An empirical assessment of rural livelihood assets from gender perspective: evidence from Ghana

Poverty studies have demonstrated that a group’s ability to escape poverty is largely dependent on the types of assets that the group’s members possess. A major claim that has been asserted with limited empirical evidence in the asset literature is the gender disparity dichotomy. Using rural Ghana as a case study, we assess the asset levels of farm households from a gender perspective. In doing so, we theorized and empirically tested assets on case bases. A household questionnaire survey was used to collect data from two hundred households in the Fanteakwa district of eastern Ghana. An asset index was used to compute the asset levels, while Kruskal–Wallis statistics was employed to compare the significance of the temporal changes. The results show a minimum level of asset endowment. Natural, social and financial assets were the three most endowed assets, with physical and human assets being the least. A gender analysis shows no significant difference, even though the levels of assets for the female-headed households were slightly higher than those of the male-headed households. However, the study found a 22.7% increment in the accumulation of financial assets among the female-headed households over the last 5 years compared to a 9.3% decrement in the same assets for their male-headed counterparts. Applying our theory, the results present an unbalanced and unstable asset situation among the household heads. We call for improvement, in physical and human assets. The overall study results imply an improvement in gender-asset accessibility in the context of rural Ghana.     

Modeling long-term attainable soil organic carbon sequestration across the highlands of Ethiopia

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The objectives of this study across the highlands of Ethiopia were: (i) to characterize the association between soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and...     

Relationship between cultivated land use functions and land rental behavior of rural households: empirical evidence from different dominant functional regions in central China

This paper analyzes the relationship between the cultivated land use functions and the land rental decisions of rural households in three Dominant Functional Zones of Hubei, China. The results indicate that 41.10% of the rural households in the study areas participated in the land rental market. The land rental market in the Key Development Zone has both a higher participation rate and land rent; the Agricultural Production Zone has a higher participation rate but a lower land rent; and the land rental market in the Key Ecological Zone is underdeveloped. The difference in regional function and economic level leads to a significant difference in the spatial variation of the cultivated land use multifunction. Overall, the cultivated land function of rural households has a significant impact on their land transfer behavior. The higher the Functions of Economic Contribution, Food Production, and Pension & Employment, the more willing the rural households are to rent in the land, while the higher the Function of Inheritance and Retainment of the cultivated land use, the more likely the peasants are to retain their cultivated land resources. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient is significantly higher in the Key Development Zone than in the Key Ecological Zone.     

The impact of urban spatial structure on air pollution: empirical evidence from China

Environment, Development and Sustainability - For a long time, air pollution caused by unreasonable urban spatial structure and excessive urban sprawl has been a prominent environmental problem in...     

An empirical analysis on the impact of environmental regulations on pork trade:evidence from China

This paper uses the gravity model to examine the effect of environmental regulations on pork trade flows between different regions within China.We apply a linear programming tool to estimate pork trade flows from 2000 to 2008,and discuss the environmental acts on livestock pollution and income level to proxy environmental regulations.We use OLS regression and panel data with dummy variable in the cross-sectional GLS estimation.Our results indicate that the gap of environmental regulations between trade partners has a positive relationship with pork trade flows,and the difference in environmental regulations changes the traditional comparative advantage pattern to some extent.This paper provides convincing evidence for the pollution haven effect on livestock in China.     

An empirical analysis on the impact of environmental regulations on pork trade: evidence from China

This paper uses the gravity model to examine the effect of environmental regulations on pork trade flows between different regions within China. We apply a linear programming tool to estimate pork trade flows from 2000 to 2008, and discuss the environmental acts on livestock pollution and income level to proxy environmental regulations. We use OLS regression and panel data with dummy variable in the cross-sectional GLS estimation. Our results indicate that the gap of environmental regulations between trade partners has a positive relationship with pork trade flows, and the difference in environmental regulations changes the traditional comparative advantage pattern to some extent. This paper provides convincing evidence for the pollution haven effect on livestock in China.     

