《Journal of Rural Studies》2022年第92卷目录及摘要
全文链接：
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-rural-studies/vol/92/suppl/C
Public transport-disadvantaged rural areas in relation to daily accessibility of regional centre: Case study from Slovakia
Vladimír Székely, Ján Novotný
Networks of care in Australian rural ageing populations
Suzanne Hodgkin, George Mnatzaganian, Jeni Warburton, Rachel Winterton
Environmental threats and activism against extractive industries: The case of gold mining in Rosia Montană, Romania
Adriana Szabo, Thomas E. Shriver, Stefano Longo
Land reallocation responses to China's New Rural Pension Scheme: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design
Xinjie Shi
The relationship between tendency of rural population to work in non-agricultural jobs and some socio-economic factors (example of Tokat Kazova great plain conservation area)
Esen Oruç, İbrahim Çağlar
Exploring minority ethnic communities’ access to rural green spaces: The role of agency, identity, and community-based initiatives
Helena Slater
Nuanced assessment of livelihood resilience through the intersectional lens of gender and ethnicity: Evidence from small-scale farming communities in the upland regions of Vietnam
Van Thanh Tran, Duc-Anh An-Vo, Shahbaz Mushtaq, Geoff Cockfield
Supermarket environment and nutrition outcomes: Evidence from rural China
Yanjun Ren, Jiajia Zhao, Thomas Glauben, Bente Castro Campos
Changing priorities, shifting narratives: Remapping rural livelihoods in Africa's artisanal and small-scale mining sector
Gavin Hilson, Yanfei Hu
Community engagement in Aboriginal enterprise development – Kakadu plum as a case analysis
Julian Gorman, Gretchen Ennis
Understanding power, social capital and trust alongside near real-time water quality monitoring and technological development collaboration
Simon Fielke, Bruce M. Taylor, Anthea Coggan, Emma Jakku, Aaron M. Davis, Peter J. Thorburn, Anthony J. Webster, James C.R. Smart
Re-configuring rural economies – The interplay of institutions in three agri-food production systems
Oliver Klein, Stefan Nier, Christine Tamásy
Feminization, rural transformation, and wheat systems in post-soviet Uzbekistan
Dina Najjar, Rachana Devkota, Shelley Feldman
Mineral exhaustion, livelihoods and persistence of vulnerabilities in ASM settings
George Ofosu, David Sarpong
The Rules-Boundaries-Behaviours (RBB) framework for farmers' adoption decisions of sustainable agricultural practices
Bente Castro Campos
Towards systemic solutions to food waste: Creative destabilisation and escaping food waste lock-in
Rudolf Messner, Hope Johnson, Carol Richards
Agricultural clusters and poverty in municipalities in the Northeast Region of Brazil: A spatial perspective
Girliany Santos da Silva, Patrícia Araújo Amarante, José Carlos Araújo Amarante
Minerals as a refuge from conflict: Evidence from the quarry sector in Africa
Patrick Junior, Daniel M. Franks, Diana Arbeláez-Ruiz
The adoption of conservation agriculture by smallholder farmers in southern Africa: A scoping review of barriers and enablers
Morgan Lee, James Gambiza
Factors affecting the regional distribution of organic farming
Susanna Kujala, Outi Hakala, Leena Viitaharju
Developing precision agriculture through creating information processing capability in rural China
Miao Cui, Jinfang Qian, Lili Cui
Why pastoralists grow tomatoes: Maasai livelihood dynamics in Amboseli, southern Kenya
Charlotte Hemingway, Hubert Cochet, François Mialhe, Yanni Gunnell
Local institutions and artisanal mining: Governance forms in the goldfields of Madagascar
Brian Ikaika Klein
Wellbeing and health in a small New Zealand rural community: Assets, capabilities and being rural-fit
Chrystal Jaye, Judith McHugh, Fiona Doolan-Noble, Lincoln Wood
Community supported agriculture: Setting the research agenda through a bibliometric analysis
Yulia Fomina, Aldona Glińska-Neweś, Aranka Ignasiak-Szulc
Stay in dairy? Exploring the relationship between farmer wellbeing and farm exit intentions
Bjørn Gunnar Hansen
Nature in the showcase. Naturbanization keys in Chile and Spain
Víctor Jiménez Barrado, María-José Prados
Heuristics and farm heterogeneity: Evidence from small-scale farmers in Brazil
Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos Gomes, Maria Sylvia Macchione Saes, Rubens Nunes, Olivier François Vilpoux
Mainstreaming blended finance in climate-smart agriculture: Complementarity, modality, and proximity
Kushankur Dey, Pradeep Kumar Mishra
Frustrated or fulfilled? Motivation of Czech farmers to implement climate change adaptation measures on the landscape level
Tamara Meierová, Veronika Chvátalová
Playing games with 'good farming': exploring the potential impact of disease control policies on farmers’ cattle purchasing practices
Gareth Enticott, Ruth Little
Aesthetic heterogeneity on rural landscape: Pathway discrepancy between perception and cognition
Jun Qi, Yanmei Zhou, Li Zeng, Xueqiong Tang
Reconceptualising sparsely populated remote edges through the concept of region and space
Dávid Karácsonyi, Andrew Taylor
Aligning bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies? A comparative analysis of overfishing and coastal governance in Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, and Thailand
Edo Andriesse, Kristian Saguin, Austin Dziwornu Ablo, Jawanit Kittitornkool, Chaturong Kongkaew, Jerry Mang'ena, Paul Onyango, Victor Owusu, Jeasurk Yang
Place-making in the Corn Belt: The productivist landscapes of the “good farmer”
Ben Leitschuh, William P. Stewart, Carena J. van Riper
Adjusting New Ruralism: The ‘soul’ of Waddington, N.Y. and placemaking at the Water's edge
Courtney Johnson-Woods, Andrea Feldpausch-Parker
Performing rurality and urbanity: Language performations, materials and land-use politics
Chi-Mao Wang
Environmental Governance
Accounting for account-abilities: Examining the relationships between farm nutrient measurement and collaborative water governance dynamics in Canterbury, New Zealand
James Hale, Katharine Legun, Hugh Campbell
Metrics of open government in Mexican fisheries
Ana Harumi Hayashida Carrillo, José Eduardo Rolón Sánchez, Virginia Leal Cota
The role of metrics in the governance of the water-energy-food nexus within the European Commission
Thomas Voelker, Kirsty Blackstock, Zora Kovacic, Jan Sindt, Roger Strand, Kerry Waylen
Negotiating halal: The role of non-religious concerns in shaping halal standards in Indonesia
Anom Sigit Suryawan, Shuji Hisano, Joost Jongerden
Metrics and public accountability, the case of species credits in the USA
Stephanie Barral
Sustainability assemblages: From metrics development to metrics implementation in United States agriculture
Jason Konefal, Maki Hatanaka, Johann Strube, Leland Glenna, David Conner
Smog and Air Pollution: Journalistic Criticism and Environmental Accountability in China
Haoyue Cecilia Li
Public transport-disadvantaged rural areas in relation to daily accessibility of regional centre: Case study from Slovakia
Vladimír Székely Ján Novotný
Abstract：The numerous studies demonstrated the close relation between unfavourable access to “goods and services” by public transport (service of general interest) and social exclusion of affected (especially elder, poor, and disabled) people. The problem of “transport-related social exclusion” is closely related to the problem of “transport-disadvantaged areas,” which concerns the spatial organisation of society in terms of transport accessibility and the transport policies of the state, regions, and localities and the range of services provided by transport operators. Rural areas, which inhabitants are isolated or only poorly accessible from the employment possibilities, healthcare, education and cultural facilities in the regional centre, represent serious problems of the balanced and sustainable spatial development of Slovakia. Therefore, the basic aim of the present study is to contribute to an understanding of the extent and geographical distribution of transport disadvantaged areas in economically underdeveloped region of Slovakia - the Banská Bystrica self-governing region - by identification of rural municipalities and areas whose inhabitants are marginalised or excluded from using of the public transport services when travelling to/from regional centre Banská Bystrica. For the identification of negatively perceived “public transport-disadvantaged areas” we use the concept of “daily accessibility” as a decisive criterion for delimitation of territories which suffer from long distances and travel time to the regional centre, and/or insufficient organisation of public transport.
