Dynamic livelihoods, gender and poverty in marine protected areas: Case study from Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Livelihood initiatives are common within marine protected areas (MPAs) aiming for poverty alleviation or higher income opportunities. However, results can be mixed in reality, as well as change over time. Furthermore, who benefits is a key consideration, as results can vary based on inequalities, including gender. Here, the monetary outcomes of different livelihood strategies were investigated across three MPA regions in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Using a quantitative approach, the results show that livelihoods have shifted in a six-year period, with livelihood strategies differing in poverty incidence and income. Livelihood initiatives, namely seaweed farming and tourism, did not provide significantly higher monetary returns compared to long-standing livelihoods, such as fisheries. Seaweed farming showed income stability but a high poverty incidence predominantly within women-headed households. During the study period, men primarily remained in fisheries, whilst women shifted to small-scale businesses and fisheries, largely exiting seaweed farming. This underscores a need for adaptive, gender sensitive management within fast changing coastal contexts.

Reducing agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in China: the role of food production, forest cover, income, trade openness, and rural population.

In the light of China's carbon-neutral goal, this study examines how food production, forest cover, trade openness, and rural population contribute to the quest of addressing China's agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. Time series data ranging from 1971 to 2018 was used for analysis in this study. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique was employed to evaluate potential cointegration as well as to ascertain the long and short-run effects of food production, forest cover, income, trade openness, and rural population on agricultural nitrous oxide emission. The Toda-Yamomoto causality analysis was also used to identify the causal relations between covariates (food production, forest cover, income, trade openness, and rural population) and the outcome variable (agricultural nitrous oxide emission). The long-run evidence is that rural population in itself tends to increase agricultural nitrous oxide emissions likewise food production. There is also validation of the existence of environmental Kuznets curve for agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. Moreover, income interacts with rural population to reduce agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in the long-run. Causality analysis indicated rural population affects the level of forest cover; forest cover is found to cause agricultural nitrous oxide emissions but the converse is not established, and income as well as the interaction between income and rural population determines agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. The short-run dynamics results establish an oscillatory equilibrium convergence for agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in event of structural disturbances. From the findings, the EKC hypothesis is relevant by offering avenue to reduce emission. Thus, income growth remains helpful in addressing nitrous oxide emission from the agricultural sector. However, research is needed to unravel why nitrous oxide tends to increase in many forest areas. Since food production cannot be halted, policy makers need to enhance the uptake of efficient food production technologies including developing and using more renewable energy for food production. It is important for authorities to attend to rural development in order to mitigate agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in China.

Sustainable Development in Rural Territories within the Last Decade: A Review of the State of the Art.

Rural territories play an important role when progress is made toward a balanced regional development; thus, an analysis is required of the components and/or factors which have contributed to sustainable development. Therefore, the main subdimensions and variables identified represent the ecological, social and economic dimensions in rural areas. Rural area development is characterised by complex social phenomena, such as the lack of job opportunities, conditions of poverty, unequal development and health services coverage and quality, among others. Consequently, the dynamics and realities of rural territories pose great challenges to sustainable development, arising the following question: What components and/or factors represent sustainable development in rural territories? Therefore, this study aims to use SLR to identify a set of variables relevant to sustainable development in rural territories under the economic, social, and ecological dimensions of sustainability. Based on the foregoing discussion, the systematic literature review (SLR) method is applied. This procces consists of four phases: approach, search and selection, extraction, and information analysis. Then, five subdimensions and 59 variables are established in the Economic Dimension, seven subdimensions and 63 variables in the Social Dimension and five subdimensions and 42 variables in the Ecological Dimension. The results contribute to the comprehensive analysis of the object of study, the main subdimensions in which the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of sustainable development in rural territories are found. Likewise, it is intended to relate all these components found with some of the objectives of sustainable development so that, having a positive impact on these variables, the fulfilment of these objectives is reached to improve the well-being of rural regions.

Spontaneous Officinal Plants in the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park: Tradition, Protection, Enhancement, and Recovery.

