Uncover the Concealed Link: Gender & Ethnicity-Divided Local Knowledge on the Agro-Ecosystem of a Forest Margin

This research is a study about knowledge interface that aims to analyse knowledge discontinuities, the dynamic and emergent characters of struggles and interactions within gender system and ethnicity differences. The cacao boom phenomenon in Central Sulawesi is the main context for a changing of social relations of production, especially when the mode of production has shifted or is still underway from subsistence to petty commodity production. This agrarian change is not only about a change of relationship and practice, but, as my previous research has shown, also about the shift of knowledge domination, because knowledge construes social practice in a dialectical process. Agroecological knowledge is accumulated through interaction, practice and experience. At the same time the knowledge gained from new practices and experiences changes mode of interaction, so such processes provide the arena where an interface of knowledge is manifested. In the process of agro-ecological knowledge interface, gender and ethnic group interactions materialise in the decision-making of production and resource allocation at the household and community level. At this point, power/knowledge is interplayed to gain authority in decision-making. When authority dominates, power encounters resistance, whereas the dominant power and its resistance are aimed to ensure socio-economic security. Eventually, the process of struggle can be identified through the pattern of resource utilisation as a realisation of production decision-making. Such processes are varied from one community to another, and therefore, it shows uniqueness and commonalities, especially when it is placed in a context of shifting mode of production. The focus is placed on actors: men and women in their institutional and cultural setting, including the role of development agents. The inquiry is informed by 4 major questions: 1) How do women and men acquire, disseminate, and utilise their agro ecological knowledge, specifically in rice farming as a subsistence commodity, as well as in cacao farming as a petty commodity? How and why do such mechanisms construct different knowledge domains between two genders? How does the knowledge mechanism apply in different ethnics? What are the implications for gender and ethnicity based relation of production? ; 2) Using the concept of valued knowledge in a shifting mode of production context: is there any knowledge that dominates others? How does the process of domination occur and why? Is there any form of struggle, strategies, negotiation, and compromise over this domination? How do these processes take place at a household as well as community level? How does it relate to production decision-making? ; 3) Putting the previous questions in two communities with a different point of arrival on a path of agricultural commercialisation, how do the processes of struggle vary? What are the bases of the commonalities and peculiarities in both communities?; 4) How the decisions of production affect rice field - cacao plantation - forest utilisation in the two villages? How does that triangle of resource use reflect the constellation of local knowledge in those two communities? What is the implication of this knowledge constellation for the cacao-rice-forest agroecosystem in the forest margin area? Employing a qualitative approach as the main method of inquiry, indepth and dialogic interviews, participant observer role, and document review are used to gather information. A small survey and children’s writing competition are supplementary to this data collection method. The later two methods are aimed to give wider information on household decision making and perception toward the forest. It was found that local knowledge, particularly knowledge pertaining to rice-forest-cacao agroecology is divided according to gender and ethnicity. This constellation places a process of decision-making as ‘the arena of interface’ between feminine and masculine knowledge, as well as between dominant and less dominant ethnic groups. Transition from subsistence to a commercial mode of production is a context that frames a process where knowledge about cacao commodity is valued higher than rice. Market mechanism, as an external power, defines valued knowledge. Valued knowledge defines the dominant knowledge holder, and decision. Therefore, cacao cultivation becomes a dominant practice. Its existence sacrifices the presence of rice field and the forest. Knowledge about rice production and forest ecosystem exist, but is less valued. So it is unable to challenge the domination of cacao. Various forms of struggles - within gender an ethnicity context - to resist cacao domination are an expression of unequal knowledge possession. Knowledge inequality implies to unequal access to withdraw benefit from market valued crop. When unequal knowledge fails to construct a negotiated field or struggles fail to reveal ‘marginal’ decision, e.g. intensification instead of cacao expansion to the forest, interface only produces divergence. Gender and ethnicity divided knowledge is unabridged, since negotiation is unable to produce new knowledge that accommodates both interests. Rice is loaded by ecological interest to conserve the forest, while cacao is driven by economic interest to increase welfare status. The implication of this unmediated dominant knowledge of cacao production is the construction of access; access to the forest, mainly to withdraw its economic benefit by eliminating its ecological benefit. Then, access to cacao as the social relationship of production to acquire cacao knowledge; lastly, access to defend sustainable benefit from cacao by expansion. ‘Socio-economic Security’ is defined by Access. The convergence of rice and cacao knowledge, however, should be made possible across gender and ethnicity, not only for the sake of forest conservation as the insurance of ecological security, but also for community’s socio-economic security. The convergence might be found in a range of alternative ways to conduct cacao sustainable production, from agroforestry system to intensification.

A Note on the Generalization Performance of Kernel Classifiers with Margin

We present distribution independent bounds on the generalization misclassification performance of a family of kernel classifiers with margin. Support Vector Machine classifiers (SVM) stem out of this class of machines. The bounds are derived through computations of the $V_gamma$ dimension of a family of loss functions where the SVM one belongs to. Bounds that use functions of margin distributions (i.e. functions of the slack variables of SVM) are derived.

