Rights-based approaches and social capital in addressing food and nutrition security of the poor and women : a mixed-methods study of NGOs in Armenia and Georgia

The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the improvement of womens and the poors food and nutrition security and advancement of their human rights is gaining prominence in academic and public discourse. NGOs as civil society actors ideally should advocate for greater accountability of states food and nutrition-related security programs and policies, support grass-roots efforts for democratized and improved food systems, and represent and protect the most food insecure groups. NGOs, nevertheless, have been criticized for creating dependency among the most food insecure, offering donor-driven top-down solutions and discouraging social mobilization efforts among the most disadvantaged and discriminated against groups. In this study we asked what encourages or prevents NGOs engagement with the most marginalized and discriminated against groups, such as women and the poor, and what are the approaches NGOs use in addressing these groups food and nutrition security. Applying a mixed quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis, this dissertation focused on NGOs in two post-Soviet countries: Armenia and Georgia. This study has produced three main sets of findings. First, possible determinants for NGOs: involvement in food-oriented work; adoption of human rights-based approaches, including the right to adequate food; and gender mainstreaming were studied using results from an on-line electronic survey of 228 NGOs in Armenia and Georgia. The adoption of development and human rights concepts by national NGOs was associated with their involvement in networks with transnational donors or civil society organizations. NGO involvement was not determined by public demand alone, but rather as a compromise between various factors, including but not limited to the availability and support of donor funding and the organizations involvement in a relevant transnational network. These findings confirm and reinforce previous studies on vertical discursive flows from transnational actors to national NGOs. Organizations self-reported engagement with the right to adequate food was rare in both countries, implying both absent or weak ties with transnational actors propagating the right to adequate food on the one hand, and on the other hand to low priority paid to the right to adequate food by the food security oriented international organizations cooperating with NGOs in the South Caucasus. Second, a qualitative study of 57 local and international NGOs in Armenia and Georgia explored operational and institutional characteristics of NGOs involved in food and nutrition security. The research found that NGOs preferences in building networks and targeting specific groups were determined mainly by the identities of organization core members, most specifically by their gender and their social and economic status. National and international NGOs operating in Armenia and Georgia with male leadership pursued the collective organization of economically better-off male farmers and entrepreneurs, whereas female-led NGOs targeted better educated rural women. The overarching objective of male-led NGO interventions was improved economic gain, whereas female-led NGOs aimed to improve community-wellbeing through promotion of social justice and charity. The study reconfirmed existing concerns that womens leadership, involvement, and participation is hampered in male-dominated groups. In addition to gender-based segregation, the extremely poor were represented neither by male or female NGO members, nor were they included in NGO attempts to encourage group formation or social mobilization. The findings support Bourdieus argument that social capital accumulation is determined by social and economic proximities. Lastly, the case study of a female-led NGO working with internally displaced rural women in Georgia demonstrated how the improvement of womens food and nutrition status was achievable when social isolation and structural discrimination in public and private spaces were acknowledged and addressed. Supporting bottom-up livelihood strengthening initiatives and addressing violence contributed to internally displaced rural womens potential to realize the right to adequate food. The dissertation findings represent an advance in the understanding of the role of national and international civil society actors in improving food and nutrition security of the most marginalized and discriminated groups. The study enriches the limited but growing research on rights-based approaches in development as an alternative to technocratic solutions. The dissertation contributes to the research in international development, agriculture and rural development, and broader social theory.Die Rolle von NGOs