Can commercialization of NTFPs alleviate poverty? A case study of Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax. kernel marketing in Cameroon

Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Pierre ex Pax. kernel (njansang) commercialization has been promoted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in project villages in Cameroon with the aim to alleviate poverty for small-scale farmers. We evaluated to what extent development interventions improved the financial situation of households by comparing project and control households. The financial importance of njansang to household livelihoods between 2005 and 2010 was investigated through semi-structured questionnaires with retrospective questions, focus group discussions, interviews and wealth-ranking exercises. The importance of njansang increased strongly in the entire study region and the increase was significantly larger in project households. Moreover, absolute numbers of income from njansang commercialization as well as relative importance of njansang in total cash income, increased significantly more in project households (p < 0.05). Although the lower wealth class households could increase their income through njansang trade, the upper wealth class households benefited more from the projects' interventions. Group sales as conducted in project villages did not lead to significantly higher prices and should be reconsidered. Hence, promotion of njansang had a positive effect on total cash income and can still be improved. The corporative actors for njansang commercialization are encouraged to adapt their strategies to ensure that also the lower wealth class households benefit from the conducted project interventions. In this respect, frequent project monitoring and impact analysis are important tools to accomplish this adaptation.

Rural households’ social capital and welfare: A case study of Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

In a household or nations production system, social capital has been recognized as an input having major implications for project design as well as policy development. Using a structured questionnaire, household level data was obtained from a representative sample of 300 rural households in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal. This study employed the conventional household economic behaviour model under constrained utility maximisation to examine the effect of social capital on the welfare of household, testing the hypothesis that the possession of social capital improves household welfare. The result shows that social capital endowments have a statistically significant positive effect on household welfare, in addition to the some household’s demographic and socio-economic characteristics. The study concluded that, access to social capital among other factors, is very crucial for improved rural household welfare and poverty reduction. It is therefore important for government to have knowledge of existing social groups and networks as this will improve the effectiveness of the present strategies aimed at reducing poverty.

Water Resource Pollution and Impacts on the local livelihood: A case study of Beas River in Kullu District, India

The rivers are considered as the life line of any country since they make water available for our domestic, industrial and recreational functions. The quality of river water signifies the health status and hygienic aspects of a particular region, but the quality of these life lines is continuously deteriorating due to discharge of sewage, garbage and industrial effluents into them. Thrust on water demand has increased manifolds due to the increased population, therefore tangible efforts to make the water sources free from pollution is catching attention all across the globe. This paper attempts to highlight the trends in water quality change of River Beas, right from Manali to Larji in India. This is an important river in the state of Himachal Pradesh and caters to the need of water for Manali and Kullu townships, besides other surrounding rural areas. The Manali-Larji Beas river stretch is exposed to the flow of sewage, garbage and muck resulting from various project activities, thereby making it vulnerable to pollution. In addition, the influx of thousands of tourists to these towns also contributes to the pollution load by their recreational and other tourist related activities. Pollution of this river has ultimately affected the livelihood of local population in this region. Hence, water quality monitoring was carried out for the said stretch between January, 2010 and January, 2012 at 15 various locations on quarterly basis, right from the upstream of Manali town and up to downstream of Larji dam. Temperature, color, odor, D.O. , pH, BOD, TSS, TC and FC has been the parameters that were studied. This study gives the broad idea about the characteristics of water at locations in the said river stretch, and suggestions for improving water quality and livelihood of local population in this particular domain.

Sustainability of Small Scale Farming in a Mountain Region: Case Study of the Khaling Rai Population of the Solukhumbu, Nepal

The Khaling Rai live in a remote area of the mountain region of Nepal. Subsistence farming is central to their livelihood strategy, the sustainability of which was examined in this study. The sustainable livelihood approach was identified as a suitable theoretical framework to analyse the assets of the Khaling Rai. A baseline study was conducted using indicators to assess the outcome of the livelihood strategies under the three pillars of sustainability – economic, social and environmental. Relationships between key factors were analysed. The outcome showed that farming fulfils their basic need of food security, with self-sufficiency in terms of seeds, organic fertilisers and tools. Agriculture is almost totally non-monitized: crops are grown mainly for household consumption. However, the crux faced by the Khaling Rai community is the need to develop high value cash crops in order to improve their livelihoods while at the same time maintaining food security. Institutional support in this regard was found to be lacking. At the same time there is declining soil fertility and an expanding population, which results in smaller land holdings. The capacity to absorb risk is inhibited by the small size of the resource base and access only to small local markets. A two-pronged approach is recommended. Firstly, the formation of agricultural cooperative associations in the area. Secondly, through them the selection of key personnel to be put forward for training in the adoption of improved low-cost technologies for staple crops and in the introduction of appropriate new cash crops.

Growing through Connections – A Multi-Case Study of Two Alternative Food Networks in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

In a context of urgent global socio-ecological challenges, the aim of this paper has been to explore the potential of localised and socially connected food systems. More specifically, through a multi-case study of two alternative food networks in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, their contribution to a sustainable food paradigm has been explored. An important synergy within the networks is how good food is equated with peasant produce, but issues regarding quantity, delivery arrangement, power relations and inclusiveness constitute potential conflicts. Although challenged by unfavourable trends on national and EU levels, the networks are becoming more embedded horizontally, through an intrinsic focus on community in one case and through quality food stimulating good relations in the other case. The networks contribute to a sustainable food paradigm by promoting agroecology, by reclaiming socio-cultural factors of food provisioning and by being part of a (re)-peasantisation process. Exploring how these kinds of initiatives can emerge, be sustained and be developed is of relevance, especially considering their potential for improving the prospects of environmentally sustainable and socially just futures in Romania and beyond.

Family agriculture for bottom-up rural development: a case study of the indigenous Mayan population in the Mexican Peninsula

Since pre-colonial times the indigenous communities of Mayan origin in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, widely practice home gardens on a sustainable basis as the principal form of family agriculture. This study analyzes the structural complexity, functional diversity and management strategy of these indigenous home gardens in order to attempt to propose recommendations for improved family farming. The Mayan home gardens are structured into three or more vertical layers of multiple plant species of herbs, shrubs and trees, and horizontally into well-defined zones for production of both domestic and wild animals. The home gardens provide multiple services apart from food and nutrition security. For sustainable bottom-up rural development, we recommend the continuation of multifunctional home gardens.