Natural resource management in the hillsides of Honduras: bioeconomic modeling at the micro-watershed level

The objective of this study is to simulate the effect of population pressure, market integration, technological improvement and policy decisions on natural resource management in the hillsides of Honduras. To do so, we developed a bioeconomic model that combines dynamic linear programming with a biophysical model, then applied this model to a typical microwatershed. Over recent years, farmers from the selected microwatershed have followed a "vegetables-intensive" pathway of development. We ran different scenarios with historical data over the period 1975 to 1995 and then projected 25 years into the future from 1995 to 2020. The results of the bioeconomic model presented in this paper help to test a number of induced innovation hypotheses. Many of our hypotheses are confirmed, but some of the model's results challenge conventional wisdom. The simulation results confirm that technology improvements such as irrigation and new varieties can help overcome diminishing returns to labor due to population pressure.Honduras., Natural resources., Water Management.,

Natural resource management in the hillsides of Honduras: bioeconomic modeling at the micro-watershed level

Barbier and Bergeron explore several hypotheses about the dynamics of natural resource management in the hillsides of La Lima and further explore the causes and consequences of the transition to vegetable production. To fully integrate agroecological factors, such as forest, water resources, and topography, the authors use a bioeconomic model that links farmers' resource management decisions to biophysical models. This captures production processes as well as the condition of natural resources. The model was used to run different scenarios over the period 1975 to 1995 and then to project into the future. The authors conclude that agroecological conditions are the most important factors de-termining incomes for villages with comparable agroecological conditions.Natural resources Honduras., Natural resources Management Mathematical models.,

Comparing village characteristics derived from rapid appraisals and household surveys

This paper investigates whether inferences drawn about a population are sensitive to the manner by which those data are obtained. It compares information obtained using participatory appraisal techniques with a survey of households randomly drawn from a locally administered census that had been carefully revised. The community map tends to include household members who do not, in fact, reside in the enumerated locality. By contrast, the revised official census is slightly more likely to exclude household members who actually lived in the surveyed area. Controlling for the survey technique, we find that the revised official census produces higher estimates of average household size and wealth but lower estimates of total village size or wealth, than the community map. Pairwise comparison of the survey techniques, holding the households constant, shows that the community map leads, on average, to higher estimates of household size and lower estimates of wealth.FCND ,Population Statistics. ,Surveys Methodology. ,Mali. ,

How reliable are group informant ratings?

The reliability of food security rating, a variant of the more familiar wealth ranking procedure, was tested in a rural area of Western Honduras. Twenty workshop sessions were conducted in 13 different communities, with members of organized small farmers' groups attended by a large agricultural development project. Participants were all poor farmers with no more than 10 hectares of land. Participants, who generally knew each other well, were split into small sets and each set was asked to rate the food security status of all households in their organized group. Inter-rater agreement was assessed using the Kappa statistic, and related to other characteristics of the informants and workshop sessions, using multiple regression methods. Agreement was very poor (median value 6 = 0.29), especially for the category "Intermittenly Food Insecure," and was associated with time elapsed since training of the session moderators. Women were 49 percent more likely than men to classify a given family as food insecure (P 0.001). The authors put forward seven different hypotheses to explain the poor reliability of the rating method, which should be investigated in future research if the credibility of the method is to be reinforced.Statistics. ,Food security Household. ,Small farmers. ,

La politique québécoise d'administration municipale de la justice criminelle : évolution récente, acteurs et systèmes de croyances

