Think regionally,act locally?: gardening,cycling, and the horizon of urban spatial politics

In the contemporary American urban renaissance, formerly fringe efforts to produce place, conducted by longtime residents and “urban pioneers” alike, now shape mainstream urbanism. Gardening and bicycling are constitutive of contemporary excitement about the city, representing the reinvigoration of the urban neighborhood following the depredations of suburbanization. This paper draws on research in California cities to offer a sympathetic critique of these leading edges of progressive urbanism, arguing that advocates’ overwhelming focus on the local creates a scalar mismatch between the horizon of political action and the problems they hope to address. Even as supporters of gardening and cycling understand themselves as implicitly allied with struggles for the right to the city, their work to produce local space is often blind to, and even complicit in, racialized dynamics of accumulation and exclusion that organize metropolises. The result is a progressive urbanism largely disconnected from broader left struggles for spatial justice.     

Rural Social Networks along Amazonian Rivers: Seeds,Labor and Soccer among Communities on the Napo River,Peru

Research on Amazonian communities has focussed more often on rural‐urban linkages than on links among rural communities. This is unsurprising, given the low density of population, limited intercommunity commerce, and importance of direct city‐market relations. Social relations among rural communities are also important in shaping rural livelihoods and lifeways. We report on the findings of a large‐scale census of communities in the Napo River basin in northeastern Peru (n=174). Data were gathered on intervillage crop seed acquisition and cooperative labor sharing as two key inputs in agriculture, and on intervillage soccer matches, which are integral to rural social life. We analyze the socio‐spatial networks of each practice, paying attention to settlement patterns, community ethnicity, and differential access to the uplands. We find that seeds and labor flow along soccer network lines. Rural social networks appear to be structured strongly by ethnicity (homophily) and reflect important complementarities between upland and lowland communities (weak ties).     

中国超级杂交稻在孟印缅地区的生产潜力模拟

水稻是孟加拉国、印度和缅甸最重要的粮食作物,研究中国超级杂交稻对孟印缅地区的水稻增产潜力,对于保障孟中印缅经济走廊的粮食安全与区域可持续发展具有重要的现实意义。在全面收集孟印缅地区气候、土壤、田间管理信息和农业统计数据的基础上,结合中国籼型杂交稻F优498和丰两优4号的品种信息和区试数据,通过EPIC模型模拟了1996-2005年雨季孟印缅3国在不同情景下的超级稻生产潜力,并分析了孟印缅地区主要胁迫因子对超级稻单产潜力的影响。研究表明：① 中国超级杂交稻在孟印缅地区2000年的灌溉和施肥水平下单产潜力为10.22 t/ha,在充分灌溉且合理施肥的水平下单产潜力为11.33 t/ha。② 孟印缅地区雨季稻的增产空间达22771万t,水稻增产潜力最大的地区是印度的恒河平原东部、印度半岛东南沿海与缅甸的伊洛瓦底三角洲。③ 印度德干高原东北部、西南部和印度大平原西北部需要进一步完善灌溉设备以满足高产水稻用水,缅甸的中南部平原地区和印度的东北地区则需要增施氮肥以满足高产水稻用肥。     

Mangrove forest dynamics in Tanintharyi,Myanmar from 1989–2014, and the role of future economic and political developments

Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia provide many ecosystem services, though are experiencing extensive deforestation, especially in Myanmar. Recent political and economic reforms in Myanmar are projected to further increase development pressures on natural resources. Mangrove forests in the southern state of Tanintharyi have largely been spared clearance because of poor infrastructure and a volatile security situation, though this may change with plans for economic expansion. We quantified land cover dynamics and proximate drivers of mangrove deforestation in Tanintharyi between 1989 and 2014 using a remote sensing approach over five time intervals. Tanintharyi experienced low mangrove cover loss overall, as compared with other regions of Myanmar, with 3.2 per cent being deforested over 25 years. However, this statistic hides large site‐specific losses and gains, which varied significantly within the study area. Myeik district lost 210 km² of mangrove over 25 years, but also gained 132 km². Dawei and Kawthung had minimal net loss of mangroves because of extensive mangrove regeneration. This historical mangrove baseline is essential for supporting environmentally‐conscious development in Myanmar's southernmost state.     

