The lack of data on subsistence and land-use patterns often impedes the design of ecologically sustainable, culturally appropriate, socially acceptable and politically feasible approaches to the legalisation of land tenure among indigenous peoples. With specific reference to Amerindians of the Gran Chaco, this thesis shows the extent to which a participatory research methodology can empower indigenous peoples in generating, articulating and communicating data which are vital to the support of their land claims. Fieldwork was conducted with Angaite Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco between 1994 and 1996. Participatory research methods included a census of ten villages (pop. 1,005), drawings of subsistence activities, a survey of material possessions, a time-allocation study, self-kept records of food intake, anthropometric measurements of children, self-kept records on wildlife use (in ten villages), and Indian-made maps of land-use. Satellite imagery provided the basis for the geographic analysis of landuse patterns at local and regional scales. The Angaite own some land but are surrounded by privately owned cattle ranches. Their actual land and resource-use patterns extend over an area ten times greater than that to which they are legally entitled. Although horticulture and paid labour are now the mainstay of the Indian subsistence economy, hunting and fishing continue to provide over 90% of their meat consumption. Hunting patterns are shown to affect a large number of animals but only a small number of species. Land-use is focused on the communal exploitation of resources at key sites spread over broad areas of land. This concept is not catered for in the current Paraguayan legislation, which is based on the principle of giving families a plot of land to farm. On the basis of data generated by the Angaite, this study underlines the need for a radical rethinking of how Indian land-rights might be legalised in a manner which enhances the ecological sustainability of their respective lifestyles. Fundamental to that rethinking is the empowerment of indigenous peoples to express and communicate their own views on their own needs for land.

The increased public interest in the welfare of animals used in food production has led to the emergence of welfare assessment schemes for a range of livestock species. There are currently over 100 million sheep in the EU which are primarily bred for milk, meat and wool production and the majority of these animals are managed extensively. The general perception of sheep in extensive systems living “natural lives” with few welfare compromises, along with the practical challenges of adequately assessing their welfare, has caused them to be largely ignored in comparison to other species. It was only relatively recently that the lack of animalbased welfare assessments for extensively kept small ruminants was recognised. Thus, the aim of this project was to evaluate potential animal-based welfare indicators for use during on-farm welfare assessments of extensively managed sheep. The current project used the Welfare Quality® 4 principles and 12 criteria as a foundation for selecting indicators for the assessment of extensively managed sheep. Following a comprehensive review of the scientific literature and a meeting attended by experts from across the EU, 16 indicators were selected for evaluation. Each principle and criteria were covered by at least one of these 16 indicators ensuring the main aspects of sheep welfare were addressed. The indicators selected for investigation could either be applied without handling or gathering the animals during an 'Assessment in the Field', or during a more thorough hands-on 'Assessment at Gather'. The reliability, feasibility and validity of some indicators (e.g. body condition scoring) are already established. However for others (e.g. Qualitative Behavioural Assessment approach), at least one of these criteria required further investigation before the indicator could be accepted. The reliability of selected measures was evaluated by assessing their repeatability and inter-observer agreement. Face validity was assumed for the indicators selected during the expert meeting, and further cross validation was performed when appropriate using additional information collected on the animal’s physical health status. During the Assessments at Gather blood samples were collected for the assessment of metabolic profiles, and faecal samples provided gastro-intestinal parasite counts. The Assessments at Gather were performed on the same 100-135 Scottish Blackface ewes across a two year period (2011-2013) on a Scottish hill farm. The Assessments at Gather occurred five times a year coinciding with key points in the ewes’ reproductive cycle: pre-mating, mid-pregnancy, late pregnancy, mid lactation and weaning. During the assessments data were collected on the ewe’s body condition, coat cleanliness, faecal soiling score, respiratory conditions, anaemia, lameness and udder condition (udders assessed during lactation only). Current stage in the reproductive cycle and seasonality were found to have significant impacts upon the long-term reliability of the following measures: body condition score, tooth loss, nasal discharge and anaemia scores (P < 0.001) with variation both within, and between years. On commercial farms older and less productive ewes tend to be removed from the flock once a year prior to mating. Of the indicators applied to the ewes during the Assessments at Gathers, tooth loss and body condition score were the best predictors for the ewe’s exclusion from the flock, predicting the future removal of a ewe from the flock 12 months in advance of the shepherd’s decision. For the Assessments in the Field, indicators which did not necessitate close contact were required. A whole-animal method (Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA) was therefore particularly useful as it can be performed with minimal disturbance. Rather than quantitatively scoring the behaviour patterns of an animal the assessor focusses on how the animal interacts with their environment. This information is translated in to qualitative descriptors such as “calm” or “agitated”. Good interobserver reliability was found when three observers assessed 49 individual ewes on two occasions (W=0.77, P < 0.001). When QBA was applied 13 times to 50 individual ewes over a six-month time period (spanning late pregnancy to post-weaning) four meaningful Principal Components were identified; the first two accounted for more than half of the explained variation between sheep. The two main components were ‘General Mood’ (PC1), describing the overall affective state of the ewe, and ‘Arousal’ (PC2) reflecting energy levels. General Mood scores significantly increased in the post-lambing period compared to pre-lambing observations, and significantly increased again post-weaning (P < 0.001). Ewes were significantly experiencing significantly higher Arousal in post-lambing and post-weaning conditions compared to pre-lambing (P < 0.001), but there was no difference between post-lambing and post-weaning. During the Assessments in the Field data were also collected on: the ewe’s response to human approach, a surprise test, the ewe’s social group size, group demographics and behavioural synchrony. Ewes with lower mood scores tended to have larger distances between them and other ewes (P=0.023). The distance to which a human could approach before the ewe fled was significantly related to Arousal (P=0.05), as ewes in a higher energy state fled from the approaching human sooner than those who were in lower Arousal states. Ewes in social groups with higher numbers of ewe and lamb vocalisations tended to have lower General Mood scores (P=0.014), and lower Arousal scores (P < 0.001) than those in smaller groups. Indicators which met the conditions of feasibility, reliability and validity (for example, those reported above) proved to be suitable for use when assessing the welfare of extensively managed sheep. The effect of time on the reliability of the indicators applied during the assessments have important implications for understanding temporary fluctuations in the animal’s welfare caused by either internal (reproductive state) or external (environmental) factors. These fluctuations may not be representative of a farm’s overall welfare levels in the long term and therefore further careful consideration of the most appropriate time to apply the selected indicators is required.

