1,721,280 research outputs found
Transnational land deals: Towards an inclusive land governance framework
Full text linkThe literature on global land deals or land acquisition has extensively described the possible drivers, trajectories, and their impacts. In addition, the concept of a ‘land grab’ per se is heavily contested and viewed as a work in progress. Many have argued on the topic of inclusive land deals without addressing which groups of stakeholders are vested with particular powers and interests in the deals. After reviewing this phenomena in contemporary global land deals and the stakeholder theory of management developed in the 1980s, this paper proposes a conceptual land deal framework. Accordingly, the actors in land deals are characterised and disaggregated into seven generic groups, i.e., “inactive”, “discretionary”, “exigent”, “dominant”, “dangerous”, “dependent”, and “definitive”. The paper concluded that to address the governance challenges in land deals, a need exists to resolve conceptualisation deficiencies related to inclusive land deal frameworks. Thus, this work suggests that extending the stakeholder theory of management to the global governance of transnational land acquisition can significantly aid in resolving conceptualisation limitations for inclusive transnational land deals. Hence, a new inclusive land deal framework was developed that attempts to integrate the biophysical environment, stakeholders, governance, and institutions. Furthermore, this paper recommends that contextualisation of the suggested “land deal power-interest clustering (LD-PIC)” and “legitimacy-interest-power (LIP)” frameworks to those already signed and ongoing land deals using real-world data is a timely matter
Assessing the sustainability of community forest management: A case study from Iran
No full textThe development of sustainability criteria and indicators is necessary to assess the current management and to recognize appropriate management approaches towards sustainable forest management (SFM). The aim of this study is to assess the sustainability of current management in the Dopolan community forest and assess alternative management scenarios towards SFM. To this end, we applied multi criteria analysis which consists of three steps: a) developing a primary set of criteria and indicators (C&Is) on focus groups discussions, b) finalizing and weighing the set of C&Is, applying a pair wise comparison as well as ranking method, and c) assessing the current forest management regimes and alternative scenarios against a set of C&Is. As a result, 8 criteria and 40 indicators were selected. Our results indicated that to achieve SFM, the criteria including forest protection against natural and human factors, the establishment of appropriate legal and institutional requirements and socioeconomic functions of forests, are the most important criteria (weighted 14.60%, 14.28% and 13.96%, respectively). Assessing the current management regimes revealed that the criteria consisting of biodiversity conservation and local communities' awareness have the maximum distance to SFM (weighted 7.75% and 9.18%, respectively). Among the alternative forest management scenarios, the sixth scenario namely conservation and rehabilitation, local investment attraction in forest conservation and rehabilitation, enabling and capacity building of forest inhabitants were realized as the best scenarios (weighted 26.20%) to achieve SFM. A joint effort of the concerned government forestry officials and local people is needed to enhance the sustain ability of all community based forestry models
Environmental and health impacts of effluents from textile industries in Ethiopia : the case of Gelan and Dukem, Oromia Regional State
No full textAbstract: This study focuses on four textile industries (DH-GEDA, NOYA, ALMHADI, and ALSAR) established between 2005 and 2008 in the peri-urban areas of Dukem and Gelan. The objectives of the study were to generate baseline information regarding the concentration levels of selected pollutants and to analyze their effects on biophysical environments. This study also attempts to explore the level of exposure that humans and livestock have to polluted effluents and the effects thereof. The findings of this study are based on data empirically collected from two sources: laboratory analysis of sample effluents from the four selected textile plants and quantitative as well as qualitative socioeconomic data collection. As part of the latter, a household survey and focus group discussions (FGDs) with elderly and other focal persons were employed in the towns of Dukem and Gelan. The results of the study show that large concentrations of biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and pH were found in all the observed textile industries, at levels beyond the permissible discharge limit set by the national Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). Furthermore, sulfide (S2), R-phosphate (R-PO43), and Zn were found in large concentrations in DH-GEDA and ALMHADI, while high concentrations were also identified in samples taken from ALSAR and ALMHADI. In spite of the clear-cut legal tools, this study shows that the local environment, people, and their livestock are exposed to highly contaminated effluents. We therefore recommend that the respective federal and regional government bodies should reexamine the compliance to and actual implementation of the existing legal procedures and regulations and respond appropriately
Agricultural outsourcing or land grabbing: a meta-analysis
No full textContext: The phenomenon of known as 'land grabbing' is not a new process. Especially, since the 1990s, some capital-rich countries have started to buy or lease foreign lands to be able to produce food and biofuels. Objectives This article aimed at investigating the (un) sustainability of 'transnational land deals' (TLDs) for investors, host governments and local communities. Given the three dimensions of sustainability, the "social acceptability", "economic viability" and "environmental conservation" of the TLDs have been studied.
