Questioning desertification in dryland sub–Saharan Africa

Signs of desertification in Africa in the 1970s and 1980s were closely linked to rainfall fluctuations. There may now be an upward trend in the Sahel, but climate change models do not yet provide reliable predictions of rainfall. As family farms become smaller under conditions of population growth, some people move to new areas or new occupations (urban population is growing much faster than rural) and farmers attempt to raise the value of output (crops or livestock) per hectare. Long–term data for selected countries and areas provide some evidence of positive trends. Case studies show that adaptive strategies of small farmers include techniques to improve fertility, conserve water, manage trees, increase livestock, and take advantage of changing markets. However, their investments in improving land and productivity are constrained by poverty. Governments can best help by improving market access and opportunities for non–farm activities. The region's climate is characterized by variable rainfall, which means that droughts will continue to occur unpredictably.     

Bioenergy project appraisal in sub‐Saharan Africa: Sustainability barriers and opportunities in Zambia

Although there is continuing debate surrounding biofuel cultivation (especially in developing nations) in relation to issues of exploitation, land grabbing, poverty alleviation and energy security, there is a lack of empirical evidence to assess how these debates are playing out in practice on the ground. Drawing on political ecology discourse, this paper examines case studies of biofuel production in Zambia and the effects they have on environmental and social sustainability. During April and May 2011, data were collected on two case study projects involving Jatrophacurcas feedstock cultivation in Zambia. Semi‐structured interviews were used to ascertain views from affected stakeholders (local farmers, local environmental, social, and agronomic experts, and investors) on the biofuel projects and their environmental and social impacts. The findings suggest that the uneven distribution of costs and benefits are brought about by imbalances in knowledge, access to resources and the allocation of social and political influence (often associated with broader discourses of development), and this provides a likely rationale for a lack of sustainability in biofuel projects. Drawing on these viewpoints, as well as on field observations, this paper outlines the barriers and opportunities linked to Jatrophacurcas project sustainability.     

积极发展节水农业、改善塔河生态环境--走农业可持续发展的道路

新疆塔河流域农业发展面临严峻的水资源形势,发展节水农业,提高水分利用效率和效益势在必行。本文阐述了近年来塔河流域农业高效用水的有效途径及塔河流域发展节水型农业的新思路。     

Trying harder: Developing a new sustainable strategy for the UK

The UK reviewed its National Sustainable Development Strategy during 2003 and 2004, and produced a new strategy — the third for the UK — in March 2005. Having established that the main weakness of the previous strategy was in its delivery, the review and the resulting new strategy set out to put a much stronger emphasis on delivery mechanisms. In support of this, the process included more participative ways for those involved in delivering to contribute their views and ideas, including web‐based dialogue, participative events and seminars, and community level discussions. The key points for the success of the project were the involvement of stakeholders; project management of the process; a marketing and communications strategy; cross‐departmental governance; and involvement of an external challenge function (fulfilled in the UK by the Sustainable Development Commission).     

The need for integration of drought monitoring tools for proactive food security management in sub‐Saharan Africa

Reducing the impact of drought and famine remains a challenge in sub‐Saharan Africa despite ongoing drought relief assistance in recent decades. This is because drought and famine are primarily addressed through a crisis management approach when a disaster occurs, rather than stressing preparedness and risk management. Moreover, drought planning and food security efforts have been hampered by a lack of integrated drought monitoring tools, inadequate early warning systems (EWS), and insufficient information flow within and between levels of government in many sub‐Saharan countries. The integration of existing drought monitoring tools for sub‐Saharan Africa is essential for improving food security systems to reduce the impacts of drought and famine on society in this region. A proactive approach emphasizing integration requires the collective use of multiple tools, which can be used to detect trends in food availability and provide early indicators at local, national, and regional scales on the likely occurrence of food crises. In addition, improving the ability to monitor and disseminate critical drought‐related information using available modern technologies (e.g., satellites, computers, and modern communication techniques) may help trigger timely and appropriate preventive responses and, ultimately, contribute to food security and sustainable development in sub‐Saharan Africa.     

