Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Opacity: A Socioeconomic Study Of Diamond Mining In South-Eastern Cameroon, Steven Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Diamond mining in the southeastern Cameroon is on the cusp of a boom of development. Artisanal diamond miners served as the “beacon” for an industrial mining company, C&K, to explore and attempt to gain permission to commence exploitation. There are massive social, economic and environmental implications depending on the execution of exploitation. It is the role of the government bodies and the corporation to identify sustainable methods to develop this untapped natural resource and the surrounding infrastructure. The region is an isolated throwback; its basic functions are, in essence, dated four decades. They need improved simple infrastructure, although the local …

Who’S To Blame?: An Analysis Of Agricultural Subsidies And Their Effects On Development, Jared Baragar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This essay aims to reveal the complex landscape of the hindrances to development that developing countries themselves and developed nations’ agricultural subsidies pose. It discusses developing countries’ objectives and desires to see trade as a tool for development and then considers the potential for trade to contribute to development by examining how different international organizations use trade to aid developing countries. It examines China’s use of the green box as a case study of the potential that certain agricultural subsidies hold for development. Then, it looks at the limitations of trade as a means to make development progress, citing both …

A Multidimensional International Examination Of The Impact Of Gmos: A Biological, Economic, International Trade, Intellectual Property, And Geopolitical View, Kevin E. Soubly

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper includes working papers, UN official documents, corporate internal memos, scientific studies, international agreements, and interviews conducted with prominent persons or experts in the fields of biotechnology, the environment, trade, economics, sustainable development, intellectual property law, and international policy. Interviews were conducted in both English and French, and printed sources appeared in both languages as well.

The thesis of this paper strives to consider the various components of genetically modified organisms in their development, use, and ownership on a global scale, examining the biological and scientific backgrounds of them, the multi-national corporations who claim to own them, and the …

An Assessment Of How Land Use And Productivity Has Changed In Villages Surrounding Mazumbai In The West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania: Specifically The Original Tea Plot Allocations Received By Members Of The Sagara Group In 1991, Abby Jensen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Tea is a valuable cash crop that is being influenced not only by individual farmers, but also local organizations, NGOs and even government information and regulations to encourage tea production in Tanzania. Small-scale tea farmers, like the Sagara Group, are a small, but important part of the tea industry. The Sagara Group, former workers united under the Mazumbai Tea Estate, was formed in 1964. The Group consists of 103 members that received a share of tea in 1991 when co-management of the estate was not efficient anymore. The group members (36 original members and 63 members that represent deceased original …

The Modernization Of Fiji ’S Food System And The Resulting Implications On Fijian Society: A Synthesis, Brian Schultz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Beginning in the early 19th century, Fiji’s contact with several industrialized nations of Europe and the west contributed to rapid changes in its food system– changes that have had massive effects on Fiji’s economy and politics, on both local and global scales, as well as on the health and identity of the people who call Fiji home. Using a longitudinal model, the author traces the modernization of the Fiji food system from before European contact, through the period of colonial rule, the introduction of the cash economy, and the beginnings of urbanization to its status in the spring of 2009. …

A Multidisciplinary Approach On Swiss Organic Food And Agriculture, Jae In Kim

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The organic food movement in Switzerland owes its success to the trust relationship among producers, retailers and consumers alike. The higher quality of organic food compared to those of neighboring countries, as well as the visible effort to maintain the quality with highly-recognized label certification scheme, allowed organic food to find a secure niche in supermarket shelves despite a higher price in an already expensive country. The market structure—Bio Suisse as an association of organic producers who set the criteria, and separate institutions for each research, inspection and distribution—maintains the careful balance in the market which explains the stability of …

Campesinos/As Cultivating Soil: Promoting And Adopting Sustainable Agriculture In Jinotega, Nicaragua, Emily Grady

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to answer the question: What pedagogies and theoretical and practical concepts and processes effectively facilitate a transition to sustainable agriculture among campesinos/as in rural Nicaragua? From the perspective of both the facilitators and the participants, what makes these methodologies effective and why is this change important? The Cuculmeca, an organization that promotes the sustainable use of the environment and the participation of communities in their own development, has been promoting sustainable agriculture in Jinotega since 1992. The organization has developed a series of pedagogical strategies that tend to facilitate an enduring transition to sustainable agriculture, and in …