The aim of this study was to deepen our knowledge on the heritage and traditional uses of some medicinal plants of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park (Salerno province) and to evaluate their productive potential, in order to increase possible uses to recover and enhance the territory. Biometric surveys and biomass evaluation were carried out. Two types of aqueous extract were prepared using air-dried samples of six harvested species and tested for anti-germination activity on Lepidium sativum L. Hydrolates were recovered via steam distillation from aromatic species and the chemical-physical characteristics were determined. Historical evidence of industrial activity was collected in the territory of Sanza on Monte Cervati, where lavender essential oil has been distilled in the past century, and characterization of the essential oil components was carried out. The ethnobotanical uses detected mainly concerned traditional medicine and nutritional, ritual, or religious uses. The experimental results highlight that spontaneous medicinal plants could become potential sources of local economic development, with uses not only in the phytotherapeutic sector, but also in others, such as food and agriculture for weed control. Moreover, the evidence derived from industrial archeology could represent a further driving force for the enhancement of the territory's resources.

Towards the high-quality development of City Region Food Systems: Emerging approaches in China.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has underscored the vulnerability of our current food systems. In China, following a series of strategies in guaranteeing food security in the past decades, the pandemic has further highlighted the necessity to strengthen urban-rural linkages and facilitate the sustainable development of local agri-food systems. The study for the first time introduced the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) approach to Chinese cities and attempted to holistically structure, analyze and promote the sustainability of local food systems in China. Taking Chengdu as an example, the study first took stock of existing concepts and policies in China and the city, and defined the high-quality development goals of CRFS for Chengdu. An indicator framework was then developed to serve as a CRFS assessment tool for identifying existing challenges and potentials of local food systems. Further, a rapid CRFS scan using the framework was conducted in Chengdu Metropolitan Area, providing concrete evidence for potential policy interventions and practice improvement in the area. The study has explored new paradigm of analysis for food related issues in China and provided supporting tools for evidence-based food planning in cities, which collectively contribute to the food system transformation in a post-pandemic scenario.

Sustainable Husbandry?-A Comparative LCA of Three Lamb Breeding Systems in Turkey.

The agricultural sector has historically been the forefront economic sector in Turkey and is crucial for the rural sustainability and the pastures that are critical for biodiversity. However, inadequate policies and factors such as climate change and malpractices result in brittle pastures, rural-urban migration, and a declining agricultural sector. Also, pastures have been left without function and appropriated to other land uses such as quarries, energy power plants, and mines. Although the husbandry sector produces significant greenhouse gas emissions, pastures have a significant capacity of CO2 sequestration. In this study, Life cycle assessment (LCA) is applied to quantify the advantages and disadvantages of the transition between extensive and intensive production. The methodology presents a holistic analysis of the several impact categories and amounts of relevant products, services, and resource emissions along their life cycles. In order to assess the environmental effects of the lamb meat production, three sheep breeding systems in Turkey are evaluated. The study aims to promote a sustainable use of natural resources/assets without compromising the quality, competitiveness, or animal welfare and obtain recommendations for the future husbandry systems and rural development in Turkey. As an overall result, it can be stated that the intensification of sheep farming can lead to a decrease of greenhouse gas emissions per kg of meat. However, extensive sheep farming shows less impacts on soil acidification or eutrophication and can even be beneficial for erosion resistance or biodiversity if properly managed.

Bibliometric Analysis in the Field of Rural Revitalization: Current Status, Progress, and Prospects.

Rural areas play an important role in global sustainable development. In recent years, however, rural development has experienced global crises, such as issues in public education, health care, roads, water and sanitation, along with environmental pollution and a lack of natural resources. It is therefore important to promote rural revitalization in the process of modernization. To objectively reveal the current research status in the field of rural revitalization, we analyzed relevant publications in the Web of Science from 1991 to 2021. The results are as follows: (1) In the past 30 years, the number of publications on rural vitalization has increased, and the period from 1991 to 2021 can be divided into three stages, the initial period (1991-2004), the development period (2005-2016), and the high-yield period (2017-2021). (2) Research on rural revitalization covered 60 countries or regions around the world, involving a total of 3099 authors. China, the United States, and Canada published most of the articles. (3) High-frequency keywords were migration, management, and urbanization, indicating that scientists considered the role of sustainable urban and rural development, policy formulation, and urbanization. We highlight that for the development of the field of rural vitalization, scientists need to further strengthen theoretical research, fully absorb the development achievements of advanced countries and regions, understand the laws and trends of urban and rural development in their own countries, and explore new paths to achieve rural vitalization.