Methods: To understand whether and to what extent the TLD is sustainable in each dimension a meta-analysis was conducted on 73 journal articles.
Results: Results showed that tenure arrangements and livelihoods were the main drivers for the matter's social acceptability. Accordingly, local communities are affected by losing and receiving little or no compensation for their land, and making them have to face the increasing vulnerability of their livelihoods. This results in a win-win-loss situation for investors, host governments and local communities, respectively. Economic (un) sustainability mainly depends on capital flow, infrastructure and employment. This aspect is evidenced as a win for investors and host governments and implies the aforementioned win-win-loss situation. The main aspects of environmental (un) sustainability are considered as biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate change.
Conclusions: According to the results, both host governments and local communities experience loss. This results in a win-loss-loss status of the TLDs. The major challenge remains in establishing good land governance, which can guarantee the benefits to local people and their access to land
How sustainable is transnational farmland acquisition in Ethiopia? : lessons learned from the Benishangul-Gumuz region
Full text linkDue to the nature of available land as one of the main attractions for investment, land lease marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa is appearing on policy agenda. This paper describes critical land-related institutional and governmental frameworks that have shaped the contemporary land governance and land lease contracts in Ethiopia. It also examines the effectiveness of the land lease process regarding economic, social, and environmental expectations from agricultural outsourcing. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses were used and results showed that the size of the land cultivated by investors is significantly lower than the agreed-upon size in the contract. Besides, the supply of land to large-scale commercial investors in Ethiopia is made without adequate land use planning, land valuation, and risk analysis. Furthermore, limitations in monitoring systems have contributed to meager socio-economic gains and led to deforestation. Accordingly, the study concludes that supplying vast tracts of farmland to large-scale agricultural investors requires integrated land use planning, land valuation and governance, monitoring systems, and a capacity to implement the various social and environmental laws in coordination with other sectors. Improving rural infrastructure, particularly road, is also indispensable to enhance the level of performance of commercial farms. Last but most importantly, the customary land holding rights of residents should be respected and institutionally recognized
A critical view on social performance assessment at company level: social life cycle analysis of an algae case
Full text linkpeer reviewedPurpose:
Social indicators are not easy to be quantitatively analyzed, although at the local scale, the social impacts might be relevant and important. Using the existing approaches for both quantitative and semi-qualitative measurements, this study aims to assess the social impacts of a company working on algae production systems in Belgium through social life cycle analysis (SLCA). By highlighting the opportunities and challenges on the way of applying the existing SLCA approaches at company level, the objective of this study is to contribute to the development of a suitable and clear SLCA approach when a company is considered as the unit of analysis.
Methods:
Based on the list of potential social impact categories suggested by the United Nations Environment Program/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) guidelines (2009) for SLCA, three stakeholder groups (workers, consumers, and local community) and three subcategories associated with each stakeholder group were identified as the most relevant for carbon capture and utilization technologies. Company and sector level data were collected using existing documents and reports, and the data were analyzed and scored using a combined quantitative and semi-quantitative approach to develop a social assessment model for the case study.
Results and discussion:
The company appears to perform well for all the evaluated social indicators except the one related to the subcategory “equal opportunity/discrimination for workers” for which the share of women employed is lower compared with the sector-level data. The results of our assessment were further discussed regarding the challenges and limitations of performing SLCA at the company level. Based on our experience, the validity of the outcomes is significantly influenced by the data availability, the generality of the indicators introduced within the UNEP/SETAC guidelines, and the subjectivity in data collection for the semi-quantitative assessment among others.