Networks of care in Australian rural ageing populations
Suzanne Hodgkin George Mnatzaganian Jeni Warburton Rachel Winterton
Abstract：Supporting older people to live independently is increasingly complex. In rural areas, factors associated with comparatively poor health status and distance from health care services highlight the importance of informal care networks. Drawing on the convoys of social relations model, this study seeks to develop a comprehensive understanding of the support networks of rural older people. Cross-sectional data were collected from six Australian rural regions via a telephone survey (n = 265). Participants were asked to name up to 15 people in their network and to identify the types of care and assistance they received from network members. A comprehensive analysis was conducted to determine the age, sex, relationship, and proximity of those named. Family members were reported as the first network member for 73.9% of the sample and were the main source of instrumental support. In multivariable analyses, compared with women, men were significantly less likely to receive emotional, transport, and household support. Older individuals (aged 75 or more) were less likely to receive emotional support compared to younger participants. Moreover, those living alone were significantly less likely to receive emotional or household support. This study addresses the scarcity of literature focused on the networks of rural older people and underscores the importance of networks of support as enablers of ageing in place.
Environmental threats and activism against extractive industries: The case of gold mining in Rosia Montană, Romania
Adriana Szabo Thomas E. Shriver Stefano Longo
Abstract：Extractive industries often promise prosperity to less economically developed regions of the world. However, projects that rely on extractive industries such as mining often pose significant environmental threats to the host regions. The tension between economic promises and environmental impacts can spark significant conflict in rural communities. This study analyzes a proposed mining project in Roșia Montană, Romania, which pitted pro-mining proponents against local residents and activists. The data from this project come from in-depth interviews, company and NGO documents and extensive newspaper coverage of the proposed mine. The research examines how political threats can exacerbate environmental threats in cases of rural protest movements, as well as how the confluence of opportunities and threats shaped resistance to the proposed mine. Findings indicate that environmental threats can serve as a powerful mobilizing force in opposing risky development projects, even in economically depressed regions.
Land reallocation responses to China's New Rural Pension Scheme: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design
Xinjie Shi
Abstract：This study examines how labor reallocation has been associated with land reallocation following the implementation of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) in 2009. Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) gathered during two periods (2013 and 2015), it uses the discrete changes generated by the new program's rules to identify the impact on land reallocation, as represented by the amount of land rented out by the elderly and their spouses. The age 60 NRPS eligibility threshold is associated with large increases in land rented out. The most important channel identified is the increase in the number of adult-children migrants, which reduces the number of farm workers and may help relax credit constraints. In contrast, the NRPS program has had no impact on the extent of elderly labor; there are no changes in their time spent caring for grandchildren or paid work in the labor market. A deeper examination of the welfare effect shows that despite labor and land reallocation, the NRPS has had no impact on either household consumption or elderly well-being. This study contributes to the literature by connecting land (as a factor of production) with the pension scheme, which may have policy implications regarding how money transfer programs would affect land and labor reallocation and individual welfare in other countries in the global context.
The relationship between tendency of rural population to work in non-agricultural jobs and some socio-economic factors (example of Tokat Kazova great plain conservation area)
Esen Oruç İbrahim Çağlar
Abstract：The continuity and increase in the tendency of rural labor to shift to non-agricultural sectors in Turkey cause concerns. Accurate identification of aforementioned labor movement is important; therefore, this study was conducted using primary data collected from individuals living in a region where the labor movement is active. The aim of this study was to reveal the relationship between the labor potential in rural households and the tendency to shift to non-agricultural jobs with some socio-economic factors. The main material of the study was the survey data, which was conducted through face-to-face questionnaires with 105 families in 5 villages selected from the Tokat Kazova Great Plain Conservation Area. The data obtained were interpreted through percentage distributions, minimum, maximum and average values, and the relationship between the selected socio-economic criteria. The tendency to shift to non-agricultural jobs was evaluated using Chi-square analysis. The results indicated that the education level of men in the 26–50 age range was relatively higher. In addition, the tendency to work in non-agricultural jobs was higher among individuals who have smaller agricultural land, low-income level, no social security and work only in their farms.
Exploring minority ethnic communities’ access to rural green spaces: The role of agency, identity, and community-based initiatives
Helena Slater
Abstract：Most of the literature on minority ethnic communities' access to green spaces focuses on urban areas and under-representation. There is a lack of research on members of minority ethnic communities who visit rural green spaces, and even less is known about the role community-based initiatives may play in facilitating access to rural landscapes. This paper provides novel insights into motivations for visiting rural green spaces and the ways in which community-based initiatives may influence minority ethnic communities' access to rural green spaces. Walking and semi-structured interviews were used alongside surveys to collect data on three case studies. Findings include that social connection plays a key role in motivating some participants to visit rural green spaces and the community-based initiatives help to overcome some access barriers. Building on previous research, this paper argues that both agency and identity theories could help to further understand the complex factors influencing minority ethnic communities’ use of rural green spaces. The findings also indicate that rural management and outdoor organisations should carefully consider how best they may be able to provide practical and sustainable support to community-based initiatives working to increase rural green space access.
Nuanced assessment of livelihood resilience through the intersectional lens of gender and ethnicity: Evidence from small-scale farming communities in the upland regions of Vietnam
Van Thanh Tran Duc-Anh An-Vo Shahbaz Mushtaq Geoff Cockfield
Abstract：International humanitarian and development organizations are increasingly placing emphasis on resilience-building; however, there is not always full consideration of differences in perspectives and outcomes by ethnicity and gender. Based on empirical evidence from ethnic minorities in the Northwest Mountainous Regions (NMRs) of Vietnam, the current work illustrates how perceptions of livelihood resilience in the context of climate change differ between gender and ethnic groups, especially considering the intersections of those factors. To achieve a nuanced analysis, we examined if and how demographic factors differentially associate with the perception of household livelihood resilience. The household livelihood capital scores from 240 household interviews were derived using the Household Livelihood Resilience Approach (HLRA). HLRA measures the subjective resilience at household level using surveys as opposed to the conventional objective approaches using only observable socioeconomic variables and data. We found that ethnicity has a relatively more substantial role than gender in determining the household livelihood capitals supporting livelihood resilience in the study region, but within that, there are also gender differences. Among different ethnic groups, having a wage-paying job, education, agricultural training, social membership, access to road and irrigation systems, and crop diversity are the main factors contributing to better household livelihood capital scores. Women reported generally lower resilience scores than men did but the average scores varied significantly across four ethnic groups. Based on the evidence from the lens of demographic characteristics, we concluded that resilience-building programs should not only draw on objective resilience measurements but also consider varied self-assessments to reflect the fact that communities are heterogeneous. This could help to ensure greater inclusivity to alleviate poverty and increase livelihood resilience in a developing multi-ethnic country like Vietnam.
