No description available.

International bi-lateral agreements to support the conservation of rainforests in order to mitigate climate change are growing in prevalence. Through the concept of REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) these look to incentivise developing countries to maintain their natural forests. Guyana and Norway formed such an agreement in 2009, establishing Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). In this research I examine the extent to which the government of Guyana has achieved in facilitating the participation and inclusion of Guyana’s indigenous population within the LCDS. This is conducted through a single site case study, focussing on the experiences and perceptions from the Amerindian community of Chenapou. I conducted 30 interviews with members of the community, supporting this with participant observation and an analysis of relevant documents. I find that a deficit of adequate dialogue and consultation has occurred in the six years since the LCDS was established. Moreover, I identify that key indigenous rights, inscribed at both a national and international level, have not been upheld in respect to the community of Chenapou within the LCDS. These findings largely support prior research, identifying a consistent failure of the LCDS to achieve genuine participation and the distinct marginalisation of Amerindian communities. It is suggested that the status quo of marginalisation of Amerindian forest users in Guyana is reinforced within the LCDS. Critique is made of the LCDS model and the perceived failure to act on previous research. It is suggested that contextualised governance, which supports the engagement of marginal forest dependent communities, is required if the LCDS and REDD+ programmes are to be effective. Failure to do so can be deleterious for all interested parties.

No description available.

Les premiers essais agricoles dans les terres basses de la Guyane française commencent dès 1763 sur les côtes de Kourou. Ce fut le début d’une entreprise qui, sous la forme de dents de scie, va marquer l’économie de cette colonie française de l’Amérique du sud jusqu’à nos jours. Les terres noyées de la Guyane française, sont toutes localisées sur la bande côtière et correspondent à des zones humides (tourbières, mangroves, marais). Au début de la colonisation, en 1604 précisément, les Français se sont établis sur l’île de Cayenne, et ont occupés les terres hautes, situées plus à l’intérieur du continent. L’agriculture de ces terres a débuté à la même période, selon le modèle d’agriculture sur brûlis développé par les autochtones. Ce modèle traditionnel convenait à la production des denrées alimentaires pour des petits groupes. Néanmoins, au bout d’un siècle, leur rendement ne satisfaisait plus au commerce de la colonie. L’épuisement ou la faible productivité de ces terres hautes à la fin du XVIIIeme siècle, a ainsi occasionné une ruée ver les terres basses. Le développement de ces terres noyées avait déjà été entrepris par les Hollandais (Guyane hollandaise), mais ces zones humides rebutaient encore les Colons-Planteurs en Guyane française. Dès l’arrivée de V. Malouet (nouvel intendant de la colonie) vers 1778, les techniques d’assèchement et de construction de polders se développent en Guyane française sous la direction de l’ingénieur J. S. Guisan. Ce dernier essaya de faire des terres noyées, la réponse aux problèmes agricoles de la Guyane française. Mais, les différents évènements socio-politiques qui touchèrent la France à cette époque (Révolution française, abolition de l’esclavage, activités aurifères), mirent fin dès 1848 à cette entreprise. Certaines contraintes climatiques doivent également être considérées. Un siècle plus tard, vers 1950 avec le lancement du plan vert, les rizières de Mana témoignent encore de l’importance de la culture des terres basses en Guyane française. / The first agricultural trials in the lowlands of French Guyana started in AD 1763 on Kourou coasts. It was the beginning of an initiative that will mark the economy of this French colony of South America until today. The flooded lands of French Guyana are all located on the coastal strip. This area is composed of wetlands (peatlands, mangrove and swamps). At the beginning of colonisation, in AD 1604 exactly, French people established themselves on the Cayenne Island and on the uplands (mainland). The cultivation of these uplands started at the same time, adopting the slash-and-burn agriculture developed by autochthonous people. More, this agricultural model was butter suited to foodstuffs production for small groups. However, early in the century, their performance no longer satisfied trade of the colony. Depletion or low production of these uplands at the end of the XVIIIth century, caused a rush to the lowlands. The development of these low lands has already been undertaken by the Dutch (Dutch Guyana), but these wetlands were still rejected by the Colon-planters in the French Guyana. As soon as V. Malouet arrived (new intendant of the colony) ca. AD 1778, the techniques of dewatering and polder construction developed in the French Guyana under the supervision of the engineer J. S. Guisan. He tried to manage the flooded lands as an answer to agricultural problems of the French Guyana. But, several socio-political events occurred in France at this period (the French Revolution, the abolition of slavery, the gold-bearing activity) put a stop to this process in AD 1848. Climate control should also be considered. One century later, around AD 1950, Mana rice fields still testify of the importance of cultivation of lowland of French Guyana, in particular thanks to the launch of the green plan.Keys words: French Guyana

Cervical cancer is a major public health problem in developing countries. In Guyana, factors associated with increasing cervical cancer cases among Indigenous Amerindian women (IAW), Afro- women (AGW), and Indo-Guyanese women (IGW) have not been fully examined. In this comparative cross-sectional study, 5,800 cervical cancer cases were selected from Guyanese women age 13 and above for ethnicity (Indigenous Amerindian, Afro- and Indo Guyanese women), geographical region, marital status, and year and stage at diagnosis. Secondary data from Guyana Cancer Registry for the 2000-2012 study periods were analyzed using chi-square test, multinomial logistic regression, poisson regression, and relative risk. Geographical region was a strong predictor of cervical cancer cases for all three ethnic groups (p < 0.05). The relative risk for cervical cancer for IAW in Regions 2 (RR = 1.2) and 6 (RR = 1.07) was greater than for IAW in Region 4, the reference group for the study period. Comparatively, the relative risk for cervical cancer for AGW in Region 4 was greater than AGW in all other regions except Region 3 (RR = 1.05). Additionally, the relative risk for cervical cancer for IGW in Region 3 (RR = 1.03) was greater than that of IGW in all other regions. Single IAW (1.05) have a higher risk of getting cervical cancer than their married counterparts as compared to AGW (0.96) and IGW (1.00). Implications for social change include development of tailored programs which utilize a socio-ecological model to address cervical cancer issues at the individual, interpersonal, cultural, and community levels. Future research should focus on understanding the epidemiology of cervical cancer and the social factors among the ethnic groups of women.