Understanding Agriculture Production and Food Security in Ethiopia from the Perspective of China

Food security and sustainable agricultural development are the hot issues of scientific research, especially after the population affected by hunger surprisingly increased in 2016. Long-lasting and recurrent famines caused by natural disasters and wars have afflicted Ethiopia. Unlike Ethiopia, which is still struggling to achieve food self-sufficiency, China managed to quickly become food self-sufficient at a rapid speed, despite the fact that it also faced the same challenges of famine over the last century. In the backdrop of differing environmental and socio-political challenges the two countries face, comparing the similarities and differences between the two countries will yield important lessons and insights for Ethiopia to follow to achieve food self-sufficiency. Here, the progress towards food security in Ethiopia and China is presented to quantitatively compare the gap of agricultural production between both countries. We found that food production in Ethiopia is heavily constrained by drought, soil degradation, climate change, out-dated agricultural production technologies, and poverty. According to these challenges, we examined corresponding responses in China to propose solutions for achieving food self-sufficiency in Ethiopia, given the realities of its unique national situation.     

Is Larger Scale Better? Evidence from Rice Farming in Jianghan Plain

Small-scale household agricultural production has been in conflict with China’s agricultural modernization. In the context of vigorously promoting rural land circulation and moderate scale management nationwide, research on the relationship between farm size and scale efficiency has become increasingly important. In this paper, we use the “DEA-OLS” two stage method to analyze data from 368 surveys of rice farming households in the Jianghan Plain. The scale efficiency of rice farming was calculated, and the relationship between farm size and scale efficiency investigated. The results indicate that (1) the rice farm size is generally small in Jianghan Plain, with an average of 0.77 ha. The average scale efficiency is 0.88, and it is the main factor limiting an increase in comprehensive technical efficiency. Moreover, 88.32% of households are in the stage of increasing returns to scale. (2) There is a stable inverted “U” type relationship between rice farm size and scale efficiency. Considering characteristics of the householder, the household and land quality, the maximum scale efficiency corresponds to a household with 5 ha of rice farm. (3) Among householder characteristics, age has a significant negative influence on scale efficiency, and scale efficiency is lower for a household whose householder is engaged in non-farm work than for one whose householder is devoted to farming. As for land quality, there was a significant positive effect of irrigation on scale efficiency. Among family characteristics, the application of a machine during the seeding process increased scale efficiency by 3.07%. Therefore, we suggest that local government should actively promote rural land circulation, implement a staged-scale management subsidy, and other forms of support for the purchase of agricultural machinery and technical popularization. Increased investment in irrigation improvements and mechanical facilities and encouragement of farmers to enlarge their farm size could improve scale efficiency and farming profit and lead to the development of moderate scale management.     

Comprehensive Evaluation of the Suitability of Agricultural Land in Myanmar

Myanmar is a country with an economy based on agriculture. It has rich agricultural resources and great potential for development. The development of agriculture in Myanmar is becoming increasingly important to international food security. Assessments of agricultural land resources in Myanmar are the basis for the country’s agricultural development and for food security evaluations. In this paper we used the MaxEnt model to analyze the relationship between the suitability of land for agricultural reclamation and the main environmental variables in Myanmar, and then constructed a model to comprehensively evaluate the suitability of land for agriculture in Myanmar. The results show that: 1) the overall accuracy of the MaxEnt model is high (AUC>0.8), which means there is a high correlation between the database of selected environmental indicators and the true distribution of cultivated land in Myanmar. 2) Soil depth is the most important factor affecting the suitability of land for agriculture in Myanmar. When the thickness of soil layer is less than 100 cm, the suitability of land for agriculture is low. With respect to topographic conditions, slope is the main factor affecting suitability. When the slope is greater than 20 degrees, the suitability of land for agriculture is low. With respect to climate conditions, precipitation is the main influencing factor. There is a positive correlation between river network density and land suitability. 3) Currently, 400 000 km² of the land resources in Myanmar are suitable for agriculture, and of this amount 290 000 km² are highly suitable, accounting for nearly 40% of the country's land area. The highly suitable land is distributed mainly in Magway, Sagaing, Ayeyarwady and Yangon provinces. The provinces are also important grain production areas in Myanmar, and this serves to validate the effectiveness of the method used in this paper.     