Le présent mémoire porte sur la participation de municipalités à l'administration de la justice criminelle en vertu de pouvoirs délégués par la seule province de Québec quant à des infractions définies par la juridiction fédérale. Il pose la question de la politique d'administration de la justice criminelle par des cours municipales sous les angles tant des évolutions récentes que des acteurs impliqués et des arguments qu'ils soutiennent. Soutenu par un cadre théorique qui relève du champ de la science politique et par une recherche documentaire d'envergure relative aux interventions des différents acteurs concernés par cette politique au Québec de 1988 à 2005, ce mémoire tente de répondre à deux hypothèses. Une première portant sur les origines hygiéniste et néolibérale du discours des acteurs impliqués et la seconde portant sur les logiques sectorielle (politico-administrative) et territoriale (justice) qui colorent ces discours. L' « advocacy coalition framework » (ou le modèle de coalitions de causes), développé par Paul Sabatier, est le modèle d'analyse de politique publique retenue pour répondre aux questions et hypothèses soulevées dans le présent mémoire. Malgré certaines lacunes du modèle théorique, portant notamment sur la présence ou l'absence d'acteurs ou de coalitions de causes dans un sous-système ainsi que sur les mécanismes de prise de décision (ou l'absence de décision) lorsqu'un processus d'élaboration ou de changement de politique a été amorcé, la modélisation de la politique québécoise d'administration municipale de la justice criminelle selon ce modèle a été toutefois utile particulièrement en ce qui concerne les interactions entre les groupes d'acteurs qui sont intervenus dans le débat. Les acteurs et coalitions d'acteurs ont été identifiés et le modèle a permis d'illustrer le processus dynamique à l'intérieur du sous-système de la politique dans lequel évoluent ces coalitions. Les hypothèses ont aussi été confirmées. L'analyse démontre, en effet, la présence de cette tendance moralisatrice du mouvement hygiéniste dans le discours des acteurs favorables à la décentralisation de l'administration de la justice criminelle ainsi que leur argumentation qui est inspirée d'une logique territoriale (justice). À l'opposé, les arguments néolibéraux et la logique sectorielle (politico-administrative) imprègnent le discours des opposants.\ud ______________________________________________________________________________ \ud MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : politique, justice, cour, municipalité, décentralisatio

Technologie et territoire : la maîtrise territoriale du changement technologique

C'est le résultat d'une réflexion universitaire portant sur les rapports entre ses nouvelles technologies et le développement régional. Ce livre cherche à promouvoir une meilleure compréhension de ces deux champs de recherche qui sort d'un intérêt vital pour l'évolution de nos sociétés. Les auteurs y poursuivent une démarche originale et situent leur analyse dans une perspective de maîtrise sociale des transformations technologiques. La maîtrise sociale implique qu'une société puisse intervenir pour orienter le changement vers le mieux-être de toute la population. Elle nécessite donc une connaissance approfondie de la dynamique des acteurs et des interrelations entre le changement technologique et l'ensemble des autres champs du social. La dimension territoriale a été négligée jusqu'à maintenant alors qu'elle nous apparaît importante tant sur te plan de la recherche que de l'action. Les phénomènes sociaux sort territorialisés

Managing Understory Vegetation for Maintaining Productivity in Black Spruce Forests: A Synthesis within a Multi-Scale Research Model

Sustainable management of boreal ecosystems involves the establishment of vigorous tree regeneration after harvest. However, two groups of understory plants influence regeneration success in eastern boreal Canada. Ericaceous shrubs are recognized to rapidly dominate susceptible boreal sites after harvest. Such dominance reduces recruitment and causes stagnant conifer growth, lasting decades on some sites. Additionally, peat accumulation due to Sphagnum growth after harvest forces the roots of regenerating conifers out of the relatively nutrient rich and warm mineral soil into the relatively nutrient poor and cool organic layer, with drastic effects on growth. Shifts from once productive black spruce forests to ericaceous heaths or paludified forests affect forest productivity and biodiversity. Under natural disturbance dynamics, fires severe enough to substantially reduce the organic layer thickness and affect ground cover species are required to establish a productive regeneration layer on such sites. We succinctly review how understory vegetation influences black spruce ecosystem dynamics in eastern boreal Canada, and present a multi-scale research model to understand, limit the loss and restore productive and diverse ecosystems in this region. Our model integrates knowledge of plant-level mechanisms in the development of silvicultural tools to sustain productivity. Fundamental knowledge is integrated at stand, landscape, regional and provincial levels to understand the distribution and dynamics of ericaceous shrubs and paludification processes and to support tactical and strategic forest management. The model can be adapted and applied to other natural resource management problems, in other biomes

Hidden Hunger: Solutions for America’s Aging Populations

The global population, including the United States, is experiencing a demographic shift with the proportion of older adults (aged ≥ 65 years) growing faster than any other age group. This demographic group is at higher risk for developing nutrition-related chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes as well as infections such as influenza and pneumonia. As a result, an emphasis on nutrition is instrumental for disease risk reduction. Unfortunately, inadequate nutrient status or deficiency, often termed hidden hunger, disproportionately affects older adults because of systematic healthcare, environmental, and biological challenges. This report summarizes the unique nutrition challenges facing the aging population and identifies strategies, interventions, and policies to address hidden hunger among the older adults, discussed at the scientific symposium “Hidden Hunger: Solutions for America’s Aging Population”, on March 23, 2018