in der Verbesserung der Ernährungssicherheit der Frauen und der von Armut Betroffenen sowie in der Förderung derer Menschenrechte gewinnt derzeit an Bedeutung im akademischen und öffentlichen Diskurs. Im Idealfall sollten NGOs, als zivilgesellschaftliche Akteure, sich für eine verstärkte Rechenschaftspflicht in staatlichen Programmen und politischen Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Ernährungssicherheit einsetzen, Bemühungen von Basisbewegungen für demokratisierte und verbesserte Ernährungssysteme unterstützen. Dennoch sind NGOs für die Schaffung von Abhängigkeiten unter den am stärksten von Ernährungsunsicherheit Betroffenen durch die Bereitstellung von gebergesteuerten Top-Down-Lösungen und die Entmutigung von Bemühungen zur sozialen Mobilisierung unter den am meisten benachteiligten und diskriminierten Gruppen kritisiert worden. In dieser Studie fragten wir, welche Faktoren förderlich oder hinderlich für ein Engagement von NGOs mit den am stärksten marginalisierten und diskriminierten Gruppen sind, beispielsweise Frauen und die von Armut Betroffenen, und welche Ansätze von NGOs verwendet werden bei der Auseinandersetzung mit der Ernährungssicherheit dieser Gruppen. Die quantitativ und qualitativ vergleichende Analyse konzentrierte sich auf NGOs in zwei postsowjetischen Ländern: Armenien und Georgien. Diese Studie ergab drei Hauptsätze von Erkenntnissen. Zunächst wurden folgende mögliche Determinanten für das Engagement von NGOs unter Verwendung von Ergebnissen aus einer elektronischen Online-Befragung von 228 NGOs in Armenien und Georgien untersucht: die Mitwirkung an ernährungsorientierten Projekten; Anwendung menschenrechtsbasierter Ansätze, einschließlich des Rechts auf angemessene Nahrung; und Gender Mainstreaming. Eigenangaben der Organisationen über ihr Engagement für das Recht auf angemessene Nahrung waren für beide Länder selten. Wir stellten fest, dass die Anwendung von Konzepten über Entwicklung und Menschenrechte durch nationale NGOs mit ihrer Einbindung in Netzwerken mit transnationalen Gebern oder mit Organisationen der Zivilgesellschaft verbunden waren. Wir fanden heraus, dass das Engagement von NGOs nicht nur durch die öffentliche Nachfrage bestimmt wurde, sondern vielmehr ein Kompromiss zwischen mehreren Faktoren darstellte, einschließlich jedoch nicht ausschließlich der Verfügbarkeit von und Unterstützung durch Gebermittel sowie der Beteiligung der Organisationen an relevanten transnationalen Netzwerken. Zweitens erforschte eine qualitative Studie von 57 lokalen und internationalen NGOs in Armenien und Georgien die betrieblichen und institutionellen Merkmale der in der Ernährungssicherung engagierten NGOs. Die Studie ergab, dass die Präferenzen von NGOs für den Aufbau von Netzwerken und die Zielgruppenausrichtung hauptsächlich von der Identität der Kernmitglieder der jeweiligen Organisation abhängig waren, insbesondere von deren Geschlecht und deren sozialem und wirtschaftlichem Status. Sowohl in Armenien als auch in Georgien verfolgten nationale und internationale NGOs unter männlicher Führung das Ziel der kollektiven Organisation der wirtschaftlich besser gestellten männlichen Landwirte und Unternehmer, während weiblich geführte NGOs besser ausgebildete Frauen in ländlichen Gebieten als Zielgruppe hatten. Die Studie bestätigt bestehende Bedenken darüber, dass die Führerschaft, Einbeziehung und Partizipation von Frauen in männlich dominierten Gruppen behindert sind. Neben der geschlechtsspezifischen Segregation waren die von extremer Armut Betroffenen weder von männlichen noch von weiblichen NGO-Mitgliedern vertreten, noch waren sie einbezogen in Bestrebungen der NGOs zur Gruppenbildung oder sozialen Mobilisierung. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen die Aussagen von Bourdieu über die Abhängigkeit der Bildung von Sozialkapital von sozialer und wirtschaftlicher Nähe. Schließlich veranschaulichte die Fallstudie einer weiblich geführten NGO, die mit binnenvertriebenen ländlichen Frauen in Georgien arbeitet, wie die Verbesserung des Ernährungsstatus der Frauen durch das Erkennen und Angehen von sozialer Isolation und struktureller Diskriminierung im öffentlichen und privaten Bereich erreichbar wurde. Die Unterstützung von Bottom-Up-Initiativen, die auf die Sicherung der Existenzgrundlage abzielen, und das Vorgehen gegen Gewalt, trugen zum Potenzial von binnenvertriebenen ländlichen Frauen bei, ihr Recht auf angemessene Nahrung zu verwirklichen. Die Ergebnisse der Dissertation stellen einen Fortschritt im Verständnis über die Rolle nationaler und internationaler Akteure der Zivilgesellschaft für die Verbesserung der Ernährungssicherheit der am stärksten marginalisierten und diskriminierten Gruppen dar. Die Studie bereichert die noch begrenzte aber zunehmende Anzahl von Forschungsarbeiten zu rechtsbasierten Entwicklungsansätzen als Alternative zu technokratischen Lösungen

