Light Fishing Operations in Small-scale Fishing in Ghana – A case study of the Chorkor and Teshie–Nungua fishing communities in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

Coastal fisheries resources play a crucial role in promoting food security and incomes throughout the world. In recent years there has been important concerns all over the world about the overexploitation of wild fish stocks. In many developing coastal countries this overexploitation has been attributed to the increasing demand of fish products and exacerbated by modernization and development of new fishing techniques to increase catch. One of the major problems in the fishing industry is the dwindling levels of fishing output. Ghana’s fishing levels are increasingly becoming unsustainable due to the use of highly destructive fishing equipment like light attraction equipment. Apart from the periodic shortages of pre-mix fuel, light fishing activities is identified by peasant fishers as a major challenge to their livelihood. The use of light fishing method for fishing also has the potential to negatively impact the profitability of poor fishers who are mainly small-scale artisanal fishers. The damaging effect of light fishing operation in the country and the factors affecting the effective enforcement of the ban on such operation leaves us with lots of uncertainties which this research seeks to unravel. To help develop an effective management response to this challenge the study highlights the factors that make artisanal fishermen flout fishing regulations, identify the possible reasons why the prohibition of light fishing is not effectively enforced, and make necessary recommendations on the measures needed to bring the fisheries regulations closer to the realities on the ground. Different data collection strategies were employed in the study and the data was analyzed qualitatively. It finds that low penalties and poor enforcement for law-breakers are two of the major problems. The study also finds that, the lack of alternative livelihood opportunities for rural fishers contributes greatly to the increasing pressure on coastal fisheries resources which subsequently leads overexploitation. It therefore recommends that, enforcement is tightened, artisanal fishers should be given more education and be involved in the decision making process

The central policy unit in the governance of Hong Kong : a study of institutional dynamics

published_or_final_versionPolitics and Public AdministrationMasterMaster of Public Administratio

Gender Mainstreaming and Impact of Self Help Groups in Marine Fisheries Sector

Fisheries sector provides employment to over 12 million people and plays a paramount role in Indian economy. Women constitute nearly half of the population and one third of the labour force. Though women’s role in Indian marine fisheries sector with a coast line of 8129 km is very prominent, there is generally a gender bias in respect of their works and the inequalities between men and women are observed in the social, cultural and economic lives. The development and empowerment of weaker sections and gender mainstreaming in the Indian fisheries sector in a broader visualization will be materialized to a substantial extent with poverty eradication programmers through the transparent media namely Self Help Groups (SHGs). However an indepth analysis of the impact of SHGs in bringing out gender mainstreaming was lacking in the present scenario of Indian marine fisheries sector. Integrating gender perspective in SHG ventures in marine fisheries sector is inevitable because the gender mainstreaming approach advances gender equity and equality in the fisheries fabric of the society

Like oil and water or chocolate and peanut butter? Ethnic diversity and social participation of young people in England

The paper studies the impact of ethnic diversity on social participation of young people. We first propose a theoretical model in which the agents choose between structured and unstructured social activities by taking into account the ethnic composition of the groups they join. We test our predictions using English census data together with the “Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England” (LSYPE) and we find that ethnic segregation increases the probability of hanging around near home, while ethnic fractionalization decreases it. Furthermore, more structured activities are not affected by ethnic fractionalization. Finally, we use an IV strategy based on both historical and geographical data to correct for endogenous sorting into neighborhoods. The results we get are even stronger than those obtained where the ethnic composition of the neighborhood is taken as exogenous.Social participation, Fractionalization, Segregation

A review of name-based ethnicity classification methods and their potential in population studies

Several approaches have been proposed to classify populations into ethnic groups using people's names, as an alternative to ethnicity self-identification information when this is not available. These methodologies have been developed, primarily in the public health and population genetics literature in different countries, in isolation from and with little participation from demographers or social scientists. The objective of this paper is to bring together these isolated efforts and provide a coherent comparison, a common methodology and terminology in order to foster new research and applications in this promising and multidisciplinary field. A systematic review has been conducted of the most representative studies that develop new name-based ethnicity classifications, extracting methodological commonalities, achievements and shortcomings; 13 studies met the inclusion criteria and all followed a very similar methodology to create a name reference list with which to classify populations into a few most common ethnic groups. The different classifications' sensitivity varies between 0.67 and 0.95, their specificity between 0.80 and 1, their positive predicted value between 0.70 and 0.96, and their negative predicted value between 0.96 and 1. Name-based ethnicity classification systems have a great potential to overcome data scarcity issues in a wide variety of key topics in population studies, as is proved by the 13 papers analysed. Their current limitations are mainly due to a restricted number of names and a partial spatio-temporal coverage of the reference population data-sets used to produce name reference lists. Improved classifications with extensive population coverage and higher classification accuracy levels will be achieved by using population registers with wider spatio-temporal coverage. Furthermore, there is a requirement for such new classifications to include all of the potential ethnic groups present in a society, and not just one or a few of them. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Facility Siting with Chinese Characteristics? An Inquiry into the Relationship between International Investors and Local Environmental NGOs

As China modernizes, its waste management capacities are put to a test. Faced by significant pressures to find a solution for growing municipal solid waste, China’s authorities have embraced waste incineration technology as a seemingly cost-efficient alternative to landfills. Against this push, significant societal opposition against the construction of waste incinerators has been mounting. Yet while some incinerators attract collective resistance, others do not. The Nangong Incinerator, planned for construction in Beijing’s Daxing district, has remained relatively free from controversy. Simultaneously, it is markedly different from other incinerators in the capital due to the involvement of an international investor. Based on an intrinsic single case study, the present thesis investigates this puzzling phenomenon by examining the relationship between a group of local environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and the German stateowned development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau. In the course of the analysis, it is suggested that (1) the relation between international actors and local ENGOs is marked by initial optimism but deteriorates fast due to excessive expectations, (2) local ENGOs act as “policy entrepreneurs” in seeking to co-opt the international actor in the struggle for grander environmental concerns, (3) communication between the two parties represents a competition over narratives, and (4) while the relation between local ENGOs and international actors is complicated by limited action action, it has potential to be an axis of de-escalation in siting controversies

Refining policy with the poor: local consultations on the draft comprehensive poverty reduction and growth strategy in Vietnam

In March 2001, the Government of Vietnam produced an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP), and announced its intention to develop a Comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (CPRGS) by the end of April 2002. In the I-PRSP, the Government outlined its commitment to involve a broad range of stakeholders - including poor communities, local government authorities, and the enterprise sector - in drafting the CPRGS. The Ministry of Planning and Investment, who was assigned by the Government of Vietnam to lead the CPRGS drafting process, asked the World Bank, and a group of international nongovernmental organizations to support them in carrying out the local consultations. The consultations took place in six rural, and urban locations across Vietnam, selected to represent a range of poverty situations. About 1,800 people participated in the research. This report, which is the first of three volumes documenting the local consultations, provides an account and reflection on the approach, and methodology used in the consultations. It is intended this may give useful practical experience for future monitoring of the CPRGS, as well as for people who are planning to carry out similar exercises in other countries. The report outlines the process that was followed from the point of developing a research outline from the I-PRSP, through the fieldwork exercises, data compilation, and analysis, leading on to identification of the main policy messages made by the participants. It also describes how the findings were used to influence the final version of the CPRGS.Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Public Health Promotion,ICT Policy and Strategies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Poverty Reduction Strategies,Poverty Assessment,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Achieving Shared Growth,Urban Partnerships&Poverty