Supermarket environment and nutrition outcomes: Evidence from rural China
Yanjun Ren Jiajia Zhao Thomas Glauben Bente Castro Campos
Abstract：Globally, the supermarket environment is playing an increasingly important role in dietary and public health transformation. This study highlights the nutrition effect of the supermarket environment and sheds light on the potential mechanisms through which this environment impacts nutrition outcomes. The data used in this study are longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) for the period from 2004 to 2011 considering rural China. To account for individual heterogeneity and the endogeneity of the supermarket environment in panel estimation, a pseudo-fixed-effects estimator combined with a control function is applied within a multinomial logit model. Our panel estimations suggest that there are no significant effects of supermarket availability and accessibility on nutrition outcomes, while food variety (fruits and vegetables) indicates a significantly negative effect on being underweight, overweight, and obese. The results are largely consistent when the control function is used to address the endogeneity of the supermarket environment. To further clarify the mechanisms through which food variety influences nutrition outcomes, calorie intakes and the Chinese Healthy Eating Index (CHEI) are used to measure nutritional intakes and dietary quality, respectively. Our findings demonstrate that food variety in supermarkets shows a significantly negative effect on calorie intakes but a significantly positive effect on the CHEI. Policies targeted at efficiently improving nutrition-related health in rural China might, thus, focus on improving consumers’ food choices, through more food variety in supermarkets.
Changing priorities, shifting narratives: Remapping rural livelihoods in Africa's artisanal and small-scale mining sector
Gavin Hilson Yanfei Hu
Abstract：This paper presents fresh ideas on why, in sub-Saharan Africa, people choose to engage in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – for lengthy periods. It nuances claims that ASM is largely ‘poverty-driven’ by weighing in more closely on the fates of individuals in the region who turn to the sector for income out of desperation. A closer inspection of the livelihood trajectories of these people reveals that many have managed to overcome challenging work conditions and position themselves to use ASM as a ‘platform for wealth creation’. An analysis of these experiences reveals a more comprehensive picture of ASM's complexities, as well as illuminates further the sector's economic importance in sub-Saharan Africa. A case study of the gold-rich locality of Prestea, one of Ghana's most strategic ASM corridors and where numerous people who initially pursued work in the sector have managed to accumulate income and open their own businesses and/or invest in the community, is used to reinforce these points. A more complete picture of ASM livelihood trajectories would go a long way towards fortifying the case for formalizing and supporting the sector, and, more generally, making it more of a focal point of rural poverty alleviation and development strategy in sub-Saharan Africa.
Community engagement in Aboriginal enterprise development – Kakadu plum as a case analysis
Julian Gorman Gretchen Ennis
Abstract：Customary and commercial use of wildlife supports millions of Indigenous people world-wide. However, in Australia, despite there being abundant natural resources and intricate Aboriginal ecological knowledge, there are relatively few financially viable Aboriginal wildlife-based enterprises. This research provides an example of how the Collective Impact (CI) Framework was used to retrospectively analyse the development of an Aboriginal enterprise in the Northern Territory of Australia over a fifteen-year period. We identified many parallels between the elements of the CI approach and the various development phases of this Aboriginal enterprise. This research demonstrates that there is a complex interplay of factors that influence the development of Indigenous enterprise in remote communities of northern Australia, and that the CI Framework can be useful for reflecting on this work because of its focus on collaboration with diverse stakeholders. It contributes to knowledge about the benefits and the difficulties of meaningful whole of community engagement as a core aspect of enterprise development.
Understanding power, social capital and trust alongside near real-time water quality monitoring and technological development collaboration
Simon Fielke Bruce M. Taylor Anthea Coggan Emma Jakku Aaron M. Davis Peter J. Thorburn Anthony J. Webster James C.R. Smart
Abstract：We report on qualitative social research conducted with stakeholders in a local agricultural knowledge and advice network associated with a collaborative water quality monitoring project. These farmers, advisors and researchers allude to existing social dynamics, technological developments, and (more general) social evolution which is analysed against a novel analytical framework. This framework considers notions of power, social capital, and trust as related and dynamic, forming the basis of our contribution to knowledge. We then probe the data to understand perceived impacts of the collaborative project and social interaction associated with this research project, which involved cutting edge automated and frequent water quality monitoring that allowed for near real-time access to data visualisation displayed via a bespoke mobile or web ‘app’ (1622WQ). Our findings indicate that a multi-faceted approach to assessing and intervening based on consideration of multiple social dimensions holds promise in terms of creating conditions that allow for individual and group learning to encourage changes in thinking required to result in improved land management practice.
Re-configuring rural economies – The interplay of institutions in three agri-food production systems
Oliver Klein Stefan Nier Christine Tamásy
Abstract：Rural economies and agri-food systems are strongly affected by institutions and institutional settings, as evidenced by many scholars exploring the impact of agricultural policies. By contrast, intangible forms of institutions (e.g. routines, conventions) inscribed in economic practices and their interplay with formal institutions are not yet well understood within the field of agri-food studies. We address this gap by exploring the diverse role of both formal and informal institutions for the re-configuration of agri-food chains. For this, we use three examples of crop production (potatoes, rapeseeds, sugar beets) in Lower Saxony, Germany. Drawing on more than 50 qualitative interviews, we will show, among others, that the interplay of formal rules and economic practices is moderated by context-specific institutional patterns, entailing shifts in corporate strategy, focus of production or supplier-customer relations – which together we would label ‘flexible diversification’. Further insights of the study refer to the strengthening of ‘bonding social capital’ or the exertion of ‘collective power’ as specific forms of ‘institutions-in-practice’ in order to adapt to a changing macro-economic environment. A particular focus lies on the way of how (smaller) crop producers deal with sustainability issues and their formal enforcement via regulations/prohibitions or incentive schemes (secured by certified standards), which both seem to undermine the acceptance of sustainability as a guiding principle among upstream actors of the value chains.
Feminization, rural transformation, and wheat systems in post-soviet Uzbekistan
Dina Najjar Rachana Devkota Shelley Feldman
Abstract：This paper examines how rural transformation in Uzbekistan alters gender norms and roles and, consequently, affects women's involvement in agriculture. We focus on the role that contextual factors, particularly kinship relations, government goals, and institutional structures each contribute to rural transformation and male out-migration, and how these, in turn, increase women's work in wheat production and processing. The wheat is the most important crop in the country which has the highest area coverage (35%) in Uzbekistan. We begin by highlighting the post-Soviet transition in Uzbekistan and its effects on the agricultural sector, including how households respond to opportunities for innovation. We then move to a discussion of our methodological approach drawing on insights from the GENNOVATE project, a collaborative initiative across 11 CGIAR centres that explored the relationship between changing gender norms in relation to women's roles in agricultural production and processing. Next, we examine an understudied topic in migration research i.e., how the transformation of agriculture contributes to increased dependence on unpaid female agricultural labour. We conclude with an analysis of how the feminization of agriculture alters household relations and women's participation in the public sphere. Significantly, we close with a reflection on what these changes mean for gender and innovation studies.
