Category Archives: General

General issues.

International Masters in Rural Development: Field Visit to Soc Trang Province, Vietnam

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FoodGovernance's avatarFood Governance

As I explained last week, I am representing the Rural Sociology Group in a case study summer programme organized by Can Tho University’s Mekong Delta Development Research Institute.

Meeting with district representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Meeting with district representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

On Friday, August 7th, the Case Study group visited two areas in the Soc Trang province of Vietnam. The first stop was a visit to a district office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Here, students and staff were able to ask officials questions related to their selected research topics and interests. One policy initiative we learnt about was a plan to increase the number of dairy cows in rural areas as a poverty reduction strategy. This programme stems from the national Agricultural Restructuring Plan where key crops and animals were identified, dairy cows being one of them.

Pigs for bio gas and food Pigs for bio gas and food

From…

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Mekon Delta Case Study: Agricultural transformation in developing countries under contexts of urbanization and climate change

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Welcome to Can Tho University

Welcome to Can Tho University

For the month of August the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI) is hosting a summer school case study on Agricultural transformation in developing countries under contexts of urbanization and climate change- the case of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, for the International Master of Science in Rural Development (IMRD) programme from Ghent University.  Wageningen’s Rural Sociology Group is involved in the IMRD programme and as a result, I was able to come and participate in a supportive capacity for the first two weeks.

Case Study Participants at Can Tho University

Case Study Participants at Can Tho University

About the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute (MDI)

MDI is an interdisciplinary organization of Can Tho University (Can Tho, Vietnam). It was established in 2005 from the Mekong Delta Farming Systems Research and Development Institute. MDI has the mission to “improve life quality of rural people and ensure socio-economic and environmental sustainability of the Mekong Delta through collaborative education, research and development activities”. It also has four research programmes:

  • Food security
  • Agriculture resources management
  • Rural development
  • Climate change, adaptation and mitigation.
Visiting a collection of farming and aquaculture tools

Visiting a collection of farming and aquaculture tools

Boating on the Mekong River

Boating on the Mekong River

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Learning in Local Collaboration, Groningen – MSc thesis Iris Bekius

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Inspiratiedag

By: Iris Bekius, MSc Leisure, Tourism and Environment.

Below a summary of my MSc thesis: Learning in Local Collaboration; A reflexive case study in Groningen, Northern Netherlands.

At the moment, the Dutch government is in a process of deregulation, commonly referred to as participation society. Throughout the country municipalities translate policies in line with this political goal, among which my hometown Groningen. For the municipality of Groningen deregulation includes calling on citizens to come up with ideas for neighbourhood initiatives, which will then be evaluated by civil servants on their potential to succeed.

One initiative that is supported by the municipality is Pad2Wijken (Path2Neighborhoods), initiated by a committee in the neighbourhood Helpman to secure a green zone: a 10 kilometre long ecological edible green walking path through the neighbourhoods Helpman and De Wijert. Since the opening of the path in May 2014 groups of residents, schools and organisations in the neighbourhoods can adopt green plots along the path. On their plot they can create a flower meadow, orchard, vegetable garden, insect hotel, or anything else green and sustainable. Continue reading →

Exploring Dar es Salaam’s foodscape: spatial design meets rural sociology

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IMG_6198

“Seeing Dar” is the first of a series of publications resulting from my Foodscapes professorship at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture in which I have involved Master students in Landscape Architecture, Architecture and Urbanism in research projects of the Rural Sociology Group. This publication is the result of a 12 week design studio, which commenced with a 10 day field visit of Academy of Architecture students to Dar es Salaam, linked to Marc Wegerif’s PhD project and the work of Daniel Mbisso on markets at the School of Architecture and Design of Ardhi University. The publication is a collection of individual design projects and essays focussing on different aspects of Dar es Salaam’s foodscape: food markets, food and food-related waste, climate change adaptation, gender, public space and distribution infrastructure. For the students the 10 day exploration of Dar es Salaam’s foodscape was crucial to come up with spatial designs that aligned well with the everyday life and cultures of people living, working, travelling and eating in Dar es Salaam. For me it was an interesting experience to link spatial design to sociological research. More publications in which spatial design meets rural sociology will follow later this year and next year.

Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health

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FoodGovernance's avatarFood Governance

A long awaited report from the Lancet / UCL Commission on Climate Change and Health has just been published called “Health and climate change: policy responses to protect public health”

You need to register to The Lancet to access the report but registration is currently free.

There are quite a few references to food security, including this statement challenging assumptions around sustainable intensification:

Panel 4: Food security, climate change, and human health

The provision for global food demand by 2050 cannot assume improved crop yields through sustainable agricultural intensification because of the negative effects on crop growth from an increased frequency of weather extremes. Multifunctional food production systems will prove important in a warmer world. These systems are managed for benefi ts beyond yield, and provide multiple ecosystem services, support biodiversity, improve nutrition, and can enhance resilience to shocks such as crop failure or pest outbreaks (p 16).

There is also a supplementary video 

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