Contested Agronomy

Contested Agronomy PDF Author: James Sumberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136450254
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
The dramatic increases in food prices experienced over the last four years, and their effects of hunger and food insecurity, as well as human-induced climate change and its implications for agriculture, food production and food security, are key topics within the field of agronomy and agricultural research. Contested Agronomy addresses these issues by exploring key developments since the mid-1970s, focusing in particular on the emergence of the neoliberal project and the rise of the participation and environmental agendas, taking into consideration how these have had profound impacts on the practice of agronomic research in the developing world especially over the last four decades. This book explores, through a series of case studies, the basis for a much needed ‘political agronomy’ analysis that highlights the impacts of problem framing and narratives, historical disjunctures, epistemic communities and the increasing pressure to demonstrate ‘success’ on both agricultural research and the farmers, processors and consumers it is meant to serve. Whilst being a fascinating and thought-provoking read for professionals in the Agriculture and Environmental sciences, it will also appeal to students and researchers in agricultural policy, development studies, geography, public administration, rural sociology, and science and technology studies.

Contested Agronomy

Contested Agronomy PDF Author: James Sumberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136450254
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Get Book Here

Book Description
The dramatic increases in food prices experienced over the last four years, and their effects of hunger and food insecurity, as well as human-induced climate change and its implications for agriculture, food production and food security, are key topics within the field of agronomy and agricultural research. Contested Agronomy addresses these issues by exploring key developments since the mid-1970s, focusing in particular on the emergence of the neoliberal project and the rise of the participation and environmental agendas, taking into consideration how these have had profound impacts on the practice of agronomic research in the developing world especially over the last four decades. This book explores, through a series of case studies, the basis for a much needed ‘political agronomy’ analysis that highlights the impacts of problem framing and narratives, historical disjunctures, epistemic communities and the increasing pressure to demonstrate ‘success’ on both agricultural research and the farmers, processors and consumers it is meant to serve. Whilst being a fascinating and thought-provoking read for professionals in the Agriculture and Environmental sciences, it will also appeal to students and researchers in agricultural policy, development studies, geography, public administration, rural sociology, and science and technology studies.

Agronomy for Development

Agronomy for Development PDF Author: James Sumberg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315284030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Over the last decade there has been renewed interest in food security and the state of the global food system. Population growth, climate change and food price spikes have combined to focus new attention on the technologies and institutions that underpin the production and consumption of food that is varied, nutritious and safe. Knowledge politics within development-oriented agronomy set the stage for some models of agricultural development to be favoured over others, with very real implications for the food security and wellbeing of many millions of people. Agronomy for Development demonstrates how the analysis of knowledge politics can shed valuable new light on current debates about agricultural development and food security. Using bio-physical and social sciences perspectives to address the political economy of the production and use of knowledge in development, this edited collection reflects on the changing politics of knowledge within the field of agronomy and the ways in which these politics feed and reflect the interests of a broad set of actors. This book is aimed at professionals working in agricultural research as well as students and practitioners of agricultural, rural and international development.

Sustainable Intensification

Sustainable Intensification PDF Author: Jules N. Pretty
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136529276
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.

Critical Perspectives on Agrarian Transition

Critical Perspectives on Agrarian Transition PDF Author: B. B. Mohanty
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131731039X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This book evaluates the relevance of classical debates on agrarian transition and extends the horizon of contemporary debates in the Indian context, linking national trends with regional experiences. It identifies new dynamics in agrarian political economy and presents a comprehensive account of diverse aspects of capitalist transition both at theoretical and empirical levels. The essays discuss several neglected domains in agricultural economics such as discursive dimensions of agrarian relations and limitations of stereotypical binaries between capital and non-capital, rural and urban sectors, agriculture and industry, and accumulation and subsistence. With contributions from major scholars in the field, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of agriculture, economics, political economy, sociology, rural development and development studies.

Soil and Climate

Soil and Climate PDF Author: Rattan Lal
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 0429945442
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 643

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Book Description
Climate is a soil-forming factor and soil can mitigate climate change through a reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gases and sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Thus, there is a growing interest in soil management practices capable of mitigating climate change and enhancing environmental quality. Soil and Climate addresses global issues through soil management and outlines strategies for advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This volume in the Advances in Soil Science series is specifically devoted to describe state-of-the-knowledge regarding the climate–soil nexus in relation to: Soil Processes: weathering, decomposition of organic matter, erosion, leaching, salinization, biochemical, transformations, gaseous flux, and elemental cycling, Soil Properties: physical, chemical, biological, and ecological, Atmospheric Chemistry: gaseous concentrations of (CO2, CH4, N2O), water vapors, soot, dust, and particulate matter, Mitigation and Adaptation: source and sink of GHGs (CO2, CH4, N2O), land use and soil management, soil C sink capacity, permafrost, Soil Management: sequestration of organic and inorganic C, nutrient requirements, water demands, coupled cycling of H2O, N, P, S, and Policy and Outreach: carbon farming, payments for ecosystem services, COP21, SDGs, land degradation neutrality Special topics on soil as a source or sink of CO2, silicate weathering and carbon sequestration, nutrients required for carbon sequestration, physical protection and the mean resident time, and predicting soil carbon stocks are discussed in detail throughout the book.