Mineral exhaustion, livelihoods and persistence of vulnerabilities in ASM settings
George Ofosu David Sarpong
Abstract：Formalisation of the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector has come to dominate the discourse on mineral exhaustion, livelihoods, and the persistence of vulnerabilities in ASM settings. Often touted as a panacea to curbing the excesses of informal mining operations, the calls for the formalisation of ASM operations continue unabated. In this paper, we explore how the operations and management practices in the growing formal ASM sector are formulated and (re)negotiated in practice. We develop our contribution in the context of a formalised small-scale mining operator in Ghana, focussing on its organizing practices and operational outcomes within the contingencies of organizing to explicate how livelihoods and vulnerabilities persisting in ASM settings are identified and labelled in practice. The data for our inquiry come from ethnographic interviews with management and staff. Our findings, in emphasizing, but also nuancing, what has come to be known as the ‘mineral-exhaustion-vulnerabilities’, provide insights into how the organizing practices induced by formalisation cohere to support socio-economic and environmental mitigation efforts. We note that the persistence of vulnerabilities, rather than the lack of mitigation mechanisms, is largely influenced by profligacy and the incipient lack of investment culture. We conclude by highlighting the need for sustainability mechanisms, based on exit strategies for ASM operators, to tie in with comprehensive policies and lessons on income diversification and investment.
The Rules-Boundaries-Behaviours (RBB) framework for farmers' adoption decisions of sustainable agricultural practices
Bente Castro Campos
Abstract：Farmers are often reluctant to adopt sustainable agricultural practices despite a thorough formal regulatory framework combating unsustainable behaviour. To date, the literature in this area has largely focused on the behavioural aspects of decision-making, with an emphasis on monetary compensation. This paper is an exploratory attempt to develop a new theory for farmers' adoption decisions of sustainable agricultural practices that takes into account both its enablers and its barriers. With an exploratory position, the case of Germany is used as a seminal context for building this new theory that we refer to as the Rules-Boundaries-Behaviours (RBB) framework. The basis for the development of the theory is a systematic literature review taking into account 48 peer-reviewed articles published between 1995 and 2021. The RBB framework illustrates that farmers’ behavioural factors are restricted by boundary conditions (limitations in the personal, farm, farm operation, and environmental spheres), and that these behavioural and boundary conditions are contextually embedded in a complex in/formal rule space. A guideline for the use of the RBB framework in future studies is proposed and an extension of the methodological toolbox with engaged fieldwork is suggested.
Towards systemic solutions to food waste: Creative destabilisation and escaping food waste lock-in
Rudolf Messner Hope Johnson Carol Richards
Abstract：This paper identifies and evaluates interventions for addressing the structural conditions in food systems that contribute to food waste. Within the food waste literature, an emerging strand of research is focusing on how food waste has structural causes that are embedded within the fundamental characteristics of food supply chains. This paper draws upon empirical research examining the causes of food waste in the Australian horticulture industry as a context from which to advance understandings of how to dismantle mechanisms of waste creation inherent in food systems. Identifying appropriate interventions to alter the dynamics of food waste production is an important part of addressing food waste as a structural issue, yet such interventions are subject to system resistance to transforming the normal operation of incumbent food systems. Guided by socio-technical transitions theory, this paper investigates ways to increase regime pressure to overcome systemic resistance through the frames of “creative regime destabilisation” and “alternative niche support”. A theoretical integration of socio-technical transitions with systems thinking provides deeper insights into the transformative potential of diverse interventions through the identification of ‘deep leveraging points’, proposing a tangible transition agenda for industry, policy and research.
Agricultural clusters and poverty in municipalities in the Northeast Region of Brazil: A spatial perspective
Girliany Santos da Silva Patrícia Araújo Amarante José Carlos Araújo Amarante
Abstract：This article evaluated the spatial distribution of agricultural activity in the municipalities of the Northeast Region of Brazil, relating it to the characteristics of this activity that can increase, alleviate or perpetuate poverty conditions, including elements that capture spatial dependence. For this purpose, data from the 2017 Agricultural Census were used. In addition, these data were disaggregated by typology of family farming, emphasizing the delimitation of poor and extremely poor rural producers categorized in the so-called Group B of the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (PRONAF), in addition to the Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA). The results indicate that, despite the Northeast Region having the largest number of establishments and employed persons in the Brazilian Agricultural sector, there is a marked internal differentiation. Family farming is dominant, but it has the smallest amount of land and production value. Furthermore, in the family segment, there is a predominance of poor and extremely poor producers allocated in Group B of PRONAF, who have little access to technologies and sources of financing and a low degree of association. In addition, most of the establishments in Group B of PRONAF have their self-consumption as their main production purpose, with the income obtained from the activities carried out in the establishment being predominantly lower than the income from other sources. In addition to the income generated by the establishment's production, income from retirement and pension resources and from government programs stands out. Furthermore, the ESDA made it possible to identify: possible spatial inequalities; municipalities with low values of the analyzed parameters, with neighbors whose average of the parameters is also low; and agglomerations potentially inducing economic development, through integration and local complementarity, provided by the concentration of productive activity.
Minerals as a refuge from conflict: Evidence from the quarry sector in Africa
Patrick Junior Daniel M. Franks Diana Arbeláez-Ruiz
Abstract：Natural resources are often recognised as a driver of conflict and have been found to have played a role in up to 40% of all intrastate conflicts. Natural resource-related conflicts are commonly argued to arise in situations of the scarcity of livelihood resources; abundance of high-value extractable resources; resource dependence; grievances related to resource extraction; and the resource curse – where wealth may harm a state's prospects for development. Minerals such as tin, tungsten, tantalum, gold, and diamonds have been explicitly linked with conflict under the nomenclature of ‘conflict minerals' and ‘blood diamonds.’ In this paper, we introduce an under-recognised association between minerals, conflict and peace, whereby minerals extraction instead provides a refuge for internally displaced peoples (IDPs) in the aftermath of conflict. Whereas high-value export minerals may be a target of control for conflict actors, we present evidence that low-price domestically consumed minerals, so-called Development Minerals, such as crushed stone, sand, limestone and gravel, provide a livelihood opportunity for IDPs during the post-conflict recovery. The demand for construction materials is high during the (re)construction phase after conflicts (war) and a key ingredient in infrastructure such as roads, houses, schools, and health facilities. The paper presents two descriptive case studies based on fieldwork conducted in Northern Uganda and Far North Cameroon. In both cases, the quarry workers (mostly ex-war victims) formed cooperatives to extract construction materials used for post-war reconstruction and provided livelihood to the workers. The findings add to our understanding of the relationships between natural resources, conflict and peace and are part of the growing body of research on the role of Development Minerals in development.
