Troubled Harvest

Troubled Harvest

Author: Joseph Cotter

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2003-09-30

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 0313052549

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During the 20th century, two revolutions swept rural Mexico: the Mexican Revolution and the Green Revolution. In both, revolutionaries promised to address the problems of rural poverty and underdevelopment. The Mexican Revolution led to a significant agrarian reform and created the State and elite that governed Mexico since the 1920s. The Green Revolution helped increase Mexican agricultural production substantially, and in 1970 it won a Nobel Peace Prize for Norman Borlaug, who bred dwarf hybrid wheat. Mexican agronomists played significant roles in both revolutions, but neither revolution brought prosperity to peasant farmers. This book examines the history of Mexican agronomy and agronomists to shed new light on the role of science in the Mexican Revolution, the origins of the worldwide Green Revolution, and general issues about the nature of the professions, the impact of professionals' ties to politics and the state, and discourses between members of Mexico's urban middle class and peasantry. Cotter also analyzes the impact of foreign models of science in Mexico, the history of U.S.-Mexican cooperation in the agricultural sciences, and the factors that led Mexico to seek scientific assistance from the United States. In a broad way, he reveals new aspects of the ongoing struggle for the right to define modernity and progress in rural Mexico, and offers new explanations for the failure of many of the State's efforts to assist peasant farmers.


Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Author: N. Biedinger

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 425

ISBN-13: 366206071X

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Biodiversity, sometimes simply understood as "diversity of species", is a specific quality of life on our planet, the dimensions and importance of which have just lately been fully realized. Today we know that "biological diversity is a global asset of incalculable value to present and future generations" (Kofi Annan). Biodiversity is spread unequally over the world: in fact, the main share of biological resources worldwide is harboured predominantly by the so-called developing countries in the tropics and sub tropics. Therefore, Biodiversity - A Challenge for Development Research and Policy was chosen as the title for an international conference which was held in Bonn in 1997 as one of the first major events organized by the then newly established North-South Centre for Development Research (ZEF) at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn (Germany). Since the ZEF, founded by the Senate of the University of Bonn in 1995, has played a central role in turning Bonn into a centre for international cooperation and North-South dialogue. The Centre is a product of the Bonn Berlin agreement of July 1994 which was adopted to offset the effects caused by the Parliament and much of the Government moving to Berlin. It fits in well with the double strategy to strengthen Bonn's position as an interna tional science arena and as an eminent place for development policy and the national and supranational agencies dealing with this issue.


Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Report

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Report

Author: International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (Project)

Publisher: Iaastd

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13:

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The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) looks realistically at how we could effectively use agriculture/AKST to help us meet development and sustainability goals. An unprecedented three-year collaborative effort, the IAASTD involved more than 400 authors in 110 countries and cost more than $11 million. It reports on the advances and setbacks of the past fifty years and offers options for the next fifty years. The results of the project are contained in seven reports: a Global Report, five regional Sub-Global Assessments, and a Synthesis Report. The Global Report gives the key findings of the Assessment, and the five Sub-Global Assessments address regional challenges. The volumes present options for action. All of the reports have been extensively peer-reviewed by governments and experts and all have been approved by a panel of participating governments. The Sub-Global Assessments all utilize a similar and consistent framework: examining and reporting on the impacts of AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental/social sustainability. The five Sub-Global Assessments cover the following regions: Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) East and South Asia and the Pacific (ESAP) Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) North America and Europe (NAE) Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)


Land Tenure and Rural Development

Land Tenure and Rural Development

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: FAO

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 62

ISBN-13:

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This publication deals with key issues in land tenure, especially as they relate to food insecurity and rural development situations. Land tenure issues are frequently ignored in rural development interventions, with often long-lasting, negative results. This guide is designed to assist technical officers in governments and civil society in understanding why and how land tenure issues should be considered in rural development projects. It analyses important contexts such as environmental degradation, gender discrimination, and conflicts, where land tenure is currently of critical concern.


The Botany of Mangroves

The Botany of Mangroves

Author: P. B. Tomlinson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9780521466752

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A concise, descriptive overview of mangrove plants, with emphasis on individual species.


Bitita's Diary: The Autobiography of Carolina Maria de Jesus

Bitita's Diary: The Autobiography of Carolina Maria de Jesus

Author: Carolina Maria De Jesus

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-05-20

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1317475852

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Carolina Maria de Jesus (1914-1977), nicknamed Bitita, was a destitute black Brazilian woman born in the rural interior who migrated to the industrial city of Sao Paulo. This is her autobiography, which includes details about her experiences of race relations and sexual intimidation.


Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources

Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources

Author: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789251084229

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Part I. Introduction -- Part II. Strategic priorities for action. Priority area 1 : Improving the availability of, and access to, information on FGR -- Priority area 2 : In situ and ex situ conservation of FGR -- Priority area 3 : Sustainable use, development and management of FGR -- Priority area 4 : Policies, institutions and capacity-building


Ecological Principles of Agriculture

Ecological Principles of Agriculture

Author: Laura E. Powers

Publisher: Cengage Learning

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13:

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Introduction to ecology and ecological principles for agricultural students with no prior coursework in ecology.


Innovation and Industry Evolution

Innovation and Industry Evolution

Author: David B. Audretsch

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780262011464

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It once took two decades to replace one-third of the Fortune 500; now a subset of new firms are challenging and displacing this elite group at a breathtaking rate, while armies of startups come and go within just a few years. Most new jobs are, in fact, coming from small firms, reversing the trend of a century. David Audretsch takes a close look at the U.S. economy in motion, providing a detailed and systematic investigation of the dynamic process by which industries and firms enter into markets, either grow and survive, or disappear. He shapes a clear understanding of the role that small, entrepreneurial firms play in this evolutionary process and in the asymmetric size distribution of firms in the typical industry.Audretsch introduces the large longitudinal database maintained by the U.S. Small Business Administration that is used to identify the startup of new firms and track their performance over time. He then provides different snapshots of the process of industries in motion: why new-firm startup activity varies so greatly across industries; what happens to these firms after they enter the market; the extent to which entrepreneurial firms account for an industry's economic activity and why that measure varies across industries; how small firms compensate for size-related disadvantages; and who exits and why.Audretsch concludes that the structure of industries is characterized by a high degree of fluidity and turbulence, even as the patterns of evolution vary considerably from industry to industry. The dynamic process by which firms and industries evolve over time is shaped by three fundamental factors: technology, scale economies, and demand. Most important, the evidence suggests that it is the differences in the knowledge conditions and technology underlying each specific industry -- key elements in innovation -- that are responsible for the pattern particular to that industry.