<p> Households in the Bolivian Altiplano construct their livelihood strategies in a system marked by changing climate and volatile social systems. The strategies that they choose must work to decrease the household&lsquo;s vulnerability to shocks, such as drought and frost, and increase its ability to adapt to longer term changes, for instance the affects of globalization. Their strategies may also influence the resilience of their community and environment, either increasing or decreasing the likelihood of catastrophe.</p><p> This research uses canonical correlation analysis to analyze survey data collected from 330 rural households in two regions of the Bolivian Altiplano. It examines the impact that dominant livelihood strategies have on the resilience of the household and its socio-ecological environment. The analysis shows that access to land and lifecycle are two household characteristics most highly associated with resilience; that diversification into labor markets often works towards increasing resilience; and that many households use livestock as an insurance mechanism. The results suggest that policies that work towards increasing crop yields and reducing livestock loss in the face of climate change could effectively target the households that are most vulnerable. Programs that include transfer payments to older households for providing services, such as increasing ecosystem resilience by placing land in fallow, could reduce the negative impact of lifecycle experienced by many across both regions. </p><p>

<p> This thesis will cover how to lessen the negative effects of chemical fertilizer on the environment. By determining if there is a sustainable solution that allows farmers to prolong their soil nutrition and avoid toxic run-off pollution. A comparison between organic and chemical fertilizers is key to evaluating if a sustainable solution lies within a conversion to using organic fertilizers.</p><p> The justification for the following topic begins with the growing demands of food how to sustain the exponential population growth. The agricultural industry has industrialized to become machine and less labor intensive. Farmers need to utilize this revolution to take the industry one step further of switching to organic farming. The trend of organic farming is growing and consumers are increasing demand for such products. The vital industry unconsciously contributes to global warming in several areas by utilizing methods of fertilization, the carbon footprint, and land use. Methods of fertilization can be adapted to more sustainable methods whereas the carbon footprint and land use are inevitable to adhere to the population. Fertilizers have allowed humans to meet the increasing demands of our growing population with the proper nutrition to sustain us all. Sustainable use of fertilizers is key to meeting people&rsquo;s needs and allowing the plant to naturally restore.</p><p> Environmental Wicked Theory will explain the many factors at play and how at sometimes making the switch from organic to chemical fertilizers is not as simple as some think. The many stakeholders at play with differentiating interest oftentimes make a common ground seem far fetched or unattainable. This thesis will attempt to achieve a cohesive solution by managing the wicked problem of the agricultural industry&rsquo;s contributions to climate change. </p><p> The case will analyze the effects of chemical fertilizers on soil nutrition from a pecan farm in Alabama. Given the external surrounding of having access to fresh manure next door the case aims to provide a step by step process. This model will give farmers the tools necessary to make the switch to an organic farm.</p><p>

Locally oriented food has recently gained considerable popularity as an alternative to the industrial food system. Current scholarship on local food has typically focused on direct-to-consumer (DTC) arrangements, such as farmers' markets or CSAs. Yet other players besides producers and consumers engage with locally-oriented food. Food vendors (restaurants, retailers and grocers, and value-added food processors) have recently entered the scene and locally-oriented farm-to-vendor arrangements constitute one of the cutting edges of the development of local food systems. This dissertation studies one such local food system in southern New England. Utilizing a mixed methods approach entailing social network analysis, in-depth interviews, fieldwork observations, and GIS analysis, this study interrogates how direct-to-vendor (DTV) local food systems operate. I show through the literature review that though local food systems hold considerable promise, they are not inherent mechanisms of sustainability. Next I turn to the question of what "counts" as local, examining the range of distances farms and vendors within this region travel to sell or purchase food, and asking what are the forces and conditions that influence this range of travel? The greatest influences are number of ties to other local food entities, what type of farm or food-vendor they are, size, and urban proximity. I then focus on key participants in the area of study. What are the challenges and constraints around developing a vibrant locally-based food system? These participants face continual pressure to expand their size and markets, emulating the dominant food system and thereby undercutting their sustainable potential. However, these participants also find ways to overcome what are sometimes contradictory interests to forge a functional locally-based food system based on reciprocity and trust. Due in part to price premiums on local food many local food participants tend to be white and have high incomes and levels of education. In the final empirical chapter I ask: in what ways do these inequalities manifest systematically? By geospatially mapping the locations of local food outlets against census data on race, income, and education, I show that racial and class advantages are perpetuated in terms of people's proximal access to these local food outlets.