American Georgics

American Georgics PDF Author: Edwin C. Hagenstein
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300137095
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
From Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to Michelle Obama's White House organic garden, the image of America as a nation of farmers has persisted from the beginnings of the American experiment. In this rich and evocative collection of agrarian writing from the past two centuries, writers from Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur to Wendell Berry reveal not only the great reach and durability of the American agrarian ideal, but also the ways in which society has contested and confronted its relationship to agriculture over the course of generations. Drawing inspiration from Virgil's agrarian epic poem, Georgics, this collection presents a complex historical portrait of the American character through its relationship to the land. From the first European settlers eager to cultivate new soil, to the Transcendentalist, utopian, and religious thinkers of the nineteenth century, American society has drawn upon the vision of a pure rural life for inspiration. Back-to-the-land movements have surged and retreated in the past centuries yet provided the agrarian roots for the environmental movement of the past forty years. Interpretative essays and a sprinkling of illustrations accompany excerpts from each of these periods of American agrarian thought, providing a framework for understanding the sweeping changes that have confronted the nation's landscape.

The Politics of Green Transformations

The Politics of Green Transformations PDF Author: Ian Scoones
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317601114
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
Multiple ‘green transformations’ are required if humanity is to live sustainably on planet Earth. Recalling past transformations, this book examines what makes the current challenge different, and especially urgent. It examines how green transformations must take place in the context of the particular moments of capitalist development, and in relation to particular alliances. The role of the state is emphasised, both in terms of the type of incentives required to make green transformations politically feasible and the way states must take a developmental role in financing innovation and technology for green transformations. The book also highlights the role of citizens, as innovators, entrepreneurs, green consumers and members of social movements. Green transformations must be both ‘top-down’, involving elite alliances between states and business, but also ‘bottom up’, pushed by grassroots innovators and entrepreneurs, and part of wider mobilisations among civil society. The chapters in the book draw on international examples to emphasise how contexts matter in shaping pathways to sustainability Written by experts in the field, this book will be of great interest to researchers and students in environmental studies, international relations, political science, development studies, geography and anthropology, as well as policymakers and practitioners concerned with sustainability.

Critical Perspectives on Food Sovereignty

Critical Perspectives on Food Sovereignty PDF Author: Marc Edelman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317424514
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 646

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Book Description
This volume is a pioneering contribution to the study of food politics and critical agrarian studies, where food sovereignty has emerged as a pivotal concept over the past few decades, with a wide variety of social movements, on-the-ground experiments, and policy innovations flying under its broad banner. Despite its large and growing popularity, the history, theoretical foundations, and political program of food sovereignty have only occasionally received in-depth analysis and critical scrutiny. This collection brings together both longstanding scholars in critical agrarian studies, such as Philip McMichael, Bina Agarwal, Henry Bernstein, Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, and Marc Edelman, as well as a dynamic roster of early- and mid-career researchers. The ultimate aim is to advance this important frontier of research and organizing, and put food sovereignty on stronger footing as a mobilizing frame, a policy objective, and a plan of action for the human future. This volume was published as part one of the special double issue celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Journal of Peasant Studies.

Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa

Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa PDF Author: Melissa Leach
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317579984
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Amidst the pressing challenges of global climate change, the last decade has seen a wave of forest carbon projects across the world, designed to conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks in order to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and offset emissions elsewhere. Exploring a set of new empirical case studies, Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa examines how these projects are unfolding, their effects, and who is gaining and losing. Situating forest carbon approaches as part of more general moves to address environmental problems by attaching market values to nature and ecosystems, it examines how new projects interact with forest landscapes and their longer histories of intervention. The book asks: what difference does carbon make? What political and ecological dynamics are unleashed by these new commodified, marketized approaches, and how are local forest users experiencing and responding to them? The book’s case studies cover a wide range of African ecologies, project types and national political-economic contexts. By examining these cases in a comparative framework and within an understanding of the national, regional and global institutional arrangements shaping forest carbon commoditisation, the book provides a rich and compelling account of how and why carbon conflicts are emerging, and how they might be avoided in future. This book will be of interest to students of development studies, environmental sciences, geography, economics, development studies and anthropology, as well as practitioners and policy makers.

One Health

One Health PDF Author: Kevin Bardosh
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317334973
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Zoonotic diseases – pathogens transmitted from animals to people – offer particularly challenging problems for global health institutions and actors, given the complex social-ecological dynamics at play. New forms of risk caused by unprecedented global connectivity and rapid social and environmental change demand new approaches. ‘One Health’ highlights the need for collaboration across sectors and disciplines to tackle zoonotic diseases. However, there has been little exploration of how social, political and economic contexts influence efforts to ‘do’ One Health. This book fills this gap by offering a much needed political economy analysis of zoonosis research and policy. Through ethnographic, qualitative and quantitative data, the book draws together a diverse number of case studies. These include chapters exploring global narratives about One Health operationalization and prevailing institutional bottlenecks; the evolution of research networks over time; and the histories and politics behind conflicting disease control approaches. The themes from these chapters are further contextualized and expanded upon through country-specific case studies – from Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone – exploring the translation of One Health research and policy into the African context. This book is a valuable resource for academic researchers, students and policy practitioners in the areas of global health, agriculture and development.