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Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement

facilityMontpellier, Occitanie, France

Research output, citation impact, and the most-cited recent papers from Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement (France). Aggregated across the NobleBlocks index of 300M+ scholarly works.

Total works
5.8K
Citations
27.5K
h-index
71
i10-index
650
Also known as
Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le DéveloppementUMR 5281UMR5281

Top-cited papers from Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement

A multi-decade record of high-quality <i>f</i> CO <sub>2</sub> data in version 3 of the Surface Ocean CO <sub>2</sub> Atlas (SOCAT)
Dorothée C. E. Bakker, Benjamin Pfeil, Camilla S. Landa, Nicolas Metzl +4 more
2016· Earth system science data711doi:10.5194/essd-8-383-2016

Abstract. The Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT) is a synthesis of quality-controlled fCO2 (fugacity of carbon dioxide) values for the global surface oceans and coastal seas with regular updates. Version 3 of SOCAT has 14.7 million fCO2 values from 3646 data sets covering the years 1957 to 2014. This latest version has an additional 4.6 million fCO2 values relative to version 2 and extends the record from 2011 to 2014. Version 3 also significantly increases the data availability for 2005 to 2013. SOCAT has an average of approximately 1.2 million surface water fCO2 values per year for the years 2006 to 2012. Quality and documentation of the data has improved. A new feature is the data set quality control (QC) flag of E for data from alternative sensors and platforms. The accuracy of surface water fCO2 has been defined for all data set QC flags. Automated range checking has been carried out for all data sets during their upload into SOCAT. The upgrade of the interactive Data Set Viewer (previously known as the Cruise Data Viewer) allows better interrogation of the SOCAT data collection and rapid creation of high-quality figures for scientific presentations. Automated data upload has been launched for version 4 and will enable more frequent SOCAT releases in the future. High-profile scientific applications of SOCAT include quantification of the ocean sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and its long-term variation, detection of ocean acidification, as well as evaluation of coupled-climate and ocean-only biogeochemical models. Users of SOCAT data products are urged to acknowledge the contribution of data providers, as stated in the SOCAT Fair Data Use Statement. This ESSD (Earth System Science Data) "living data" publication documents the methods and data sets used for the assembly of this new version of the SOCAT data collection and compares these with those used for earlier versions of the data collection (Pfeil et al., 2013; Sabine et al., 2013; Bakker et al., 2014). Individual data set files, included in the synthesis product, can be downloaded here: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.849770. The gridded products are available here: doi:10.3334/CDIAC/OTG.SOCAT_V3_GRID.

Validating the City Region Food System Approach: Enacting Inclusive, Transformational City Region Food Systems
Alison Blay‐Palmer, Guido Santini, Marielle Dubbeling, H. Renting +2 more
2018· Sustainability241doi:10.3390/su10051680

This paper offers a critical assessment of the value and utility of the evolving City Region Food Systems (CRFS) approach to improve our insights into flows of resources—food, waste, people, and knowledge—from rural to peri-urban to urban and back again, and the policies and process needed to enable sustainability. This paper reflects on (1) CRFS merits compared to other approaches; (2) the operational potential of applying the CRFS approach to existing projects through case analysis; (3) how to make the CRFS approach more robust and ways to further operationalize the approach; and (4) the potential for the CRFS approach to address complex challenges including integrated governance, territorial development, metabolic flows, and climate change. The paper begins with the rationale for CRFS as both a conceptual framework and an integrative operational approach, as it helps to build increasingly coherent transformational food systems. CRFS is differentiated from existing approaches to understand the context and gaps in theory and practice. We then explore the strength of CRFS through the conceptual building blocks of ‘food systems’ and ‘city-regions’ as appropriate, or not, to address pressing complex challenges. As both a multi-stakeholder, sustainability-building approach and process, CRFS provides a collective voice for food actors across scales and could provide coherence across jurisdictions, policies, and scales, including the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Habitat III New Urban Agenda, and the Conference of the Parties (COP) 21. CRFS responds directly to calls in the literature to provide a conceptual and practical framing for policy through wide engagement across sectors that enables the co-construction of a relevant policy frame that can be enacted through sufficiently integrated policies and programs that achieve increasingly sustainable food systems.

African Economic Outlook 2015
African Development Bank, OECD, United Nations Development Programme
2015· African economic outlook214doi:10.1787/aeo-2015-en

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa’s growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent’s two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development, and governance.

Assessing Transitions to Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems: A Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE)
Anne Mottet, Abram Bicksler, Darío Lucantoni, Fabrizia De Rosa +4 more
2020· Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems194doi:10.3389/fsufs.2020.579154

There is increasing interest in agroecology as a way to move toward more sustainable agriculture and food systems. However, the evidence of agroecology's contribution to sustainability remains fragmented because of heterogeneous methods and data, differing scales and timeframes, and knowledge gaps. Facing these challenges, 70 representatives of agroecology-related organizations worldwide participated in the development of the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), to produce and consolidate evidence on the multidimensional performances of agroecological systems. TAPE is composed of: Step 0, the preliminary step that includes a description of the main socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the agricultural and food systems and an analysis of the enabling environment in terms of relevant policy, market, technology, socio-cultural and/or historical drivers; Step 1, the Characterization of Agroecological Transitions (CAET), based on the 10 Elements of Agroecology adopted by FAO and its member countries, using descriptive scales to establish scores and assessing the degree of transition, with information from the farm/household and community/territory scale; Step 2, the Core Criteria of Performance listing the key dimensions considered relevant to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Environment &amp;amp; climate change; Health &amp;amp; nutrition; Society &amp;amp; culture; Economy and Governance. Finally Step 3, a participatory validation of the results obtained from the previous steps with the producers and relevant stakeholders. TAPE can be used (i) to assess the extent of agroecological transition among agricultural producers in a community or a territory, (ii) to monitor and evaluate projects by characterizing the initial and subsequent steps in an agroecological transition, and/or (iii) to evaluate widely diverse agricultural systems against agroecological elements and how they contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Its application can support the transition of all forms of agricultural systems toward more sustainable practices and the formulation of adequate policies to enable this transformation. Preliminary results from pilot applications show that TAPE can perform in a variety of geographic regions and agroecosystems and that it allows assessment of performances of various criteria that move beyond classic indicators to begin to build a global evidence base for agroecology and support transformation to sustainable agricultural production and food systems.

Epidemiology of Leptospira Transmitted by Rodents in Southeast Asia
Jean‐François Cosson, Mathieu Picardeau, Mielcarek Mathilde, Caroline Tatard +4 more
2014· PLoS neglected tropical diseases194doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002902

BACKGROUND: Leptospirosis is the most common bacterial zoonoses and has been identified as an important emerging global public health problem in Southeast Asia. Rodents are important reservoirs for human leptospirosis, but epidemiological data is lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We sampled rodents living in different habitats from seven localities distributed across Southeast Asia (Thailand, Lao PDR and Cambodia), between 2009 to 2010. Human isolates were also obtained from localities close to where rodents were sampled. The prevalence of Leptospira infection was assessed by real-time PCR using DNA extracted from rodent kidneys, targeting the lipL32 gene. Sequencing rrs and secY genes, and Multi Locus Variable-number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) analyses were performed on DNA extracted from rat kidneys for Leptospira isolates molecular typing. Four species were detected in rodents, L. borgpetersenii (56% of positive samples), L. interrogans (36%), L. kirschneri (3%) and L. weilli (2%), which were identical to human isolates. Mean prevalence in rodents was approximately 7%, and largely varied across localities and habitats, but not between rodent species. The two most abundant Leptospira species displayed different habitat requirements: L. interrogans was linked to humid habitats (rice fields and forests) while L. borgpetersenii was abundant in both humid and dry habitats (non-floodable lands). CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii species are widely distributed amongst rodent populations, and strain typing confirmed rodents as reservoirs for human leptospirosis. Differences in habitat requirements for L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii supported differential transmission modes. In Southeast Asia, human infection risk is not only restricted to activities taking place in wetlands and rice fields as is commonly accepted, but should also include tasks such as forestry work, as well as the hunting and preparation of rodents for consumption, which deserve more attention in future epidemiological studies.