The adoption of conservation agriculture by smallholder farmers in southern Africa: A scoping review of barriers and enablers
Morgan Lee James Gambiza
Abstract：The Anthropocene has brought with it many challenges, the primary of which are climate change and food security. The growing global population increasingly demands more from a shrinking resource base, while variable climate conditions make future provision uncertain. To address issues of low agricultural productivity and land degradation, conservation agriculture (CA) has been promoted in smallholder settings across Africa. CA is an agricultural package that consists of three key principles (minimum soil disturbance, mulching, and crop rotation) and its success depends on the simultaneous implementation of all three principles. However, CA has met with limited success. A scoping review was conducted to assess the barriers and enablers of CA for smallholder farmers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – a regional inter-governmental economic community. The scoping review included peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, reviews, and grey literature written in English that focused on the contextual links between CA adoption and the smallholder context, since 2015. Six electronic databases were consulted, and included records were charted according to a pre-defined data extraction form. A total of 66 records were included. A qualitative content analysis was performed. The findings indicated four central themes – physical resources, human resources, informational resources, and financial resources. The four central themes and their respective categories, detailing barriers and enablers, were combined to produce the Conservation Agriculture Suitability Framework for Smallholder Farmers. The review contributes to the knowledge base of the CA discipline and practice by revealing the contextual determinants of successful CA implementation. Ultimately, the success of CA in southern Africa will be underpinned by how well it fits into the broader smallholder farming system.
Factors affecting the regional distribution of organic farming
Susanna Kujala Outi Hakala Leena Viitaharju
Abstract：Organic farming is recognised as a potential approach to achieve a more sustainable food system and promote rural development. Thus, many countries have set targets to increase the share of organic cultivated land. In Finland, the target was to increase the share of organic farming to 20% of the total area under cultivation by 2020. Although the share of organic agricultural land has gradually increased, there are still significant regional differences. The aim of our study is to identify the factors that affect these differences. Previous research has generally excluded factors such as subsidies from the analysis; therefore, this study explores the relevance of subsidies, as well as other key factors, within the context of the uneven regional distribution of organic farming in Finland. The data sources include research from the literature, official statistics, and a large survey of organic farmers. Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), we identify three different pathways that have led to higher organic shares of agricultural land in certain Finnish regions. The three regions with the highest organic shares utilise the first pathway, which includes a long organic heritage, a focus on dairy farming, and an important reliance on subsidies. We conclude that the regional variation in organic farming in Finland is due to a combination of different factors, rather than any single factor. Moreover, subsidies are a key factor that should be considered when reviewing the reasons for regional variations in organic farming.
Developing precision agriculture through creating information processing capability in rural China
Miao Cui Jinfang Qian Lili Cui
Abstract：Previous research has suggested giving more attention to the quality of precision agricultural technology adoption. By taking the information processing view as the theoretical lens, this study investigates precision agriculture adoption cases from two Chinese agricultural organizations to examine how they achieve high-quality adoption. Interviews, secondary data collection and coding strategies were utilized to collect and analyze the data to identify the development of information processing capabilities. The research findings reveal two pathways for developing information processing capabilities through different information processing controls and networks appropriate for cooperatives (co-ops) and agricultural firms. This study contributes to the agricultural technology adoption literature by extending precision agriculture technology adoption from the adoption rate to adoption quality.
Why pastoralists grow tomatoes: Maasai livelihood dynamics in Amboseli, southern Kenya
Charlotte Hemingway Hubert Cochet François Mialhe Yanni Gunnell
Abstract：This study documents the causes and processes behind the uptake of crop cultivation by a Maasai community of southern Kenya which, until recently, was still devoted to full-time mobile livestock keeping. Based on the methods of comparative agriculture and a detailed quantification of household income from livestock and cash crops, a classification of farm units (n = 38) into nine production systems reveals that agro-pastoralism on the Mbirikani group ranch, which is situated between Amboseli and Chyulu Hills national parks, is now mainstream, and that crops can exceed 70% of household income. Microeconomic analysis also documents large disparities in household income, with irrigated tomato farms benefiting from access to a pipeline ranking highest in profitability. Overall, the pastoralist–peasant dichotomy ingrained in portrayals of East-African rural life has outlived its relevance, with the tomato currently being a key game changer. This growing appeal for agriculture, however, is threatening the wildlife conservation because the profitability of tomato cropping has begun to outcompete those employment alternatives. By promoting landscape fragmentation and water extraction, however, irrigated agriculture also undermines free movement of wild animals outside the parks, restricts access to the key resources they require, and exacerbates human–wildlife conflicts.
Local institutions and artisanal mining: Governance forms in the goldfields of Madagascar
Brian Ikaika Klein
Abstract：This paper contributes to recent debates on the socio-political dynamics of ASM in rural communities meant to better inform formalization efforts by centering the question of local-level governance. While popular accounts and policy discussions targeting the sector often portray mining sites as contexts of unregulated chaos, I join efforts to counter such narratives through an excavation of the varying institutional forms through which communities govern extractive activities. To do so, I draw on evidence from gold mining areas across the island of Madagascar to elaborate the range of institutional arrangements shaping life and work in the diggings. I identify key elements of community mineral governance regimes, and offer a flexible typology of institutional forms for purposes of identification and analysis. These include extended pre-existing customary institutions; syncretic institutions (or adapted, external impositions); and bricolage institutions (or novel, locally-generated constructions). I then offer concise, ethnographically-informed accounts from three sites—Sandrazaha, Antanimbary, and Betsiaka—to illustrate the ways in which these institutions exist, operate, and overlap, as well as the contexts in which they emerge and take hold. Recognizing and interrogating such institutions is, I argue, critical to generating a fuller understanding of the ASM sector's functioning and embeddedness in rural societies the world over, and to improving formalization interventions that often fail to systematically examine local-level governance before seeking to transform it.
Wellbeing and health in a small New Zealand rural community: Assets, capabilities and being rural-fit
Chrystal Jaye Judith McHugh Fiona Doolan-Noble Lincoln Wood
Abstract：Rural dwellers in New Zealand often have fewer locally available health services. Health inequities are particularly salient for rural dwellers who are older and/ or Māori, yet the focus on these inequities has resulted in a deficit view of rural. There has been little attention to considering health and wellbeing through positive frameworks such as the Assets and Capabilities approaches. This project aimed to explore what can be learned from one small rural community about wellbeing and health; including sources of wellbeing and health. A combination of qualitative methods was used to collect data from 17 adults living in a small South Island rural community. All participants were interviewed and given the option of taking photographs to illustrate what wellbeing and health meant to them. Most participants reported that they were satisfied with their access to primary healthcare services, while acknowledging service gaps, particularly in mental health and emergency services. Health was described primarily in terms of wellbeing, and participants referenced concepts of wellbeing and health against local assets (place, community support networks, livestock, rural lifestyle and values), and a suite of capabilities adapted to the demands of the place in which they lived. The high value that rural dwellers place on the assets of their rural community and the contribution of these to their wellbeing and health may mitigate the disadvantages of distance to health services. This balance is mediated by capabilities that may be rural specific, particularly mobility and physical functioning.
Community supported agriculture: Setting the research agenda through a bibliometric analysis
Yulia Fomina Aldona Glińska-Neweś Aranka Ignasiak-Szulc
Abstract：Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) plays a significant role in improving consumers' access to fresh and high-quality fruits and vegetables, often at lower prices than in grocery stores. Correspondingly, consumers’ participation in CSAs is connected with their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding healthy eating. Being of such social significance, research on CSA can attract the attention of scholars from a variety of fields, including human nutrition, sustainable development and consumer behaviors. This paper aims to map the research front of Community Supported Agriculture in order to identify the main themes and further research directions. The study examines 242 scientific articles on CSA over the last three decades by conducting bibliometric analyses via VOSviewer software, including on the co-occurrence of keywords and bibliometric coupling of documents, and it combines the latter with a systematic literature review. The study contributes to the development of research on CSA by identifying leading thematic clusters in the field. The analyses suggest that the most promising directions of research on CSA focus on consumers, their nutrition and health, as well as on social change led by CSA. These findings suggest that addressing societal and environmental problems serves as a particularly promising and contemporarily significant ground for CSA research by scholars of different disciplines.
