3,212 research outputs found
No. 08: The Urban Food System of Windhoek, Namibia
The surprisingly high rate of supermarket patronage in low-income areas of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and largest city, is at odds with conventional wisdom that supermarkets in African cities are primarily patronized by middle and high-income residents and therefore target their neighbourhoods. What is happening in Namibia and other Southern African countries that make supermarkets so much more accessible to the urban poor? What are they buying at supermarkets and how frequently do they shop there? Further, what is the impact of supermarket expansion on informal food vendors? This report, which presents the findings of the South African Supermarkets in Growing African Cities project research in 2016-2017 in Windhoek, looks at the evidence and tries to answer these questions and others. The research and policy debate on the relationship between the supermarket revolution and food security is also discussed. Here, the issues include whether supermarket supply chains and procurement practices mitigate rural food insecurity through providing new market opportunities for smallholder farmers; the impact of supermarkets on the food security and consumption patterns of residents of African cities; and the relationship between supermarket expansion and governance of the food system, particularly at the local level
No. 26: The Supermarket Revolution and Food Security in Namibia
The surprisingly high rate of supermarket patronage in low-income areas of Windhoek, Namibia’s capital and largest city, is at odds with conventional wisdom that supermarkets in African cities are primarily patronized by middle and high-income residents and therefore target their neighbourhoods. What is happening in Namibia and other Southern African countries that make supermarkets so much more accessible to the urban poor? What are they buying at supermarkets and how frequently do they shop there? Further, what is the impact of supermarket expansion on informal food vendors? This report, which presents the findings from the South African Supermarkets in Growing African Cities project research in 2016-2017 in Windhoek, looks at the evidence and tries to answer these questions and others. The research and policy debate on the relationship between the supermarket revolution and food security is also discussed. Here, the issues include whether supermarket supply chains and procurement practices mitigate rural food insecurity through providing new market opportunities for smallholder farmers; the impact of supermarkets on the food security and consumption patterns of residents of African cities; and the relationship between supermarket expansion and governance of the food system, particularly at the local level
On distinguishing trees by their chromatic symmetric functions
Let be an unrooted tree. The \emph{chromatic symmetric function} ,
introduced by Stanley, is a sum of monomial symmetric functions corresponding
to proper colorings of . The \emph{subtree polynomial} , first
considered under a different name by Chaudhary and Gordon, is the bivariate
generating function for subtrees of by their numbers of edges and leaves.
We prove that , where is the Hall inner
product on symmetric functions and is a certain symmetric function that
does not depend on . Thus the chromatic symmetric function is a stronger
isomorphism invariant than the subtree polynomial. As a corollary, the path and
degree sequences of a tree can be obtained from its chromatic symmetric
function. As another application, we exhibit two infinite families of trees
(\emph{spiders} and some \emph{caterpillars}), and one family of unicyclic
graphs (\emph{squids}) whose members are determined completely by their
chromatic symmetric functions.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Added references [2], [13], and [15
No. 06: The Urban Food System of Nairobi, Kenya
Nairobi is a city of stark contrasts. Nearly half a million of its three million residents live in abject poverty in some of Africa’s largest slums, yet the Kenyan capital is also an international and regional hub. In East Africa, rapid urbanization is stretching existing food and agriculture systems as growing cities struggle to provide food and nutrition security for their inhabitants. Nairobi is no exception; it is a dynamically growing city and its food supply chains are constantly adapting and responding to changing local conditions. It is also an international city and the extent to which it is food secure is increasingly predicated on food imports from the regional East African Community and other international sources. Informal traditional value chains have a variety of actors and intermediaries that increase transaction costs and create an inefficient post-harvest procurement network, thereby pushing food products out of the reach of those who need them most. The majority of Nairobi’s food purchases are from informal food vendors. The city’s urban poor rely on the informal food sector for several reasons including that it provides food close to where they live and work, credit and barter are often available, small quantities can be purchased, and many items are sold more cheaply than at formal outlets. The leading income-generating activity for women in Nairobi’s poor communities is selling fruit and vegetables
Independent Spirit
Don Lewis has spent most of his 75 years trying to get away from it all. At least that\u27s what most of society would say. The problem is, not everybody has the same definition of the word all
One Rhim to Rule Them All
How far this sophomore cyclist could go is starting to become everybody\u27s guess
Past Is Prologue
After years of struggle and disarray, Furman\u27s women\u27s golf program is returning to its roots -- and its identity -- as a powerhouse
Using Formative Assessment of MAP Data to Shape Instructional Practices
A school district in the Southwestern United States identified gaps in student performance on 3rd grade math standards and implemented the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) provided by the Northwest Evaluation Association so that K-2 teachers might better inform their instruction of math standards. The problem was that the district needed to determine the ways in which MAP has changed formative assessment practices. A qualitative case study was conducted using the 5 components of formative assessments identified by Laud and Patel as a conceptual framework. The research questions asked about how formative assessment of students reflects the 5 components in the framework and the manner in which the formative assessment of data informs the types of professional development of teachers at the campus. Interviews with 7 teachers and 2 administrators and observations of local campus data meetings were collected and analyzed using a combination of open and a-priori coding techniques. Results indicated that some teachers had effectively incorporated some of the critical components of formative assessment, while others held beliefs about students and assessments that prevented them from being effective. Furthermore, most teachers used data other than MAP to assess students partially due to lack of knowledge about MAP. A 3-day professional development (PD) for teachers was created to inform the formative assessment of student data for the campus as the MAP assessments are implemented. Implications for social change include that formative assessment practices developed during the PD can be implemented at the research site, the district, and possibly further, thus improving academic performance and growth, particularly for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds
No.02: AN URBAN PERSPECTIVE ON FOOD SECURITY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
â– Food insecurity challenges in the Global South are changing as a result of rapid urbanization and the globalization of food supply chains.
â– Urban food insecurity is not distinct from rural food security challenges and policy seeking to address either should adopt a systems approach that strengthens their interdependence. There is an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of rural food security programming while concurrently addressing the growing food security needs of vulnerable urban populations.
■This brief recommends that food security policy should prioritize intra-urban stages of informal food value chains and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their supply to urban consumers. By supporting urban wholesale infrastructure development and providing technical assistance in intra-urban food transportation, programming can enhance the competitiveness of domestic food product distribution within cities while increasing rural farmers’ access to urban consumers
On distinguishing trees by their chromatic symmetric functions
This is the author's accepted manuscript
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