A Substantive View of Social Enterprises as Neo-endogenous Rural Development Actors.

Social enterprises are recognised as relevant rural development actors. The specific features of social enterprises operating within rural areas (i.e. their relational, socially innovative and multi-stakeholder character and their focus on integrated development) concur with the principles of the neo-endogenous approach to rural development, which stress the potential role of third sector organisations as development actors within governance frameworks. In order to study this phenomenon, that links social enterprises and rural development, we propose a conceptual and methodological framework drawing from Polanyi's socio-economic theory, complemented with the concepts of place, spatial scale and corporate agency. Through the proposed framework, we advocate for a plural vision of the economy, socio-spatial and geopolitical sensitive concepts and overcoming methodological individualism for the study of an increasingly relevant phenomenon such as the participation of third sector organisations like social enterprises in the (neo-endogenous) development of rural areas.

The role of construction industry and construction policy on sustainable rural development in China.

Recently, rural development has depended on the construction industry's success due to the high employment rate in the construction industry and its development role in the rural areas, and this phenomenon needs research focus. Hence, the current article examines the impact of the construction industry (construction industry revenue and growth) and construction policy (construction industry subsidies) on sustainable rural development in China. The study also used the control variable of gross domestic product (GDP) and industrialization. The article has collected secondary data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and World Development Indicators (WDI) from 1991 to 2020. The article has applied the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test to examine stationarity and quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) model to investigate the association among variables. The results revealed that the construction industry revenue, growth, construction policy GDP, and industrialization positively link sustainable rural development in China. Thus, the findings exposed that if the country's construction industry improved, rural development also increased accordingly. This study guides the policy development authorities to develop effective policies related to improvement in the construction industry that will enhance sustainable rural development.

The role of economic conditions and sustainable rural development on the sustainability of tourism development: evidence from China.

At present, tourism is counted among those industries which have gained global attention due to rapid growth. Hence, a constant diversification in terms of destination is needed in tourism development. The recent trends of industry highlight the demand of alternative tourism types, among which nature-related tourism appears to be an emerging concept. In this regard, the present article investigates the impact of economic conditions and sustainable rural development on the sustainability of tourism development in China. The current research has gathered secondary data from the World Bank from 1981 to 2020. The quartile autoregressive distributed lag model has been applied to test the association between the variables. The results revealed that GDP, inflation, FDI, exchange rate, energy use, gross savings, and sustainable rural development have a significant and positive association with the sustainability of tourism development in China. Findings offer managerial implications recommending the local government to focus on the sustainability of rural development and economic conditions that may lead to the implementation of tourism-related development projects. This study also guides the policymakers in establishing policies related to tourism development using different economic conditions and sustainable rural development.

Traditional Knowledge Evolution over Half of a Century: Local Herbal Resources and Their Changes in the Upper Susa Valley of Northwest Italy.

Susa Valley, located in the Italian Western Alps, has served as a meeting point for cultural, spiritual, and commercial exchange for a long period of history. The valley's role as one of the main connecting routes between south and southwestern Europe resulted in its acquisition of a rich traditional ecological knowledge. However, like other Italian mountainous valleys, this valley has suffered from abandonment and depopulation in the past 50 years. Our study aims to investigate the current ethnobotanical medicinal knowledge in the valley and to compare our findings with a study conducted over 50 years ago in the same area. In 2018, we conducted 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews on medicinal plants and food-medicines used in the Susa Valley. We documented 36 species, of which 21 species were used for medical purposes and 15 species were used as food-medicine. The comparison with the previous study on medicinal herbs conducted in 1970 in the valley demonstrated a significant decrease in both the knowledge and use of medicinal plants, which could be attributed to socioeconomic, cultural, and possibly environmental changes that occurred in the past half-century. Our study highlights several promising species for future use as nutraceuticals, food, and medicinal products, such as Taraxacum officinale, Urtica dioica, and Artemisia genipi.

