African indigenous vegetables in urban agriculture

In many African cities, indigenous vegetables are cultivated, marketed and consumed. The editors of this book bring together current knowledge on the potential and challenges of growing indigenous vegetables in urban environments in sub-Saharan Africa, covering such topics as urban food systems, biodiversity of African vegetables, nutrition, production, harvesting and marketing. The book concludes with a discussion of areas for policy intervention

UrbanFoodplus – African-German Partnership to enhance resource use efficiency in urban and peri-urban agriculture for improved food security in West African cities

Food security in West Africa not only depends on productivity increases in marginal rural areas, but also on enhanced use of intensively farmed agricultural “niche” lands such as the urban and peri-urban spaces. They are characterised by easy market access and input availability which allows self-reinforcing processes of agricultural intensification. However, too little is known about resource use efficiencies, matter flows and negative externalities in these systems. Starting from general assessments (status quo analyses), the African-German UrbanFoodPlus (UFP) network develops and tests site-specific, farmer-tailored innovations. These directly address the above mentioned knowledge gaps in the fourWest African cities of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), Tamale (Ghana), Bamako (Mali), and Bamenda (Cameroon). At all locations farmers attempt to cope with increasing land pressure by cultivating along electrical power lines, on public property, and on undeveloped private land

Mass distribution in the Galactic Center based on interferometric astrometry of multiple stellar orbits

Galaxie

Urban agriculture in the seasonal tropics : the case of Lusaka, Zambia

In IDL-2279

Participatory mapping of target areas to enable operational larval source management to suppress malaria vector mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Background Half of the population of Africa will soon live in towns and cities where it can be protected from malaria by controlling aquatic stages of mosquitoes. Rigorous but affordable and scaleable methods for mapping and managing mosquito habitats are required to enable effective larval control in urban Africa. Methods A simple community-based mapping procedure that requires no electronic devices in the field was developed to facilitate routine larval surveillance in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The mapping procedure included (1) community-based development of sketch maps and (2) verification of sketch maps through technical teams using laminated aerial photographs in the field which were later digitized and analyzed using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Results Three urban wards of Dar es Salaam were comprehensively mapped, covering an area of 16.8 sq km. Over thirty percent of this area were not included in preliminary community-based sketch mapping, mostly because they were areas that do not appear on local government residential lists. The use of aerial photographs and basic GIS allowed rapid identification and inclusion of these key areas, as well as more equal distribution of the workload of malaria control field staff. Conclusions The procedure developed enables complete coverage of targeted areas with larval control through comprehensive spatial coverage with community-derived sketch maps. The procedure is practical, affordable, and requires minimal technical skills. This approach can be readily integrated into malaria vector control programmes, scaled up to towns and cities all over Tanzania and adapted to urban settings elsewhere in Africa

10 Jahre Chemikaliengesetz Bilanz und Perspektiven

10 Jahre Chemikaliengesetz bedeutet ein Jahrzehnt stuermischer Rechtsentwicklung: Was Anfang der 80er Jahre noch Neuland war, ist heute ein umfangreiches Rechtsgebiet mit ausgefeilten untergesetzlichen Detailregelungen, fest verzahnt mit den uebrigen Bereichen des Umweltrechts und Bestandteil einer Gesamtkonzeption zur Chemikaliensicherheit, die internationale Ausstrahlungskraft hat. Aktuell befindet sich das Chemikalienrecht in einer Phase, der ''inneren Verfestigung und Komplettierung''. Eingeleitet wurde sie durch die Novelle von 1990, mit der auf der Grundlage der ersten Vollzugserfahrungen im Rahmen der bestehenden EG-rechtlichen Vorgaben gezielt Schwachstellen beseitigt wurden. Im zweiten Schritt dieser Phase sind, die zwischenzeitlich erfolgten, bzw. derzeit erfolgenden Ueberarbeitungen und Ergaenzungen der EG-rechtlichen Vorgaben umzusetzen. Weitere rechtliche Regelungen duerften im Bereich der Verbote und Beschraenkungen zu erwarten sein. Sie sind bisher ueberwiegend einzelfallbezogen und reaktiv angelegt. Wichtig waere vor allem die Entwicklung eines einheitlichen, an sachlichen Gesichtspunkten ausgerichteten Kriterienkatalogs. Es geht darum, gezielt und vorsorgeorientiert die fuer eine nachhaltige umweltvertraegliche Entwicklung erforderlichen Rahmenbedingungen fuer die Stofffluesse unserer Industriegesellschaft zu schaffen. (orig./HSCH)The chemical substances act is ten years old. These ten years have witnessed a stormy development in legislation on chemicals: what was new ground still at the beginning of the eighties, is now a vast area of law complemented by detailed individual regulations at the administrative level, firmly interlocked with the other areas of environmental law, and part of an overall concept for the safety of chemicals enjoying an international reputation. Currently, the chemical substances act is in a phase of inner consolidation and completion. This phase was ushered in by the proposed amendment of 1990, an amendment aimed to eliminate weak points on the basis of first experiences with the implementation of legal requirements existing under EC law. In the second part of this phase, revisions or completions which have meanwhile been effected or are being effected in community law must be integrated. Further legal regulations are to be expected in the area of prohibitions and restrictions. These are, so far, mainly attuned to individual cases and reactive in nature. Most important of all is the development of a uniform and appropriate catalogue of criteria. The aim must be to create the necessary boundary conditions for the use of chemicals in our industrial society ensuring sustainable, environmentally compatible development for a long time to come. (orig./HSCH)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: T94B139 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman