Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Pescadores Become Produtores: Gender, Family, And Sustainable Living On Brazil’S Northeast Coast, Wren Brennan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The familial structure of a Brazilian fishing community is explored through participant observation and eight in-depth ethnographic interviews conducted over the course of three weeks of emersion with a family of pescadores artesanais (artisanal fishermen) that now call themselves catadores de algas (seaweed collectors). Previous research suggests that the sexual division of labor in this community, along with coastal environment in which the community exists, is in a state of transition. This project explores the emerging the practice of communal seaweed cultivation as a form of work that exemplifies changing gender relations in conjunction with a changing coastal environment. It …

Conflicting Perspectives, Contentious Problems A Case Study Of Kwale International Sugar Co. Ltd. In Msambweni District, Jayme Tsutsuse

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper presents a report of the findings from a four-week study on the varying perspectives towards Kwale International Sugar Co. Ltd. which have brought about problems concerning land, development, and politics. It discusses findings fromliterary sources and field work, including correspondence, interviews, forums, and focus group discussions with government representatives, company managers, and community members. It highlights where recorded information is inconsistent, making it difficult for the people and company to coexist. Additionally, it describes how the community’s grievances developed and critiques the various actors and actions that are responsible. Lastly, it provides recommendations to a way forward towards …

This Land Is Our Land: The Ngöbe Stuggle For Land, Fran Del Rosario

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Los Ngobes han estado luchando por su tierra por muchos años. En los 1500s, debido al conquista española, Los Ngobes fueron forzados a huir a otras aéreas. Hoy, ellos están luchando por su tierra contra inversión y comercialización. Su tierra es muy importante para ellos porque su manera de vivir viene directamente de su tierra. La construcción de calles adentro y alrededor de su tierra se ha afectado mucho. Entre mas abierta su tierra, mas vlnerable son ellos a contacto con el exterior. Es más difícil preservar su cultura y tradición con proyectos de desarrollo amenazando su manera de vivir …

From Pasture To Plate: A Study Of The Rituals, Ecology And Economics Of Sheep In The Context Of Aid Al Adha In Morocco, Carrisa Sue Pritchard

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project addresses the ecological and economic roles that sheep play in Morocco in the context of Aid Al Adha celebration. It specifically examines the methods of sacrificing, butchering and preparing the different parts of the ram as part of the holiday as experienced by the researcher in a case-study located in the Rabat Medina. However, it goes further, as to explore the impact that sheep agriculture has on the nation’s economy and on the lives of Moroccans in both urban and rural areas. It discusses strategies that the Ministry of Agriculture and other agencies use to help facilitate local …

Yak, A Green Icon And A Good Investment, Caroline Kang

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“Yak, A Green Icon and Good Investment” was conceived after I briefly interned for the Mongol Yak Society during the NGO Drop Off. I became interested and even, invested in their mission. For three weeks of the ISP period, I worked closely with the Mongolian Yak Society based in Ulaanbaatar and researched how increasing the productive value of yaks through improved communications, equipment, knowledge, and support will address several key environmental and economic issues. I further focused on the Mongolian Yak Society and its role as a detached entity that intervenes on various levels of the yak wool value chain: …

Validating The Culture Of Agriculture: Farmers Groups And Organic Agriculture Mitigating Rural To Urban Migration In Bhutan, Emma Dosch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agricultural occupations make up the largest proportion of Bhutan’s workforce. Over the past two decades the occupation has shrunk from 90% to 65% of Bhutan’s employment. The younger generation of Bhutan’s rural population is seeking livelihood opportunities in urban areas, leaving farms with labor shortages. The movement may compromise the identity and sustainability of Bhutan’s rural population and undermine the nation’s goals of Gross National Happiness (GNH) directed policy. Initiatives to retain and legitimize agricultural livelihoods are emerging inside and outside of government policy. Existing efforts are models of ways to reconnect educated individuals with the needs and values of …

Food Is Life: The Impact Of A Changing Food Industry On The Role Of Women In The Home, Diana Lay

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at how growing food insecurity in Ghana, and Cape Coast in particular, is changing the role of women in the community. It examines government agricultural policy and its influence on urban communities, including Cape Coast. It seeks to understand the factors that women take into account when they prepare meals for their families and ways in which women are adapting to increasing prices of food and imported ingredients available in the markets. The research incorporated is based on the personal experiences of the author, interviews, and secondary sources. It looks at power dynamics within the community, as …

The Impact Of Qmm On Social Relations In Fort-Dauphin, Christopher B. Collier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My interest in this subject began with a general desire to understand how Malagasy society adapts to “outsiders.” We learned throughout the semester about the various external forces that have shaped the culture of the island since the arrival of the first people here thousands of years ago. At first, my ideas were focused more on the experiences of people immigrating to Madagascar. I observed very particular patterns: immigrants of certain ethnicities fill specific socioeconomic niches in specific geographic areas, and with varying reception from the Malagasy community.

