Livelihood Issues Research Articles

International perspectives on food safety and regulations - a need for harmonized regulations: perspectives in China

Food safety is a major livelihood issue and a priority concern in China. Since the Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China was issued in 2009, the food safety control system has been strengthened through, inter alia, the Food Safety Risk Surveillance System, the Food Safety Risk Assessment System and the Food Safety Standards System. In accordance with the Food Safety Law and regulations for implementation, the Ministry of Health released the 'Twelfth Five-year Plan' of Food Safety Standards. The existing 5000 food-related standards will be integrated. Notwithstanding, the supervision system in China needs to be further improved and strengthened.

Issues of Conservation and Livelihood in a Forest Village of Assam

The creation of the forest villages in the northeast Indian state of Assam, like the rest of India, was a part of the colonial forest management policy. These villages were established within the limits of the reserved forests for assured supply of labour for the colonial forest department. Later on, many recognized forest villages came up with landless peasants migrating to the forest areas in search of land and livelihood. However, their growing population and demand for land coupled with the highhandedness of the forest department gave rise to intense conflict between the two. This conflict has assumed a much more complex character in the recent times giving rise to serious contestations and challenges with regard to people’s rights and conservation approach of the state.

Livelihood Issues and Sustainable Development: A Study of Two Villages in North Bengal (BTR), India

The term ‘sustainable development’ is defined as development that has enough resources in its own environment/society to sustain and to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the future generation's interests or without any loss of natural resources endowed to a society. However, the model of rapid development has resulted in exploitation and misuse of vital natural ecological resources, thereby gradually depleting them in a significant manner. This depletion and decline of natural resources not only threatens the present generation (be it rural or urban population) but also throws the challenge of sustainability to the future generation.

Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha: A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics

This paper aims to provide an analytical glimpse of the evolution of forest policies in Odisha in the post-independence era, by unraveling the major stages of evolution of such policies. The paper also seeks to explore the issues of livelihoods, which has attained priority while formulating forest policies under the different political regimes in the State, and how this issue gradually evolved as a part of the pro-poor policy process in the state forestry sector of Odisha. [CESS Working Paper No. 127 RULNR Working Paper No. 21].

The Construction of Evaluation Index System of Food Safety under Two-Factor Theory

Food safety is a significant livelihood issue. A thorough comprehensive evaluation index system of food safety is constructed based on two-factor theory from the perspective of solving large social tensions and transforming the economic development pattern. The system has bottom line indicator of hygiene factors and improving indicator of incentive factors. The proposed index system can achieve the integration of appraisal, supervision and management and meet the demand of government, enterprises and the public.

The potential and limitations of farmer participatory research in organic agriculture: A review

Farmer participatory research (FPR) emerged in response to limitations of top-down Research and Development (R&D) approaches. The main purpose of this paper is to inspire and guide aspiring and new practitioners of participatory research and development (PR&D) to learn, reflect and constantly refine the way they work. The primary target users are field-based researchers involved in activities dealing with the interrelated issues of natural resource management, agriculture and rural livelihoods. They may have technical or social science backgrounds but share a common interest in drawing on the PR&D knowledge base. The paper is intended to enhance access to systematized information on field-tested PR&D concepts and practices among field practitioners and their organizations. This paper offers a conceptual model for participatory research projects that aim to improve the sustainability of organic agriculture. Key words: Farmer participatory research, appropriate technology, agricultural research, on farm research, sustainability.

Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha - A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics

The paper aims to provide an analytical glimpse of the evolution of Forest Policies in Odisha since the post independence era by unraveling the major stages of evolution of such policies. The paper also seeks to explore the issues of Livelihoods which have attained priority while formulating Forest Policies under the different political regime in the State and how such issues are gradually evolved as a part of pro-poor policy process in State Forestry Sector of Odisha. Forest Policies of Odisha since the pre-independence period and even after independence have been passed through different stages in which the involvement of State and Non-State actors is seen as a crucial determinant factor. The process also paved the way for the emergence of neo-political order and has opened the era of integration between the State and Non-State actors in the State forest policy process. Policy process as a Political Process has also received enormous attention from different corners. However, the policy process in the State Forestry Sector has not only undermined the Livelihood issues of Forest Dependent Communities but also has become a source of deprivation of Livelihoods of the communities in different period of time. Nonetheless, the issues of Livelihoods have drawn significant attention since the 90s when the Participatory Forest Management regime emerged and further flourished in 2006 when the Forest Rights Act came and implemented in the State. The present paper is a product of the ongoing research work of entitled “Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha-A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics”. The paper is based on the analysis of Secondary Data, review of Literature and discussion with key informants, which has been focused the major policy specific developments in the State Forestry Sector while specifically looking into the developments under different Governments. Decision making processes of the Formulation and Implementation of Forest Policies have been highlighted in the paper by throwing a light on the key influencing factors in such decisions. The paper concludes with a summary of findings of major forest policies in the State and their implications on Livelihoods of Forest Dependent Communities in Odisha.

