Spatial imaginaries of 'coast' : case studies in power and place

PhD ThesisUK land use policy since the mid twentieth century has recognized the ‘coast’ as representing key economic, ecological and cultural resources for development and management. However, the definition, understanding and role of coastal space in planning processes has attracted limited research interest until recently. The context for including coastal space in UK planning policy has changed radically in the last few years, with, for instance, new horizons in minerals and fuel extraction, nuclear power and renewable energy affecting the land/sea interface directly. At the same time, the introduction of new spatial planning systems for marine space, requiring integration with land use planning, has shifted the institutional and conceptual parameters of development policy and regulation. This PhD thesis uses case studies in two cross-border regions of the northern UK to examine how framings of spatial imaginaries of ‘coast’ operate in consolidating or challenging dominant development discourses. It takes a relational approach to the understanding of coastal space, recognizing its discursive construction by policy actors. It examines the ways in which such constructions are being harnessed within national and local planning processes, by drawing on critical discourse analysis of the positioning and mobilization of coastal imaginaries in development policy-making. Both case study areas have extensive environmental designations of international significance. The findings point to the ways in which different imaginaries of ‘coast’ in these areas are conscripted into competing discourses of local development. The discursive harnessing of spatial imaginaries of coast by dominant economic development agendas is an active mechanism of inclusion and exclusion. These findings highlight the importance, in development policy analysis, of recognizing spatial imaginaries of ‘coast’ as the focus of agonistic and deliberative debates, rather than as functional entities per se.Lord Adams Fellowship and the Earl Grey Fellowship, under the auspices of Newcastle University Institute for Sustainabilit

Changes in Completed Family Size and Reproductive Span in Anabaptist Populations

The Anabaptist Amish, Hutterite and Mennonite peoples trace their origins to the Reformation. Although they share certain beliefs, such as adult baptism and the separation of church and state, each group is culturally unique. The Hutterite and Amish are highly fertile and their populations exhibit stable rates of growth. These demographic characteristics reflect communal living among the Hutterites and labor intensive farming practices among the Amish. The Mennonites are the most receptive Anabaptist group to outside socioeconomic influences and provide a demographic contrast to the more conservative Amish and Hutterites. Demographic data collected during a study of aging in Mennonite population samples from Goessel and Meridian, Kansas, 1980, and Henderson, Nebraska, 1981, formed the basis of a cohort analysis in order to assess fertility change over time. Completed family size has decreased significantly in all three communities since 1870. Since the early 1900\u27s the mean age of the mother at first birth has fluctuated but the mean age of mother at the birth of the last child is decreasing significantly for the communities of Goessel and Henderson, thus effectively shortening the reproductive span. The pattern is somewhat different for Meridian, the most conservative of the three communities

INTSORMIL 2003 ANNUAL REPORT

From 1980 to 1999, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the number of food-insecure people in developing countries fell from 920 million to about 800 million, yet in 2003, the International Food Policy Research Institute declared that without significant changes in policies, public investments, and institutions, we simply will not achieve the 1996 World Food Summit goal-reaffirmed at the 2000 Millennium Summit and again last year at the World Food Summit: five years later of reducing the number of our fellow human beings who are food insecure by at least half by no later than 2015. FAO indicates that the number has been decreasing by barely 2.5 million per year over the last eight years. At that rate, we will reach these goals one hundred years late, in 2115. Increased production of cereals, which are crucial sources of food energy and other nutrients, is necessary to reduce world hunger. According to Entering the 21st Century-World Development Report 1999/2000, about 900 million people in almost 100 countries are affected by drought and desertification, and by 2025, that number will double. The population of the world has doubled since 1940, but fresh water use has increased fourfold. Water scarcity is becoming more widespread, with concomitant effects on regional peace and global food security. Nearly all of the 3 billion increase in global population which is expected by 2025 will be in developing countries where water is already scarce. To meet the increasing demand for food in those countries, there is an increasing demand for more efficient production and new ways of utilizing drought-tolerant crops which have a competitive advantage to produce food under conditions of unpredictable and scarce rainfall. As water becomes more precious in the United States, cereals which can produce energy for feed and fuel in drought-prone areas of the country are demonstrating increasingly competitive advantages