The incidence of land tenure insecurity in Southern Africa: Policy implications for sustainable development

The study presented in this article used a combination of key informant interviews and a review and synthesis of existing country level literature to identify the major sources of land tenure insecurity in six Southern African countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Findings reveal that the main causes of land tenure insecurity experienced in Southern Africa include lack of land rights of minority groups, unclear or overlapping land rights, overcrowding, land alienation into leasehold, insecurity of farm workers and farm labour tenants, inappropriate and exploitative administrative practices, land encroachment and illegal settlers and limited women's land rights. The article presents a summary of land tenure security related initiatives that the study countries have or are in the process of adopting. Analysis of these initiatives shows that tenure reforms have focused on changing the law and rules but little has been done to translate new laws into implementable programs; capacity building; prioritization of resources to support tenure reform; provision of complementary policies and incentives; addressing HIV/AIDS‐land tenure related problems; and monitoring and evaluation. The paper contends that these policy issues should be addressed in order to ensure realization of land tenure security for all.     

Why Mami Wata matter: Local considerations for sustainable waterpower development policy in Central Africa

This paper is based on the author's fieldwork on the incorporation of local cultural understandings in the design of rural sustainability projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It explores several narratives about Mami Wata, mythological aquatic figures widely known in West and Central Africa, and their meanings for small-scale waterpower development projects, or micro-hydros. Careful examination of such narratives represents one way in which local conceptions and understandings can inform rural development policy, especially with regard to the social distribution of the benefits such projects aim to bring. When designing policies, development agents and agencies would do well to take these mythological and spiritual dimensions of local people's reality seriously rather than dismiss them as irrelevant, or simply as non-empirical phenomena and therefore without effects. The paper concludes with some concrete suggestions for policy action, paying special attention to how researchers and policymakers can work together to integrate local understandings more effectively into rural development strategies.     

Developing a sustainable energy strategy for a water utility. Part I: A review of the UK legislative framework

Increasing political effort to improve water quality across the UK and Europe has led to water and sewerage companies investing heavily in high-tech wastewater treatment plants capable of producing high quality effluents. Consequently, amounts of bought-in electricity used for wastewater treatment has and will continue to increase significantly over coming years, while greater provision of enhanced sewage treatment also produces greater volumes of sewage sludge requiring treatment and disposal. Over the same period, tougher controls on the quality of biosolids applied to agricultural land have also been introduced, while there has been an international attempt to reduce the use of fossil-fuel derived power sources because of concerns over global warming. The latter has brought about the introduction of financial instruments, such as the Climate Change Levy, to curb energy use, promote energy efficiency and encourage the development of renewable energy technologies. These factors are set to drive-up the costs of providing adequate sewage treatment services, while at the same time, a tough regulatory line taken to control profits on regional monopolies held by the UK water companies will significantly reduce their revenues over the period 2000-05. The result is that, financially, UK water and sewerage companies face their most challenging period since privatisation in 1989. This paper briefly outlines the current regulations relating to water quality and energy use that will affect water company operations over coming years.     

Developing a sustainable energy strategy for a water utility. Part II: A review of potential technologies and approaches

Environmental legislation is increasing the amounts of bought-in electricity required for sewage treatment, and generating larger volumes of sewage sludge to be treated and disposed of. Concurrently, concerns over global warming and food safety from sewage sludge recycling on agricultural land is augmenting the costs of conventional sewage and sludge treatment technologies and practices. This paper reviews some emerging technologies and practices that may assist in mitigating these problems in the future. In addition, a number of potential renewable energy technologies available to water companies are reviewed. Results suggest that through the take-up of new technologies, current and future water quality standards could be delivered in a more sustainable way. However, this series of papers also highlights that institutional and political conflicts may have inadvertently failed to recognise the wider effects of improving water quality and lessened the financial support necessary for their widespread take-up. It is also suggested that through the use of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) approach, stakeholders could gain a better understanding of the broader environmental effects of achieving certain water quality standards and develop policy and long-term investment strategies accordingly. However, to fulfill the information requirements of an SEA, an appropriate appraisal tool that considers many of these factors in unison is required, and a possible technique is suggested.     