Stay in dairy? Exploring the relationship between farmer wellbeing and farm exit intentions
Bjørn Gunnar Hansen
Abstract：Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) plays a significant role in improving consumers' access to fresh and high-quality fruits and vegetables, often at lower prices than in grocery stores. Correspondingly, consumers’ participation in CSAs is connected with their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding healthy eating. Being of such social significance, research on CSA can attract the attention of scholars from a variety of fields, including human nutrition, sustainable development and consumer behaviors. This paper aims to map the research front of Community Supported Agriculture in order to identify the main themes and further research directions. The study examines 242 scientific articles on CSA over the last three decades by conducting bibliometric analyses via VOSviewer software, including on the co-occurrence of keywords and bibliometric coupling of documents, and it combines the latter with a systematic literature review. The study contributes to the development of research on CSA by identifying leading thematic clusters in the field. The analyses suggest that the most promising directions of research on CSA focus on consumers, their nutrition and health, as well as on social change led by CSA. These findings suggest that addressing societal and environmental problems serves as a particularly promising and contemporarily significant ground for CSA research by scholars of different disciplines.
Nature in the showcase. Naturbanization keys in Chile and Spain
Víctor Jiménez Barrado María-José Prados
Abstract：Naturbanization relates protected natural areas (PNAs) to demographic and economic change, territorial impacts, and the residential function. The purpose of this paper is to identify the triggers of naturbanization. The methodological process examines real estate web sources that showcase offers in PNAs as a business strategy to capture clients and gauges its influence on environmentally aware populations in Chile and Spain through an analysis of data provided by a survey. Results indicate that the attraction of these natural areas also extends to other areas and that environmental awareness is part of a more public discourse that conceals the real estate value that the capitalist model places on nature. Thus, the current dynamics of the real estate market turn naturbanization into a stratagem for conceiving nature as a new commodity.
Heuristics and farm heterogeneity: Evidence from small-scale farmers in Brazil
Leonardo Augusto de Vasconcelos Gomes Maria Sylvia Macchione Saes Rubens Nunes Olivier François Vilpoux
Abstract：Heuristics have been regarded as a promising approach for understanding the fundamental ongoing debate about the heterogeneity of small-scale farmers. In this paper, our objective is to identify the heuristics found among small-scale producers settled in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The agrarian reform program in Brazil gave the same resource dotation (land) for each settler in the 1980s. All of them started with similar agricultural experience and resources, and experienced similar uncertainties over a long period of time. However, they have developed different decision-making processes and resource configurations. Based on an empirical study, we carried out our primary data collection in two phases: the first was conducted in person at the producers' homes to identify the decision-making processes involved in their production resources management; the second consisted on a questionnaire applied to 125 producers representing family units. We found a set of heuristics which serves as basis for identifying five individual archetypes: the accumulator (whose main heuristics are associated with increasing their resources); the risk outsourcer (who tends to outsource resources for someone else to exploit due to the risks associated with the activity); the imitator (who tends to adopt imitative behavior); the integrator (who tends to build multiple touch points of collaborations); and the improver (who is oriented to continuously improving the available resources). Our study indicates that individuals employ different archetypes, based on different heuristics, which can lead to different decision-making processes. We conclude on the importance of creating an adequate institutional environment, taking into account that settlers react to policy incentives according to their own ways of interpreting and solving problems.
Mainstreaming blended finance in climate-smart agriculture: Complementarity, modality, and proximity
Kushankur Dey Pradeep Kumar Mishra
Abstract：Blended finance has emerged as a novel alternative to financing the agricultural sector, which is often riddled with risks and uncertainties. However, investors and financiers are yet to consider blending as the preferred mechanism. Blended finance has not thus attained the status of a mainstream product. The extant literature indicates the problems related to actor moral preferences, but it does not sufficiently explain the mainstreaming issue. This study bridges this gap in the literature by considering the theoretical lens of governance, actor moral preferences, and institutional complexity. The case study of a climate-smart agriculture project, the Integrated Fish Farming in Odisha, India, demonstrates that actors have some reservations regarding blended finance implementation. While local banks are hesitant to embrace blended finance due to procedural restrictions, the implementing agency finds the incentive structure unappealing and feels overloaded due to frequent monitoring. On the other hand, actors collaborate owing to role complementarities and proximity. Recognizing and internalizing actor role complementarities and proximities can help promote blended finance mainstreaming.
Frustrated or fulfilled? Motivation of Czech farmers to implement climate change adaptation measures on the landscape level
Tamara Meierová Veronika Chvátalová
Abstract：Farmers around the world struggle with impacts of climate change such as drought. However, their motivations to implement green and blue infrastructure (GBI) as adaptation measures have gained little attention.
In-depth interviews with 21 farmers from areas both inside and outside areas of natural constraints in the Czech Republic were carried out and analysed according to the grounded theory approach of Strauss and Corbin. The aim of this qualitative, exploratory study was to understand the unique motivation dynamics, that is, how the motivation of the farmers to create GBI and other measures on agricultural land starts, develops, changes over time, and is maintained or diminishes.
We have categorised farmers on the basis of the degree of implemented GBI, their motivation to implement GBI, and other characteristics into three types: fulfilled farmers, farmers struggling with barriers, and frustrated farmers. The components that affect the motivation are presented in a qualitative model. The data suggests that a combination of the vision of the farm, financial security of a business, the farmer's personality traits, and the fulfilment of his or her basic psychological needs is a prerequisite for the motivation to implement GBI, as is sufficient knowledge about the benefits of GBI. Future policies may benefit from acknowledging differences in motivation dynamics among farmers, the level of their frustration, and their needs.
Playing games with 'good farming': exploring the potential impact of disease control policies on farmers’ cattle purchasing practices
Gareth Enticott Ruth Little
Abstract：This paper explores how understandings of what constitutes ‘good farming’ play a significant role in shaping farmers' cattle purchasing decisions. The purchasing of cattle has been shown to be one of the most significant biosecurity risks resulting in disease transmission and translocation. As a result, biosecurity policy makers have sought to develop behavioural interventions to reduce disease risks associated with cattle purchasing. In other policy areas, notions of ‘good farming’ have been shown to influence farmers' decision-making, and reflect the role of heuristics and social norms in behavioural theory. A scenario-based cattle purchasing game was developed to compare the potential impact of different ways of measuring and visualising ‘good farming’ to reduce the spread of animal disease (specifically bovine Tuberculosis). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of farmers' purchasing rationales given during the game suggested that cattle purchasing is shaped by a strategy of ‘fitting the system’ in which cattle are primarily selected on the basis of being able to fit existing farming systems. Symbols of good farming pictured in cattle sales adverts – such as good stockmanship, and cleanliness – were important elements of this strategy. Attempts to quantify aspects of good farming were welcomed but not fully trusted. Good farming status was nevertheless more important than financial incentives when deciding which cattle to purchase. In conclusion, the paper highlights the relevance of these findings for biosecurity policy makers seeking to use behavioural insights to manage animal disease.