Response of streamflow to climate variability and changes in human activities in the semiarid highlands of northern Ethiopia

Regional Environmental Change - Climate variability and human activities are two major drivers influencing changes in streamflow response of a watershed, and thus assessing their relative effect is...     

Characterising the nature of household vulnerability to climate variability: empirical evidence from two regions of Ghana

This paper builds on national- and regional-level vulnerability assessments by developing and applying a livelihood vulnerability index at the community and household scales to explore the nature of climate vulnerability. It provides innovative methodological steps in relation to livelihood assessment to identify the vulnerability of households and communities to drought. This will help to improve drought vulnerability assessments in Ghana and more widely as it shows extra information can be obtained from local-level vulnerability assessment that may be lacking in national- and regional-level analysis. The research employs quantitative and qualitative data collected through participatory methods, key informant interviews and a questionnaire survey with 270 households across 6 communities in two regions in Ghana. Results show that within the same agroecological zone, households and communities experience different degrees of climate vulnerability. These differences can be largely explained by socioeconomic characteristics such as wealth and gender, as well as access to capital assets. Results identify vulnerable households within resilient communities as well as more resilient households within vulnerable communities. These outliers are studied in detail. It is found that outlier households in vulnerable communities have an array of alternative livelihood options and tend to be socially well connected, enabling them to take advantage of opportunities associated with environmental and economic changes. To sustain and enhance the livelihoods of vulnerable households and communities, policymakers need to identify and facilitate appropriate interventions that foster asset building, improve institutional capacity as well as build social capital.     

Green energy mismatch,industrial intelligence and economics growth: theory and empirical evidence from China

Environment, Development and Sustainability - With the continuous uptick in world energy consumption, green energy plays an increasingly significant role in alleviating energy depletion and...     

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.     

Effects of energy consumption and ecological footprint on CO2 emissions: an empirical evidence from Pakistan

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study aims twofold; first, to analyze the effects of traditional energy, renewable energy, ecological footprint, urbanization, transportation on...     

Willingness to pay and demand elasticities for two national parks: empirical evidence from two surveys in Pakistan

Using survey-based data approach for modeling the demand for environmental goods/resources, this study estimates income and price elasticities of demand for improved environmental quality of two National Parks in Northern Pakistan. The study uses data from two studies. The estimates indicate that improved environmental quality effects can be described as a luxury and an ordinary and price elastic service. Confidence intervals show however that the classification as a luxury is not statistically significant. Income elasticities of willingness to pay are estimated for a broad range of environmental services. The study finds that income and willingness to pay vary directly and significantly. The elasticity estimates, in general, are greater than zero, but less than unity. The study concludes that environmental improvements are more beneficial to low-income groups than for high-income groups.

Population, environment and poverty in Pakistan: linkages and empirical evidence

This study explores the interlinkages among population, environment and poverty and presents empirical evidence in a developing country like Pakistan. It gives alternative views on population environment linkages. It explains poverty trap, market based harmony, and dual effect of poverty on the basis of a link between population growth and natural resource degradation. In addition, the paper also highlights social and political instability through population-poverty-environment spiral. It also presents empirical evidence on population-environment-poverty nexus in Pakistan. It also compares environmental sustainability index and human development index for selected Asian countries. The paper also gives scores for different components of environmental sustainability index for Pakistan and compares these with India. The paper concludes that the causal relationship between poverty and environment works in both directions, often through changes in GDP and population. Population stress does not have any significant direct effect on all aspects of environmental status in Pakistan.

Radiocesium accumulation in mosses from highlands of Serbia and Montenegro: chemical and physiological aspects

The aim of this work was (i) to determine the activity levels of 137Cs in mosses from highland ecosystems of Serbia and Montenegro, (ii) to find out if radiocesium is associated with essential biomacromolecules, and (iii) to investigate 137Cs distribution among intracellular compartments. It was found that biomolecules of mosses do not bind significant amounts of radiocesium (2.3-3.3% of the absorbed 137Cs), a behavior that was independent of the moss species. Cellular fractionation of mosses showed that membranes are the primary 137Cs-binding sites at the cellular level. They contained 26.1-43.1% of the initial radiocesium activity. It seems that 137Cs-binding molecules in different mosses are of similar chemical nature, and their distribution between various cellular compartments is not species specific.     

