Changing Pastoralism and Pastoral Livelihoods Under Climate Change in Northwestern China

The livelihood of pastoralists is strongly influenced and partially determined by regulatory grazing limitations and global climate change. It was assumed that the challenges associated with the latter factor would invariably obligate and motivate herders to practice sustainable animal husbandry. However, the former factor also incentivizing adaptive changes in the agricultural practices of herders and pastoralists as well. The present study investigated changes in the management practices that rural pastoralists have made to ensure the sustainable maintenance of their livelihood in the face of strict public policy and climate risks. Surveys were conducted in two pastoral counties of northwestern China in a region subjected to frequent annual drought events and low wintertime temperatures. This region has already undergone numerous institutional changes within the last few decades. The results of the field research indicated that farmers in both counties have modified their livelihood patterns and nomadic practices in response to regulatory and climate change. Five new adaptive livelihood patterns were identified among the agricultural workers in the study area. The novel adaptive farming practices assumed by herders were intended to cope with the tension between the requirement for environmental protection and the need for socioeconomic development. The specificity of this research helps clarify how local communities change their livelihood patterns in response to ecosystem degradation and policy modifications resulting from climate change, and enrich the understanding of the actions for dealing with climate change under the individual perspective

Food Safety and Consumer Behavior in India and Japan: Comparative Literature Review

研究ノー

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN A RURAL MATRILINEAL SOCIETY OF MEGHALAYA, INDIA

The present study was undertaken to ascertain whether rural women are empowered in a matrilineal society in India. In a state where traditional institutions function on the basis of local customs and conventions that are not codified and yet religiously followed, it is questionable to whether the women are essentially empowered. In such a scenario, one wonders if owning land is enough to empower a woman. The objective of this study is to check if whether land ownership empowers a woman and if it gives her decision-making power in the household. The study was conducted at one village from each of the two districts in Meghalaya- the East Khasi Hills and the West Khasi Hills. Fifty female respondents from each district were made to answer a structured questionnaire, after which four respondents had to be eliminated, as they were unmarried and eighteen respondents had to be dropped as they were either a widow or separated. Probit regression was then used to analyze the data. The results stated that women who inherited land were more likely to have a savings account and be a part of a socio-economic group. From this it can be concluded, that women who owned land through lineage were empowered, however the fact that they still consider their husbands to be the head of the family, makes us consider that there may be a psychological component to it

The Significance of Quality in Rice Distribution: Discussion of the Factors in Competitiveness

The purpose of this paper is to clarify factors that have an influence on the competitiveness in the selling of rice. Therefore I looked back on the history of rice distribution from the viewpoint of quality. As a result, I made clear that a wide variety of “quality" is necessary at the actual demand stage; however, consciousness of the grading based on the area of production and the kind of rice remains on not only the production side but also that of the consumers even now, and this is because it was carried out under the former food control system. In addition, I pointed out that an improvement in the essential quality of rice is demanded under the assumption international competition, but the weakening of farming manpower is a serious problem