Institutionalism Theories and Hegemonic Practices in Global Polity Formation

Institutionalistische Theorien und hegemoniale Praktiken Globaler Politikgestaltung. Eine neue Beleuchtung der Prämissen Liberaler Demokratischer National-Staatlicher Ordnungen. Deutsche Zusammenfassung: Moderne Sozialwissenschaften, seien es Metatheorien der Internationalen Beziehungen, die Geschichte politischer Ökonomie oder Institutionentheorien, zeigen eine klare Dreiteilung von Weltanschauungen bzw. Paradigmen auf, die sich in allen „großen Debatten“ nachvollziehen lassen: Realismus, Liberalismus und Historischer Materialismus. Diese Grund legend unterschiedlichen Paradigmen lassen sich auch in aktuellen Ansätzen des Institutionalismus aufzeigen, liegen aber quer zu den von anderen Wissenschaftlern (Meyer, Rittberger, Hasenclever, Peters, Zangl) vorgenommenen Kategorisierungen der Institutionalismusschulen, die systemkritische Perspektiven in der Regel ignorieren oder vergleichsweise rudimentär diskutieren. Deshalb entwickelt diese Arbeit einen Vergleich von Institutionalismusschulen entlang der oben skizzierten Weltanschauungen. Das Ziel ist es, fundamentale Unterschiede zwischen den drei Paradigmen zu verdeutlichen und zu zeigen, wie ihre jeweiligen ontologischen und epistemologischen Prämissen die Forschungsdesigns und Methodologien der Institutionalismusschulen beeinflussen. In Teil I arbeite ich deshalb die Grund legenden Prämissen der jeweiligen Paradigmen heraus und entwickle in Teil II und III diesen Prämissen entsprechende Institutionalismus-Schulen, die Kooperation primär als Organisation von unüberwindbarer Rivalität, als Ergebnis zunehmender Konvergenz, oder als Ergebnis und Weiterentwicklung von Prozeduren der Interaktion versteht. Hier greife ich auf zeitgenössische Arbeiten anderer Autoren zurück und liefere damit einen Vergleich des aktuellen Forschungsstandes in allen drei Denktraditionen. Teil II diskutiert die zwei dominanten Institutionalismusschulen und Teil III entwickelt einen eigenen Gramscianischen Ansatz zur Erklärung von internationaler Kooperation und Institutionalisierung. Die übergeordnete These dieser Arbeit lautet, dass die Methodologien der dominanten Institutionalismusschulen teleologische Effekte haben, die aus dem Anspruch auf universell anwendbare, abstrahiert Konzepte resultieren und die Interpretation von Beobachtungen limitieren. Prämissen eines rational handelnden Individuums - entweder Konsequenzen kalkulierend oder Angemessenheit reflektierend – führen dazu, dass Kooperation und Institutionalisierung notwendiger Weise als die beste Lösung für alle Beteiligten in dieser Situation gelten müssen: Institutionen würden nicht bestehen, wenn sie nicht in der Summe allen Mitgliedern (egoistisch oder kooperativ motiviert) nützten. Durch diese interpretative „Brille“ finden wichtige strukturelle Gründe für die Verabschiedung internationaler Abkommen und Teile ihrer Effekte keine Berücksichtigung. Folglich können auch Abweichungen von erwarteten Ergebnissen nicht hinreichend erklärt werden. Meine entsprechende Hypothese lautet, dass systemkritische Kooperation konsistenter erklären können, da sie Akteure, Strukturen und die sie umgebenden Weltanschauungen selbst als analytische Kriterien berücksichtigen. Institutionalisierung wird dann als ein gradueller Prozess politischer Entscheidungsfindung, –umsetzung und –verankerung verstanden, der durch die vorherrschenden Institutionen und Interpretationen von „Realität“ beeinflusst wird. Jede politische Organisation wird als zeitlich-geographisch markierter Staatsraum (state space) verstanden, dessen Mandat die Festlegung von Prozeduren der Interaktion für gesellschaftliche Entwicklung ist. Politische Akteure handeln in Referenz auf diese offiziellen Prozeduren und reproduzieren und/oder verändern sie damit kontinuierlich. Institutionen werden damit als integraler Bestandteil gesellschaftlicher Entwicklungsprozesse verstanden und die Wirkungsmacht von Weltanschauungen – inklusive theoretischer Konzepte - berücksichtigt. Letztere leiten die Wahrnehmung und Interpretation von festgeschriebenen Regeln an und beeinflussen damit ihre empfundene Legitimation und Akzeptanz. Dieser Effekt wurde als „Staatsgeist“ („State Spirit“) von Montesquieu und Hegel diskutiert und von Antonio Gramsci in seiner Hegemonialtheorie aufgegriffen. Seine Berücksichtigung erlaubt eine konsistente Erklärung scheinbar irrationalen oder unangemessenen individuellen Entscheidens, sowie negativer Effekte konsensualer Abkommen. Zur Veranschaulichung der neu entwickelten Konzepte werden in Teil II existierende Fallstudien zur Welthandelsorganisation analysiert und herausgearbeitet, wie Weltanschauungen oder Paradigmen zu unterschiedlichen Erklärungen der Praxis führen. Während Teil II besonderes Augenmerk auf die nicht erklärten und innerhalb der dominanten Paradigmen nicht erklärbaren Beobachtungen legt, wendet Teil III die Gramscianischen Konzepte auf eben diese blinden Stellen an und liefert neue Einsichten. Im Ausblick wird problematisiert, dass scheinbar „neutrale“ wissenschaftliche Studien politische Positionen und Forderungen legitimieren und verdeutlicht im Sinne der gramscianischen Theorie, dass Wissenschaft selbst Teil politischer Auseinandersetzungen ist.