Towards integrated sustainability for China's rural revitalization: an analysis of income inequality and public health.

Introduction: Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being are paramount among the priorities outlined in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations. In China, rural revitalization stands as a pivotal national strategy aimed at fostering prosperity and sustainable development in rural areas. Despite its comprehensive evaluation system, which encompasses industry, ecology, culture, organization, and livelihood, the current index system overlooks the critical dimension of public health in rural areas. The existing body of literature predominantly focuses on the correlation between income and health, leaving a gap in understanding the relationship between income inequality and health from the perspective of villagers. This study addresses this gap by utilizing data from 3,771 villager samples and 302 village samples obtained from the 2019 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS) to explore the correlation between income inequality and public health in China's rural areas. Methods: We employ the Ordered Logistic Regression (Ologit) model in the baseline regression and heterogeneity analysis. Additionally, a mediating effect analysis, using the Sobel test, examines the role of villagers' health awareness as a mediating variable in the correlation between income inequality and villagers' health. Results: The empirical findings of this study unveil a statistically significant adverse influence of income inequality on public health in China's rural areas. Furthermore, the research identifies that participation in regular exercise and the attainment of higher education levels serve as effective measures to alleviate the detrimental impact of income inequality on the health of rural residents. Additionally, income inequality is observed to shape villagers' health awareness, thereby influencing their overall health status. Conclusion: The study's outcomes have significant implications for policymakers and governmental authorities, providing valuable insights into some pathways for enhancing public health in rural China. Ultimately, these insights contribute to the broader objective of achieving integrated sustainability in rural China.

The Contribution of Mycological Tourism to Well-Being, the Economy and Sustainable Development.

This article analyses the scientific production related to tourism and mushrooms. The method used was a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. The main results show that it is a recent area of study that predominates in Spain but that will expand and gain relevance over time. The thematic analysis has made it possible to structure the information according to the economic contribution of this tourist niche, the well-being it brings to residents and tourists, the importance of a sustainable development of the activity, and the promotion and marketing of this new tourism. Supporting mycological tourism will help the development of rural areas and bring physical, mental, social, educational, and nutritional benefits to residents and tourists. This study has allowed us to develop a future research agenda, highlighting the importance of further research to harness the benefits of mycological tourism while at the same time transferring that knowledge to stakeholders, which will be necessary.

Policy Evaluation of Demonstration Cooperative Construction: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China.

Agricultural cooperatives are professional organizations that increase farmers' incomes through market failure corrections, livelihood resilience, and sustainable rural development. The main purpose of this paper was to evaluate the policy effects of the construction of demonstration cooperatives for farmers in China. The authors of this paper used the propensity score matching (PSM) method to evaluate the policy effect of the construction of demonstration cooperatives based on questionnaire survey data on 509 farmer cooperatives in 10 counties in Sichuan Province of China. On this basis, the inverse probability weighting-regression adjustment (IPWRA) method was used as a robustness test. The authors of this study were the first to systematically and comprehensively assess the policy effects of demonstration cooperatives while considering selectivity effects. The empirical results show that the Chinese government's construction of demonstration cooperatives has significant policy effects, especially regarding policy support in improving the economic strength, service capacity, product quality, and social response of demonstration cooperatives. However, the policy effect of improving the democratic management of cooperatives is not significant. It is recommended that the government continue to strengthen policy support in improving the economic strength, service capacity, product quality, and social response of demonstration cooperatives. Simultaneously, more effective measures should be taken to promote the democratic management of model cooperatives.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis and Influencing Factors of Rural Resilience from the Perspective of Sustainable Rural Development.

