The Importance of Sweet Potatoes in Rural Villages in Southern Province, Zambia

ザンビアにおける食料安全保障を改善するためには、安定したメイズ生産と生産性の向上が重要である。しかし、多くの農民は天水農業下でメイズを栽培しており、メイズに偏重した作付けは干ばつや過度の降雨に脆弱である。したがって、気候変動に直面しながら食料安全保障を成し遂げるには、作物の多様性を増すことが重要となる。サツマイモは自家消費用食料、ならびに世帯の現金収入源として大きな可能性があるといわれている。そこで、本研究では、ザンビア南部州農村地帯の3 サイトにおいて、サツマイモ品種についての農民の知識を理解すること、また、サツマイモの生産と消費を明らかにすることを目的とした。サツマイモは雨季、乾季ともに栽培されているが、その栽培割合は季節間、サイト間で異なっている。農民へのインタビューの結果、22 種類ものサツマイモ品種があることが判明したが、彼らの多くは1 種類も回答することができなかった。また、確認された22 種類のうち栽培されていたのは10 種類に過ぎなかった。調査した3サイトのうち1 サイトでは、特にサツマイモ生産が盛んにおこなわれていたが、そのサイトでのさらなる調査の結果、サツマイモの塊根は主に朝食として利用されており、1 年間の全食事を通じてみると、1 週間に2 回程度消費されていた。消費は収穫直後に最も高く、徐々に減少した。サツマイモの葉は、ほとんど消費されていないこともわかった。サツマイモ販売による売り上げ額は高く、１年間当たりの売り上げで大人7.4 人分の主食（メイズの粗挽き粉）を購入できることがわかった。Stable maize production and increased productivity are important for improved food security in Zambia. Because most farmers cultivate maize under rain-fed agriculture, however, a maize monoculture is vulnerable to drought or excessive rainfall. Increasing the diversification of crops and crop varieties is therefore important to achieve food security in the face of a changing climate. The sweet potato is an important secondary food in Zambia and has great potential both as a crop for consumption and as a source of income. The aim of the study was to determine farmers’ familiarity with sweet potato varieties and their features and to clarify production and consumption patterns in a rural area in Southern Province, Zambia. Field studies and farmer interviews were conducted at three sites. Farmers in the study area planted sweet potato in both the rainy and dry seasons, but sweet potato production varied between planting seasons and among the three study sites. As a group, farmers were able to identify a total of 22 sweet potato varieties, but many farmers were not able to identify a single variety, and only 10 of the 22 identified varieties were actually cultivated in the study area. Sweet potato production was much greater at one site. Further study of some households at this site indicated that sweet potato tubers were consumed about twice a week, most commonly for breakfast. Consumption was highest during and immediately after the harvest and then gradually decreased. Sweet potato leaves were rarely consumed. Annual sweet potato sales per person generated sufficient income at this site to purchase enough mealiemeal (a local staple food) to feed 7.4 adults for a year

土壌クラストの形成機構に関する研究

京都大学0048新制・論文博士博士(農学)乙第9610号論農博第2144号新制||農||747(附属図書館)学位論文||H9||N3068(農学部図書室)16502UT51-97-H447(主査)教授 小﨑 隆, 教授 關谷 次郎, 教授 丸山 利輔学位規則第4条第2項該当Doctor of Agricultural ScienceKyoto UniversityDA

Participatory rural development for sustainable livelihoods in central Vietnam

This paper describes a three-year field project implemented jointly from September 2006 by Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University. The project uses a participatory approach to enhance community resilience, environmental conservation and household economy in three project sites in Hue province in central Vietnam. Project activities currently taking place in just one of these project sites are the focus of this paper. The project is ongoing: its activities will come to an end in September 2006. What lessons have been learned so far and what challenges lie ahead for the project's facilitators

Living with typhoon and flood disasters : a case study in Huong Phong commune, Tam Giang lagoon area, central Vietnam

Central Vietnam frequently suffers from typhoons and floods. Disaster preparedness for local residents is one of the major focuses of efforts to mitigate natural disasters. In Huong Phong commune, located beside the Tam Giang lagoon in Huong Tra district, Thua Thien Hue province, a research team focused on three specific objectives: 1) evaluating the impacts of typhoons and flooding on local residents over the past 25 years, 2) describing the activities of local authorities in responding to natural disasters, and 3) identifying disaster adaptation and mitigation behavior of local residents. The study shows that local residents' working and living conditions were seriously influenced by typhoons and flooding, particularly by major flooding in 1999. To reduce the impact of disasters, Committees for Flood and Typhoon Control were established at the commune and village levels to coordinate the preparedness and response of residents before, during and after floods and typhoons. Preparedness and response efforts at the local level are mainly based on local resources, under the guiding credo "four on the spot," which covers local leadership, local forces on the spot, local materials and local logistics when organizing disaster prevention activities. The study found that, to prepare themselves for future disasters, local people diversified their work, constructed reinforced houses with elevated foundations and mezzanine levels, stocked up on food reserves, bought boats and used their local knowledge to help predict future floods and typhoons

THE ROLE OF THE SWEET POTATO IN THE CROP DIVERSIFICATION OF SMALL-SCALE FARMERS IN SOUTHERN PROVINCE, ZAMBIA

Stable maize production and increased productivity are important for improved food security in Zambia. Because most farmers cultivate maize under rain-fed agriculture, a maize monoculture is vulnerable to drought or excessive rainfall. Therefore, increasing the diversification of crops and crop varieties is important to achieve food security in the face of a changing climate. The sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) has great potential as a crop for consumption and as a source of income. The aim of this study was to determine farmers' familiarity with sweet potato varieties and their features, and to clarify production and consumption patterns in a rural area in Southern Province, Zambia. Field studies were conducted at three sites. Farmers in the study area planted sweet potatoes in both the rainy and dry seasons. As a group, farmers were able to identify a total of 22 sweet potato varieties, but all varieties that were identified were not actually cultivated. Sweet potato production was much greater at one site. Further study of some households at this site indicated that sweet potato tubers were consumed about twice per week. Consumption was highest during and immediately after the harvest, and then decreased gradually. Annual sweet potato sales per person generated sufficient income