Agricultural practices and horizontal nutrient balances in urban gardens and the alternative use of urban agricultural land in Khartoum, Sudan

The surge in the urban population evident in most developing countries is a worldwide phenomenon, and often the result of drought, conflicts, poverty and the lack of education opportunities. In parallel with the growth of the cities is the growing need for food which leads to the burgeoning expansion of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). In this context, urban agriculture (UA) contributes significantly to supplying local markets with both vegetable and animal produce. As an income generating activity, UA also contributes to the livelihoods of poor urban dwellers. In order to evaluate the nutrient status of urban soils in relation to garden management, this study assessed nutrient fluxes (inputs and outputs) in gardens on urban Gerif soils on the banks of the River Nile in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. To achieve this objective, a preliminary baseline survey was carried out to describe the structure of the existing garden systems. In cooperation with the author of another PhD thesis (Ms. Ishtiag Abdalla), alternative uses of cow dung in brick making kilns in urban Khartoum were assessed; and the socio-economic criteria of the brick kiln owners or agents, economical and plant nutritional value of animal dung and the gaseous emission related to brick making activities were assessed. A total of 40 household heads were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire to collect information on demographic, socio-economic and migratory characteristics of the household members, the gardening systems used and the problems encountered in urban gardening. Based on the results of this survey, gardens were divided into three groups: mixed vegetable-fodder gardens, mixed vegetable-subsistence livestock gardens and pure vegetable gardens. The results revealed that UA is the exclusive domain of men, 80% of them non-native to Khartoum. The harvested produce in all gardens was market oriented and represented the main source of income for 83% of the gardeners. Fast growing leafy vegetables such as Jew’s mallow (Corchorous olitorius L.), purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) and rocket (Eruca sativa Mill.) were the dominant cultivated species. Most of the gardens (95%) were continuously cultivated throughout the year without any fallow period, unless they were flooded. Gardeners were not generally aware of the importance of crop diversity, which may help them overcome the strongly fluctuating market prices for their produce and thereby strengthen the contributions of UA to the overall productivity of the city. To measure nutrient fluxes, four gardens were selected and their nutrients inputs and outputs flows were monitored. In each garden, all plots were monitored for quantification of nutrient inputs and outputs. To determine soil chemical fertility parameters in each of the studied gardens, soil samples were taken from three selected plots at the beginning of the study in October 2007 (gardens L1, L2 and H1) and in April 2008 (garden H2) and at the end of the study period in March 2010. Additional soil sampling occurred in May 2009 to assess changes in the soil nutrient status after the River Nile flood of 2008 had receded. Samples of rain and irrigation water (river and well-water) were analyzed for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and carbon (C) content to determine their nutrient inputs. Catchment traps were installed to quantify the sediment yield from the River Nile flood. To quantify the nutrient inputs of sediments, samples were analyzed for N, P, K and organic carbon (Corg) content, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and the particle size distribution. The total nutrient inputs were calculated by multiplying the sediment nutrient content by total sediment deposits on individual gardens. Nutrient output in the form of harvested yield was quantified at harvest of each crop. Plant samples from each field were dried, and analyzed for their N, P, K and Corg content. Cumulative leaching losses of mineral N and P were estimated in a single plot in garden L1 from December 1st 2008 to July 1st 2009 using 12 ion