Temperature-related morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review of the empirical evidence

BackgroundSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) contributes very little to overall climate change and yet it is estimated to bear the highest burden of climate change, with 34% of the global DALYs attributable to the effects of climate change found in SSA. With the exception of vector-borne diseases, particularly malaria, there is very limited research on human health effects of climate change in SSA, in spite of growing awareness of the region's vulnerability to climate change.ObjectivesOur objective is to systematically review all studies investigating temperature variability and non-vector borne morbidity and mortality in SSA to establish the state and quality of available evidence, identify gaps in knowledge, and propose future research priorities.MethodsPubMed, Ovid Medline and Scopus were searched from their inception to the end of December 2014. We modified the GRADE guidelines to rate the quality of the body of evidence.ResultsOf 6745 studies screened, 23 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Moderate evidence exists to associate temperature variability with cholera outbreaks, cardiovascular disease hospitalization and deaths, and all-cause deaths in the region. The quality of evidence on child undernutrition is low, and for diarrhea occurrence, meningitis, Ebola, asthma and respiratory diseases, and skin diseases, very low.ConclusionsThe evidence base is somehow weakened by the limited number of studies uncovered, methodological limitations of the studies, and notable inconsistencies in the study findings. Further research with robust study designs and standardized analytical methods is thus needed to produce more credible evidence base to inform climate change preparedness plans and public health policies for improved adaptive capacity in SSA. Investment in meteorological services, and strengthening of health information systems is also required to guarantee timely, up-to-date and reliable data.     

A survival vulnerability index (SuVI) for an outlawed vocation: empirical evidence from snake charmer community,West Bengal

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study underlines the purpose of developing a vulnerability index to address the issue of outlawed professionals. The Survival Vulnerability Index...     

Spatial correlation network and population mobility effect of regional haze pollution: empirical evidence from Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration in China

Based on relevant data from 2014 to 2018, we constructed a spatial network of haze pollution in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region by using a modified gravity model, explored the network structure characteristics and influencing factors of urban agglomeration with the SNA and the QAP method, and discussed the population mobility effect brought by haze pollution. The results showed that the PRD region has spatial correlation in terms of haze pollution. Guangzhou was in the central position of the spatial network, yet Shenzhen and Foshan played a connecting role in the network. Economic development, urbanization, and environmental protection had significant positive impacts on the haze pollution spatial network. The results of the double-threshold regression showed that the city’s status in the haze pollution network represented by centrality had a positive impact on population mobility.

     

Constraints and capacities for novel livelihood adaptation: lessons from agricultural adoption in an African dryland pastoralist system

Regional Environmental Change - Climate change, land use change, and sociopolitical and institutional transitions in African drylands have resulted in the loss, fragmentation, and degradation of...     

Heterogeneous impact of agricultural support policies: evidence from Turkey

Agricultural support policies, which increase production to excessive levels, have been heavily criticized for their distortional effects on farmers’ decisions. High input consumption, which harms the environment, and the distribution of supports, which causes income inequality among farmers, are also the other factors that economists criticize these support policies. However, in recent years, the use and dependence on production and land have been increasing globally due to fears of food insecurity in several countries. In this article, the impact of a support policy on cotton farmers’ land in Turkey is evaluated using a detailed farm-level micro dataset. We use the dynamic panel model to consider the production dynamics, unobservable individual heterogeneity, and the endogeneity of the support variable. Our results show that considering the support variable as endogenous significantly increased its impact on farmers’ land. A farmer’s past land allocation decisions also affected their current lands holdings. However, the results varied considerably between regions and between different land sizes. Therefore, the findings show the importance of heterogeneity in the impact of support policies. We conclude that due to the heterogeneous impact of support policies, it might not be possible to discuss the effect of support policies using an average estimate applicable for all farmers. Therefore, a different support policy considering regional characteristics or farm size is necessary to obtain the desired policy outcomes.