天然气钻井作业对川渝地区社会环境与生态环境影响及环境污染的基础上,提出了目前川渝地区天然气钻井作业存在的环境问题,并根据这些环境问题分别在钻井不同作业过程中给出了环境防治措施。     

Integrated mediterranean programmes and the natural environment: A case study in Greece

Summary A pilot action forming part of the Integrated Mediterranean Programmes (IMPs) was carried out in Prespa National Park, Greece, to improve the socio-economic conditions in the area and to develop the agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and tourism. A study on the environment of the park was carried out as part of this Programme. The study evaluated the natural conditions in the area, assessed the effects of the proposed operations on the environment, suggested opportunities for socio-economic improvement and provided guidelines for the organisation of the National Park. This paper presents certain aspects of this study and describes the mechanisms and conflicts attached to environmental conservation during implementation of the IMP.Evaluation of natural conditions was made possible by studying the land cover/use changes between 1945 and 1984 using aerial photographs. It showed a continuing concentration of land use activities in the wetland, which is the nucleus of the park. The most alarming findings were of soil erosion on the watershed, accelerating ageing and eutrophication of the lake, and destruction of the wet meadows. Evaluation of the latter revealed their remarkable biological value as feeding and resting habitats of the rare waterbird species.Assessment of the effects of the projected operations on the environment was accompanied by suggestions of alleviation measures. Further development of agriculture and an expansion of the irrigation system were expected to have a severe impact on the wetland and increase the eutrophic level of the lake. Measures for cultural practices, policy and education of the farmers were suggested. It was recognised that the projected fish breeding station would also have adverse effects on the wetland, the lake and its fisheries. Construction of the hatchery on the particular site chosen by the authorities was to cause major environmental degradation in the park.Despite the documentation provided, proposals stemming from the study and mitigation measures were disregarded. Implementation of the IMP operations had detrimental ecological effects in the area. From the first stages of the Programme, and throughout its implementation, secrecy prevailed in the procedures. There was no participation of the public nor of the local government. Lack of coordination appeared between the various levels of administration nationally and within the European Community (EC). Agencies concerned with the environment lost their jurisdiction in the area, as all decision-making was undertaken in Athens by a Ministry relatively insensitive to environmental issues. Implementation of the IMP in Prespa violated national and EC legislation as well as international treaties concerning the environment. The development plan had been prepared without integrating conservation and development while no concern was given to the impact on the environment. Lessons learned from the Prespa case should be used to improve IMPs and make development sustainable.Dr Myrto Pyrovetsi obtained her doctorate at Michigan State University, USA and is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.