Demand Analysis of Recreation Visits to Chitral Valley: A Natural Resource Management Perspective

Recreational visits are primarily about human activity which involves travel from an originating area to a destination for cultural, economic, and social exchange processes. People travel to exotic locations for sight seeing, picnicking, bird watching, and for cultural and religious settings. However, accessibility to such areas is often free, which not only results in environmental hazards but also deprives the cash destitute government from revenue that such these sites offer. Valuing the recreational benefits associated with a destination based on tourists’ preferences can help formulate an appropriate policy for Natural Resource Management (NRM). Environmental and natural resource management studies often try to measure the welfare change associated with a policy change. Welfare is generally defined as area under the demand curve; accordingly, by estimating the demand curve, consumer surplus is obtained which shows the welfare changes associated with an environmental policy change [Gunatilake (2003)]. The recreational values thus obtained can be utilised for a cost benefit analysis of a policy option, thereby, managing a park or a natural resource on a sustainable basis

Impact of Regional Disparities on Agricultural Development in Uttar Pradesh- A Geographical Analysis

The present paper is an attempt to analyse the spatial patterns of regional disparities variations in the levels of agricultural development and casual relationship between agricultural development dependent variable and selected variables of regional disparities independent variables among the districts of the state of Uttar Pradesh The study utilizes published data obtained from Census of India and other statistical records at district level Some standard statistical techniques are used in the present Study The district has been taken as a smallest unit of the stud

Poetic Meters of Afghan Persian Folk Couplets

Folk couplets are considered to be one of the most important parts of our oral literature, which were formed over many centuries among the people of Khorasan, and were passed down orally from generation to generation. For the reason that the composers of the couplets were common people; in terms of prosody, there are many differences in these couplets. Scrutinizing this point can help us in understanding these folkloric couplets and future research in this field. The purpose of research in the field of vernacular couplets is to clarify the quality and prosody of vernacular couplets in the Persian language in Afghanistan. In this study, firstly, the issue of short initial vowel tension: inflectional v, and added fraction in the Persian dialect of Afghanistan is discussed and then the different rhythms of these folk couplets such as couplet scale, prosody of quatrain, and scale 0f syllable, were comprehensively investigated. And with we have shown it by example. For this purpose, the couplets that had been written, are collected by the field research method and books. Thus, songs of the kosher (Asadullah Shour)‎, Tajik couplets (Enayatullah Shahrani), Sangardi hai Panjshir (Nilab Rahimi), folk couplets of the people of Ghor (Nabi Saqi) and Couplets of the people of Hazara (Mohammad Jawad Khavari) have been analysed

Poetic Meters of Afghan Persian Folk Couplets

Folk couplets are considered to be one of the most important parts of our oral literature, which were formed over many centuries among the people of Khorasan, and were passed down orally from generation to generation. For the reason that the composers of the couplets were common people; in terms of prosody, there are many differences in these couplets. Scrutinizing this point can help us in understanding these folkloric couplets and future research in this field. The purpose of research in the field of vernacular couplets is to clarify the quality and prosody of vernacular couplets in the Persian language in Afghanistan. In this study, firstly, the issue of short initial vowel tension: inflectional v, and added fraction in the Persian dialect of Afghanistan is discussed and then the different rhythms of these folk couplets such as couplet scale, prosody of quatrain, and scale 0f syllable, were comprehensively investigated. And with we have shown it by example. For this purpose, the couplets that had been written, are collected by the field research method and books. Thus, songs of the kosher (Asadullah Shour)‎, Tajik couplets (Enayatullah Shahrani), Sangardi hai Panjshir (Nilab Rahimi), folk couplets of the people of Ghor (Nabi Saqi) and Couplets of the people of Hazara (Mohammad Jawad Khavari) have been analysed

Exploring the health system for sustainable and integrated acute malnutrition services applying a systems lens: the case of Afghanistan