L'innovation sociale, une notion aux usages pluriels : Quels enjeux et défis pour l'analyse ?
Nadine Richez‐Battesti, Francesca Petrella, Delphine Vallade
2012· Innovations164doi:10.3917/inno.038.0015

Résumé L’ampleur de la crise actuelle favorise un regain d’intérêt pour l’innovation supposée à l’origine d’un nouveau régime de croissance. Dans ce contexte l’innovation sociale apparaît comme la nouvelle solution, susceptible de favoriser non seulement la croissance, mais une forme de partage de ses fruits plus équitable, voire de redéfinir les politiques sociales. Elle est souvent présentée comme une façon de combiner l’aspiration au changement (une avancée vers une nouvelle modernité) et une forme de garantie d’équité et de justice sociale qui s’appuierait sur la créativité des acteurs et en particulier des acteurs privés. Mais sa définition reste encore floue et elle fait l’objet d’usages pluriels. Nous présentons les trois principales conceptions de l’innovation sociale qui coexistent aujourd’hui, puis nous identifions trois questionnements dominants : la nature de l’innovation, le sens et le périmètre de la dimension « sociale » de l’innovation, et enfin, les caractéristiques de l’entrepreneuriat (individuel ou collectif), en lien avec la forme de gouvernance et celle de la participation d’une pluralité de parties prenantes. Codes JEL : A13, A14

The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030
Kate Schneider, Jessica Fanzo, Lawrence Haddad, Mario Herrero +4 more
2023· Nature Food158doi:10.1038/s43016-023-00885-9

This Analysis presents a recently developed food system indicator framework and holistic monitoring architecture to track food system transformation towards global development, health and sustainability goals. Five themes are considered: (1) diets, nutrition and health; (2) environment, natural resources and production; (3) livelihoods, poverty and equity; (4) governance; and (5) resilience. Each theme is divided into three to five indicator domains, and indicators were selected to reflect each domain through a consultative process. In total, 50 indicators were selected, with at least one indicator available for every domain. Harmonized data of these 50 indicators provide a baseline assessment of the world's food systems. We show that every country can claim positive outcomes in some parts of food systems, but none are among the highest ranked across all domains. Furthermore, some indicators are independent of national income, and each highlights a specific aspiration for healthy, sustainable and just food systems. The Food Systems Countdown Initiative will track food systems annually to 2030, amending the framework as new indicators or better data emerge.

Towards a thesaurus of plant characteristics: an ecological contribution
Éric Garnier, Ulrike Stahl, Marie‐Angélique Laporte, Jens Kattge +4 more
2016· Journal of Ecology152doi:10.1111/1365-2745.12698

Summary Ecological research produces a tremendous amount of data, but the diversity in scales and topics covered and the ways in which studies are carried out result in large numbers of small, idiosyncratic data sets using heterogeneous terminologies. Such heterogeneity can be attributed, in part, to a lack of standards for acquiring, organizing and describing data. Here, we propose a terminological resource, a T hesaurus O f P lant characteristics ( TOP ), whose aim is to harmonize and formalize concepts for plant characteristics widely used in ecology. TOP concentrates on two types of plant characteristics: traits and environmental associations. It builds on previous initiatives for several aspects: (i) characteristics are designed following the entity‐quality (EQ) model (a characteristic is modelled as the ‘Quality’ &lt;Q&gt; of an ‘Entity’ &lt;E&gt;) used in the context of Open Biological Ontologies; (ii) whenever possible, the Entities and Qualities are taken from existing terminology standards, mainly the Plant Ontology ( PO ) and Phenotypic Quality Ontology ( PATO ) ontologies; and (iii) whenever a characteristic already has a definition, if appropriate, it is reused and referenced. The development of TOP , which complies with semantic web principles, was carried out through the involvement of experts from both the ecology and the semantics research communities. Regular updates of TOP are planned, based on community feedback and involvement. TOP provides names, definitions, units, synonyms and related terms for about 850 plant characteristics. TOP is available online ( www.top-thesaurus.org ), and can be browsed using an alphabetical list of characteristics, a hierarchical tree of characteristics, a faceted and a free‐text search, and through an Application Programming Interface. Synthesis . Harmonizing definitions of concepts, as proposed by TOP , forms the basis for better integration of data across heterogeneous data sets and terminologies, thereby increasing the potential for data reuse. It also allows enhanced scientific synthesis. TOP therefore has the potential to improve research and communication not only within the field of ecology, but also in related fields with interest in plant functioning and distribution.

Meta-analysis of cotton fiber quality QTLs across diverse environments in a Gossypium hirsutum x G. barbadense RIL population
Jean-Marc Lacape, Danny Llewellyn, John Jacobs, Tony Arioli +4 more
2010· BMC Plant Biology151doi:10.1186/1471-2229-10-132

BACKGROUND: Cotton fibers (produced by Gossypium species) are the premier natural fibers for textile production. The two tetraploid species, G. barbadense (Gb) and G. hirsutum (Gh), differ significantly in their fiber properties, the former having much longer, finer and stronger fibers that are highly prized. A better understanding of the genetics and underlying biological causes of these differences will aid further improvement of cotton quality through breeding and biotechnology. We evaluated an inter-specific Gh x Gb recombinant inbred line (RIL) population for fiber characteristics in 11 independent experiments under field and glasshouse conditions. Sites were located on 4 continents and 5 countries and some locations were analyzed over multiple years. RESULTS: The RIL population displayed a large variability for all major fiber traits. QTL analyses were performed on a per-site basis by composite interval mapping. Among the 651 putative QTLs (LOD > 2), 167 had a LOD exceeding permutation based thresholds. Coincidence in QTL location across data sets was assessed for the fiber trait categories strength, elongation, length, length uniformity, fineness/maturity, and color. A meta-analysis of more than a thousand putative QTLs was conducted with MetaQTL software to integrate QTL data from the RIL and 3 backcross populations (from the same parents) and to compare them with the literature. Although the global level of congruence across experiments and populations was generally moderate, the QTL clustering was possible for 30 trait x chromosome combinations (5 traits in 19 different chromosomes) where an effective co-localization of unidirectional (similar sign of additivity) QTLs from at least 5 different data sets was observed. Most consistent meta-clusters were identified for fiber color on chromosomes c6, c8 and c25, fineness on c15, and fiber length on c3. CONCLUSIONS: Meta-analysis provided a reliable means of integrating phenotypic and genetic mapping data across multiple populations and environments for complex fiber traits. The consistent chromosomal regions contributing to fiber quality traits constitute good candidates for the further dissection of the genetic and genomic factors underlying important fiber characteristics, and for marker-assisted selection.

Towards the understanding of the cocoa transcriptome: Production and analysis of an exhaustive dataset of ESTs of Theobroma cacao L. generated from various tissues and under various conditions
Xavier Argout, Olivier Fouet, Patrick Wincker, Karina Peres Gramacho +4 more
2008· BMC Genomics144doi:10.1186/1471-2164-9-512

BACKGROUND: Theobroma cacao L., is a tree originated from the tropical rainforest of South America. It is one of the major cash crops for many tropical countries. T. cacao is mainly produced on smallholdings, providing resources for 14 million farmers. Disease resistance and T. cacao quality improvement are two important challenges for all actors of cocoa and chocolate production. T. cacao is seriously affected by pests and fungal diseases, responsible for more than 40% yield losses and quality improvement, nutritional and organoleptic, is also important for consumers. An international collaboration was formed to develop an EST genomic resource database for cacao. RESULTS: Fifty-six cDNA libraries were constructed from different organs, different genotypes and different environmental conditions. A total of 149,650 valid EST sequences were generated corresponding to 48,594 unigenes, 12,692 contigs and 35,902 singletons. A total of 29,849 unigenes shared significant homology with public sequences from other species.Gene Ontology (GO) annotation was applied to distribute the ESTs among the main GO categories.A specific information system (ESTtik) was constructed to process, store and manage this EST collection allowing the user to query a database.To check the representativeness of our EST collection, we looked for the genes known to be involved in two different metabolic pathways extensively studied in other plant species and important for T. cacao qualities: the flavonoid and the terpene pathways. Most of the enzymes described in other crops for these two metabolic pathways were found in our EST collection.A large collection of new genetic markers was provided by this ESTs collection. CONCLUSION: This EST collection displays a good representation of the T. cacao transcriptome, suitable for analysis of biochemical pathways based on oligonucleotide microarrays derived from these ESTs. It will provide numerous genetic markers that will allow the construction of a high density gene map of T. cacao. This EST collection represents a unique and important molecular resource for T. cacao study and improvement, facilitating the discovery of candidate genes for important T. cacao trait variation.

Tourism, nightlife and planning: challenges and opportunities for community liveability in La Barceloneta
Jordi Nofre, Emanuele Giordano, Adam Eldridge, João Carlos Martins +1 more
2017· Tourism Geographies142doi:10.1080/14616688.2017.1375972

In La Barceloneta, one of the beachfront quarters of the city of Barcelona, the rapid expansion of mainly illegal short-term rental apartments for tourists and noise problems related to alcohol-fuelled nightlife consumption, are challenging community liveability and peaceful urban coexistence between different social groups. Similar to other cases worldwide, the rapid expansion of touristification on the urban and socio-economic fabric of the city has become an increasing source of dispute and residents' contestation. By taking a diachronical critical review, the first part of this paper examines the role of urban planning developed in La Barceloneta during the period 1950–2016 and how it transformed the area into a leisure-oriented and tourist-oriented quarter. The second part of the paper is based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork that was conducted to capture the range of different voices, stories and discourses produced and reproduced by different actors affected and/or involved in the recent touristification of La Barceloneta. Findings obtained confirm that current urban policy and planning are clearly insufficient to tackle and address negative community-based impacts aforementioned. Hence, the final section highlights the urgent need for the development and implementation of new, community-based urban planning with the aim of ensuring community liveability and peaceful urban coexistence between different social groups in La Barceloneta.

Exploring the future of land use and food security: A new set of global scenarios
Olivier Mora, Chantal Le Mouël, Marie De Lattre-Gasquet, Catherine Donnars +4 more
2020· PLoS ONE140doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235597

Facing a growing and more affluent world population, changing climate and finite natural resources, world food systems will have to change in the future. The aim of the Agrimonde-Terra foresight study was to build global scenarios linking land use and food security, with special attention paid to overlooked aspects such as nutrition and health, in order to help explore the possible future of the global food system. In this article, we seek to highlight how the resulting set of scenarios contributes to the debate on land use and food security and enlarges the range of possible futures for the global food system. We highlight four main contributions. Combining a scenario building method based on morphological analysis and quantitative simulations with a tractable and simple biomass balance model, the proposed approach improves transparency and coherence between scenario narratives and quantitative assessment. Agrimonde-Terra's scenarios comprise a wide range of alternative diets, with contrasting underlying nutritional and health issues, which accompany contrasting urbanization and rural transformation processes, both dimensions that are lacking in other sets of global scenarios. Agrimonde-Terra's scenarios share some similarities with existing sets of global scenarios, notably the SSPs, but are usually less optimistic regarding agricultural land expansion up to 2050. Results suggest that changing global diets toward healthier patterns could also help to limit the expansion in agricultural land area. Agrimonde-Terra's scenarios enlarge the scope of possible futures by proposing two pathways that are uncommon in other sets of global scenarios. The first proposes to explore possible reconnection of the food industry and regional production within supranational regional blocs. The second means that we should consider that a 'perfect storm', induced by climate change and an ecological crisis combined with social and economic crises, is still possible. Both scenarios should be part of the debate as the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic shows.

Creating a public tool to assess and promote transparency in global land deals: the experience of the Land Matrix
Ward Anseeuw, Jann Lay, Peter Messerli, Markus Giger +1 more
2013· The Journal of Peasant Studies123doi:10.1080/03066150.2013.803071

The Beta version of the Land Matrix (Land Matrix 2012) was launched in April 2012 as&#13;\na tool to promote public participation in building a constantly evolving database on&#13;\nlarge-scale land deals, and making the data visible and understandable. The aim of&#13;\nthe Land Matrix partnership is to promote transparency and open data in decisionmaking&#13;\nover land and investment, as a step towards greater accountability. Since its&#13;\nlaunch, the Land Matrix has attracted a high degree of attention, and stirred some&#13;\ncontroversy. It provides valuable lessons on the challenges and benefits of promoting&#13;\nopen data on practices that are often shrouded in secrecy. This paper critically&#13;\nexamines the ongoing efforts by the Land Matrix partnership to build a public tool to&#13;\npromote greater transparency in decision-making over land and investment at a global&#13;\nlevel. It intends to provoke discussion of the extent to which such a tool can&#13;\nultimately promote greater transparency and be a step towards greater accountability&#13;\nand improved decision-making. It will present the Land Matrix and its value addition,&#13;\nbefore detailing the challenges it encountered related to the measurement of the largescale&#13;\nland acquisition phenomenon. It will then specify how it intends to address&#13;\nthese issues in order to establish a dynamic and participatory tool for open development

Land rights and the rush for land
Ward Anseeuw, Liz Alden Wily, Lorenzo Cotula, Michael Taylor
2011· HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)122

Ce rapport présente la synthèse des conclusions du projet sur les Pressions commerciales sur les terres dans le monde, coordonné par le Secrétariat de la Coalition internationale pour l'accès à la terre (ILC) avec le soutien d'un de ses membres, le CIRAD, et la collaboration de plus de quarante organisations locales et de la société civile, universitaires et instituts de recherche du monde entier. Vingt-huit études de cas, études thématiques et comptes rendus régionaux résultant de ce projet ont déjà été publiés. Ce rapport inclut en outre des données plus récentes issues de la matrice des transactions foncières en cours, destinée à faire le suivi de ces opérations à grande échelle. L'objectif est de présenter, résumer et interpréter les éléments qui aujourd'hui se dégagent de ces deux projets réalisés en collaboration. L'objectif est de tirer de cet ensemble de données des conclusions concernant les caractéristiques principales de cette ruée vers les terres, ses conséquences, les facteurs contextuels qui déterminent ces conséquences, et les réponses que la société civile, les gouvernements et les partenaires du développement doivent y apporter. Le thème de ce rapport est plus communément appelé " accaparement des terres ". Il fait l'objet d'une attention générale depuis 2008, suite à une série d'accords transnationaux très médiatisés sur la location de terres d'une surface sans précédent. Bien que les transactions les plus médiatisées aient été transnationales par nature et centrées sur la production de denrées alimentaires et de biocarburants, il est difficile sur le plan analytique de les distinguer des tendances plus générales du phénomène croissant de pression commerciale sur les terres, caractérisé par un ensemble plus diversifié d'acteurs, d'échelles et de facteurs économiques. Cette pression fait partie de processus historiques de transformation économique et sociale à plus long terme. Néanmoins, avec l'intensification des pressions commerciales sur les terres depuis la crise des prix alimentaires de 2008, ceux-ci sont entrés dans une nouvelle phase. C'est dans ce sens que ce rapport parle de nouvelle " ruée sur les terres ".

Post-lockdown detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wastewater of Montpellier, France
Julie Trottier, Régis Darques, Nassim Aït-Mouheb, Emma Partiot +3 more
2020· One Health119doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100157

The evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic can be monitored through the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage. Here, we measured the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA at the inflow point of the main waste water treatment plant (WWTP) of Montpellier, France. We collected samples 4 days before the end of lockdown and up to 70 days post-lockdown. We detected increased amounts of SARS-CoV-2 RNA at the WWTP from mid-June on, whereas the number of new COVID-19 cases in the area started increasing a couple of weeks later. Future epidemiologic investigations shall explain such asynchronous finding.

Structural Transformation and Rural Change Revisited
Bruno Losch, Sandrine Fréguin‐Gresh, Éric Thomas White
2012· The World Bank eBooks114doi:10.1596/978-0-8213-9512-7

Présentation de l'éditeur : This book makes a compelling case for reintegrating structural issues into agricultural and rural development policies, which have for the last 30 years over-focused on short-term issues. It shows how the liberalization of agriculture in many late developing countries has not in fact led to the development of the vibrant rural non-farm economy so often discussed in the literature. Neither has it led to a large-scale integration of agricultural producers into the global economy. Most producers remain engaged in traditional crops-mainly staples-and in traditional marketing systems characterized by limited contractualization. Yet in spite of these observations the book draws optimistic conclusions: there are a clear set of policy priorities that, if adapted to individual country contexts, can facilitate an enduring and productive rural transformation. The book is based on an in-depth seven-country study that surveyed 8,000 rural households. It specifically focuses on these households' activity and income structures in an evolving agricultural context marked by liberalization and trends of increasing economic integration. In doing so it reviews the very different levels (and trajectories) of rural diversification among countries at various stages in the structural transformation process. Among late developers, such as the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, a common observation is an incipient economic transition that is accompanied by a strong process of demographic transition. Consequently, growing cohorts of new labor market entrants pose a dramatic challenge. This new demographic structure offers a huge opportunity for growth if it can be accommodated, and if not it represents a serious political and economic liability. If overall economic diversification is the major avenue for change, sustainable growth, and job creation, then it is clear that agriculture and the rural economy will have a critical role to play in the coming two decades. Based on its investigation of existing rural realities, the book suggests several policy orientations. These include a clear need to focus on staples and family agriculture, to engage in targeted development strategies at the regional level, and to pursue a policy of "territorial development" that promotes strong rural-urban linkages at the level of rural localities, towns and districts

Pearl millet genomic vulnerability to climate change in West Africa highlights the need for regional collaboration
Bénédicte Rhoné, Dimitri Defrance, Cécile Berthouly‐Salazar, Cédric Mariac +4 more
2020· Nature Communications112doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19066-4

Climate change is already affecting agro-ecosystems and threatening food security by reducing crop productivity and increasing harvest uncertainty. Mobilizing crop diversity could be an efficient way to mitigate its impact. We test this hypothesis in pearl millet, a nutritious staple cereal cultivated in arid and low-fertility soils in sub-Saharan Africa. We analyze the genomic diversity of 173 landraces collected in West Africa together with an extensive climate dataset composed of metrics of agronomic importance. Mapping the pearl millet genomic vulnerability at the 2050 horizon based on the current genomic-climate relationships, we identify the northern edge of the current areas of cultivation of both early and late flowering varieties as being the most vulnerable to climate change. We predict that the most vulnerable areas will benefit from using landraces that already grow in equivalent climate conditions today. However, such seed-exchange scenarios will require long distance and trans-frontier assisted migrations. Leveraging genetic diversity as a climate mitigation strategy in West Africa will thus require regional collaboration.

Monitoring Water Levels and Discharges Using Radar Altimetry in an Ungauged River Basin: The Case of the Ogooué
Sakaros Bogning, Frédéric Frappart, Fabien Blarel, Fernando Niño +4 more
2018· Remote Sensing112doi:10.3390/rs10020350

Radar altimetry is now commonly used for the monitoring of water levels in large river basins. In this study, an altimetry-based network of virtual stations was defined in the quasi ungauged Ogooué river basin, located in Gabon, Central Africa, using data from seven altimetry missions (Jason-2 and 3, ERS-2, ENVISAT, Cryosat-2, SARAL, Sentinel-3A) from 1995 to 2017. The performance of the five latter altimetry missions to retrieve water stages and discharges was assessed through comparisons against gauge station records. All missions exhibited a good agreement with gauge records, but the most recent missions showed an increase of data availability (only 6 virtual stations (VS) with ERS-2 compared to 16 VS for ENVISAT and SARAL) and accuracy (RMSE lower than 1.05, 0.48 and 0.33 and R² higher than 0.55, 0.83 and 0.91 for ERS-2, ENVISAT and SARAL respectively). The concept of VS is extended to the case of drifting orbits using the data from Cryosat-2 in several close locations. Good agreement was also found with the gauge station in Lambaréné (RMSE = 0.25 m and R2 = 0.96). Very good results were obtained using only one year and a half of Sentinel-3 data (RMSE &lt; 0.41 m and R2 &gt; 0.89). The combination of data from all the radar altimetry missions near Lamabréné resulted in a long-term (May 1995 to August 2017) and significantly improved water-level time series (R² = 0.96 and RMSE = 0.38 m). The increase in data sampling in the river basin leads to a better water level peak to peak characterization and hence to a more accurate annual discharge over the common observation period with only a 1.4 m3·s−1 difference (i.e., 0.03%) between the altimetry-based and the in situ mean annual discharge.

Policy dismantling and democratic regression in Brazil under Bolsonaro: Coalition politics, ideas, and underlying discourses
Carolina Milhorance
2022· Review of Policy Research108doi:10.1111/ropr.12502

Abstract Drawing on a cost–benefit approach, policy dismantling literature typically examines case studies following omitted and blame‐avoidance strategies, which contrasts with the highly visible dismantling fostered by Bolsonaro's far‐right administration in Brazil. This study examines the mechanisms leading to this active process and places it in the context of major policy changes in several fields (i.e., rural development, land titling, social protection, environment, and protection of indigenous peoples). It shows that dismantling decisions were made incrementally by conservative coalitions that seized upon the economic crisis to consolidate a neoliberal turn; however, this turn was radicalized with the expansion of the conservative alliance and tied together by populist rhetoric. This study sheds light on the politics of policy dismantling and addresses it as a process of democratic backsliding.

A Quantile Mapping Bias Correction Method Based on Hydroclimatic Classification of the Guiana Shield
Justine Ringard, F. Seyler, Laurent Linguet
2017· Sensors105doi:10.3390/s17061413

Satellite precipitation products (SPPs) provide alternative precipitation data for regions with sparse rain gauge measurements. However, SPPs are subject to different types of error that need correction. Most SPP bias correction methods use the statistical properties of the rain gauge data to adjust the corresponding SPP data. The statistical adjustment does not make it possible to correct the pixels of SPP data for which there is no rain gauge data. The solution proposed in this article is to correct the daily SPP data for the Guiana Shield using a novel two set approach, without taking into account the daily gauge data of the pixel to be corrected, but the daily gauge data from surrounding pixels. In this case, a spatial analysis must be involved. The first step defines hydroclimatic areas using a spatial classification that considers precipitation data with the same temporal distributions. The second step uses the Quantile Mapping bias correction method to correct the daily SPP data contained within each hydroclimatic area. We validate the results by comparing the corrected SPP data and daily rain gauge measurements using relative RMSE and relative bias statistical errors. The results show that analysis scale variation reduces rBIAS and rRMSE significantly. The spatial classification avoids mixing rainfall data with different temporal characteristics in each hydroclimatic area, and the defined bias correction parameters are more realistic and appropriate. This study demonstrates that hydroclimatic classification is relevant for implementing bias correction methods at the local scale.