The background problem to this research is the reported inefficiency of extension delivery the Limpopo Province, which is a region plagued by problems of large-scale poverty, unemployment, a decline in food production and degradation of natural resources. With extension management being a key issue in this regard, particularly because of its tremendous potential impact and multiplication effect, the purpose was to evaluate the management and leadership skill of extension managers in one of the five districts of the province. All levels of management were involved in the study and in every case assessments were made by subordinates, which involved 107 frontline extension workers (30 percent) at the lowest level. The general findings confirm the low level of leadership skills but also that managers tend to overrate their management skills and underrate the management problem, and are thus not likely to address it. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that this misperception regarding the management of extension is worst in the most critical management categories, namely at the supervisory level and the senior management level. Skills training evolves as a high priority, but indications are that so-called neutrally trained managers who have no good knowledge and understanding of extension will not be a solution. / Dissertation (MInstAgrar (Agricultural Extention))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

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No description available.

Diss. Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2005.

LET’S GROWThe future of cultivation is in the city  Our urban world is growing rapidly - but are we keeping up with the pace?  The fast growth has led us to an unsustainable and ignorant relation to food and in the closest future this needs to change. If we gather local producers, knowledge, cultivation and public space under the same roof we can make the process visible in the city and change our unsustainable patterns. Re-introducing food production into the urban context is one step in the direction of a better and more sustainable future.The purpose of the project is to expose, inspire and educate our citizens by proposing a hub with intertwined public and productive spaces at the infrastructural site of Umeå Östra station.  A productive greenhouse managed by local experts and cultivators gives the visitor the opportunity to follow the whole process from sowing, cultivation, harvesting, processing, cooking, eating, recycling and composting. It’s a cyclic process that needs to be visible and easily accessible in our everyday life for us to take part in and feel a close connection to. The public greenhouse provides space for curiosity, creativity and relaxation. LET’S GROW provides the expertise, the inspiration and the tools needed for cultivation to spread in the city and to take place in the homes of the citizens. The aim of the hub is to expose the process of food production and re-establish the connection between the producers and the consumers. The hub aims to educate and raise awareness by providing space for social interaction; uniting children and grown ups, experts and beginners, with food production and urban cultivation as the common denominator. By providing space for creative learning and creative ways of urban cultivation the hub empowers the people to be more independent, involved, knowledgeable and aware.  So LET’S GROW!