I came to realize, however, that similar patterns take place even between …

Semillas Y La Ciudad: La Agricultura Urbana En Oaxaca De Juárez Como Un Aporte A La Soberanía Alimentaria, Katie Oberwager

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Este proyecto trata de examinar el movimiento creciente de la agricultura urbana en Oaxaca de Juárez, México como un aporte potencial a la soberanía alimentaria. Las políticas económicas en los Estados Unidos tienen un efecto directo en las vidas mexicanas, y esto es especialmente la verdad con los campesinos mexicanos. Por ejemplo, el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte ha causado la inundación de México con maíz barato. La mayoría de los campesinos mexicanos no pueden competir con estos precios bajos y han sido obligados a huir de su tierra en busca de trabajo en las ciudades o …

The Prospects Of Using Athrospira Platensis As A Malnutrition Treatment In Kenya, Kari N. Harris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to explore the current efforts using spirulina as a malnutrition treatment in Kenya. There are currently five spirulina cultivation sites that growing spirulina, four of which are located in the Nyanza Province. Their production and scope of advocacy efforts are limited. Some of the cultivation sites have a better quality control measures and strategic plan in place for expanding cultivation. Significant efforts need to be made to improve the scope of production and create links with nutrition experts in other non-governmental organizations and at the national level.

Guano Exploitation In Madagascar, Christina Buliga

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agriculture in Madagascar continues to remain largely undeveloped. Out of the eighty percent of Malagasy individuals that live in rural areas an overwhelming sixty five percent practice subsistence agriculture. With respect to the country as a whole this means that out of Madagascar's 58.2 million hectares of available land only 5.2 percent (3 million hectares) are farmed. And out of these 3 million hectares only 67% are cultivated permanently and only 11% are fertilized.

While there are several reasons for why Madagascar’s agriculture has remained largely undeveloped and for why Madagascar continues to rely on imported crops to meet its …

The Rice Farmer Vs. The Multinational: Mali’S Winding Path Toward Food Sovereignty, Emily Bell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Land grabbing by foreign investors is a growing problem for the Global South. Rice production in Mali is no exception. To counter this trend, there is a greater push from countries like Mali for food security and food sovereignty. Despite this push, decentralization and a lack of government funds have led Mali to sign multiple agreements with multinational companies. The Malibya Society, a partnership between Mali and Libya, is one of these investors that could jeopardize Mali’s autonomy. This paper will describe the details of the project, the reactions of government officials, peasant organizations, and farmers, and what Malians can …

Lebanese Water Resources: A Potential To Alleviate Middle East Water Stress, Basil Mahfouz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Years of war have left the Lebanese water sector in a very bad shape. This has caused excessive water waste in practically all aspects of water consumption. As Lebanon wastes water, its neighbors are desperately seeking to secure their water needs. Consequently, this paper proposes investing sovereign wealth funds from the oil rich water poor Arab countries to assist in developing an efficient water network to maximize the efficiency of the Lebanese water sector. Such investments would be made for the purpose of creating a large enough water surplus in Lebanon that would eventually be exported to the gulf to …

“Real Culture” Preservation, Authenticity, And Change In Hoi An’S Heritage Tourism Industry, Ursula James

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Following the achievement of World Heritage site status in 1999, Hoi An shifted from a primarily agricultural economy to a primarily tourism-oriented economy. This economy is based on the idea of heritage tourism, focused mostly on preserved tangible heritage but increasingly accompanied by attempts to preserve and capitalize on intangible heritage. As the heritage tourism industry grows, the city of Hoi An must make constant decisions as to the nature and goals of the ideas of preservation and authenticity and their interplay with economics and the forces of globalization. The city has consequently had to balance the many conflicting demands …

Painting The Town Green: Realities, Challenges, And Possibilities In Mexico City’S Budding Urban Agriculture Movement, Molly Alexandra Croog

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the Urban Agriculture movement in Mexico City. It investigates who is practicing Urban Agriculture, how, and why. It looks the benefits of Urban Agriculture, and Urban Agriculture’s role in a potential future food system that does not rely on transnational corporations for supply. The paper begins by discussing the significance of food as nutrition, and how the individual’s right to food has been transformed into the corporation’s right to make a profit off of food. The concept of food security and food sovereignty and their place in the organic Urban Agriculture movement are then explained. Three Urban …

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. …

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 …

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 …

Samoa’S Tree Of Life: A Study Of The Roles Of Coconut Products In The Samoan Economy, Past And Present, Dale Hoff

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This focus of this paper is the role that coconut products have played in Samoa’s cash economy, past and present. This paper begins with a brief history of the use of coconut products in Samoa before independence. Next, the decline of the copra and copra oil industries in the 1980s and 1990s is highlighted, and several causes for this decline are explained. The current roles of coconut products such as copra oil, virgin coconut oil, whole coconuts sold locally, coconut cream, coconut shell handicrafts, and coconut wood are then analyzed. Specific attention is given to the potential role of copra …

The International Market, Globalization And Nafta: If Food Is Life, Why Have We Allowed It To Become So Dirty?, Abigail Dym

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Subsidy Removal Effects On And Future Sustainability For Livestock Sector Of In The Northern Jordanian Badia, Christopher Jetter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study investigates the rationale behind the 2007 removal of the fodder subsidy in Jordan and the effects this had on livestock owners in the Northern Badia. Furthermore, it examines possible solutions for improving the efficiency of the sector as well as its sustainability. The government’s decision to lift the subsidy was due to the pressure of rising world cereal prices on the national budget deficit. Owners in the Northern Badia as a result had to sell off around half of their flock. Consequently, there has been a rise in disease among livestock as well as higher prices for consumers. …

Las Canastas Solidarias: Construyendo Una Comercialización Directa Con Los Productores, Un Análisis De Los Métodos Usados Para Realizar Este Objetivo, Caitlin Howe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A Canasta Solidaria is a group of people that buys its food together in bulk every week, fifteen days, or month, and then divides this food amongst them. The members of a Canasta save money by buying these products in such a large quantity and splitting these costs. However, they would also like to buy products of better quality. To accomplish this, they are trying to commercialize directly with farmers. Canastas have formed in a variety of regions throughout Ecuador, but this paper analyzes specifically the methods used by the Quito network of Canastas to accomplish direct commercialization with producers. …

Economy Of Change: The Organic Market As A Model For Agricultural Development In India, Amanda White

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In India, 50% of children under five years of age are malnourished amidst a yearly surplus in grain production. Approximately 40% of food is lost in transport on a daily basis, yet the country has been able to prevent major famines for over 60 years. In a country with a GDP of 8-9% and an ever-growing presence on the international economic stage, these double standards cannot be tolerated. 260 million Indians live in extreme poverty, and 40% of those depend mainly on agricultural labor. This sector accounts for approximately 26% of India’s GDP, and provides employment for about 70% of …

“Sustainable Soy” In Santarém: Power Struggles For The Future Of Development, Jake Schoneker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the environmental and socio-economic effects of soy development in the city of Santarém, located in the western part of Pará state in the Brazilian Amazon. In the past decade the soybean has emerged as one of Santarém’s primary crops, largely as a result of Cargill Corporation’s construction of a fluvial port in the city that now exports one million tons of soy per year to European markets. The arrival of soy agribusiness in Santarém has transformed the agricultural scene and has had drastic impacts on both local communities and the forest. Surrounding the soy conflict are various …

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: The Economic And Environmental Impacts Of Commercial Fishing, Jessica Glenn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Fish and fisheries play an important role in the Amazon River Basin. Fishing provides jobs to people of both urban and rural communities, and fish are a major source of protein in people’s diets and a major part of the Amazon River ecosystem. In recent years commercial fishing has increased due to greater access to both domestic and international markets, and government incentives which have helped fishermen obtain better equipment and boats. The purpose of this study is to observe the Belém Ver-O-Peso fish market and interview fisherman about different aspects of commercial fishing (what species of fish were caught, …

Piecing Together Social And Environmental Priorities In The Ongoing Process Of Community Development In The Mst Assentamento Of Palmares Ii, Clara C. Ward

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the last twelve years the Amazonian MST assentamento, Palmares II, in the Southeastern state of Para, has experienced many successes in terms of advances in education, health care services, community organization, and physical infrastructure in general. This progress in community development is often considered to support the theory of agrarian reform as an effective mechanism for achieving greater social equality and stability. Despite these relative successes, community development to date has not supported the concept of agrarian reform as a mechanism of environmental preservation and sustainable land use. This is due in part to the failure of the community …