Parametric pension reform and the intensive margin of labor supply, evidence from Colombia

We analyze the effect of a parametric reform of the fully-funded pension regime in Colombia on the intensive margin of the labor supply. We take advantage of a threshold defined by law in order to identify the causal effect using a regression discontinuity design. We find that a pension system that increases retirement age and the minimum weeks during which workers must contribute to claim pension benefits causes an increase of around 2 hours on the number of weekly worked hours; this corresponds to 4% of the average number of weekly worked hours or around 14% of a standard deviation of weekly worked hours. The effect is robust to different specifications, polynomial orders and sample sizes.

Bt-cotton boosts the gross margin of small-scale cotton producers in South Africa

This paper explores some of the issues involved in the Genetic Modification (GM) debate by focusing on one crop that has been modified for pest resistance, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and commercially released to small-scale farmers in the Makhathini Flats, KwaZulu Natal, the Republic of South Africa. This was the first commercial release of a GM variety (Bt-cotton) in Sub-Saharan Africa, and thus provides valuable and timely insights into some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of the technology for small-scale farmers in Africa. Even though there are wider concerns regarding the vulnerability of small-scale farmers in the area, the survey results suggest that Bt-cotton generated higher yields and gross margins than non-Bt-cotton. In addition, Bt-cotton significantly reduced the use of pesticide with consequent potential benefits to human health and the environment.

The impact of two arable field margin management schemes on litter decomposition

A primary objective of agri-environment schemes is the conservation of biodiversity; in addition to increasing the value of farmland for wildlife, these schemes also aim to restore natural ecosystem functioning. The management of scheme options can influence their value for delivering ecosystem services by modifying the composition of floral and faunal communities. This study examines the impact of an agri-environment scheme prescription on ecosystem functioning by testing the hypothesis that vegetation management influences decomposition rates in grassy arable field margins. The effects of two vegetation management practices in arable field margins - cutting and soil disturbance (scarification) - on litter decomposition were compared using a litterbag experimental approach in early April 2006. Bags had either small mesh designed to restrict access to soil macrofauna, or large mesh that would allow macrofauna to enter. Bags were positioned on the soil surface or inserted into the soil in cut and scarified margins, retrieved after 44, 103 and 250 days and the amount of litter mass remaining was calculated. Litter loss from the litterbags with large mesh was greater than from the small mesh bags, providing evidence that soil macrofauna accelerate rates of litter decomposition. In the large mesh bags, the proportion of litter remaining in bags above and belowground in the cut plots was similar, while in the scarified plots, there was significantly more litter left in the aboveground bags than in the belowground bags. This loss of balance between decomposition rates above and belowground in scarified margins may have implications for the development and maintenance of grassy arable field margins by influencing nutrient availability for plant communities. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The potential of grass field margin management for enhancing beetle diversity in intensive livestock farms

1. Declining populations of UK grassland flora and fauna have been attributed to intensification of agricultural management practices, including changes in cutting, fertilizer, grazing and drainage regimes. We aimed to develop field margin management practices that could reverse declines in intensively managed grassland biodiversity that would have application in the UK and Europe. Here we focus on one aspect of grassland biodiversity, the beetles. 2. In four intensively managed livestock farms in south-west England, 10-m wide field margins in existing grasslands were managed to create seven treatments of increasing sward architectural complexity. This was achieved through combinations of inorganic (NPK) fertilizer, cattle grazing, and timing and height of cutting. To examine the potential influence of complexity on faunal diversity, beetles were identified to species level from suction samples taken between 2003 and 2005, and their assemblage structure was related to margin management, floral assemblages and sward architecture. 3. Beetle abundance, and species richness and evenness were influenced by margin management treatment and its interaction with year. Correlations with sward architecture and the percentage cover of dominant forbs and grasses were also found. Functional groups of the beetles showed different responses to the management treatments. In particular, higher proportional abundances of seed/flower-feeding guilds were found in treatments not receiving NPK fertilizer. 4. The assemblage structure was shown to respond to margin management treatments, sward architecture and the percentage cover of dominant forbs and grasses. The most extensively managed treatments were characterized by distinct successional trajectories from the control treatment. 5. Synthesis and applications. This study provides management options suitable for use within agri-environment schemes intended to improve faunal diversity associated with intensively managed lowland grasslands. Field margins receiving either no management or a single July silage cut were shown to support greater abundances and species richness of beetles, although subtler modifications of conventional management may also be beneficial, for example the absence of NPK fertilizer while maintaining grazing and silage cutting systems.

Bode's maximum available feedback and phase margin

'Maximum Available Feedback' is Bode's term for the highest possible loop gain over a given bandwidth, with specified stability margins, in a single loop feedback system. His work using asymptotic analysis allowed Bode to develop a methodology for achieving this. However, the actual system performance differs from that specified, due to the use of asymptotic approximations, and the author[2] has described how, for instance, the actual phase margin is often much lower than required when the bandwidth is high, and proposed novel modifications to the asymptotes to address the issue. This paper gives some new analysis of such systems, showing that the method also contravenes Bode's definition of phase margin, and shows how the author's modifications can be used for different amounts of bandwidth.

