Determinants of Fuelwood Use in Rural Orissa: Implications for Energy Transition

This study examines household behaviour related to fuelwood collection and use. The focus is on identifying the behavioral transition of fuelwood-using households from collection to purchase. The study examines the theory linking households’ labour allocation decisions to choice of fuel and models household decision using a three-stage least squares probit specification. Household fuelwood choice (purchase/collection) is predicted based on an endogenously determined wage income that depends on the opportunity cost of fuelwood collection. Expectedly, economic ability and availability of fuel alternatives are found to have significant positive marginal effects on household choice for fuelwood purchases. There is also the possibility that at very high levels of income, and in the absence of alternatives to choose from, households may revert back to collecting fuelwood using either their own labour or hired workers. The policy implication of a possible reverse switch is that improvements in economic ability alone may not be sufficient to bring about the energy transition in rural areas; there may be a need to continue with price subsidies on kerosene and LPG and at the same time create effective institutions for conserving forest commons

yet a challenge in vulnerability and adaptation analysis

Vulnerability assessments performed for long term environmental changes in the global, sub global, national or local level regularly employ up-scaling and down-scaling of information. Such techniques do not always account for the interplay of the factors across the levels in different scales. As a result, the current studies may give an incomplete understanding of the dynamics of a complex adaptive system (CAS) that is responsible for shaping its vulnerability to a risk. This working paper is an attempt to understand the concepts of dynamic complexity in a CAS and reasons for complementarity and contrast when observed through different scales of analysis. Through a literature survey we arrive at a point that there is no single solution in scientific studies or management approaches for understanding and solving systemic problems in a CAS like socio-ecological system (SES). This leads us to look towards approaches that facilitate learning from different understandings of the same problem and negotiation among groups with different viewpoints. Finally, a case of an agro-ecosystem in the Brahmaputra basin in India is cited to illustrate such complexity and problems for decision making for adaptation. We pose three research questions- • How can we have an integrated model of the causal mechanisms that lead to an irreversible change in a multilevel SES? • How do we form an appropriate and acceptable strategy for adaptation when the state of a system changes? • What is the appropriate form of governance which can maintain the ecological resilience for adaptation during periods of environmental change

Fuel for the clean energy debate : a study of fuelwood collection and purchase in rural India

This policy brief is based on SANDEE working paper no. 37-08 "Determinants of fuelwood use in rural India : implications for managing the energy transition"In many parts of rural India the use of wood for fuel is the cause of significant environmental and health problems. Efforts to help people switch to cleaner fuels have not been effective and fuelwood use remains high in the countryside. To help find a solution to this challenge, a new SANDEE study from the districts of Orissa has looked at the factors that influence fuelwood use amongst village people. It finds that people are more likely to switch from collecting to purchasing fuel wood as they become better off. However, it also finds that when households reach a certain level of affluence they may switch back to using local labour to collect fuelwood for them

Sustainable organisation performance evaluation using balance scorecard and analytical hierarchical process

The present study uses the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Comprehensive method to evaluate the sustainable performance index with different sustainable dimensions on organisational performance measures. Limited integration methods available, inadequate exploration of sustainable dimensions, insufficient attention to key performance indicators, and lack of comparative studies have prompted the present study. This empirical study reveals that a balanced scorecard can be effectively applied to an aerospace organisation for sustainable performance evaluation. It is essential to select proper key performance indicators for a performance measuring system. This paper presents the study carried out on the sustainable performance evaluation in an aerospace organization in the Indian context and found the sustainability of the Organisation as moderate Level. The survey also identifies the Levels of different segments such as learning and growth, internal business, social and environmental dimensions, finance, customer dimension, etc. Suggestions are also included for the improvement of levels of various segments. The paper also covers the impact of locational differences or product segments on sustainable performance

Adaptation policy and practice in densely populated glacier-fed river basins of South Asia : a systematic review

This paper reviews literature for three major glacier-fed river systems of South Asia, the Brahmaputra, Ganga, and Indus, to understand governance mechanisms for climate adaptation in the region. A systematic review methodology is applied to examine adaptation responses in the riparian countries of these Himalayan river basins at three different levels: policy objectives, institutions, and practice. Using a systematic review methodology, it presents a comprehensive assessment of the state-of-knowledge as well as state-of-affairs with respect to climate change adaptation policy and practice in the South Asia region