Conclusions:
By highlighting the difficulties and challenges of applying the SLCA at the company level, our study provides a starting point for improving the quantitative assessment and monitoring social implications at the company level within a regional foreground in Europe
Consumers' willingness to adopt genetically modified foods
No full textPurpose This study investigates consumers' willingness to adopt genetically modified foods (GM) and the role of innovation and behavioral determinants. Design/methodology/approach A new integrated model that expands the Health Belief Model (HBM) into the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) was developed and examined. A total of 241 consumers were selected from the capital of Iran, Tehran, through a multistage random sampling. The data were analyzed using SEM-PLS modeling. Findings The extended HBM model was able to predict about 84% of the variance changes in consumers' willingness to adopt GM foods. The effects of net benefit and perceived compatibility on the willingness were also significant. In addition, the mediating effect of compatibility on the relationship between net benefit/self-efficacy and willingness to adopt GM foods was also significant. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by developing the HBM into the IDT to assess consumers' willingness to adopt GM foods
Identifying Social Indicators for Sustainability Assessment of CCU Technologies: A Modified Multi-criteria Decision Making
No full textpeer reviewedCarbon capture and utilization (CCU) technologies capture CO2 waste emissions and utilize them to generate new products (such as fuels, chemicals, and materials) with various environmental, economic, and social opportunities. As most of these CCU technologies are in the R&D stage, their technical and economic viability are examined with less attention to the social aspect which is an important pillar for a holistic sustainability assessment. The lack of systematic social impact research is mainly due to the difficulty of identifying and quantifying social aspects through the entire life cycle of products. We will fill this gap for CCU technologies and identify the main social indicators. A multi-criteria decision making tool: technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was applied to empirically determine which indicators are more relevant for assessing the social impact of a company operating CCU activities within a European context. First, seeing that social impact categories are linked to key stakeholder groups, we considered workers, consumers, and local communities as relevant stakeholders. Second, the main social impact categories and their potential performance indicators associated to each group of stakeholders were listed using the United Nations Environment Program/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) guidelines. In the third step, an online questionnaire was distributed to identify the main social categories and indicators for CCU, to which 33 European CCU experts responded. Finally, a modified TOPSIS was applied to rank the indicators based on their relevance. We found that the indicators related to “end of life responsibility” and “transparency” within a CCU company achieved the highest rank affecting the consumers group, whereas “fair salary” and “equal opportunities/discriminations” were determined as the most relevant impact categories for the workers. For the local community group, “secure living conditions” and “local employment” received the highest priority from the experts’ point of view. Furthermore, “health and safety” considerations were identified as one of the most important criteria affecting all three groups of stakeholders. The ranking list of the main social indicators identified in our study provides the basis for the next steps in the social sustainability assessment of CCU technologies; that is, data collection and impact assessment. Our outcomes can also be used to inform the producers regarding the most and least relevant social aspects of CCU so that the potential social impacts caused by their production activities can be improved or prevented
Evolution of land use-change modeling: routes of different schools of knowledge
Full text linkpeer reviewedAlthough much has been published on land use-change models (LUCMs), no study has comprehensively dealt with the evolution of land use models based on schools of knowledge. The primary objective of this paper is an explanation of the progress and growth of LUCMs concerning their main ontological, epistemological, and methodological origins. Five main paradigms, i.e., positivism, post-positivism, constructivism, participatory, and pragmatism approaches, are discussed in order to assess the current orientations of LUCMs. Given the complexities of LUCM components, the study concludes that one paradigm cannot adequately address all methodological aspects. Accordingly, it is necessary to combine quantitative and qualitative paradigms to create mixed-method approaches within a systemic framework. Such systemic approaches could shape the most probable future generations of LUCMs, which would be able to cope with the complexity of various subsystems, including biophysical and socioeconomic ones
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