The implications of sustainable development for industry and employment in the 1990s

Summary Sustainable development has increasingly come to be seen as a concept which can reconcile the tensions between economic development and environmental protection. However, the concept is a vague one and little work has been undertaken to examine the practical implications of adopting sustainable development as a guiding principle. This paper examines how sustainable development can be defined, and some of the contradictions involved with the concept. The policy implications of sustainable development are examined, with a particular emphasis on industry and employment.His research interests are in sustainable development and local economic development. The work on which this paper is based was undertaken for the Centre for Local Economic Strategies in Manchester.     

Drivers of agricultural sustainability in developing countries: a review

Agricultural development has been an effective instrument for poverty alleviation and economic development in developing countries over the latter half of the twentieth century, and over 80 % of rural people globally still depend on agriculture for their living. However, issues such as water availability, land degradation and an increasing dependence on chemical fertilisers and pesticides continue to be on-going threats to sustainable agricultural development. These threats are being driven by the pressing need to ensure food security in the face of rapidly growing and urbanising populations. Developing countries will therefore continue to need improved methods for planning sustainable agricultural development. This paper presents a review of agricultural sustainability assessment in developing countries. The review highlights some of the key weaknesses that persist in sustainability assessment and the need to consider not only indicators of sustainability but also the drivers that influence indicator behaviour. We argue that without a good understanding of the drivers of sustainability and their systemic relationships to indicators, sustainability assessments run the risk of focusing on symptoms without addressing underlying causes of adverse indicator trends. Drivers of agricultural sustainability in developing countries encompass a range of demographic, natural, socio-economic, political, institutional and management factors. Understanding these and their relationships to sustainability indicators is needed in order to develop agricultural development policy that supports sustainability. The paper presents a conceptual framework for guiding systemic agricultural sustainability assessment and agricultural development planning in developing countries that includes both sustainability indicators and drives, and considers the broad relationships between them.     

Life‐Cycle Assessment of Construction in a Developing Country

The construction industry plays a great role in a country's or an area's economy. Construction activities also have significant and increasing effects on the environment. Life‐cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the environmental management techniques that can be used to evaluate the environmental burdens of construction. The authors of this study applied the LCA approach and SimaPro 7.1 software within the framework of the International Organization of Standardization's (ISO) 14040 series of standards and analyzed the global warming potential (GWP) and acidification potential (AP) of the materials acquisition and construction phases of the Parand residential apartment complex located in the southwest part of Tehran province, Iran.     

Traditional agricultural practices enable sustainable remediation of highly polluted soils in Southern Spain for cultivation of food crops

This study relates elemental content of a range of edible crops grown in soils severely polluted by metals and metalloids as affected by traditional smallholder management practices. Five agricultural plots close to a sulfidic waste dump were monitored. Soil analysis demonstrated elevated concentrations of As, Cu, Pb and Zn that were greatly in excess of maximum statutory limits for agricultural soils in the studied region. The main vegetables (lettuce, chard, onion, potatoes) and lemon, together with their associated soils, were measured for elemental content. Extractable soil element concentrations were very low. There were differences in elemental accumulation between crops, but none exceeded statutory concentrations in edible parts. Soil-plant transfer factors were uniformly low for all elements and crops. It is concluded that traditional soil management practices (annual liming and application of animal manures) have created conditions for sustainable long-term safety use, with potential for multiple end-use, of these highly polluted soils.     

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.     