Rural resilience is not only a comprehensive reflection of "thriving businesses, pleasant living environments, social etiquette and civility, effective governance, and prosperity". It is also the unity of resilience in industry, ecology, culture, organization and livelihood. This paper uses the entropy weight-TOPSIS method to measure the rural resilience level in 31 regions in China and analyzes the configuration of influencing factors with the Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results of the study are as follows: (1) The level of rural resilience in China showed a stable increase from 2010 to 2019, but the overall level was low, with large regional disparities, showing a significant positive spatial correlation. (2) In the high-level rural resilience explanatory path, labor-driven, cultural-driven and market-labor-technology linkage-driven play a core role, while administrative force is not playing a significant role. In the explanation path of non-high level rural resilience, the market-labor absent, administrative-market absent and cultural absent hinder the improvement of rural resilience. In summary, we put forward the following suggestions. Policy renovation and support should be strengthened. Adaption to local conditions should be considered in order to achieve sustainable and differentiated development. Development should be coordinated and balanced in different regions so as to achieve an overall resilience level in rural areas.

Differential elements of a successful agricultural innovation scaling-up model.

Worldwide, there is currently an increasing demand for an active connection between the generation of innovations and the achievement of their escalation. Between 2015 and 2018 the scaling up of three varieties of yellow potatoes was carried out in Colombia within the framework of the "More Nutritious Potatoes" project, which had results beyond the objectives and goals proposed in a period of 28 months. One of the results of the project was the design of a Scaling-up model of innovations that linked agriculture with nutrition. This article answers the question: Which were the elements of the scaling-up model that allowed the results obtained in the More Nutritious Potatoes Project? To respond, a set of reference criteria was constructed from the literature. These criteria were contrasted with the theoretical project scaling-up model and its subsequent implementation in the field, using focus groups as a methodology and the model design analysis and its execution by the leaders and the evaluator of the project. The project's Scaling-up Model (SM) was found to include all benchmarks, in addition to identify three key elements that made the results possible: (i) the characteristics of the innovation, (ii) the trans-disciplinary work and (iii) facilitating elements of the process. The results of this exercise complement the evaluated scaling-up model and become benchmarks in the design of innovation scaling-up processes.

Can Land Policy Promote Farmers' Subjective Well-Being? A Study on Withdrawal from Rural Homesteads in Jinjiang, China.

Urbanization and aging populations are threatening the sustainability of rural development around the world. Improving the happiness of rural residents is closely related not only to rural development but also to the harmony and stability of a country. Sustainable development has become an important strategy for China's rural areas. Although withdrawal from rural homesteads is an important issue in rural land policy, few researchers have examined the determinants of the subjective well-being of farmers following withdrawal. The current paper investigated 315 rural residents under three models of the "withdrawal from homestead" policy in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, China. The application of the orderly probit model revealed how satisfaction with economic, social, environment, cultural, and policy factors impacted their subjective well-being. The pooled results showed that satisfaction with cultural and policy factors had no significant impact; however, the other aspects significantly promoted their subjective well-being. The empirical model with interaction terms indicated the significant positive impact of economic, environmental, and social factors on subjective well-being under the index replacement model, while only environment and social factors exerted a significant positive impact under the asset replacement and monetary compensation models. Corresponding policy implications are discussed.

Prioridades de atención en zonas rurales en escenarios posconflicto: un análisis de minería de texto / Attention priorities in rural areas in post-conflict scenarios: a text mining analysis