INTSORMIL 2004 ANNUAL REPORT

The 2004 INTSORMIL Annual Report presents the progress and notable achievements by the SorghumlMillet CRSP during the period of July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2004. These results are an outcome of partnerships between scientists at six U.S. Land Grant Universities (Kansas State University, Mississippi State University, University of Nebraska, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and West Texas A&M University) and scientists of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at Tifton, Georgia and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) and National Universities in nineteen countries in Central America, West Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. Agricultural research provides benefits not only to producers of agricultural products but also to processors and consumers of agricultural products. Agricultural research has proven itself continuously as providing improvements which yield products of greater quantity and quality, as well as improved health to consumers and broad-based economic growth which goes beyond producers and consumers

INTSORMIL 2000 Annual Report

Presently, worldwide, more than 800 million people are hungry and over I billion are desperately poor, and food demand is increasing rapidly. The majority of poor live in rural areas in developing countries and agricultural and food systems development is vital to economic growth; improving environmental quality; strengthening nutrition, health and child survival; improving the status of women; and promoting democratization. It is estimated that by 2000, the number of people living in developing countries will grow from 4.9 billion to 6.8 billion people. More than 1.3 billion people today live on less than one dollar per day. It is estimated that the number of hungry people will exceed one billion by 2020. The global population of underweight children below age five is expected to increase from 193 million in year 2000 to over 200 million in year 2020. Increased production of cereals, which are crucial sources of food energy and other nutrients, is necessary to reduce world hunger. Sorghum and millet are two major cereal grains, particularly in semi-arid regions of the world. In 1999,65.8 million metric tons (MT) of sorghum were produced worldwide, of which 19.7 million MT were produced in Africa, mainly for direct consumption by humans, and 14.7 million MT were produced in the United States, mainlyfor livestock feed to produce meat for human consumption. In the crop year 1997-1998, the United States exported 5.3 million MT of grain sorghum mainly for livestock feed, and in 1998, U.S. grain sorghum exports were worth $531 million. Large areas are planted to sorghum each year. For example, in 1999 sorghum was produced on 44.8 million hectares (ha, or 173,036 square miles, [sq mi]) worldwide, 23 million ha (88,728 sq mi) in Africa, and 3.4 million ha (13,278 sq mi) in the United States. About 500 million people worldwide depend upon sorghum for food, and most of these people are in developing countries where droughts and famine are common occurrences. Clearly, sorghum production and utilization as food and feed are vitally important to developing countries and to the United States

INTSORMIL 2001 Annual Report

Presently, worldwide, more than 800 million people are hungry and over one billion are desperately poor, and food demand is increasing rapidly. The majority of poor live in rural areas in developing countries and agricultural and food systems development is vital to economic growth; improving environmental quality; strengthening nutrition, health and child survival; improving the status of women; and promoting democratization. It is estimated that, between 1980 and 2030, the population ofow- and middle-income countries will more than double-to seven billion, compared with one billion for high-income countries. In the next 35 years, 2.5 billion people will be added to the current population of 6 billion. More than 1.3 billion people today live on less than one dollar per day, and it is estimated that the number of hungry people will exceed one billion by 2020. The global population of underweight children below age five is expected to increase from 193 million in Year 2000 to over 200 million in Year 2020. Increased production of cereals, which are crucial sources of food energy and other nutrients, is necessary to reduce world hunger. According to Entering the 21st Century-World Development Report 1999-2000, about 900 million people in almost 100 countries are affected by drought and desertification, and by 2025, that number will double. The population of the world has doubled since 1940, but fresh water use has increased fourfold. Water scarcity is becoming more widespread, with concomitant effects on regional peace and global food security. Nearly all of the three billion increase in global population which is expected by 2025 will be in developing countries where water is already scarce. To meet the increasing demand for food in those countries, there is an increasing demand for more efficient production and new ways of utilizing drought-tolerant crops which have a competitive advantage to produce food under conditions of unpredictable and scarce rainfall. As water becomes more precious in the United States, cereals which can produce energy for feed and fuel in drought-prone areas of the country are demonstrating increasingly competitive advantages