Novel margin management to enhance Auchenorrhyncha biodiversity in intensive grasslands

Agricultural intensification, including changes in cutting, grazing and fertilizer regimes, has led to declines in UK and NW European grassland biodiversity. We aimed to develop field margin management practices that would support invertebrate diversity and abundance on intensively managed grassland farms, focusing on planthoppers and leafhoppers (Auchenorrhyncha). Replicated across four farms in south-west England, we manipulated conventional management practices (inorganic fertilizer, cutting frequency and height, and aftermath grazing) to create seven treatments along a gradient of decreasing management intensity and increasing sward architectural complexity. Auchenorrhyncha were sampled annually between 2003 and 2005. Auchenorrhyncha abundance and species richness was highest in the most extensively managed treatments. Abundance was lowest with frequent cutting, while species richness was lowest where cattle grazing occurred. Unexpectedly, application of inorganic fertilizer had no effect on Auchenorrhyncha abundance or species richness. Management options that enhance invertebrate diversity, while allowing the remainder of the field to be managed conventionally, represent a potentially important conservation tool for many lowland improved grasslands. Extensification of conventional management in field margin areas of such grasslands are likely to benefit this numerically dominant component of grassland invertebrate fauna. These management practices have the potential to be incorporated into existing UK and European agri-environment schemes.

The margin of appreciation, domestic irregularity and domestic court rulings in ECHR environmental jurisprudence: Global legal pluralism in action

Global legal pluralism is concerned, inter alia, with the growing multiplicity of normative legal orders and the ways in which these different orders intersect and are accommodated with one another. The different means used for accommodation will have a critical bearing on how individuals fare within them. This article examines the recent environmental jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights to explore some of the means of reaching an accommodation between national legal orders and the European Convention. Certain types of accommodation – such as the margin of appreciation given to states by the Court – are well known. In essence, such mechanisms of legal pluralism raise a presumptive barrier which generally works for the state and against the individual rights-bearer. However, the principal focus of the current article is on a less well-known, recent set of pluralistic devices employed by the Court, which typically operate presumptively in the other direction, in favour of the individual. First, the Court looks to instances of breaches of domestic environmental law (albeit not in isolation); and second, it places an emphasis on whether domestic courts have ruled against the relevant activity. Where domestic standards have been breached or national courts have ruled against the state, then, presumptive weight is typically shifted towards the individual.

Deglacial changes of the southern margin of the southern westerly winds revealed by terrestrial records from SW Patagonia (52 degrees S)

Much of the ongoing discussion regarding synchrony or bipolar asynchrony of paleoclimate events has centered on the timing and structure of the last glacial termination in the southern mid- latitudes, in particular the southwestern Patagonian region (50�e55�S). Its location adjacent to the Drake Passage andnear the southern margin of the southern westerly winds (SWW) allows examining the postulated links between the Southern Oceane SWW coupled system and tmospheric CO2 variations through the last glacial termination. Results from two sites located in the Última Esperanza area (52�S) allow us to infer SWW-driven changes in hydrologic balance during this critical time interval. These findings indicate peatland development under temperate/wet conditions between 14,600 and 14,900 cal yr BP, followed by cooling and a lake transgressive phase that led to a shallow lake during the early part of the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR, 13,600-14,600 cal yr BP), followed in turn by a deeper lake and modest warming during Younger Dryas time (YD, 11,800-13,000 cal yr BP), superseded by terrestrialization and forest expansion at the beginning of the Holocene. We propose that the SWW (i) strengthened and shifted northward during ACR time causing a precipitation rise in northwestern and southwestern Patagonia coeval with mid- and high-latitude cooling and a halt in the deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise; (ii) shifted southward during YD time causing a precipitation decline/increase in NW/SW Patagonia, respectively, high-latitude warming, and invigorated CO2 release from the Southern Ocean; (iii) became weaker between 10,000 and 11,500 cal yr BP causing a precipitation decline throughout Patagonia, concurrent with peak mid- and high-latitude temperatures and atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

Margin squeeze: an above cost predatory pricing approach

We provide a new legal perspective for the antitrust analysis of margin squeeze conducts. Building on recent economic analysis, we explain why margin squeeze conducts should solely be evaluated under adjusted predatory pricing standards. The adjustment corresponds to an increase in the cost benchmark used in the predatory pricing test by including opportunity costs due to missed upstream sales. This can reduce both the risks of false-positives and false-negatives in margin squeeze cases. We justify this approach by explaining why classic arguments against above-cost predatory pricing typically do not hold in vertical structures where margin squeezes take place and by presenting case law evidence supporting this adjustment. Our approach can help to reconcile the divergent US and EU antitrust stances on margin squeeze.