Food as Security: The controversy of foreign agricultural investment in the Yala Swamp, Kenya

This thesis explores the security implications of a wave of large-scale land acquisitions in developing countries led by foreign investors – generally known as the ‘global land grab’ – which came about in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Food Price Crisis. This ‘land grab’ phenomenon poses some fundamental questions about the state of the world food system and the role of emerging non-traditional challenges and threats to our future food security. At the same time, the security studies perspective that underlies the approach taken in this thesis has a rather uncomfortable association with the study’s main subject matter of ‘food security’. As a result, empirical enquiries into the phenomenon of land grabs need to be pre-empted by a solid theoretical foundation to elucidate the multifaceted relationship between food and security. This necessitates a thorough assessment of food as a matter of security; asking how our understanding of ‘food’ changes when we approach it as a security question. This thesis therefore sets out to achieve two objectives: 1) to bring the subject of ‘food’ into the security realm, and 2) to utilise a contextualised case study to critically assess the human security implications of a ‘land grab’. At the same time, however, a more holistic argument runs throughout the work, propounding the notion that there may be no technical solution to the world food problem. The idea is put forward that the natural sciences are perhaps not capable of single-handedly safeguarding our future food security. To be more precise, the solution to the world food problem may need to emanate from a radically changed human vision; one to inspire new values, ideas, morality, and above all, a change in behaviour

Food as Security: The controversy of foreign agricultural investment in the Yala Swamp, Kenya

This thesis explores the security implications of a wave of large-scale land acquisitions in developing countries led by foreign investors – generally known as the ‘global land grab’ – which came about in the aftermath of the 2008 Global Food Price Crisis. This ‘land grab’ phenomenon poses some fundamental questions about the state of the world food system and the role of emerging non-traditional challenges and threats to our future food security. At the same time, the security studies perspective that underlies the approach taken in this thesis has a rather uncomfortable association with the study’s main subject matter of ‘food security’. As a result, empirical enquiries into the phenomenon of land grabs need to be pre-empted by a solid theoretical foundation to elucidate the multifaceted relationship between food and security. This necessitates a thorough assessment of food as a matter of security; asking how our understanding of ‘food’ changes when we approach it as a security question. This thesis therefore sets out to achieve two objectives: 1) to bring the subject of ‘food’ into the security realm, and 2) to utilise a contextualised case study to critically assess the human security implications of a ‘land grab’. At the same time, however, a more holistic argument runs throughout the work, propounding the notion that there may be no technical solution to the world food problem. The idea is put forward that the natural sciences are perhaps not capable of single-handedly safeguarding our future food security. To be more precise, the solution to the world food problem may need to emanate from a radically changed human vision; one to inspire new values, ideas, morality, and above all, a change in behaviour

Altered purine and pyrimidine metabolism in erythrocytes with purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency

Purine and pyrimidine metabolism was compared in erythrocytes from three patients from two families with purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency and T-cell immunodeficiency, one heterozygote subject for this enzyme deficiency, one patient with a complete deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, and two normal subjects. The erythrocytes from the heterozygote subject were indistinguishable from the normal erythrocytes. The purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficient erythrocytes had a block in the conversion of inosine to hypoxanthine. The erythrocytes with 0.07% of normal purine nucleoside phosphorylase activity resembled erythrocytes with hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency by having an elevated intracellular concentration of PP-ribose-P, increased synthesis of PP-ribose-P, and an elevated rate of carbon dioxide release from orotic acid during its conversion to UMP. Two hypotheses to account for the associated immunodeficiency—that the enzyme deficiency leads to a block of PP-ribose-P synthesis or inhibition of pyrimidine synthesis—could not be supported by observations in erythrocytes from both enzyme-deficient families.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44134/1/10528_2004_Article_BF00484238.pd

An Innovative Approach to Slag Processing - Higher Metal Recovery with subsequent Separation of Different Ferroalloys on a Russian Dump Site

De begeleider en/of auteur heeft geen toestemming gegeven tot het openbaar maken van de scriptie. The supervisor and/or the author did not authorize public publication of the thesis.

Anal squamous intraepithelial lesions in HIV+ MSM

In this thesis we report on several aspects of high-grade anal squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) in HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM). It is estimated that 10% of HIV+ MSM with anal HSIL will develop anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) over 30 years time. Screening programs similar to cervical cancer screening focus on identification and treatment of anal HSIL. However, if ASCC can be prevented is still subject of debate. We report on risk factors for anal HSIL, causative HPV-types of intra-anal condylomatous lesions, the learning curve for high-resolution anoscopists identifying HSIL, the impact of anal HSIL treatments (electrocoagulation, imiquimod creme and efudix creme) on quality of life and sex life of HIV+ MSM and on cryotherapy as a potential new treatment for anal HSIL