Agricultural innovation and adaptation to climate change: empirical evidence from diverse agro-ecologies in South Asia

While impacts of climate change on agricultural systems have been widely researched, there is still limited understanding of what agricultural innovations have evolved over time in response to both climatic and non-climatic drivers. Although there has been some progress in formulating national adaptation policies and strategic planning in different countries of South Asia, research to identify local-level adaptive strategies and practices is still limited. Through eight case studies and a survey of 300 households in 15 locations in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, this paper generates empirical evidence on emerging agricultural innovations in contrasting socio-economic, geographical and agro-ecological contexts. The study demonstrates that several farm practices (innovations) have emerged in response to multiple drivers over time, with various forms of institutional and policy support, including incentives to reduce risks in the adoption of innovative practice. It further shows that there is still limited attempt to systematically mainstream adaptation innovations into local, regional and national government structures, policies and planning processes. The paper shows that the process of farm-level adaptation through innovation adoption forms an important avenue for agricultural adaptation in South Asia. A key implication of this finding is that there is a need for stronger collaborations between research institutions, extension systems, civil society and the private sector actors to enhance emerging adaptive innovations at the farm level.     

Recovery of ammonium ion as struvite from flue gas scrubbing wastewater

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Direct disposal of flue gas scrubbing-derived waste water with a high level (9000–10,000 mg/L) of ammonium ion (NH4 +) into aquatic...     

Soil erosion in developing countries: A politicoeconomic explanation

Soil erosion is accelerating in developing countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It has threatened the livelihood of millions of peasants, for agriculture is their economic mainstay. A probe into the forces causing erosion reveals that the elite’s resolve to accumulate ever more wealth and to maintain, consolidate, or expand their sociopolitical power and the necessity of the poor to fulfill their requirements of food, fuelwood, and fodder are the two major factors accelerating soil erosion. Unless the vast masses of poor people are integrated into the national mainstream through the implementation of equitable and redistributive development policies, it is impossible to control the accelerating rate of soil erosion and thus to achieve the objective of sustainable development. In this article, the phenomenon “soil erosion” is studied with the sol e focus on causation through anthropogenic factors.     

Tourism and its impact on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area,Nepal

Tourism is an activity of a person which includes traveling and staying in places that are outside of their location for business, vacation and other purpose. Large-scale tourism in developed and developing countries has positive and negative effects on the regional and national economies, local culture, physical infrastructure and environment. There are considerable gaps in research regarding tourism and livelihood in developing countries like Nepal. This research work aims at fulfilling such gap by assessing the impact of tourism on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area (MCA) of Nepal. We interviewed 76 household followed by three focus group discussions and five key informant interviews. The first-hand information collected at the site is complimented by socioeconomic and tourism-related secondary information. Socioeconomic variables such as marital status, size of household, education and landholding status had positive effect on tourism participation while livestock-holding status and occupation of the household had negative effect on tourism participation. Number of visitors is increasing in MCA in recent years, and tourism participation is helping local people to earn more money and improve their living standard. So, awareness and education related to tourism, gender empowerment of women, advertisement and publicity on tourism promotion, adequate subsidy and training on ecotourism and skill development trainings on handicraft are recommended.     

Visitor perspectives on sustainable tourism development in the Pitons Management Area World Heritage Site, St. Lucia

The Pitons Management Area (PMA) World Heritage Site is one of the most visited tourist attractions in St. Lucia. Given the magnitude of the tourism industry in St. Lucia in general, coupled with the expanding growth of tourism in the PMA, the need to adopt a sustainable approach to tourism development is imperative. Identifying visitors as a key stakeholder group in sustainable tourism development, this study examined their perspectives and support for sustainable tourism development in the PMA. More specifically, it examined visitors’ environmental, economic, and social attitudes based on a sustainable tourism development framework and explored the effect and best predictive validity of attitudes on support for sustainable tourism development. Results indicated that attitudes were generally positive, and as each of the respective attitudes increased, visitors’ level of support for sustainable tourism development at the PMA also increased. The Economic Attitudinal Index had the highest predictive power, followed by the Social Attitudinal Index. The Environmental Attitudinal Index was not significant although it was strongly correlated in the bivariate analysis. Implications of the findings for the sustainable development of tourism in the PMA are discussed.