Management of urban solid waste: Vermicomposting a sustainable option

Solid waste management is a worldwide problem and it is becoming more and more complicated day by day due to rise in population, industrialization as well as changes in our life style. Presently most of the waste generated is either disposed of in an open dump in developing countries or in landfills in the developed ones. Landfilling as well as open dumping requires lot of land mass and could also result in several environmental problems. Land application of urban/municipal solid waste (MSW) can be carried out as it is rich in organic matter and contains significant amount of recyclable plant nutrients. The presence of heavy metals and different toxics substances restricts its land use without processing. Vermicomposting of MSW, prior to land application may be a sustainable waste management option, as the vermicast obtained at the end of vermicomposting process is rich in plant nutrients and is devoid of pathogenic organism. Utilization of vermicast produced from urban/municipal solid waste in agriculture will facilitate in growth of countries economy by lowering the consumption of inorganic fertilizer and avoiding land degradation problem. Vermicomposting of urban/MSW can be an excellent practice, as it will be helpful in recycling valuable plant nutrients. This review deals with various aspects of vermicomposting of MSW.     

Diffusion of innovative agricultural production systems for sustainable development of small islands: A methodological approach based on the science of complexity

In order to develop small islands, not only must a vital agricultural system be maintained, but the range of opportunities for tourism must be increased with respect to both the seaside and the environmental features of the rural landscape. As an alternative to the traditional and economically declining ones, many innovative production processes can be identified, but their success depends on their interaction with the physical, biological, economic and social environment. In order to identify the main nodes and the most critical interactions, so as to increase the probability of success of a new productive process, a methodological approach based on the science of complexity is proposed for the cultivation of capers (Capparis spinosa L.) on the island of Pantelleria. The methodology encompasses the identification of actors and factors involved. the quantitative evaluation of their interactions with the different stages of the productive process, and a quasiquantitative evaluation of the probability that the particular action will be performed successfully. The study of “traditional,” “modernized,” and “modernized-sustainable” processes, shows that the modernized-sustainable process offers mutually reinforcing opportunities in terms of an integrated development of high-quality agricultural products and the enhancement of environmental features, in conjunction with high-efficiency production techniques, in conjunction with high-efficiency production techniques, in a way that suits the development of Pantelleria. There is a high probability of failure, however, as a result of the large number of critical factors. Nevertheless, the present study indicates which activities will enhance the probability of successful innovation in the production process.     

Biotechnology and naturalness in the genomics era: plotting a timetable for the biotechnology debate

Debates on the role of biotechnology in food production are beset with notorious ambiguities. This already applies to the term “biotechnology” itself. Does it refer to the use and modification of living organisms in general, or rather to a specific set of technologies developed quite recently in the form of bioengineering and genetic modification? No less ambiguous are discussions concerning the question to what extent biotechnology must be regarded as “unnatural.” In this article it will be argued that, in order to disentangle some of the ambiguities involved, we have to broaden the temporal horizon of the debate. Ideas about biotechniques and naturalness have evolved in various socio-historical contexts and their historical origins will determine to a considerable extent their actual meaning and use in contemporary deliberations. For this purpose, a comprehensive timetable is developed, beginning with the Neolithic revolution ~10,000 years ago (resulting in the emergence of agriculture and the Common Human Pattern) up to the biotech revolution as it has evolved from the 1970s onwards—sometimes referred to as a second “Genesis.” The concept of nature that emerged in the context of the “Common Human Pattern” differs considerably from traditional philosophical concepts of nature (such as coined by Aristotle), as well as from the scientific view of nature conveyed by the contemporary life sciences. A clarification of these different historical backdrops will allow us to understand and elucidate the conceptual ambiguities that are at work in contemporary debates on biotechnology and the place of human beings in nature.     

Assessment of risk in a minerals industry: Canadian nickel

The level of rents attributable to natural resource producers depends on the risk faced by those producers. This paper argues that estimates of risk in mining should control for characteristics of firms such as diversification and debt financing. The capital asset pricing model is applied to securities of three Canadian nickel mining firms over the period 1961–1974. It is concluded that the level of risk was not unusually high.