INTSORMIL 2000 Annual Report

Presently, worldwide, more than 800 million people are hungry and over I billion are desperately poor, and food demand is increasing rapidly. The majority of poor live in rural areas in developing countries and agricultural and food systems development is vital to economic growth; improving environmental quality; strengthening nutrition, health and child survival; improving the status of women; and promoting democratization. It is estimated that by 2000, the number of people living in developing countries will grow from 4.9 billion to 6.8 billion people. More than 1.3 billion people today live on less than one dollar per day. It is estimated that the number of hungry people will exceed one billion by 2020. The global population of underweight children below age five is expected to increase from 193 million in year 2000 to over 200 million in year 2020. Increased production of cereals, which are crucial sources of food energy and other nutrients, is necessary to reduce world hunger. Sorghum and millet are two major cereal grains, particularly in semi-arid regions of the world. In 1999,65.8 million metric tons (MT) of sorghum were produced worldwide, of which 19.7 million MT were produced in Africa, mainly for direct consumption by humans, and 14.7 million MT were produced in the United States, mainlyfor livestock feed to produce meat for human consumption. In the crop year 1997-1998, the United States exported 5.3 million MT of grain sorghum mainly for livestock feed, and in 1998, U.S. grain sorghum exports were worth $531 million. Large areas are planted to sorghum each year. For example, in 1999 sorghum was produced on 44.8 million hectares (ha, or 173,036 square miles, [sq mi]) worldwide, 23 million ha (88,728 sq mi) in Africa, and 3.4 million ha (13,278 sq mi) in the United States. About 500 million people worldwide depend upon sorghum for food, and most of these people are in developing countries where droughts and famine are common occurrences. Clearly, sorghum production and utilization as food and feed are vitally important to developing countries and to the United States

INTSORMIL 1999 Annual Report

Presently, worldwide, more than 800 million people do not get enough to eat or have access to a balanced diet to be healthy. At the World Food Summit in 1996, the United States of America (USA) and 185 other countries pledged to reduce the number of malnourished people by one half by 2015. It is shocking that about 33% of preschool children in developing countries will be stunted due to malnutrition by the year 2000. The number of stunted children in Africa alone has increased significantly from 35 million in 1980 to 45 million in 1995 and is predicted to reach 49 million in 2005. Increased production of cereals, which are crucial sources of food energy and other nutrients, is necessary to reduce world hunger. Sorghum and millet are two major cereal grains, particularly in semi-arid regions. In 1999, 65.8 million tons ofsorghum were produced worldwide, of which 19.7 million tons were produced in Africa, mainly for direct consumption by humans, and 14.7 million tons were produced in the USA, mainly for livestock feed to produce meat for human consumption. In the crop year 1997-1998, the USA exported 5.3 million tons of grain sorghum mainly for livestock feed, and in 1998, U.S. grain sorghum exports were worth $531 million. Large areas are planted to sorghum each year. For example, in 1999, sorghum was produced on 44.8 million hectares (ha, or 173,036 square miles, [sq miD worldwide, 23 million ha (88,728 sq mi) in Africa, and 3.4 million ha (13,278 sqmi) in the USA. About 500 million people worldwide depend upon sorghum for food, and most of these people are in developing countries where droughts and famine are common occurrences. Clearly, sorghum production and its utilization as food and feed are vitally important to developing countries and to the USA

Immunoglobulin Haplotypes – Markers of Reproductive Success

Immunoglobulin haplotypes are highly polymorphic and are useful for analyses of both macro- and microdifferentiation of populations. The origins of this diversity are not known, but recent reports suggest strong selection at this locus. Increased rates of first-trimester spontaneous abortions have been reported when parents share GM phenotypes. Reduced fertility has been observed in mixed European descent white and Hutterite populations when both parents share immunoglobulin haplotypes. Population samples with completed family information and GM haplotype data are rare; the objective here is to provide this information on another sample. A sample of 242 Mennonite couples with mothers older than 40 years was divided into 3 groups of matings based on how many haplotypes were shared: 0, 1, or 2. The distribution of mean completed family sizes for the three groups were 3.35 ± 1.85 ( n = 23), 3.47 ± 1.69 ( n = 128), and 3.37 ± 1.60 ( n = 91), respectively; these values were not significantly different (F = 0.145, p = 0.865). The log-rank test was used to compare the time-to-next-birth curves. The intervals between first and later births (2-4 births) were not significantly different for the three subgroups either. There is also only limited evidence for segregation distortion in another sample of 923 offspring (in which at least one parent is heterozygous)