Violence as an Under-Recognized Barrier to Women’s Realization of Their Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition: Case Studies From Georgia and South Africa

This article addresses under-acknowledged barriers of structural violence and discrimination that interfere with women’s capacity to realize their human rights generally, and their right to adequate food and nutrition in particular. Case studies from Georgia and South Africa illustrate the need for a human rights–based approach to food and nutrition security that prioritizes non-discrimination, public participation, and self-determination. These principles are frustrated by different types of structural violence that, if not seriously addressed, pose multiple barriers to women’s economic, public, and social engagement. </jats:p

The peatland map of Europe

Based on the ‘European Mires Book’ of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), this article provides a composite map of national datasets as the first comprehensive peatland map for the whole of Europe. We also present estimates of the extent of peatlands and mires in each European country individually and for the entire continent. A minimum peat thickness criterion has not been strictly applied, to allow for (often historically determined) country-specific definitions. Our ‘peatland’ concept includes all ‘mires’, which are peatlands where peat is being formed. The map was constructed by merging national datasets in GIS while maintaining the mapping scales of the original input data. This ‘bottom-up’ approach indicates that the overall area of peatland in Europe is 593,727 km². Mires were found to cover more than 320,000 km² (around 54 % of the total peatland area). If shallow-peat lands (< 30 cm peat) in European Russia are also taken into account, the total peatland area in Europe is more than 1,000,000 km2, which is almost 10 % of the total surface area. Composite inventories of national peatland information, as presented here for Europe, may serve to identify gaps and priority areas for field survey, and help to cross-check and calibrate remote sensing based mapping approaches

The peatland map of Europe

Based on the ‘European Mires Book’ of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), this article provides a composite map of national datasets as the first comprehensive peatland map for the whole of Europe. We also present estimates of the extent of peatlands and mires in each European country individually and for the entire continent. A minimum peat thickness criterion has not been strictly applied, to allow for (often historically determined) country-specific definitions. Our ‘peatland’ concept includes all ‘mires’, which are peatlands where peat is being formed. The map was constructed by merging national datasets in GIS while maintaining the mapping scales of the original input data. This ‘bottom-up’ approach indicates that the overall area of peatland in Europe is 593,727 km2. Mires were found to cover more than 320,000 km2 (around 54 % of the total peatland area). If shallow-peat lands (&amp;lt; 30 cm peat) in European Russia are also taken into account, the total peatland area in Europe is more than 1,000,000 km2 which is almost 10 % of the total surface area. Composite inventories of national peatland information, as presented here for Europe, may serve to identify gaps and priority areas for field survey, and help to cross-check and calibrate remote sensing based mapping approaches. © 2017 International Mire Conservation Group and International Peatland Society

The peatland map of Europe

Based on the 'European Mires Book' of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), this article provides a composite map of national datasets as the first comprehensive peatland map for the whole of Europe. We also present estimates of the extent of peatlands and mires in each European country individually and for the entire continent. A minimum peat thickness criterion has not been strictly applied, to allow for (often historically determined) country-specific definitions. Our 'peatland' concept includes all 'mires', which are peatlands where peat is being formed. The map was constructed by merging national datasets in GIS while maintaining the mapping scales of the original input data. This 'bottom-up' approach indicates that the overall area of peatland in Europe is 593,727 km(2). Mires were found to cover more than 320,000 km (2) (around 54 % of the total peatland area). If shallow-peat lands (<30 cm peat) in European Russia are also taken into account, the total peatland area in Europe is more than 1,000,000 km(2), which is almost 10 % of the total surface area. Composite inventories of national peatland information, as presented here for Europe, may serve to identify gaps and priority areas for field survey, and help to cross-check and calibrate remote sensing based mapping approaches