Inventory of water storage types in the Blue Nile and Volta River Basins

Water storage / River basins / Reservoirs / Ponds / Tanks / Groundwater / Soil moisture / Wetlands

Maternal Health-Seeking Behaviour: A Qualitative Research Project

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Health.Aim: This study explored the health-seeking behaviours contained in the stories of 14 first-time mothers during the first twelve months of their infant’s life when they were concerned for their child’s health. The aim of this study was to understand how first-time mothers learn to seek help or advice and how, through this learning, increase their knowledge and health literacy. It is anticipated that the results of the study will assist health professionals to develop strategies to support mothers, especially first-time mothers, to increase their knowledge and enable them to make informed decisions regarding health-seeking for their baby. Method: A qualitative design was chosen to allow an exploration of the mothers’ health-seeking experiences using the Critical Incident Technique method to inform the data collection. This method allowed the mothers to be observers of their actions through the diarising of times when they had concerns about their child’s health. The mothers’ stories were then explored using semi-structured interviews, when the babies were around eight weeks of age and again at approximately six to eleven months of age. An inductive thematic analysis method was then used in the analysis of the mothers’ stories to ensure their stories were respected and their use maximised. Results: Analysis of the 124 health-seeking occurrences identified in the mothers’ stories resulted in the development of four themes and associated subthemes. These themes were: asking other parents, connecting with health professionals, e-searching and learning, and state of knowing. This research project demonstrated that mothers seek help or advice within their environment in what could be described as a health literacy pathway. The mothers were able to increase their health literacy through a reciprocal interaction with their environment that included health services where the presence of a collaborative relationship enabled the co-production of knowledge. A key feature of the study findings was the role of mothers’ groups in providing opportunity for knowledge generation through the observation of modelled behaviour, especially from other mothers with children of a similar age. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that mothers who participated in this study did not ignore health concerns but are motivated learners actively seeking help or advice through a number of different avenues, often soon after birth. In addition, mothers access several different sources for the one issue and when provided with information will critique it before accepting or actioning. Importantly, the study demonstrated also that over time where and how mothers seek help or advice changes as they become connected with their community and their self-efficacy increases

Process evaluation of a school- and home-based sun safety education intervention

Effective interventions that reduce children\u27s sun exposure are likely to reduce melanoma incidence in the longer term. However, for such interventions to have an impact they must be adequately implemented. School-based sun protection programs have been evaluated to determine their effectiveness in changing behaviours, however, few studies have assessed the implementation of such programs, or the effect of their implementation on outcomes. Kidskin was a five-year intervention trial designed to assess the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention in reducing sun exposure in children in Perth, Western Australia. This thesis describes the process evaluation of the school- and home-based educational components of Kidskin\u27s intervention. This process evaluation incorporated data from 873 students, their parents and teachers in Years 1 to 4 at the 19 intervention schools involved in the larger Kidskin study

Recollecting and reflecting on feminist geography in Aotearoa/New Zealand and beyond

Over the past three decades feminist geography and the concept of gender have been deployed unevenly by geographers in Aotearoa/New Zealand. A politics of knowledge production means that feminist geography occupies both the centre and the margins of academic knowledge. In order to highlight the diversity of feminist geographical knowledges we pay attention to local, regional, national and international contexts. First, we begin by positioning ourselves as working in the geography programme at the University of Waikato. Second, we review the directions taken at other universities in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Third, we examine a number of key international organisations that have been important in supporting geographers and others who share a focus on space and gender. In the fourth and final section we suggest strategies for strengthening feminist geography in the future

Determining the Dynamics of Agricultural Water Use: Cases from Asia and Africa

Across Africa and Asia, water resources are being affected by a complex mixture of social, economic, and environmental factors. These include climate change and population growth, food prices, oil prices, financial disruptions, and political fluctuations. The need to produce more food will have one of the largest impacts on water and will continue to reshape the patterns of agricultural water use in major food-growing regions. With this increasing demand on water for agriculture, from large-scale irrigation to intensification of rainfed systems, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that water resources decision-making has access to information that captures the spectrum of water uses, across seasons, and over time. Furthermore, the major sectors that place demands on water and otherwise affect the resource need water-related information to inform their decisions. In this paper we consider two cases where the range of agricultural water management uses have been examined. We examine the methodologies and approaches used, the utility of this information to decision-making in the water and agricultural sectors, and the limitations of the information gathered

Determining the Dynamics of Agricultural Water Use: Cases from Asia and Africa

Across Africa and Asia, water resources are being affected by a complex mixture of social, economic, and environmental factors. These include climate change and population growth, food prices, oil prices, financial disruptions, and political fluctuations. The need to produce more food will have one of the largest impacts on water and will continue to reshape the patterns of agricultural water use in major food-growing regions. With this increasing demand on water for agriculture, from large-scale irrigation to intensification of rainfed systems, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that water resources decision-making has access to information that captures the spectrum of water uses, across seasons, and over time. Furthermore, the major sectors that place demands on water and otherwise affect the resource need water-related information to inform their decisions. In this paper we consider two cases where the range of agricultural water management uses have been examined. We examine the methodologies and approaches used, the utility of this information to decision-making in the water and agricultural sectors, and the limitations of the information gathered

Scoping study on natural resources and climate change in Southeast Asia with a focus on agriculture. Final report

Climate change / Natural resources / Environmental effects / Agroecology / Agricultural production / Crops / Cropping systems / Farming systems / Livestock / Fisheries / Food security / Water management / Economic aspects / Rural poverty / Policy / Nutrient management / South East Asia / Cambodia / Laos / Thailand / Vietnam / Myanmar / China / Greater Mekong Subregion / Tonle Sap / Yunnan