exchange resins cartridges. Nutrients were extracted and analyzed for nitrate (NO3--N), ammonium (NH4+-N) and phosphate PO4-3-P. Changes in soil nutrient balance were assessed as inputs minus outputs. The results showed that across gardens, soil N and P concentrations increased from 2007 to 2009, while particle size distribution remained unchanged. Sediment loads and their respective contents of N, P and Corg decreased significantly (P < 0.05) from the gardens of the downstream lowlands (L1 and L2) to the gardens of the upstream highlands (H1 and H2). No significant difference was found in K deposits. None of the gardens received organic fertilizers and the only mineral fertilizer applied was urea (46-0-0). This equaled 29, 30, 54, and 67% of total N inputs to gardens L1, L2, H1, and H2, respectively. Sediment deposits of the River Nile floods contributed on average 67, 94, 6 and 42% to the total N, P, K and C inputs in lowland gardens and 33, 86, 4 and 37% of total N, P, K and C inputs in highland gardens. Irrigation water and rainfall contributed substantially to K inputs representing 96, 92, 94 and 96% of total K influxes in garden L1, L2, H1 and H2, respectively. Following the same order, total annual DM yields in the gardens were 26, 18, 16 and 1.8 t ha-1. Annual leaching losses were estimated to be 0.02 kg NH4+-N ha-1 (SE = 0.004), 0.03 kg NO3--N ha-1 (SE = 0.002) and 0.005 kg PO4-3-P ha-1 (SE = 0.0007). Differences between nutrient inputs and outputs indicated negative nutrient balances for P and K and positive balances of N and C for all gardens. The negative balances in P and K call for adoptions of new agricultural techniques such as regular manure additions or mulching which may enhance the soil organic matter status. A quantification of fluxes not measured in our study such as N2-fixation, dry deposition and gaseous emissions of C and N would be necessary to comprehensively assess the sustainability of these intensive gardening systems. The second part of the survey dealt with the brick making kilns. A total of 50 brick kiln owners/or agents were interviewed from July to August 2009, using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data collected included general information such as age, family size, education, land ownership, number of kilns managed and/or owned, number of months that kilns were in operation, quantity of inputs (cow dung and fuel wood) used, prices of inputs and products across the production season. Information related to the share value of the land on which the kilns were built and annual income for urban farmers and annual returns from dung for the animal raisers was also collected. Using descriptive statistics, budget calculation and Gini coefficient, the results indicated that renting the land to brick making kilns yields a 5-fold higher return than the rent for agriculture. Gini coefficient showed that the kiln owners had a more equal income distribution compared to farmers. To estimate emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and losses of N, P, K, Corg and DM from cow dung when used in brick making, samples of cow dung (loose and compacted) were collected from different kilns and analyzed for their N, P, K and Corg content. The procedure modified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 1994) was used to estimate the gaseous emissions of cow dung and fuel wood. The amount of deforested wood was estimated according to the default values for wood density given by Dixon et al. (1991) and the expansion ratio for branches and small trees given by Brown et al. (1989). The data showed the monetary value of added N and P from cow dung was lower than for mineral fertilizers. Annual consumption of compacted dung (381 t DM) as biomass fuel by far exceeded the consumption of fuel wood (36 t DM). Gaseous emissions from cow dung and fuel wood were dominated by CO2, CO and CH4. Considering that Gerif land in urban Khartoum supports a multifunctional land use system, efficient use of natural resources (forest, dung, land and water) will enhance the sustainability of the UA and brick making activities. Adoption of new kilns with higher energy efficiency will reduce the amount of biomass fuels (cow dung and wood) used the amount of GHGs emitted and the threat to the few remaining forests.