In North America, industrial agriculture has led to cheap abundant food while separating direct links between the city and countryside. This thesis attempts to use architecture to reconnect people in Manhattan, New York City, with food production and serve as a model for sustainability. The thesis analyzes Manhattan’s food network, and seeks a site which has the potential for several factors: site accessibility, renewable resources, solar exposure, and integration into the community. These factors serve as the basis in which to build a hybrid prototype that is able to expose people to the process of food production through a combination of traditional outdoor farming methods and indoor hydroponics in the form of a vertical farm. Farmers and customers can be seen together as one entity instead of two disconnected dependencies. The reintegration of food production into the city can be seen as a re-alliance of the country and the city.

No description available.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A presente dissertaÃÃo tem como objetivo principal analisar a viabilidade tÃcnica e financeira de um sistema fotovoltaico autÃnomo para bombeamento de Ãgua aplicado na irrigaÃÃo de uma unidade de produÃÃo agrÃcola familiar. A unidade agrÃcola pesquisada està instalada no NÃcleo de Ensino e Pesquisa em Agricultura Urbana (NEPAU), que atua em parceria com o LaboratÃrio de Energias Alternativas (LEA), situados no Campus do PICI da Universidade Federal do CearÃ. A unidade ocupa uma Ãrea Ãtil de 43 m2, com um reservatÃrio de Ãgua que simula um aÃude, lago ou poÃo com capacidade de 3.534 litros, um motor bomba de 12 VDC e um mÃdulo fotovoltaico de 135 Wp. O sistema de irrigaÃÃo à constituÃdo por 12 micro-aspersores com pressÃo de trabalho de 7 psi, com raio de alcance de 1,2 m e vazÃo de 0,6 l/min. A unidade de produÃÃo consumiu 31.592 litros de Ãgua e demandou 5,2 kWh de energia elÃtrica ao longo de 44 dias de produÃÃo do coentro. Um sensor de umidade do solo foi utilizado para controlar a umidade do solo o que permitiu economizar 3.608 litros de Ãgua e 0,6 kWh de energia elÃtrica na produÃÃo de 23 kg de coentro. O custo de implantaÃÃo do sistema fotovoltaico de bombeamento desenvolvido foi de R$ 1.694,00. As eficiÃncias do mÃdulo fotovoltaico, conjunto motobomba e global foram de 8,4%, 42% e 3,5%, respetivamente. O tempo de retorno do capital investido à de 10 anos sem considerar nenhum subsÃdio e de 8,4 anos para um subsÃdio de 20% sobre o capital investido na aquisiÃÃo dos equipamentos. / This thesis aims to analyze the technical and financial feasibility of a stand-alone photovoltaic system for irrigation applied to familiar unit production. The agricultural unit was installed in the Center for Teaching and Research in Urban Agriculture (NEPAU), which operates in partnership with the Alternative Energy Laboratory (LEA), located at the PICI campus of the Federal University of CearÃ. The unit occupies a floor area of 43 m2, with a reservoir of water that simulates a pond, lake or well with capacity of 3534 liters, a pump motor of 12 VDC and a photovoltaic module of 135 Wp. The irrigation system is composed of 12 micro-sprinklers with 7 psi working pressure, with a range of 1.2 m radius and output of 0.6 l/min. The production plant consumed 31,592 liters of water and demanded 5.2 kWh of electrical energy throughout 44 days of production of coriander. A soil moisture sensor was used to control soil moisture allowing save 3608 liters of water and 0.6 kWh of electricity in the production of 23 kg of coriander. The costs for the photovoltaic pumping system was R$ 1,694.00. The efficiencies of photovoltaic module, pump and global set were 8.4%, 42% and 3.5%, respectively. The return on capital invested time is 10 years without regard to any allowance and 8.4 years for a 20% allowance on capital invested in the acquisition of equipment.