Zugl.: Hohenheim, Univ., Diss., 2007

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Dr. Susan Cozzens, Committee Chair ; Dr. Reginald DesRoches, Committee Member ; Dr. Monica Gaughan, Committee Member ; Dr. Bhaven Sampat, Committee Member ; Dr. Philip Shapira, Committee Member.

This ethnographic account focuses on the conceptions and practices of movement, as narrated by the Makushi people who live along the triple frontier of southern Guyana. The journeys - individual experiences, in particular of women – depict visits to other Makushi communities, to their neighbours and cities in Guyana, Brazil and Venezuela. The travelogues disclose Makushi premises on knowledge and its acquisition: gender, age, temporality and alterity. Exploring these concepts in practice, the ethnography points out the value the Makushi attribute to their encounters with others, situations in which risk and unpredictability are creatively incorporated as part of their sociality.

The overuse of agrochemicals by arable crop farmers in Guyana is of increasing concern. But the literature reveals a paucity of information concerning the reasons for farmers‟ persistence of this inappropriate practice. No previous study has been conducted using a structured format to reveal the scope or reasons for farmers‟ sustained overuse of these chemicals. This research adopted an original structured-type approach, suitable for unearthing and explaining the reasons for this phenomenon. The study was theoretically and analytically guided by the theory of practices and critical realist theory respectively, to identify the prevalence, intensity and significant factors of farmer‟s pesticide and fertiliser overuse, but more importantly to elucidate reasons for overuse and formulate relevant recommendations. This investigation utilised a mixed methods strategy of complementary quantitative and qualitative techniques; comprising analysis of data from 229 farm unit surveys and 38 farmer and 19 key informant interviews, respectively. Quantitative analysis, conducted via SPSS software using tables and regression, revealed widespread prevalence of both pesticide and fertiliser overuse among farmers. The overuse consisted of high frequencies and concentrations of the chemicals. The study notes the factors which were significantly associated with overuse including farmers‟ age, education level, area cultivated, land tenure status and the „source-type‟ of information they accessed. However, qualitative analysis, utilising a grounded-theory approach with the aid of NVivo software, demonstrated that unlike the suggestions by other studies, the reasons for farmers‟ overuse were not the single factors which showed statistical significance for overuse practices. On the contrary, this study revealed original findings, which indicated that the reasons for farmers‟ overuse practices were embedded within an intricate network of contingent, support and contextual factors. These explained both the instigation and continuance of agrochemical overuse by farmers. Overall the findings emphasise the need for policy redress, especially regarding the mandate and conduct of farmer-training regarding chemical use, and the regulatory enforcement of appropriate agrochemical use. Understanding the reasons for farmers‟ inappropriate practices revealed new insight into the interpretation of these practices; as consequences of policy deficiency instead of farmer delinquency. Thus, the implications provided to address this problem of farmers‟ agrochemical overuse presented a new orientation to the type of suggestions previously suggested in other studies. The proposals indicated by this study for a targeted resolution of overuse in arable farmers of Guyana are more policy-oriented than farmer-targeted, since this study revealed that farmers‟ overuse behaviour is largely a response to policy-influenced support and contextual factors.

The present stage of the vast majority of the peoples of the third world is characterized as existing in various stages of underdevelopment. Beyond that, however, there does not appear to he any overriding consensus as to how they got there, or perhaps more importantl;/", what combination of policies are likely to obviate such conditions. Consequently, there has been a proliferation of theories and prescriptions that have resulted in varying degrees of success and failure, without succeeding in-any major way to alleviate the conditions of poverty and oppression. The major problem with such attempts is in their "all-or-nothing" approach'", characterized by the belief that specific changes are either all pervading in their effects or, on the other hand, are not significant enough to warrant any particular distinction. The purpose of this study is to show that such an approach is misleading, First of all, underdevelopment is seen as the result of a specific form of development that has as its basis the relationship of the advanced capitalist and the underdeveloped countries of the third world. Since this relationship is characterized by a host of interlocking arrangements it is necessary, to comprehend them in their totality, if the process is to be understood at all. It should be immediately recognized, however, that though specific changes may not effect the structural contingencies of the relationship, they sometimes are of such significance that they constitute an important change. Such an articulation of the problem has the decisive advantage of noting and recording the specific changes within this relationship while recognizing the all pervasive effects of its totality. The result of such an investigation led us to the following conclusions: (l) the recent change in the attitude of the advanced capitalist countries has resulted in greater flexibility in their dealings with the underdeveloped countries. Most important, in this respect, has been that the "enclave economies" have been largely relinquished. Multinational corporations, at the same time, have been willing and. even calling for local government participation in their activities. (2) Governments of the third world have demanded and subsequently appropriated greater control of the local economy through participation and even nationalization of key sectors. This, in addition, allowed for greater maneuverability on the so called "inter-imperialist battlefield", with the result that they can now appropriately be described as junior partners of the system. Thus", imperialism and development are not contradictory terms; it is simply that dependent underdevelopment is the new form of imperialist control. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate