Academic literature on the topic 'Agricultural systems – Honduras'

AbstractDevelopment of sustainable agricultural production systems in the tropics is challenging in part because the local and external conditions that affect sustainability are constantly in flux. The Quesungual agroforestry system (QSMAS) was developed in response to these changing conditions. The history and potential future of the QSMAS provide an opportunity to consider the factors affecting small-scale agricultural production systems on marginal lands throughout the world. We evaluated the QSMAS in Honduras in the context of the five principles of the Drylands Development Paradigm (DDP) during three periods: pre-QSMAS, QSMAS adoption and the future. The first two periods provided lessons that could be relevant to other regions. The QSMAS system in Honduras must continue to evolve, if long-term benefits are to be realized. We conclude that while the DDP was a useful framework for systematically identifying the critical drivers and processes determining the sustainability of QSMAS in Honduras, it is ultimately no more able to predict the future than the collective knowledge of those who choose to apply it. The DDP, however, can facilitate the integration and application of knowledge.

The devastating threat of black leaf streak disease caused by Pseudocercospora fijiensis on plantain production in West Africa spurred the development of resistant hybrids. The goal of this research and development (R&D) undertaken was assessing the development and dissemination of two plantain hybrids PITA 3 and FHIA 21 bred in the 1980s by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Nigeria) and the Fundación Hondureña de Investigación Agrícola (FHIA, Honduras), respectively. In Côte d’Ivoire, plantain growers selected PITA 3 and FHIA 21 based on their improved agronomic characteristics and, between 2012 and 2016, they were massively propagated and distributed to farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo under the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAAP) coordinated by the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF). In 2016, the Centre National de Recherche Agronomique in Côte d’Ivoire included the hybrids in the improved cultivar directory. This R&D activity illustrates how three decades of crossbreeding, selection, and distribution led to local acceptance. It also highlights how a CORAF-led partnership harnessed CGIAR research for development. The dissemination and acceptance of these plantain hybrids will enhance the sustainable intensification in plantain-based farming systems across the humid lowlands of West and Central Africa.

In this paper, we apply Polanyi's double movement to characterize the potential and observed impacts of public-private and public-philanthropic partnerships for the development of pro-poor value chains. We highlight the contradiction between the goals of these partnerships in international agricultural development, which seek to shift power dynamics and counter market exclusion, and the internal logic of these hybrid governance approaches, which reflect the tensions of market society from which they come. We present case studies from Honduras, Peru, and Mali of agricultural public-private and public-philanthropic partnerships and their constituent actors, identifying roles and relationships among actors that personify double movement negotiations within pro-poor market-oriented development. The cases highlight the implications for civil society actors of hybrid governance systems that utilize market mechanisms to address the destructive tendencies of capitalist development. We conclude that partnerships characterized by a mismatch of responsibilities and power relations among civil society and private actors generate a new type of double movement that does not generate durable institutions and that limits the impacts of the partnerships for poor farmers.

Al cruce entre estudios migratorios y estudios rurales, el artículo explora las condiciones de la construcción de un terreno fértil para la expulsión migratoria en Centroamérica. Para comprender mejor las situaciones de desigualdades y exclusión que caracterizan actualmente los espacios rurales en la región, propone convocar un análisis histórico y espacial de las múltiples capas de fronteras que atraviesan las sociedades marginalizadas, tanto social como territorialmente, en el caso de Honduras. Se trata de evidenciar que los sistemas productivos globales extractivos y el capitalismo en su fase contemporánea de globalización se basan en procesos de diferenciación, contraste y heterogeneidad en los que se saben apoyar. Se observan en particular las diferentes etapas de reformas agrarias, la expansión del cultivo de palma africana en el litoral norte y las lógicas de dominación y organización social de las cadenas productivas. La contribución se dedica a explorar dos aceptaciones de la noción de frontera —la agrícola y la social—, desde el enfoque de la discontinuidad, las relaciones de poder y las asimetrías territoriales que explican en parte el fenómeno actual de expulsión migratoria en Honduras.Abstract: At the crossroads between migratory studies and rural studies, the article explores the conditions for the construction of a fertile ground for migratory expulsion in Central America. To better understand the situations of inequalities and exclusion that currently characterize rural spaces in the region, it proposes to convene a historical and spatial analysis of the multiple layers of frontiers that cross marginalized societies, both socially and territorially, in the case of Honduras. It is about demonstrating that the global extractive productive systems and capitalism in its contemporary phase of globalization are based on processes of differentiation, contrast and heterogeneity on which they know how to support. The different stages of agrarian reforms, the expansion of the cultivation of African palm in the north coast and the logics of domination and social organization of the productive chains are observed in particular. The contri-bution is dedicated to exploring two acceptances of the notion of frontier —the agricultural and the social— from the perspective of discontinuity, power relations and territorial asymmetries that partly explain the current phenomenon of migratory expulsion in Honduras.Keywords: agricultural extractivism; African palm; frontiers; migration; Honduras.Résumé : À la croisée des études migratoires et des études rurales, l’article explore les conditions de construction d’un terrain propice à l’expulsion migratoire en Amérique centrale. Pour mieux comprendre les situations d’inégalités et d’exclusion qui caractérisent actuellement les espaces ruraux de la région, il propose de convoquer une analyse historique et spatiale des multiples couches de frontières qui traversent les sociétés marginalisées, du point de vue social et territorial, dans le cas du Honduras. Il s’agit de démontrer que les systèmes productifs extractifs mondiaux et le capitalisme dans sa phase contemporaine de mondialisation reposent sur des processus de différenciation, de contraste et d’hétérogénéité sur lesquels ils savent s’appuyer. On observe en particulier les différentes étapes des réformes agraires, l’expansion de la culture de la palme africaine sur la côte nord et les logiques de domination et d’organisation sociale des chaînes productives. La contribution cherche à explorer deux acceptations de la notion de frontière — agricole et sociale —, du point de vue de la discontinuité, des relations de pouvoir et des asymétries territoriales qui expliquent en partie le phénomène actuel d’expulsion migratoire au Honduras.Mots-clés: extractivisme agricole ; palme africaine ; frontières ; migration ; Honduras.

Although peasants have always been linked to larger economic systems, the expansion of capitalist agriculture and the augmented incidence of migration throughout the Third World in recent decades have transformed the peasantry and made it reliant on wage work in labour markets tied to the world economy as never before. In Latin America this transformation has taken many forms, but the overwhelming direction has been towards changing subsistence farmers into wage labourers. The overall effect has been that few rural households persist independent of wage labour, while the majority combine income from resource-poor landholdings with wage earnings. The dependence on off-farm income is especially significant among smallholder farm families who derive the majority of household income from off-farm sources.

Obtaining equipment for research in developing countries can be difficult, but it is possible to build some simple equipment with local materials. Onion varietal testing for the export market from Central America has been a major emphasis for the Honduran Agricultural Research Foundation. They have been carrying out evaluations since their inception in 1985, but did not have a good way to consistently grade large quantities of onions. To evaluate the yields, simple low-cost, and easily transportable grading equipment was constructed from materials readily available in the domestic market. Grading equipment must give uniform and repeatable results. Two grading systems were designed to provide that consistency. The first was the use of PVC (polyvinylchloride) tubing to construct 3and 4-inch grading rings. Yellow and sweet onions for export are divided into two classes—jumbo (3-4 inches with 65% 3-1/2 or larger in diameter) and colossal (larger than 4 inches in diameter). Rings were constructed by cutting 1-inch cross-sections of tubing and putting one inside the other until the desired diameter was reached. The rings were functional for small plots, but were not appropriate for large trials. A compact, collapsible grader, easily carried in the back of a small truck or van, was constructed for use on large trials. Local wood and steel bars were used for the section table and sizers. At the same time, growers were looking for a grading system that could be used in areas where there was no electricity. The grader was redesigned for commercial use, but was still portable. The designs for and cost effectiveness of the grading equipment will be discussed.

An ever-increasing demand for agriculture while conserving biodiversity, maintaining livelihoods, and providing critical ecosystem services is one of the largest challenges for tropical land management across the Central American Isthmus today. Climatic and anthropogenic drivers threaten to cause changes in the forest cover and composition for this region, and therefore, understanding the dynamics of these systems and their variability across space and through time is important for discerning current and future responses. Such information is of value especially for risk mitigation, planning, and conservation purposes. The understanding of the forests, water, and land use for this region through time is currently limited, yet it is essential for understanding current patterns of change, particularly with reference to: (i) forest fragmentation; (ii) water availability; and (iii) land management. Through the examination of biotic (e.g., pollen, diatoms, and Sporormiella) and abiotic (e.g., δ 18O, CaCO3, and magnetic susceptibility) proxies, extracted from environmental archives, evidence for longer-term environmental changes can be inferred and linked to drivers of change including climate, burning, and human activities. Proxy environmental data from terrestrial depositional archives across the Central American Isthmus were identified and mapped following best practice for systematic evidence synthesis. Results from the evidence base were summarised to show the spatial and temporal extent of the published datasets. A total of 12,474 articles were identified by a comprehensive search in three major bibliographic databases. From these, 425 articles were assessed for relevance at full-text, and 149 fully met inclusion criteria for the review. These articles yielded 648 proxy records in 167 study sites that were mapped on an interactive map with filters to allow full exploration of the evidence base. Just under half of the studies were published in the last decade. Most studies extracted their data from lake sediments, with a focus on moist tropical forests in lowland sites in Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico. The largest data gaps in the evidence base are Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and El Salvador. There are also significant evidence gaps for dry tropical forests, coniferous forests, mangroves, and grasslands. Most of the studies assessed had methodological or presentational limitations that make future meta-analysis difficult and significantly affect the ability to draw conclusions that are helpful for future decision-making. A degree of standardisation, transparency, and repeatability in reporting would be beneficial to harness the findings of the existing evidence base and to shape future research in this geographical area. The systematic map of the evidence base highlights six key review topic areas that could be targeted, if the raw data could be obtained, including: (i) dating uncertainty and standardising reporting; (ii) land use change across space and time; (iii) dispersal pathways of agriculture; (iv) the role and impacts of fire and burning; (v) changes in hydro-climate, water availability, and the risk of tropical storms; and (vi) forest resilience and recovery.

Rapid urbanization rates impact significantly on the nature of Land Cover patterns of the environment, which has been evident in the depletion of vegetal reserves and in general modifying the human climatic systems (Henderson, et al., 2017; Kumar, Masago, Mishra, & Fukushi, 2018; Luo and Lau, 2017). This study explores remote sensing classification technique and other auxiliary data to determine LULCC for a period of 50 years (1967-2016). The LULCC types identified were quantitatively evaluated using the change detection approach from results of maximum likelihood classification algorithm in GIS. Accuracy assessment results were evaluated and found to be between 56 to 98 percent of the LULC classification. The change detection analysis revealed change in the LULC types in Minna from 1976 to 2016. Built-up area increases from 74.82ha in 1976 to 116.58ha in 2016. Farmlands increased from 2.23 ha to 46.45ha and bared surface increases from 120.00ha to 161.31ha between 1976 to 2016 resulting to decline in vegetation, water body, and wetlands. The Decade of rapid urbanization was found to coincide with the period of increased Public Private Partnership Agreement (PPPA). Increase in farmlands was due to the adoption of urban agriculture which has influence on food security and the environmental sustainability. The observed increase in built up areas, farmlands and bare surfaces has substantially led to reduction in vegetation and water bodies. The oscillatory nature of water bodies LULCC which was not particularly consistent with the rates of urbanization also suggests that beyond the urbanization process, other factors may influence the LULCC of water bodies in urban settlements. Keywords: Minna, Niger State, Remote Sensing, Land Surface Characteristics References Akinrinmade, A., Ibrahim, K., & Abdurrahman, A. (2012). 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Monitoring and prediction of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change Dhaka megacity (pp. 75-97): Springer. Coutts, A. M., Harris, R. J., Phan, T., Livesley, S. J., Williams, N. S., & Tapper, N. J. (2016). Thermal infrared remote sensing of urban heat: Hotspots, vegetation, and an assessment of techniques for use in urban planning. Remote Sensing of Environment, 186, pp. 637-651. Debnath, A., Debnath, J., Ahmed, I., & Pan, N. D. (2017). Change detection in Land use/cover of a hilly area by Remote Sensing and GIS technique: A study on Tropical forest hill range, Baramura, Tripura, Northeast India. International journal of geomatics and geosciences, 7(3), pp. 293-309. Desheng, L., & Xia, F. (2010). Assessing object-based classification: advantages and limitations. Remote Sensing Letters, 1(4), pp. 187-194. Dewan, A. M., & Yamaguchi, Y. (2009). Land use and land cover change in Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh: Using remote sensing to promote sustainable urbanization. Applied Geography, 29(3), pp. 390-401. Dronova, I., Gong, P., Wang, L., & Zhong, L. (2015). Mapping dynamic cover types in a large seasonally flooded wetland using extended principal component analysis and object-based classification. Remote Sensing of Environment, 158, pp. 193-206. Duro, D. C., Franklin, S. E., & Dubé, M. G. (2012). A comparison of pixel-based and object-based image analysis with selected machine learning algorithms for the classification of agricultural landscapes using SPOT-5 HRG imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 118, pp. 259-272. Elmhagen, B., Destouni, G., Angerbjörn, A., Borgström, S., Boyd, E., Cousins, S., . . . Hambäck, P. (2015). Interacting effects of change in climate, human population, land use, and water use on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society, 20(1) Farhani, S., & Ozturk, I. (2015). Causal relationship between CO 2 emissions, real GDP, energy consumption, financial development, trade openness, and urbanization in Tunisia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 22(20), pp. 15663-15676. Feng, L., Chen, B., Hayat, T., Alsaedi, A., & Ahmad, B. (2017). The driving force of water footprint under the rapid urbanization process: a structural decomposition analysis for Zhangye city in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 163, pp. S322-S328. Fensham, R., & Fairfax, R. (2002). Aerial photography for assessing vegetation change: a review of applications and the relevance of findings for Australian vegetation history. Australian Journal of Botany, 50(4), pp. 415-429. Ferreira, N., Lage, M., Doraiswamy, H., Vo, H., Wilson, L., Werner, H., . . . Silva, C. (2015). Urbane: A 3d framework to support data driven decision making in urban development. Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST), 2015 IEEE Conference on. Garschagen, M., & Romero-Lankao, P. (2015). Exploring the relationships between urbanization trends and climate change vulnerability. Climatic Change, 133(1), pp. 37-52. Gokturk, S. B., Sumengen, B., Vu, D., Dalal, N., Yang, D., Lin, X., . . . Torresani, L. (2015). System and method for search portions of objects in images and features thereof: Google Patents. Government, N. S. (2007). Niger state (The Power State). Retrieved from http://nigerstate.blogspot.com.ng/ Green, K., Kempka, D., & Lackey, L. (1994). Using remote sensing to detect and monitor land-cover and land-use change. Photogrammetric engineering and remote sensing, 60(3), pp. 331-337. Gu, W., Lv, Z., & Hao, M. (2017). Change detection method for remote sensing images based on an improved Markov random field. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 76(17), pp. 17719-17734. Guo, Y., & Shen, Y. (2015). Quantifying water and energy budgets and the impacts of climatic and human factors in the Haihe River Basin, China: 2. Trends and implications to water resources. Journal of Hydrology, 527, pp. 251-261. Hadi, F., Thapa, R. B., Helmi, M., Hazarika, M. K., Madawalagama, S., Deshapriya, L. N., & Center, G. (2016). Urban growth and land use/land cover modeling in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia: Colombo-Srilanka, ACRS2016. Hagolle, O., Huc, M., Villa Pascual, D., & Dedieu, G. (2015). A multi-temporal and multi-spectral method to estimate aerosol optical thickness over land, for the atmospheric correction of FormoSat-2, LandSat, VENμS and Sentinel-2 images. Remote Sensing, 7(3), pp. 2668-2691. Hegazy, I. R., & Kaloop, M. R. (2015). Monitoring urban growth and land use change detection with GIS and remote sensing techniques in Daqahlia governorate Egypt. International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, 4(1), pp. 117-124. Henderson, J. V., Storeygard, A., & Deichmann, U. (2017). Has climate change driven urbanization in Africa? Journal of development economics, 124, pp. 60-82. Hu, L., & Brunsell, N. A. (2015). A new perspective to assess the urban heat island through remotely sensed atmospheric profiles. Remote Sensing of Environment, 158, pp. 393-406. Hughes, S. J., Cabral, J. A., Bastos, R., Cortes, R., Vicente, J., Eitelberg, D., . . . Santos, M. (2016). A stochastic dynamic model to assess land use change scenarios on the ecological status of fluvial water bodies under the Water Framework Directive. Science of the Total Environment, 565, pp. 427-439. Hussain, M., Chen, D., Cheng, A., Wei, H., & Stanley, D. (2013). Change detection from remotely sensed images: From pixel-based to object-based approaches. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 80, pp. 91-106. Hyyppä, J., Hyyppä, H., Inkinen, M., Engdahl, M., Linko, S., & Zhu, Y.-H. (2000). Accuracy comparison of various remote sensing data sources in the retrieval of forest stand attributes. Forest Ecology and Management, 128(1-2), pp. 109-120. Jiang, L., Wu, F., Liu, Y., & Deng, X. (2014). Modeling the impacts of urbanization and industrial transformation on water resources in China: an integrated hydro-economic CGE analysis. Sustainability, 6(11), pp. 7586-7600. Jin, S., Yang, L., Zhu, Z., & Homer, C. (2017). A land cover change detection and classification protocol for updating Alaska NLCD 2001 to 2011. Remote Sensing of Environment, 195, pp. 44-55. Joshi, N., Baumann, M., Ehammer, A., Fensholt, R., Grogan, K., Hostert, P., . . . Mitchard, E. T. (2016). A review of the application of optical and radar remote sensing data fusion to land use mapping and monitoring. Remote Sensing, 8(1), p 70. Kaliraj, S., Chandrasekar, N., & Magesh, N. (2015). Evaluation of multiple environmental factors for site-specific groundwater recharge structures in the Vaigai River upper basin, Tamil Nadu, India, using GIS-based weighted overlay analysis. Environmental earth sciences, 74(5), pp. 4355-4380. Koop, S. H., & van Leeuwen, C. J. (2015). Assessment of the sustainability of water resources management: A critical review of the City Blueprint approach. Water Resources Management, 29(15), pp. 5649-5670. Kumar, P., Masago, Y., Mishra, B. K., & Fukushi, K. (2018). Evaluating future stress due to combined effect of climate change and rapid urbanization for Pasig-Marikina River, Manila. Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 6, pp. 227-234. Lang, S. (2008). Object-based image analysis for remote sensing applications: modeling reality–dealing with complexity Object-based image analysis (pp. 3-27): Springer. Li, M., Zang, S., Zhang, B., Li, S., & Wu, C. (2014). A review of remote sensing image classification techniques: The role of spatio-contextual information. European Journal of Remote Sensing, 47(1), pp. 389-411. Liddle, B. (2014). Impact of population, age structure, and urbanization on carbon emissions/energy consumption: evidence from macro-level, cross-country analyses. Population and Environment, 35(3), pp. 286-304. Lillesand, T., Kiefer, R. W., & Chipman, J. (2014). Remote sensing and image interpretation: John Wiley & Sons. Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Peng, J., Du, Y., Liu, X., Li, S., & Zhang, D. (2015). Correlations between urbanization and vegetation degradation across the world’s metropolises using DMSP/OLS nighttime light data. Remote Sensing, 7(2), pp. 2067-2088. López, E., Bocco, G., Mendoza, M., & Duhau, E. (2001). Predicting land-cover and land-use change in the urban fringe: a case in Morelia city, Mexico. Landscape and urban planning, 55(4), pp. 271-285. Luo, M., & Lau, N.-C. (2017). Heat waves in southern China: Synoptic behavior, long-term change, and urbanization effects. Journal of Climate, 30(2), pp. 703-720. Mahboob, M. A., Atif, I., & Iqbal, J. (2015). Remote sensing and GIS applications for assessment of urban sprawl in Karachi, Pakistan. Science, Technology and Development, 34(3), pp. 179-188. Mallinis, G., Koutsias, N., Tsakiri-Strati, M., & Karteris, M. (2008). Object-based classification using Quickbird imagery for delineating forest vegetation polygons in a Mediterranean test site. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 63(2), pp. 237-250. 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Towards better exploiting convolutional neural networks for remote sensing scene classification. Pattern Recognition, 61, pp. 539-556. Oguz, H., & Zengin, M. (2011). Analyzing land use/land cover change using remote sensing data and landscape structure metrics: a case study of Erzurum, Turkey. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 20(12), pp. 3258-3269. Pohl, C., & Van Genderen, J. L. (1998). Review article multisensor image fusion in remote sensing: concepts, methods and applications. International journal of remote sensing, 19(5), pp. 823-854. Price, O., & Bradstock, R. (2014). Countervailing effects of urbanization and vegetation extent on fire frequency on the Wildland Urban Interface: Disentangling fuel and ignition effects. Landscape and urban planning, 130, pp. 81-88. Prosdocimi, I., Kjeldsen, T., & Miller, J. (2015). Detection and attribution of urbanization effect on flood extremes using nonstationary flood‐frequency models. Water resources research, 51(6), pp. 4244-4262. Rawat, J., & Kumar, M. (2015). Monitoring land use/cover change using remote sensing and GIS techniques: A case study of Hawalbagh block, district Almora, Uttarakhand, India. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science, 18(1), pp. 77-84. Rokni, K., Ahmad, A., Solaimani, K., & Hazini, S. (2015). A new approach for surface water change detection: Integration of pixel level image fusion and image classification techniques. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 34, pp. 226-234. Sakieh, Y., Amiri, B. J., Danekar, A., Feghhi, J., & Dezhkam, S. (2015). Simulating urban expansion and scenario prediction using a cellular automata urban growth model, SLEUTH, through a case study of Karaj City, Iran. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 30(4), pp. 591-611. Santra, A. (2016). Land Surface Temperature Estimation and Urban Heat Island Detection: A Remote Sensing Perspective. Remote Sensing Techniques and GIS Applications in Earth and Environmental Studies, p 16. Shrivastava, L., & Nag, S. (2017). MONITORING OF LAND USE/LAND COVER CHANGE USING GIS AND REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES: A CASE STUDY OF SAGAR RIVER WATERSHED, TRIBUTARY OF WAINGANGA RIVER OF MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA. Shuaibu, M., & Sulaiman, I. (2012). Application of remote sensing and GIS in land cover change detection in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria. J Technol Educ Res, 5, pp. 43-55. Song, B., Li, J., Dalla Mura, M., Li, P., Plaza, A., Bioucas-Dias, J. M., . . . Chanussot, J. (2014). Remotely sensed image classification using sparse representations of morphological attribute profiles. IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing, 52(8), pp. 5122-5136. Song, X.-P., Sexton, J. O., Huang, C., Channan, S., & Townshend, J. R. (2016). Characterizing the magnitude, timing and duration of urban growth from time series of Landsat-based estimates of impervious cover. 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Lidar: range-resolved optical remote sensing of the atmosphere: Springer Science & Business. Wellmann, T., Haase, D., Knapp, S., Salbach, C., Selsam, P., & Lausch, A. (2018). Urban land use intensity assessment: The potential of spatio-temporal spectral traits with remote sensing. Ecological Indicators, 85, pp. 190-203. Whiteside, T. G., Boggs, G. S., & Maier, S. W. (2011). Comparing object-based and pixel-based classifications for mapping savannas. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 13(6), pp. 884-893. Willhauck, G., Schneider, T., De Kok, R., & Ammer, U. (2000). Comparison of object oriented classification techniques and standard image analysis for the use of change detection between SPOT multispectral satellite images and aerial photos. Proceedings of XIX ISPRS congress. Winker, D. M., Vaughan, M. A., Omar, A., Hu, Y., Powell, K. A., Liu, Z., . . . Young, S. A. (2009). Overview of the CALIPSO mission and CALIOP data processing algorithms. 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This thesis presents the findings of an investigation of the spatial and temporal distribution of soil macrofauna at multiple scales within smallholder agriforestry fields in a remote, mountainous area of western Honduras. Since 1990, smallholder farmers in the study area have switched from traditional slash-and-burn agriculture to a form of slash-and-mulch agriforestry based on cultivating maize, beans and sorghum amongst dispersed trees. The principal objective was to examine the influence of the slash-and-mulch agricultural system on soil macrofauna abundance, biomass and community composition, and relate soil macrofauna distribution patterns to environmental variables. The initial stage of the research comprised transect-based sampling of soil macrofauna and biophysical variables in four common land uses of the study area. All four land uses (secondary forest, young milpa (agriforestry), mature milpa, and pasture) supported abundant, diverse and heterogeneous soil macrofauna communities, with few notable differences in soil macrofauna distribution among land uses. The most abundant soil macrofauna taxa were termites, ants, earthworms and beetles. Of the 'explanatory' environmental variables that were measured (including land use and selected soil properties, vegetation characteristics and topographic variables), those that had the strongest relationships with soil macrofauna abundance were land use, tree density and soil organic matter content. The second stage of the research was spatially-orientated and used stratified sampling based on within-field differences in farmer-defined soil type, as well as grid-based sampling of soil macrofauna surface activity. There was substantial within-field variation in soil type and topography, which was related to distribution patterns of at least one agriculturally-important soil macrofauna taxon. Earthworm activity was higher in areas of fertile soil and lower slope positions. At a finer scale, there was a positive spatial correlation between tree distribution and earthworm casting activity. The final phase situated the biophysical research in the local socio-economic context through participant observation and interviews with farmers. The results of the three phases of the study were incorporated into an original conceptual model of the relationships among soil macrofauna and environmental variables in the study area across multiple spatial scales and along a chronosequence of land use changes. Specific pointers are provided for further research on the role of soil fauna in influencing soil structure, nutrient cycling and pest species abundance, and for further investigating local knowledge and the socio-economic and cultural drivers of land use change.

Understanding the factors related to destructive ecological processes in the tropics has expanded significantly in the last decade. Much has been learned about heterogeneity in geomorphology, soils, hydrology, and climate and about associated vulnerability to ecological damage. Research on cropping systems has divulged both the suitability and the liability in swidden agricultural practices and has led to recommendations involving alternative cropping and agroforestry complexes (Altieri 1987). At the same time, there has been a growing awareness that a more comprehensive knowledge of tropical ecology and enlarged technological and/or agricultural options will not necessarily affect a sustainable ecology (Altieri and Hecht 1990; Redclift 1984, 1987). Research on peasant economies in Latin America and elsewhere has demonstrated the existence of a highly differentiated peasantry, the vast majority of whom are landless or land-poor and who are more dependent on income earned from off-farm than from on-farm sources (Collins 1986; Deere and Wasserstrom 1981; Stonich 1991b). Such studies have demonstrated that systemic interconnections among family and corporate farmers with landholdings of all sizes promote environmental destruction (Stonich 1989); have established the existence of labor scarcity rather than labor surpluses in many peasant communities and the related environmental consequences (Brush 1977,1987; Collins 1987,1988; Posner and MacPherson 1982; Stonich 1993); and have called for rural and agricultural development policy that takes into account a socially differentiated peasantry and diversified rural poverty (de Janvry and Sadoulet 1989). It is increasingly evident that ecological destruction cannot be fathomed apart from the demographic, institutional, and social factors that influence the agricultural practices and other natural resource management decisions of agricultural producers. This paper describes a multidisciplinary methodology designed to examine the interactions among demographic trends, social processes, agricultural production decisions, and ecological decline in southern Honduras, a region characterized by widespread and worsening human impoverishment and environmental degradation. The methodology integrated the research efforts and databases compiled by anthropologists from the University of Kentucky using a farming systems approach, who were part of the socioeconomic component of the International Sorghum Millet Project (INTSORMIL) with potentially complementary research conducted by the natural and agricultural scientists working as part of the Comprehensive Resource Inventory and Evaluation System Project (CRIES) at Michigan State University.

The common model for engineers’ engagement in philanthropic development work is to find a community with a technical need, design the solution, raise funds for the solution, construct the solution, and hand the solution over to the community. While this approach has yielded many completed projects around the world, there are limits to the efficacy, sustainability, and long-term enabling potential to this approach. The Dayton Service Engineering Collaborative, or DSEC, takes an alternative approach to philanthropic community development which is demonstrated via a case study in bringing clean water for drinking and agricultural purposes to Caliche, Honduras. Caliche, an impoverished village of approximately 350 people located in central Honduras, had access to a mountain spring as a source of water until a 2009 earthquake sent the spring’s flow underground. As of late 2011, the village did not have a clean source of drinking water, utilizing collected rainwater and surface water ponds for all of their water needs. Waterborne illness and malady was prevalent, with severe consequences to the young and the elderly. After a survey of the geography, the resources of the local people, and partner institutions, a community-scale biosand filtration system with requisite delivery structures was proposed, accepted, and brought to design fruition. Design and implementation of a solution to the technical problem of water delivery and treatment, while rigorous and complex, is not out of the realm of practice for technical groups working in communities such as Caliche. The innovation in this project, however, was the “lead from behind” approach in the context of a best practice called asset-based community development. A multi-partner initiative led first and foremost by the community leadership, and through local institutions and power structures, was managed from distance. In addition to DSEC, partners in this project included a multi-national non-governmental organization (NGO), a financial investor, the Honduran government, several missionaries, the Caliche Water Council, a local landowner, the Caliche leadership known as the Patronado, and the local church. DSEC provided technical leadership and project oversight, ensuring that not only were the technical obstacles overcome, but that the community and local authorities were empowered to tackle future development projects with independent vision. It is through this enabling approach that impact beyond the immediate project is attained, and where DSEC believes the leadership potential of the engineer is fully realized.

The power and promise of genome editing, CRISPR specifically, was first realized with the discovery of CRISPR loci in the 1980s.i Since that time, CRISPR-Cas systems have been further developed enabling genome editing in virtually all organisms across the tree of life.i In the last few years, we have seen the development of a diverse set of CRISPR-based technologies that has revolutionized genome manipulation.ii Enabling a more diverse set of actors than has been seen with other emerging technologies to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine.ii Currently, the CRISPR community encompasses over 40,000 authors at 20,000 institutions that have documented their research in over 20,000 published and peer-reviewed studies.iii These CRISPR-based genome editing tools have promised tremendous opportunities in agriculture for the breeding of crops and livestock across the food supply chain. Potentially addressing issues associated with a growing global population, sustainability concerns, and possibly help address the effects of climate change.i These promises however, come along-side concerns of environmental and socio-economic risks associated with CRISPR-based genome editing, and concerns that governance systems are not keeping pace with the technological development and are ill-equipped, or not well suited, to evaluate these risks. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched an initiative in 2020 to understand the complexities of these new tools, their potential impacts on the LAC region, and how IDB may best invest in its potential adoption and governance strategies. This first series of discussion documents: “Genome Editing in Latin America: Regulatory Overview,” and “CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy” are part of this larger initiative to examine the regulatory and institutional frameworks surrounding gene editing via CRISPR-based technologies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. Focusing on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, they set the stage for a deeper analysis of the issues they present which will be studied over the course of the next year through expert solicitations in the region, the development of a series of crop-specific case studies, and a final comprehensive regional analysis of the issues discovered.

The power and promise of genome editing, CRISPR specifically, was first realized with the discovery of CRISPR loci in the 1980s.3 Since that time, CRISPR-Cas systems have been further developed enabling genome editing in virtually all organisms across the tree of life.3 In the last few years, we have seen the development of a diverse set of CRISPR-based technologies that has revolutionized genome manipulation.4 Enabling a more diverse set of actors than has been seen with other emerging technologies to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine.4 Currently, the CRISPR community encompasses over 40,000 authors at 20,000 institutions that have documented their research in over 20,000 published and peer-reviewed studies.5 These CRISPR-based genome editing tools have promised tremendous opportunities in agriculture for the breeding of crops and livestock across the food supply chain. Potentially addressing issues associated with a growing global population, sustainability concerns, and possibly help address the effects of climate change.4 These promises however, come along-side concerns of environmental and socio-economic risks associated with CRISPR-based genome editing, and concerns that governance systems are not keeping pace with the technological development and are ill-equipped, or not well suited, to evaluate these risks. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched an initiative in 2020 to understand the complexities of these new tools, their potential impacts on the LAC region, and how IDB may best invest in its potential adoption and governance strategies. This first series of discussion documents: “Genome Editing in Latin America: Regulatory Overview,” and “CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy” are part of this larger initiative to examine the regulatory and institutional frameworks surrounding gene editing via CRISPR-based technologies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. Focusing on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, they set the stage for a deeper analysis of the issues they present which will be studied over the course of the next year through expert solicitations in the region, the development of a series of crop-specific case studies, and a final comprehensive regional analysis of the issues discovered.