Aesthetic heterogeneity on rural landscape: Pathway discrepancy between perception and cognition
Jun Qi Yanmei Zhou Li Zeng Xueqiong Tang
Abstract：The circumstances of contemporary rural tourism have complicated the orientation and interests of stakeholders and transformed people's aesthetic judgment and negotiation on landscapes. Previous studies have revealed the preference variations among stakeholders' cohort individuality; however, few have illustrated how the pathway discrepancy between perception and cognition resulted in the heterogeneity of rural landscape aesthetics. In this research, a tourist village in Southwest China was selected for a case study. A method of structured photographs scale was applied to elicit aesthetic judgment by landscape preference and indicators, as approaches via perception and cognition pathway. Comparative analysis showed that pathway discrepancy can be considered an essential part of the aesthetic heterogeneity mechanism. Based on the results, the authors provide some suggestions on rural landscape governance: (1) the procedure of public participation in landscape assessment ought to take participant's place attachment, epistemology standpoint and demographic features into account to consolidate aesthetic justice; (2) measures for rural landscape improvement should shift the focus from physical landscape to livelihood, lifestyle and other non-gaze essence of rural area; (3) in order to bring aesthetic conflicts to a common ground in tourism development, landscape management should invite different stakeholders to cognize and attach more to the land.
Reconceptualising sparsely populated remote edges through the concept of region and space
Dávid Karácsonyi Andrew Taylor
Abstract：Geographic edges are distant, sparsely populated regions understood by some scholars as being fundamentally different from areas classified as rural. In some cases, the epistemological view in relation to sparsely populated regions is deterministic. Here, sparsity is seen as derivations of ‘geography’; relative location as remote and the extreme environmental characteristics of the place. In this paper we argue for an extended conceptualisation for ‘edge’ as a non-predetermined, temporally and spatially dynamic construct where space is ‘dependent’, function of the institutional frameworks. To make this reasoning we first distil the diverse interpretations of edge found in the existing literature into six schools of thought: the expansionist, capitalist, post-(neo-)colonialist, relativist, ruralist and developmentalist. Providing a systematic analysis on the role of ‘space’, ‘society’ and ‘institutions’ within these six schools of thought for edge studies, we than revisit the discourse on region formation within ‘new’ regional geography during the 1980s and 1990s, when geographers departed from viewing regions as unique, pre-defined and timeless ‘containers’. We discuss whether the role of ‘geography’ or ‘institutions’ is pivotal at the edge and propose that space itself (and its characteristics such as sparsity and remoteness) can be considered as dependent on or constructed by institutional frameworks. Finally, based on our findings, we provide some pointers to where and how the scope of edge studies can be extended or adjusted.
Aligning bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies? A comparative analysis of overfishing and coastal governance in Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, and Thailand
Edo Andriesse Kristian Saguin Austin Dziwornu Ablo Jawanit Kittitornkool Chaturong Kongkaew Jerry Mang'ena Paul Onyango Victor Owusu Jeasurk Yang
Abstract：As coastal communities across the Global South confront the multiple challenges of climate change, overfishing, poverty and other socio-environmental pressures, there is an increasing need to understand diverse coastal governance responses and livelihood trajectories from a comparative perspective. This paper presents a holistic investigation of the pressures coastal communities face in four countries and examines possible meeting points between bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies. We compare the experiences of eight fishing areas in Ghana, Tanzania, Thailand and the Philippines and ask how small-scale fishing communities perceive overfishing and other socio-environmental pressures; what factors determine the success and failure of coastal governance initiatives; and how different initiatives can be made congruent to improve coastal, rural development outcomes. Results from an extensive survey of 835 fisherfolk and semi-structured interviews with 196 key informants show that overfishing remains a significant driver of livelihood trajectories in the communities and that fisherfolk respond through informal mechanisms of collective action. Drawing from these diverse experiences, we propose viewing coastal livelihood trajectories through the integrated dimensions of socio-environmental relationships and coastal governance options and discuss implications that address institutional scalar flexibility, illegal fishing, and persistent marginalisation.
Place-making in the Corn Belt: The productivist landscapes of the “good farmer”
Ben Leitschuh William P. Stewart Carena J. van Riper
Abstract：Since the end of the second World War, the landscapes of the U.S. Corn Belt have increasingly been dominated by large-scale, industrialized agricultural production. Although not without its benefits, industrial agriculture has been shown to be detrimental to the social and ecological fabric of rural communities and beyond. In response, state and federal policy has encouraged farmers to adopt a limited number of strategies that may reduce the negative externalities of industrial agriculture. However, a growing body of research argues that to achieve transformative environmental and social change, the U.S. must transition to alternative food and farming systems. This study explores the potential of such transformative change by integrating the concept of the “good farmer” within a place-making framework to allow us to examine the shared understandings of place among farmers of an Illinois watershed. Through semi-structured interviews, we analyzed the experiences of 17 farmers, focusing on their management practices, connection to the land, and the centrality of farming to their lives. In addition, we interviewed eight non-farmers whose careers or family life were directly connected to local agriculture. The results of our analysis found that the farmers in our study have incorporated a good farmer identity that goes beyond the highly visible productivist notions of faming. The place-meanings of family legacy, stewarding a viable future, and caring for the land were found to be as important to farmers as profit-making and efficiency of their operations. Our findings suggest that a transition to alternative farming systems would likely align with the identity and shared place-meanings of the farmers in our study. Programs and policies intending to facilitate a transition away from productivist systems of farming in the Corn Belt should be designed to support the farmer-held meanings of family legacy, farm viability, and care.
Adjusting New Ruralism: The ‘soul’ of Waddington, N.Y. and placemaking at the Water's edge
Courtney Johnson-Woods Andrea Feldpausch-Parker
Abstract：Despite significant contributions to the multidisciplinary literature in rural development, U.S. planning scholarship has tended to privilege an urban focus given challenges accompanying globalization, the migration of people from rural to urban areas, as well as cultural-practice perceptions of ‘rural’ within the profession. As a result, frameworks have prevailed that are designed to improve livability in cities, including two dominant conceptualizations -- New Urbanism (NU), and New Ruralism (NR), the latter consisting of approaches that preserve or enhance rural-urban edges for the benefits of urban areas. Often overlooked are deep rural areas and their unique development challenges enabled by geographic isolation and compounded by population decline. In this relative vacuum of attention, the Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association (NNECAPA) drew on its experience to recommend a counterpoint to NR, calling for an adjusted New Ruralism ([a]NR) framework to better assess and guide planning and development in more remote rural areas to create places in which people can thrive. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to introduce the framework as part of the scholarly literature; second, to suggest the placemaking activities evident in Waddington, N.Y, a small village near the Canadian border along the St. Lawrence River, not only contribute to the community's “soul,” but also makes the community an ideal case study among those NNECAPA is collecting to further define its [a]NR conceptual umbrella. Finally, in undertaking our documentation in this task, we answer the regional chapter's call to help improve its scaffolding. Through the nexus of practical placemaking and the broader rural studies knowledge front, we suggest three major adjustments, represented visually as a model of intersecting restructured mindsets and corresponding, more specified strategies for further deliberation.
