Thesis. 1975. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Asim K. Dasgupta. / Ph.D.

Water is one of the most precious but least valued common property resource. Efficient ways of water resources management are vital to socio-economic development and the overall feat of societal stability. However, water conflicts have further exacerbated the access to water especially in low-income developing countries. Most notably, little attention has been given to studying water conflicts at the local level when compared to international water conflicts. As a result, there is insufficient information and theory on the exponentially increasing number of local water conflicts. In the Middle East, water was a tool for military purposes; in Asia disputes over water occur due to development-related activities, whilst in Africa, control over water resources has been the root cause of many conflicts affecting millions of vulnerable communities. This research investigates the nature, causes and dimensions of local water conflicts in the context of low-income developing countries based on the Afar region, which is located in the Awash Trans-regional River Basin of Ethiopia. The research suggests a new multidimensional approach for pre-identification, early warning services and local water conflict neutralization. This approach also introduces preparedness techniques, which play a significant role in reducing potential risks and tensions that trigger local water conflicts between communities sharing the same water resources. The study further proposes a policy guideline matrix that would serve as a technique for reducing local water conflicts by providing new ways of thinking about the links between sustainable developments, local water conflict management and strategic partnerships. The research is implemented through the process of designing a framework based on essential theoretical and practical findings supported by survey data of 134 household representatives of local communities and 26 institutions, together with 22 interviews. The introduced multipurpose framework is based on five fundamental parameters, namely: contribution to Sustainable Development, Information, Preparedness, Tolerance Capacity and Interaction (DIPTI). The research proposes the Sparkling Effects of Conflict , a new approach in understanding and predicting the coverage of the effects of conflicts other than the primary conflicting parties and conflict location. In addition, two pillars of the conceptual frameworks emerged from the findings. First, the WEC (Water, Early Warning and Conflict) information pyramid, a framework designed to indicate the core components of local WEC-related information identification and management. Second, the Pillars of Conflict Pyramid, the simplest conceptual framework, easily helps to pre-identify the effects of local water conflicts with certain limitations. Besides, the study addressed six additional conflict neutralization and resolution inputs that incorporate the significance of the participation of women and other vulnerable members of communities. These findings also highlight the advantage of co-existence between useful traditional and modern practices in neutralizing conflicts. Overall, the study will assist local people, policy and decision makers and institutions in low-income developing countries with a similar context to that of the study area.

Food waste has been proclaimed to be the key issue of concern that has drawn the attention of national and international scientific communities. This is due to changes in food systems and global situations. The issue of food waste is important because a large amount of food is being wasted during the production and distribution of food. One-third of food produced globally is wasted or lost from farm to fork. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and quantify the factors that contribute to generation of household food waste. The evaluation was done using face-to-face interviews based on a structured questionnaire and the actual weighing of households’ food wasted was quantified using a weighing kitchen scale. A total of 210 participants were interviewed. Food waste samples were collected from five selected study areas of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM): Atteridgeville Ext 6, 16 and 17, Lyttelton, Montana Park, Olievenhoutbosch Ext 36 and Silver Lakes Golf Estate, in Gauteng province, South Africa. The acquired data was captured into Microsoft Excel, and analysed. The chi-square statistical test was done using SAS statistical software. Out of 210 interviewed participants, 55% of the households had a monthly income of R10 000+ and 45% had a monthly income of less than R10 000. A total of 59% of respondents agreed that they wasted food, while 41% thought they did not waste food at all. The results also show that 35% of households included in the survey in selected areas of the CTMM threw away pap (referred as maize porridge), 26% wasted rice, 25% bread and 14% fruit and vegetables. Households wasted an average total of 6 kg per week per household. This was attributed to over preparation of porridge and rice; buying too much food; falling for special offers; poor storage; food residue, and fruit and vegetables going off. Households with a monthly income of R500 - R5 000 wasted more food than households with an income of more than R5 000. As such, it can be concluded that income has an impact on the amount of food wasted within the selected areas of CTMM. Moreover, analysis of the data confirmed that there is a statistically significant relationship between income level and food waste. The statistical chi-square test was applied and a probability value (p-value) of < 0.0001 was obtained, indicating that the difference between income categories was more than just a random pattern. (Note that any p-value of < 0.05 is considered to be statistically significant, i.e. an indication of an underlying consistent, non-random pattern.) / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)