Review on Key Technology of the Machine Vision Inspection Robot on Pharmaceutical Injection

The food and drug safety is related to people’s livelihood and public safety issues,so medical injection must be through quality and safety tested when using.Otherwise,it will cause a variety of diseases or even life-threatening.At present,pharmaceutical manufacturers still use artificial lighting inspection method to control the quality of injection.This inspection method has many defects,such as low speed,poor stability,low level of security.So in order to solve this problem and improve the level of drug security status,it is very necessary to introduce a type of robot based on machine vision technology to inspect pharmaceutical injection instead of people.Key technical problems encountered are discussed in the development process of the inspection robot,including overall solutions of the robot,the design of high precision mechanical structure,the synergistic control method of sever motors,the high-speed and high-precision image acquisition system and methods of weak target to detect,recognize and classify.The research and development bottlenecks which constraint the robot and feasible solutions are elaborated,and the next step in the development trend of the visual inspection robot is stated.

Reflections on Livelihood Issue in Post-Disaster Reconstruction Planning of Wenchuan Earthquake

The 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake caused enormous casualties and property losses. The post-disaster reconstruction, difficult, complex, and long, is a continuous systematic process, of which the livelihood issue is of paramount importance. This paper, through the field investigation in disaster area, conducts an in-depth study on the post-disaster reconstruction current situation and the trend of public opinion, puts forward a few reflections, analyzes and explores the countermeasures, in order to provide valuable experience and ideas on the reconstruction planning after earthquakes in the future.

Opinions on legality principles considered in the FLEGT/VPA policy in Ghana and Indonesia

The Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade programme (FLEGT) of the European Union aims at stimulating both legal timber production and good forest governance. The EU establishes Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with individual tropical timber exporting countries; these VPAs should be developed through a stakeholder-inclusive governance process and define national standards for timber legality. The national policy level serves as an interface between the EU policy and the local realities of forest exploitation. This article assesses whether new assemblages of timber legality standards were developed at this interface. It presents the opinions of people actively engaged in the FLEGT/VPA process in Ghana (n=38) and Indonesia (n=40) about which principles regarding timber legality, law enforcement and social safeguards were considered during the VPA negotiations in each country. Almost half of the respondents (44%) were positive about the integrative focus of VPA discussions focusing on both forestry and livelihood issues, 40% considered it had mostly a limited focus or traditional timber sector focus, and 16% indicated a high degree of attention to social responsibility issues. There were differences in the characteristics of respondents and their opinions between Ghana and Indonesia; these reflect differences in organisation of the FLEGT/VPA process. The findings demonstrate how depending on country-specific policy processes principles from an international forest policy are adapted at national level; this may involve new assemblages of the original policy principles.

Water, People, and Sustainability—A Systems Framework for Analyzing and Assessing Water Governance Regimes

Freshwater resources might become the most limited resource in the future due to rising demands, climate change, and the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. While the urgency of this challenge is uncontested, water governance regimes still struggle to employ suitable responses. They lack of: taking a comprehensive perspective on water systems; focusing on social actors, their actions, needs, intentions, and norms as drivers of water systems; engaging in a discourse on tangible goals to provide direction for governance efforts; and promoting a comprehensive perspective on water sustainability that equally recognizes depletion, justice, and livelihood issues in the long-term. We present an approach that intends to overcome these limitations by putting the focus on what people do with water, and why, along with the impacts of these doings. First, we outline an integrated approach to water governance regimes, and then, we present a holistic set of principles by which to evaluate sustainable water governance. Solution-oriented research applying this approach integrates natural sciences and engineering perspectives on water systems with social science studies on water governance, while also specifying and applying normative principles for water sustainability. The approach we develop herein can be used to reform and innovate existing water governance regimes as well as stimulate transformative governance research.

Development of education for acoustics in Hong Kong

Acoustical issues have been important subjects in Hong Kong since its progressive development into a cosmopolitan city. Its densely populated characteristics and vibrant nature are challenges often encountered by professionals of various fields involved in the design and operation of a variety of infrastructures and facilities, from the early stage of landuse planning to daily maintenance of plants and equipment. Acoustical issues have also become livelihood issues as people are demanding better quality of living in terms of their acoustical environment. Hong Kong has been putting efforts to cope with the need to address acoustical issues by the most fundamental means, i.e. education for almost all walks of life, aiming to promote knowledge as well as good practices so as to build a “sound” environment. This paper will describe the development of education for acoustics to meet the challenges in an extremely active city like Hong Kong. The partnering efforts among professional associations, academic institutions, and the industries in fostering professional knowledge and enhancing continual training will also be covered.

Conflicting Issues and Challenges Related to Common Property Management and Customary Rights of the Indigenous People of Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh

The common properties in Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh have been degraded due to curtailment of right of the indigenous people by the Forest Department, government policy relating to modernization of the central economy, deployment of military and settlement programs in the land of indigenous people. Therefore, in the context of common property management, the research study aimed to identify state’s role on conversion of indigenous people’s common property and also discovered customary practice of the indigenous people in common lands. The findings of the study reveal that government policy regarding conservation of forest and non-recognition of the indigenous people’s customary rights over their land in the national legal frameworks have negative consequence over the natural environment of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The study shows that indigenous peoples have their traditional knowledge which is effective for the conservation of nature and supporting livelihood which are not being recognized by the state legislation. The study found that detachment of the indigenous people from the nature brings destruction of nature as well as misery for the people. The study also found that international legal instruments and practical experiences as well as local knowledge could be applied for the required policy interventions in order to address the conflicting issues of Common property and livelihood of the indigenous people’s.

Tropical forest monitoring, combining satellite and social data, to inform management and livelihood implications: Case studies from Indonesian West Timor

Deforestation in the world's tropics is an urgent international issue. One response has been the development of satellite based monitoring initiatives largely focused on the carbon rich forests of western Indonesia. In contrast this study focuses on one eastern Indonesian district, Kabupaten Kupang, which has some of the largest and least studied tracts of remaining forest in West Timor. A combination of remote sensing, GIS and social science methods were used to describe the state of forests in Kabupaten Kupang, how and why they are changing. Using satellite imagery, case studies and on-ground interviews, this study explores the proposition that transdisciplinary local social, cultural and biophysical knowledge is important for effectively using remotely sensed data as a tool to inform local management policies. When compared to some other parts of Indonesia, the rate and extent of deforestation in West Timor was found to be relatively small and a satellite based assessment alone could conclude that it is not a critical issue. However this study showed that when on-ground social data are coupled with (such) satellite-based data a more complex picture emerges, related to key livelihood issues. The causes of forest cover change were found to be multivariate and location specific, requiring management approaches tailored to local social issues. This study suggests that integrative research can maximise the utility of satellite data for understanding causation and thus informing management strategies. In addition, the satellite based assessment found that at the time of the study less than 4% of forested land was within national parks and nature reserves and less than a third of the protected catchment forest zone was forested. These data suggest considerable scope for upland re-forestation activities or the redrawing of protected forest boundaries.

‘Resting’, AIDS-affliction and marital constraints: Engendered livelihood issues in the aftermath of Lesotho mineworker retrenchments

Since the late 1990s retrenched Basotho mineworkers have been returning in steady numbers to the rural areas of Lesotho. While marital and household relations have been rekindled in the process, there is currently much curiosity about how the large-scale presence of men in rural areas is reconfiguring married women's livelihood strategies and their striving for financial autonomy. The Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act of 2006 has been celebrated as a victory for married women, but customary practice and societal perceptions of the legitimacy of men's marital powers continue to restrict women's activities and livelihood efforts. This reflection on ethnographic research in Mafeteng, Lesotho, illustrates key constraints, in particular gender ideologies and debilitating health conditions that aggravate rural households' economic crises. It is argued that more institutional interventions are required in order to socialise the values and promote the cause of gender equality between married partners and to tackle persisting familial and cultural impediments affecting women's lives.

Institutions and organizations: the key to sustainable management of resources in river basins

Based on studies of water, poverty and livelihoods in nine river basins, this article reviews the role of institutions and organizations, focusing on their strengths and weaknesses, and to generalize as to why they fail to address the basin-wide issues of water, poverty and livelihoods. The authors show how a more comprehensive, integrated approach might change them to be more broadly relevant to basin-wide needs as well as to address the mismatch between development and the need to provide ecosystem services relevant to food, poverty, livelihoods and sustainable ecosystems.

Reducing poverty, protecting livelihoods, and building assets in a changing climate: social implications of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean

This book provides a much needed look at the impact of climate change on the poor. It convincingly demonstrates that issues of poverty and livelihoods must be integrated into climate change policies to help achieve sustainable development gains. The high incidence of natural disasters, growing urbanization, and increased water scarcity combined with the acute impact of these phenomena on the poor and vulnerable complicates the already enormous challenge of reducing poverty and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. This publication lays bare the social implications of climate change and equips the reader with a framework for understanding how climate change and climate variability affect livelihoods, poverty, income, health, and migration. These scenarios call for greater efforts to incorporate poverty, livelihood, and social considerations into climate change adaptation and mitigation policies. Purposefully targeted policies and investments can support economic growth and poverty reduction efforts and help achieve sustainable development goals. In other words, good climate change adaptation policies can also be good development policies. This book will change the way the author think about the relationship between poverty, social development, and climate change. It provides climate-smart policy options to help reduce vulnerability, protect livelihoods, and build communities that are resilient to changing climate conditions.

An identification of selected environmentally based livelihood issues within the Caribbean

Developing and maintaining a pattern of sustainable livelihood (SL) is dependent upon the use to which we put our resources, particularly, our natural resources. SL is dependent upon five principal components; namely the vulnerability context, livelihood assets, transforming structures and processes, livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes. DFID (1999), DFID, FAO, IFAD, UNDP, WFP (2001) liveli hood assets also have many components one of which is natural assets/capital. Once the environment is shocked the natural assets are directly affected and all other types of assets and principal components become inoperable. The livelihood outcomes of the Caribbean people, poor and otherwise, are therefore linked to these natural as sets. The objective of this study is to possibly shape and create ways of developing and maintaining patterns that can lead to SLs. It should focus on the available natural resources, access to and optimal use of, which can transit into the best livelihood outcomes specifically for the poor. Basically, the outcome should be a body of knowledge that can contribute to SLs within the Caribbean. This is done with the use of two case studies of Caribbean islands, namely St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and Grenada. This paper is divided into four sections. Section one provides the background for the paper and briefly introduces the concept of SL. Section two outlines the SL approach. Section three provides an application of the SL approach in SVG and Grenada from two varying standpoints. Section four makes concluding remarks on the types and the sustainability of the livelihood strategies and outcomes.

Beyond War and Men: Reconceptualizing Peace in Relation to the Everyday and Women

I draw on the experiences of two Chinese women and one group of women among the one thousand nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the 1000 PeaceWomen for the Nobel Peace Prize project to demonstrate how peace work is deeply rooted in the everyday and the lives of women. Among the three cases, environmental protection and sustainable livelihood emerge as common themes. The reasons for choosing these themes are twofold. First, environmental and livelihood issues are very prominent in China, especially in the mainland, and the contribution of women to environmental protection and the improvement of livelihood has been outstanding. By contextualizing their work in their respective political, social, and economic systems in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China, respectively, we will see that peace work at the individual level does have an impact on eliminating structural and cultural violence embedded in government policies, profit-driven economic development, discrimination, and so on. Second, the fact that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Wangari Maathai in 2004, Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank in 2006, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore in 2007 is a good demonstration of the changing conceptualization of peace toward environment and livelihood issues at the global level. It is worth contributing the Chinese experience to the debates.

From Dandakaranya to Marichjhapi: rehabilitation, representation and the partition of Bengal (1947)

The Partition of India (1947) is commonly understood as a violent territorial and political separation of peoples, their forced evictions and migration as well as communal upheavals. But India's Partition can be seen as something more than separation of communities and the creation of distinct national identities. This paper suggests that refugee rehabilitation, one of the important processes of the post-Partition years, formed the rubric through which we remember 1947. Rehabilitation and resettlement of refugees formed the narrativizing principle of a number of novels that were written in the 1960s and 1970s in Bengal that deliberately looked at the fall-outs of the Partition other than communal tensions and migrations. Rehabilitation created a different experiential reality for a large number of refugees, and issues of home, settlement, livelihood, and work created a new body of literature that re-looked at Partition in important ways. In the course of this paper I examine some such novels in Bangla; one of which, Shaktipada Rajguru's Dandak Theke Marichjhapi (From Dandakaranya to Marichjhapi), is the story of a group of refugees’ journey to Dandakarnaya and then onto Marichjhapi in the Sunderbans that probes the circumstances behind one of Partition's most forgotten histories.