A qualitative comparative analysis of women’s agency and adaptive capacity in climate change hotspots in Asia and Africa

There is growing concern about sustainable and equitable adaptation in climate change hotspots, commonly understood as locations that concentrate high climatic variability, societal vulnerability, and negative impacts on livelihood systems. Emphasizing gender within these debates highlights how demographic, socio-economic and agro-ecological contexts mediate the experiences and outcomes of climate change. Drawing on data from 25 qualitative case studies across three hotspots in Africa and Asia, analysed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we show how and in what ways women’s agency, or the ability to make meaningful choices and strategic decisions, contributes to adaptation responses. We find that environmental stress is a key depressor of women’s agency even when household structures and social norms are supportive, or legal entitlements available. These findings have implications for the effective implementation of multilateral agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Sustainable Development Goals

CARIAA Working Paper no. 23

Ce document expose certaines leçons de l’Initiative de recherche concertée sur l’adaptation en Afrique et en Asie (IRCAAA), un important programme de recherche transdisciplinaire et interrégional de sept ans ayant appuyé quatre consortiums en Afrique et en Asie. L’IRCAAA s’employait à faire de la recherche sur l’adaptation aux changements climatiques qui soutenait l’apprentissage, produisait des connaissances et des solutions, et guidait les politiques et les pratiques. Au terme de plus de cinq ans d’expérimentation dévouée avec la méthode R4I, et avec de nombreux exemples de contributions réussies aux politiques locales et nationales, ainsi que des échecs, l’IRCAAA offre de riches leçons sur la façon de mettre en œuvre l’approche R4I dans des programmes de recherche d’aussi grande envergure.This paper shares lessons from the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), a seven-year transdisciplinary and cross-regional research programme that supported four consortia spanning Africa and Asia. CARIAA was committed to research on climate change adaptation that supported learning, the co-production of knowledge and solutions, and that informed policy and practice. With more than five years of dedicated experimentation with R4I, and with scores of successful examples of contribution to local and national policy, as well as failures, CARIAA offers rich lessons on how to pursue R4I in similarly large research programmes.UK Ai

Integrating Functional and Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Analysis of Structure-Function Relationship in the Human Language Network

The capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure structural and functional connectivity in the human brain have motivated growing interest in characterizing the relationship between these measures in the distributed neural networks of the brain. In this study, we attempted an integration of structural and functional analyses of the human language circuits, including Wernicke's (WA), Broca's (BA) and supplementary motor area (SMA), using a combination of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) and diffusion tensor MRI.Functional connectivity was measured by low frequency inter-regional correlations of BOLD MRI signals acquired in a resting steady-state, and structural connectivity was measured by using adaptive fiber tracking with diffusion tensor MRI data. The results showed that different language pathways exhibited different structural and functional connectivity, indicating varying levels of inter-dependence in processing across regions. Along the path between BA and SMA, the fibers tracked generally formed a single bundle and the mean radius of the bundle was positively correlated with functional connectivity. However, fractional anisotropy was found not to be correlated with functional connectivity along paths connecting either BA and SMA or BA and WA. for use in diagnosing and determining disease progression and recovery

Determinants of Fuelwood Use in Rural Orissa: Implications for Energy Transition

This study examines household behaviour related to fuelwood collection and use. The focus is on identifying the behavioral transition of fuelwood-using households from collection to purchase. The study examines the theory linking households’ labour allocation decisions to choice of fuel and models household decision using a three-stage least squares probit specification. Household fuelwood choice (purchase/collection) is predicted based on an endogenously determined wage income that depends on the opportunity cost of fuelwood collection.fuelwood, wage income, energy transition, rural orissa, reverse switch, India, households, labour allocation, wage, energy transition, least square probit, opportunity cost

Fuel for the Clean Energy Debate – A Study of Fuelwood Collection and Purchase in Rural India

In many parts of rural India the use of wood for fuel is the cause of significant environmental and health problems. Efforts to help people switch to cleaner fuels have not been effective and fuelwood use remains high in the countryside. To help find a solution to this challenge, the study in the districts of Orissa has looked at the factors that influence fuelwood use amongst village people.India, Orissa, rural, health problems, environmental, fuelwood, village people, forest degradation, indian, kerosene, family labour, government’s, household, districts, LPG