RESUMEN Las herramientas automatizadas de análisis de texto resumen grandes volúmenes de información y permiten generar, de forma eficiente, conocimiento a partir de datos desestructurados, como las opiniones. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar prioridades en comunidades afectadas por el conflicto armado, utilizando ejercicios participativos de 13 municipios de Antioquia, Colombia. Se analizaron 15.534 opiniones, de 9.765 personas; tras una limpieza de texto, se describió el uso, la asociación, la diferenciación y la importancia de los términos, según los enfoques temáticos y tipos de opinión expresados, utilizando minería de texto en R. Se encontró que las prioridades giraban en torno a la disponibilidad de infraestructuras, dotación e insumos, ya que eran las problemáticas más mencionadas por las comunidades y correspondía con la realidad territorial; por otra parte, las oportunidades estaban representadas, principalmente, por los recursos naturales y humanos. El análisis de minería de texto del ejercicio participativo permitió identificar las prioridades de las comunidades, a nivel socioeconómico, de forma satisfactoria; sin embargo, la preparación de la información requiere mucho trabajo y los resultados se deben revisar cuidadosamente, para asegurar su coherencia. Que la información pueda ser analizada por agentes externos a la colección de datos, representa otra ventaja de esta herramienta.

ABSTRACT Automated text analysis tools summarize large volumes of information and allow efficient generation of insights from unstructured data such as opinions. The objective of this work was to identify priorities in communities affected by the armed conflict using participatory exercises in 13 municipalities of Antioquia, Colombia. 15,534 opinions from 9,765 people were analyzed. After a text cleaning, the use, association, differentiation and importance of the terms were described according to the thematic approaches and types of opinion expressed using text mining in R. It was found that the priorities revolved around the availability of infrastructures, endowment and inputs, since they were the most mentioned problems by the communities, and that this corresponded to the territorial reality. On the other hand, the opportunities were mainly represented by natural and human resources. The text mining analysis of the participatory exercise allowed to identify the priorities of the communities at the socio-economic level in a satisfactory way. However, the preparation of the information is labor intensive and the results must be carefully reviewed to ensure consistency. Another advantage of this tool is that the information can be analyzed by external agents to the data collection.

Dynamic Conservation in Risk Society: A Case Study of COVID-19 Pandemic Risk in Kashan Qanat Irrigated Agriculture.

In the present age, the world agricultural heritage can inspire agroecology and sustainable agriculture. But various risks have threatened, eroded and forgotten this heritage, so dynamic conservation of this heritage is essential. In this study, "Qanat Irrigated Agricultural Heritage Systems, Kashan, Iran" which has been registered worldwide in the face of corona pandemic risks has been selected as a case study. In this qualitative research, in addition to field observations and documentary studies, 25 in-depth interviews and 39 semi-structured interviews with experts and key informants was done and grounded theory and content analysis have been used. In the process of interviews and analyzes based on "risk society theory", risks and wicked problems and related solutions have been identified and finally based on cultural theory, "clumsy solution space" has been summarized and presented for dynamic conservation. Based on the findings of this study, paying attention to a kind of reward for ecosystem services, developing online sales of agricultural products in rural areas of Kashan and also creating twinning with similar areas can help solve wicked problems. Also, paying more attention to the regulations for the protection of qanats, as well as the laws for home business insurance, can strengthen sustainable development in this rural area. Due to the wide range of different dimensions of agricultural heritage, it is suggested that in future research, clumsy solution spaces for each of these dimensions be created and developed separately.

Ecotourism through the perception of forest villagers: understanding via mediator effects using structural equation modeling.

Ecotourism activities play an important role in providing economic gain to villagers living in forest ecosystems. Successful sustainable forest management is made possible through the environmental responsibility of the stakeholders and the support of the local inhabitants of the region. Contemporary studies conducted in ecotourism have focused on meeting regional expectations by assessing the satisfaction levels and attitudes of tourists and evaluating hotel management services, but have excluded the perspective of the rural people in the region. Using causal models and mediation effects, this study attempted to explore the attitudes of forest villagers, as the most important interest group, toward ecotourism activities in Turkey. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap methods were applied to identify key concepts related to ecotourism including the mediation effects between income opportunities and ecotourism satisfaction as perceived by the forest villagers regarding perceived negative effects and insufficient services. According to the results of the research, it was determined that, despite the perceived negative effects of ecotourism activities by the forest villagers, income opportunities made a strong positive contribution to their perceived ecotourism satisfaction. Study results offer significant implications for policymakers and ecotourism planners for decreasing pressure on forest ecosystems through participatory forest management approaches to sustainable development in rural areas associated with forest ecosystems.