Introduction: Afghanistan has an estimated annual burden of severe acute malnutrition in children under five of over 600,000, with less then 30% accessing care. Since 2009, acute malnutrition has been part of the country’s Basic Package of Health Services, which is outsourced for implementation to local partners and regulated by the Ministry of Public Health. A gradual transition to government implementation is expected to change the dynamics of health system functions and actors, with unpredictable outcomes. Building competencies in applying systems thinking by taking into account tacit knowledge may strengthen adaptive management and leadership for improving sustainable and integrated acute malnutrition interventions. We explored the dynamics of the health system with a systems lens to identify opportunities for improving sustainable and integrated acute malnutrition services to inform policies. Methods: A mixed method design involved over 70 health actors to explore the health system capacity through participatory system dynamics mapping based on rapid observation, key informant interviews, group discussions and document review. The policy analysis investigated acute malnutrition coverage. A network analysis explored involvement and influences of health actors. A framework approach appraised key health system functions and explored the level of integration of acute malnutrition. System changes over time and causal loop analyses explored system dynamics to identify leverages for improving and sustaining health outcome. Results: Key policies and strategies were in place but did not consistently recognise severe acute malnutrition as a major childhood illness. Narrow involvement of health actors missed opportunities for ‘learning together’ and developing sustainable and broad-based technical leadership. The health actors network showed two scale free hubs of the Public Nutrition Directorate and health workers of health facilities making the link between government and partners at and between the national/provincial and community levels. The Basic Package of Health Services left community-based nutrition underdeveloped and 40% of the hard-to-reach population uncovered. Most funding remained emergency based, and quality and ownership were limited despite major training efforts. The extent of integration was stronger at implementation level than at policy and organisational level. Behaviour-over-time, mapping the effects of financial and technical support on effective coverage, showed late but fast expansion of coverage. Causal loop analysis, building on tacit knowledge to describe the complexity of interactions and influences, found reinforcing effects from policy, competency and community involvement and dumping effects from financial and technical support on improving quality. Based on the learning from the change mechanisms, an initial theory of change identified assumptions that should be tested and refined in evaluations. Conclusion: The exploration of health system capacity and dynamics uncovered strengths and missed opportunities for sustaining integrated acute malnutrition services in Afghanistan. This study is an initial step in applying systems thinking using tacit knowledge through participative approaches to explain unpredictable behaviour and foster dialogue and ‘learning together’ for improving sustainable and integrated acute malnutrition services. Further research should encourage applying systems thinking to further understand dynamic complexity by opening the black box to understand why change happens, how and under what circumstances, and design effective interventions

Study on Soil Surface Treatment for Water Harvesting in Paghman District of Kabul Province, Afghanistan

2018東京農業大

Rural Non-Agricultural Working Force and Levels of Development in Uttar Pradesh: A Regional Analysis (India)

The present paper investigate the trends of rural non-agricultural working force over the period of 1971 to 2011, the regional variations in the rural non-agricultural working force and the relationship between rural non-agricultural working force and levels of development among the districts of Uttar Pradesh. The regional variations in the distribution of workforce in rural non-agricultural sectors are quite notable. The general picture emerged that there is a gradual increase of main workforce in non-agricultural sector from north-western to south-eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh. The distribution of female main workforce in non-agricultural workforce depicts that there is a gradual decrease from west to south-east. The statistical analysis leads to conclusion that agriculture, population growth and health facilities are the chief determinants but the magnitudes of their effects are dissimilar

Prevalence of and factors influencing posttraumatic stress disorder among mothers of children under five in Kabul, Afghanistan, after decades of armed conflicts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the period following wars and other forms of armed conflict, health and quality of life of mothers is a major concern as they have the closest contact with children. The present study was performed to examine the impact of exposure to events related to armed conflicts on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among women raising children, and to identify factors that alleviate the negative consequences of exposure to traumatic events.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A structured interview survey was conducted in Kabul Province, Afghanistan, in 2006. The subjects were the mothers of children less than 5 years old randomly selected from 1400 households in Kabul Province, Afghanistan. Symptoms of PTSD were assessed according to the criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Exposure to traumatic events related to armed conflict, experience of hardship with regard to basic needs, resources that the subjects seek for mental health support, and socioeconomic variables were evaluated. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between PTSD symptoms and predictor variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence rate of PTSD among 1172 women participated in this study was 29.8%. The most prevalent symptom was arousal (74.8%), followed by re-experiencing (54.9%) and avoidance (33.7%). The prevalence rate of PTSD symptoms among subjects who reported having experienced at least one event related to armed conflict (52.7%) was significantly higher than that among those who reported no such experiences (9.6%). Experience of food shortage was independently associated with PTSD. Seeking support for mental health was related to lower prevalence of PTSD symptoms among those who reported no direct experience of events related to armed conflict. However, no such relationship was observed with PTSD symptoms among those who reported having direct experience of events related to armed conflict.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Direct exposure to traumatic events was significantly associated with PTSD symptoms among women raising children. For those who had experienced armed conflict-related events, food security mitigated the occurrence of PTSD symptoms; however, support seeking behavior did not show a significant mitigating influence on PTSD. Means to alleviate the negative influence of exposure to armed conflicts on the quality of life of women should be developed from the viewpoint of quality of mental health support and avoidance of material hardship.</p