Performing rurality and urbanity: Language performations, materials and land-use politics
Chi-Mao Wang
Abstract：This paper examines an environmental controversy over land use in the Taiwanese countryside where paddy fields have been colonised by informal, ‘illegal’ factories, some by the world's leading manufacturing companies. To deal with this, the Government made efforts to develop a novel, spatial planning policy but this provoked more disputes. For Anglophone scholars, the disputes indicate that different representations of spatialities are often in conflict with one another, shaping contemporary spatial development. However, by emphasising the notion of untranslatability, theoretical interventions have sought to problematise English concepts such as ‘rural’ and ‘urban’. Building on the work of language politics, critics have proposed the use of ‘original’ terms in describing spatial identities. Such a decolonialisation gesture is a timely intervention, challenging the hegemony of Anglophone rural research. However, this paper contends that research into language politics can be enriched by attending to the volatile nature of language and the importance of material objects. Drawing on Austin and Callon's work on the performation of language, this paper suggests that the meaning of a specific spatial concept is not a pre-existing reality, but rather, an ongoing socio-technical achievement. I suggest that rural politics can be understood as a continuous performation struggle or the competition between socio-technical assemblages. With reference to a case study surrounding the controversy over farmland use in Taiwan, my analysis calls for polyvocal, pragmatic approaches to comparative, rural-urban research. With an emphasis on the shifting notions of rural-urban relationships and rurality, this paper problematises the long-lasting, rural-urban dichotomy.
Accounting for account-abilities: Examining the relationships between farm nutrient measurement and collaborative water governance dynamics in Canterbury, New Zealand
James Hale Katharine Legun Hugh Campbell
Abstract：Water quality has become a significant concern for the New Zealand public. The source of its decline in recent years has been largely attributed to the expansion of the dairying industry, and its improvement, a focal point of environmental management. A collaborative model has been developed in the Canterbury region, where committees have been created including government representatives, water management experts, farmers, and non-farming community members. These committees develop water management plans in a water catchment and can be seen to embody a form of socialising accountability where different groups hold each other accountable and share responsibility. One feature of the plans is the establishment of nitrogen loss thresholds for farms in a catchment, implemented through a highly technical form of nutrient modelling. Drawing from interviews and observations in Canterbury water governance networks, we argue that there is a tension between collaborative forms of environmental governance that seeks to socialise accountability, and nutrient modelling that de-socialise accountability in practice. We discuss how these tensions may challenge participatory forms of governance.
The role of metrics in the governance of the water-energy-food nexus within the European Commission
Thomas Voelker Kirsty Blackstock Zora Kovacic Jan Sindt Roger Strand Kerry Waylen
Abstract：Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in both academia and policy. This concept draws attention to the link between different environmental and societal domains, and potentially entails substantive shifts in governance processes. As a consequence, policy-makers and scientists have started to develop metrics to make these interactions and ‘trade-offs’ visible. However, it is unknown if current framings of the nexus and relevant quantified metrics either reinforce or challenge existing governance structures.
This paper explores relationships between framings of the nexus, metrics and models of governance based on discussions with staff within the European Commission. Although narratives around the need for new metrics are situated in a conventional script about the use of evidence to change policy, our data indicate processes of co-production, by which the use (or non-use) of any new metrics is dependent on existing institutional practices; and will reflect dominant political orderings. In doing so we provide a critical analysis of the role of metrics in environmental governance, and direct attention to the discursive, institutional and political arrangements in which they are embedded and with which they are co-constitutive. Focusing on the cultural and institutional settings in which they are established and used, our study suggests that the question of metrics in the water-energy-food nexus needs to be explored as a problem of establishing a legitimate policy objective in the European Commission and EU policy-making more broadly.
Negotiating halal: The role of non-religious concerns in shaping halal standards in Indonesia
Anom Sigit Suryawan Shuji Hisano Joost Jongerden
Abstract：Rapid growth in the global halal markets in recent years has invited scholars to pay close attention to the development of halal standards. However, the actual processes behind the formulation of the criteria specified in halal standards remain underexplored. This paper examines competing arguments and narratives behind the formulation of halal ruling on pre-slaughter stunning and mechanical slaughter in the new state-led halal standards in Indonesia. Drawing on the notion of ‘backstage politics,’ the results show that the criteria in halal standards are no longer determined exclusively by Islamic dietary laws that explain them. The inclusion of various actors in the formulation of halal standards has cleared the path for non-religious concerns, namely the meat production shortage and protections to the poultry sector, to embed and play an essential role in shaping the approval on pre-slaughter stunning and the ban on mechanical slaughter, respectively. As such, this paper argues that halal standards not only operate as a tool for economic development and facilitation of international trade but also serve as a safeguard to address food security issues and a mechanism to protect the national economy from the adverse consequences of the globalized markets.
Metrics and public accountability, the case of species credits in the USA
Stephanie Barral
Abstract：This article compares two contrasting cases of a widely used market-based conservation policy, namely private single conservation banks and habitat exchanges as two economic mechanisms for the production and circulation of species credits. The analysis of their economic morphologies reveals differences regarding regulatory pressure, organizational configuration, type of metric and robustness. Despite common objectives, these two policy instruments essentially differ in terms of the type of constitutive agreement they employ: private single conservation banks, as local and confined economic exchanges, are based on an agreement about exchange with little attention to metrics and credit definition. Habitat exchanges on the other hand tend to be wider and inclusive centralized marketplaces within which agreement is settled in terms of metric and credit harmonization. The reliance on distinct metrics establishes varying forms of accountability within these policy instruments and raises questions about the need to regulate metrological processes.
Sustainability assemblages: From metrics development to metrics implementation in United States agriculture
Jason Konefal Maki Hatanaka Johann Strube Leland Glenna David Conner
Abstract：Metrics that assess farmer sustainability performance have emerged as a leading approach to fostering continuous improvement in the sustainability of agriculture. As multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have developed sustainability metrics for US agriculture, these initiatives are entering a new phase focused on the adoption of metrics. This paper examines the approaches being used by two MSIs, Field to Market and the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops (SISC), to promote their respective metrics to farmers. Drawing on assemblage theory, we analyze the processes that MSIs are using to get their metrics implemented, and how the actual adoption of metrics takes place in agrifood supply chains. Specifically, we identify five processes that both Field to Market and SISC are using to facilitate the implementation of their metrics: (1) leveraging members, (2) utilizing supply chains, (3) providing technical assistance, (4) building technological platforms, and (5) creating partnerships. In identifying these processes, our analysis shifts understanding of metrics adoption beyond just consumer and market forces, and focuses attention on the specific actors and processes through which sustainability metrics are put into practice. In concluding, we highlight ongoing challenges facing Field to Market and SISC's efforts to construct assemblages around their metrics.
Smog and Air Pollution: Journalistic Criticism and Environmental Accountability in China
Haoyue Cecilia Li
Abstract：This article examines critical environmental reporting of the Chinese smog crisis, also known as the PM2.5 crisis, which are episodes of heavy particulate air pollution. By focusing on the sequence of media attention on PM2.5 standards and metrics, I show how the narrow focus on smog pollution developed into a broader critique of China's economic development model and of how government makes and carries out policy. I argue that environmental journalists have played a key role in promoting accountability on governments for tackling smog. At different stages of the smog crisis, journalists managed to show or create links between PM2.5 metrics and wider issues of public health, economic development, political power, social injustice, civic involvement and China's place in the world. They were able to employ the smog issue to make broader political and economic critiques, demanding greater government accountability and transparency in smog governance. Journalistic criticisms intensified public pressure on the authorities for reducing pollution and improving air quality.
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编辑：代安澜
审核：龙文进