江西省早稻雨洗花灾害指标构建与灾损评估

构建早稻雨洗花灾害指标及适于早稻产量估算的灾损评估模型,对开展早稻雨洗花灾害监测、损失评估、灾害保险等具有重要意义。该文以江西省早稻为研究对象,利用1981-2015年14个水稻气象观测站逐日气象资料和农业气象观测资料,筛选出基于早稻抽穗扬花期间过程降水量、最大降水量、降水日数及实际产量的雨洗花灾害样本78个,在此基础上,利用相关分析、正态分布以及主成分回归法,建立了雨洗花灾害指标和灾损评估模型,并对其进行验证。结果表明:抽穗扬花期降水对雨洗花灾害形成有显著影响,其主要影响时段为抽穗扬花普遍期前后5 d内,关键时段为抽穗扬花普遍期前后3 d内。日降水量40 mm可作为早稻抽穗扬花期雨洗花灾害临界指标。以该指标为基础,统计日降水量不低于40 mm的降水日数及其对应的累积降水量,当累积降水量为40~170 mm时,为轻度雨洗花灾害,早稻一般减产小于15%,平均减产10%;当累积降水量不小于170 mm时,为重度雨洗花灾害,早稻一般减产不低于15%,平均减产22%。指标验证结果与历史实际灾害发生情况有较好的一致性。雨洗花灾损评估模型检验结果表明:雨洗花年模拟产量与实际产量吻合度较高,平均相对模拟误差为4.3%,78.0%的资料相对误差在5%以内,可利用该模型对雨洗花年的早稻减产率进行模拟和预测。     

Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives and framings

This paper offers a systematic analysis of the concepts and contexts that frame the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) discourse in the academic and policy literature. Documents (n?=?113) related to CSA and published in peer-reviewed journals, books, working papers, and scientific reports from 2004 to 2016 were reviewed. Three key trends emerged from the analysis: studies are biased towards global policy agendas; research focuses on scientific and technical issues; and the integration of mitigation, adaptation, and food security (the three pillars of CSA) is becoming a popular scholarly solution. Findings suggest that CSA is a fairly new concept used to describe a range of adaptation and mitigation practices without a specific set of criteria. Although CSA is often framed around the three pillars, the underlying issues constructing the discourse differ at global, developing, and developed country scales. Although there is increasing research on developing countries, particularly in relation to how CSA can transform smallholder agriculture, there is a paucity of research documenting the experiences from developed countries. The findings suggest that research on CSA needs to move beyond solely focussing on scientific approaches and only in certain geographical contexts. If CSA is to be applicable for farmers across the globe, then cross-disciplinary research that is underpinned by broad socio-economic and political contexts is essential to understand how differences in narratives might affect implementation on-the-ground in both developing and developed countries.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Although policy makers are increasingly supportive of the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) approach, the rhetoric has largely been developed on the basis of scientific and technical arguments. The political implications of varying perspectives have resulted in a growing divide between how developing and developed countries frame solutions to the impacts of climate change on agriculture under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Different framings are part of the explanation for why the scope of CSA is being rethought, with the scientific community redirecting attention to seeking a separate work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The current policy framing of CSA will give no new policy direction unless it grounds itself in the smallholder farmer and civil society contexts.     

Options to overcome the barriers to pricing European agricultural emissions

Although agriculture could contribute substantially to European emission reductions, its mitigation potential lies untapped and dormant. Market-based instruments could be pivotal in incentivizing cost-effective abatement. However, sector specificities in transaction costs, leakage risks and distributional impacts impede its implementation. The significance of such barriers critically hinges on the dimensions of policy design. This article synthesizes the work on emissions pricing in agriculture together with the literature on the design of market-based instruments. To structure the discussion, an options space is suggested to map policy options, focusing on three key dimensions of policy design. More specifically, it examines the role of policy coverage, instruments and transfers to farmers in overcoming the barriers. First, the results show that a significant proportion of agricultural emissions and mitigation potential could be covered by a policy targeting large farms and few emission sources, thereby reducing transaction costs. Second, whether an instrument is voluntary or mandatory influences distributional outcomes and leakage. Voluntary instruments can mitigate distributional concerns and leakage risks but can lead to subsidy lock-in and carbon price distortion. Third, the impact on transfers resulting from the interaction of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) with emissions pricing will play a key role in shaping political feasibility and has so far been underappreciated.

POLICY RELEVANCE

Following the 2015 Paris Agreement, European climate policy is at a crossroads. Achieving cost-effectively the 2030 and 2050 European targets requires all sectors to reduce their emissions. Yet, the cornerstone of European climate policy, the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), covers only about half of European emissions. Major sectors have been so far largely exempted from carbon pricing, in particular transport and agriculture. While transport has been increasingly under the spotlight as a possible candidate for an EU ETS sectoral expansion, policy discussions on pricing agricultural emissions have been virtually absent. This article attempts to fill this gap by investigating options for market-based instruments to reduce agricultural emissions while taking barriers to implementation into account.