EXPLORING MARKET‐BASED DEVELOPMENT: MARKET INTERMEDIARIES AND FARMERS IN CALAKMUL,MEXICO*

ABSTRACT. Market intermediaries play important roles in the development of tropical‐forest frontiers but are often overlooked in the assessment of land‐change dynamics. Consistent with research beyond land‐change studies, intermediaries are found to be a pivotal element in land‐use and land‐cover change in southeastern Mexico. They have stimulated commercial chili cultivation in this development frontier, providing transportation and other services to smallholders who could otherwise not enter the chili market. This role comes at the cost of a near monopoly on chili marketing. The various roles played by these intermediaries, or coyotes, the means by which they operate, and the consequences for smallholders and land use are detailed for the Calakmul Municipality, Campeche, Mexico.     

RUNAWAY FIRES,SMOKE‐HAZE POLLUTION,AND UNNATURAL DISASTERS IN INDONESIA*

ABSTRACT. Fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan have taken a heavy toll on Indonesia' remaining tropical forests. Drought exacerbates the fire hazard, but it does not cause the fires, most of which have been the result of inappropriate land‐use policies and practices. Peatland fires have emitted vast quantities of smoke that periodically blanket large parts of insular Southeast Asia, impairing visibility, disrupting travel, hampering economic activity, and posing serious health risks. The development agenda of Indonesia' New Order regime paid scant attention to forest management, including the need to detect, control, and suppress unwanted fires.     

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISKS AND GENDER IN THE KARAKORAM‐HIMALAYA,NORTHERN PAKISTAN*

ABSTRACT. Many mountain peoples face water and environmental health problems. At particular risk is the health of women and of children who live in remote and marginalized mountain areas. Environmental health concerns are often associated with the waterborne parasitic and endemic diseases responsible for much child morbidity and mortality in the Karakoram‐Himalaya of northern Pakistan. Poor environmental health and water‐quality conditions affect child survival, and challenges to viable local interventions are severe. Transformations in women's productive and reproductive work have health consequences for children, and gender and household dynamics shape and mediate women's responses to environmental health risks. Significantly, these findings draw attention to the need for improved water and health policy, especially policy that recognizes different gender and child‐care roles in mountainous regions of the developing world.