<p> La agricultura en Puerto Rico ha experimentado un renacimiento despu&eacute;s de d&eacute;cadas de ser una de las actividades de menor crecimiento a nivel nacional. A principios del siglo XX, durante las primeras d&eacute;cadas del r&eacute;gimen colonial de los Estados Unidos, la agricultura era la principal actividad econ&oacute;mica dedicada principalmente a la producci&oacute;n de ca&ntilde;a de az&uacute;car para la exportaci&oacute;n. Luego de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la econom&iacute;a de la isla se industrializ&oacute; r&aacute;pidamente, lo que provoc&oacute; la ca&iacute;da de la producci&oacute;n agr&iacute;cola y la destrucci&oacute;n de la capacidad local para la producci&oacute;n de alimentos. Hoy d&iacute;a, Puerto Rico importa el 85% de los alimentos consumidos a trav&eacute;s de cadenas de suministro muy vulnerables con consecuencias para la econom&iacute;a, como el aumento en el costo de vida para la poblaci&oacute;n. </p><p> Durante los a&ntilde;os ochenta, el movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico surgi&oacute; en defensa de la soberan&iacute;a alimentaria y la sostenibilidad ambiental. La agroecolog&iacute;a se presenta como una pr&aacute;ctica alternativa para la producci&oacute;n de alimentos con alto impacto en las comunidades locales a trav&eacute;s de la sustituci&oacute;n de agroqu&iacute;micos por insumos naturales y el uso de pr&aacute;cticas intensivas en mano de obra. El movimiento ha logrado converger los esfuerzos de producci&oacute;n de un n&uacute;mero creciente de fincas pero, &iquest;es suficiente articular un modelo alternativo de desarrollo local? </p><p> Esta tesis pretende contribuir a la comprensi&oacute;n del movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico puertorrique&ntilde;o, en particular su potencial para actuar como un espacio de concertaci&oacute;n y aglutinaci&oacute;n de las fuerzas productivas para su eventual consolidaci&oacute;n como actor de desarrollo. A trav&eacute;s de una metodolog&iacute;a cuantitativa y cualitativa, en forma de entrevistas, revisi&oacute;n de documentos y an&aacute;lisis de datos estad&iacute;sticos, describimos las capacidades del movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico para la promoci&oacute;n de un modelo alternativo de desarrollo local; y c&oacute;mo la adopci&oacute;n de cadenas productivas cortas, como una estrategia de inserci&oacute;n en el mercado de alimentos, puede promover una mejor distribuci&oacute;n de los beneficios econ&oacute;micos locales. </p><p> Los resultados de nuestra investigaci&oacute;n demuestran que el movimiento agroecol&oacute;gico contiene las capacidades para promover un modelo alternativo de desarrollo local. Estas capacidades dependen de los esfuerzos de organizaci&oacute;n de los agricultores/as agroecol&oacute;gicos que permiten el dise&ntilde;o y la implementaci&oacute;n de estrategias en la forma de cadenas productivas cortas de alimentos. Estas estrategias permitieron una mayor visibilidad de su producci&oacute;n y la amplificaci&oacute;n de su alcance de mercado. Nuestra investigaci&oacute;n encontr&oacute; que un mayor &eacute;xito en las estrategias de inserci&oacute;n en el mercado ha promovido la agroecolog&iacute;a como una pr&aacute;ctica y ha alentado la llegada de nuevos agricultores/as al movimiento. Adem&aacute;s, argumentamos que mediante el fortalecimiento de sus capacidades productivas, aumenta el acceso a los recursos para la organizaci&oacute;n pol&iacute;tica del movimiento y su capacidad para influenciar la agenda de pol&iacute;tica p&uacute;blica a nivel nacional.</p><p>