Management practices and challenges in smallholder indigenous chicken production in Western Kenya

The potential benefit of indigenous chicken (Gallus domesticus) production is still under-exploited in Kenya despite the efforts by different stakeholders to mainstream this production system as a pathway to rural development. The production system is often characterized by low input-low output productivity and low commercialization of the enterprise. This study which dwells on the current management practices and challenges faced by smallholder indigenous chicken farmers was conducted to gain insights into the underlying causes of production constraints. In Western Kenya women (76%) dominate the indigenous chicken production system. The flock composition consists mainly of chicks, hens and pullets (80%) which reflects their retention for production purposes. Less than half of the farmers access institutional support services such as extension, training, credit and veterinary services. In addition, indigenous chicken is largely reared in a low input-low output free-range system with only few farmers (24.2%) adopting management interventions as disseminated by extension service. To improve production and attain increased productivity, policy should focus on repackaging extension messages that considers farmers economic situations and strengthens collective action initiatives. Accessing joint input purchase and collective marketing of chicken products may further assist the farmers to increase profit margins.

Pesticide-handling practices of smallholder coffee farmers in Eastern Jamaica

Pesticide use among smallholder coffee producers in Jamaica has been associated with significant occupational health effects. Research on pesticide handling practices, however, has been scarce, especially in eastern Jamaica. This explorative study aims at filling this gap and provides a first basis to develop effective interventions to promote a safer pesticide use. A random sample of 81 coffee farmers was surveyed. The majority of farmers reported to suffer from at least one health symptom associated with pesticide handling, but safety practices were scarcely adopted. There was also the risk that other household members and the wider local community are exposed to pesticides. The lack of training on pesticide management, the role of health services and the cost for protective equipment seemed to be the most significant factors that influence current pesticide handling practices in eastern Jamaica. Further research is recommended to develop a systemic understanding of farmer’s behaviour to provide a more solid basis for the development of future intervention programmes.

Survey of Agricultural Practices and Alternatives to Pesticide Use to Conserve Water Resources in the Mojanda Watershed, Ecuador

Agriculture in the Mojanda Watershed is facing rainfall reductions caused by climate change. Reductions of water availability in the Watershed are also due to constant extension of the agricultural activities into the páramo ecosystem above 3000m a.s.l., with this ecosystem having immanently important functions in the local water balance. The application of pesticides threatens the quality of water and with less precipitation contaminations will further concentrate in the outflow. To analyze problems associated with agricultural practices in the area a questionnaire about agricultural practices (28) was conducted and fields (20) were surveyed for pests and diseases with a focus on potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), tree tomatoes (Solanum betaceum Cav.) and peas (Pisum sativum L.). Potatoes were infected to a low degree with Phytophthora infestans and according to the farmers the Andean potato weevil (Premnotrypes spec.) caused biggest losses. To combat the weevil the soils are disinfected with toxic Carbofuran (WHO Class 1B). Tree tomatoes showed symptoms of various fungal diseases. Most important was Fusarium solani causing the branches to rot and Anthracnosis (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides) causing the fruits to rot. Fungicide applications were correspondingly high. Peas were only minorly affected by Ascochyta blight (Mycosphaerella pinodes) and a root rot. Overall 19 active ingredients were applied of which fungicide Mancozeb (WHO class table 5) and insecticide Carbofuran (WHO Class 1B) were applied the most. Approved IPM methods are advised to reduce pesticide use. For tree tomatoes regular cutting of branches infected with F. solani and regular collection and disposal of infected fruits with Anthracnosis are advised. For potatoes plastic barriers around the fields prevent the Andean potato weevil from laying eggs thus reducing infestation with the larvae in the tubers. Local bioinsecticide “Biol” seems effective and without harm to the environment, although not used by many farmers. Organic fertilization promises to restore decreasing soil fertility, water holding capacity and reduce erosion. The here presented alternatives and strategies to reduce pesticide use pose an opportunity to preserve the water resources of the region.

Integrating top down policies and bottom up practices in Urban and Periurban Agriculture: an Italian dilemma

The paper deals with some relevant and contradictory aspects of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Italy: the traditional exclusion of agricultural areas from the goals of territorial planning; the separation between top-down policies and bottom-up practices; the lack of agricultural policies at local scale. In the first part the paper summarises the weak relation between urban planning and agriculture, showing how in Italy this gap has been only partially overcome by new laws and plans. Moreover the paper focuses on how, due to the lack of suitable solutions coming from regional and local planning, a large number of vibrant initiatives were started by local stakeholders. In order to show the limitations and the potentialities of these various approaches, three peculiar experiences based on Milan, Turin and Pisa are presented. They give a cross-section of the variegated Italian situation, demonstrating that a major challenge in Italian context affects the fields of governance and inclusiveness.