Videos that speak for themselves: when non-extensionists show agricultural videos to large audiences

In 2008, an NGO showed videos about rice to farmers in 19 villages in Benin. A study in 2013 showed that farmers remembered the videos, even after five years had passed. In most of the villages at least some farmers experimented with rice farming or with new technology after the video screenings, which attracted large audiences of community members, including youth and women. Some of the villagers also visited extension agencies to get rice seed, and occasionally to seek more information. Farmers can benefit from agricultural learning videos shown by organisations with little previous agricultural experience. Videos do not necessarily need to be facilitated by an expert who knows the subject. Sometimes the video can speak for itself.     

20世纪70年代以来东南亚女性跨国流动的特点与影响

自20世纪70年代以来,在经济全球化的促进下,全球跨国人口迁移的速度越来越快。路径越来越多,影响越来越广。在此背景下,东南亚地区的女性跨国流动也表现出越来越引人注目的3个历史阶段性特征,即70—80年代的以女佣为主体的劳动力输出、1990—2000年的以跨国婚姻为主体的移民形态和2000年以来的以跨国色情业为主体的移民形态。东南亚地区女性的上述跨国流动特征对70年代以来的东南亚地区的发展也产生了多重影响。     

"Engendering" environmental projects: the case of eco-timber production in the Solomon Islands

This article discusses the case of timber production in the Solomon Islands and links between environmental protection and gender. Many environmental projects are undertaken without regard for gender roles and relations. The Solomon Western Islands Fair Trade (SWIFT) initiative included women in only a peripheral way. This article justifies the involvement of women in environmental projects and then evaluates the operations of SWIFT. A role for women in local environmental projects should be recognized because of women's roles, knowledge, and interests. Use of natural resources is gender-based. In the Solomon Islands, women are identified as having the greater interest in the long-term sustainability of the environment and greater reliance on natural resources to fulfill their roles, but forestry is men's work. The price of tropical woods has tempted Micronesian governments to exploit forests to enhance their foreign exchange earnings. Environmental degradation from logging is particularly severe in the Solomon Islands. The population fulfills many basic needs from forests. Forests can provide cash earnings. The author conducted an evaluation of effectiveness of SWIFT in 1996. The SWIFT project allows rural people to earn cash from sustainable timber extraction without signing with logging companies. Women are affected by SWIFT due to their husbands' appropriation of their earnings, their peripheral role, and lack of representation in senior positions and use of women's forestry expertise. The article offers a model for genderizing eco-projects. Men need to be encouraged to work more as partners with women.     

Old Ideas die slowly

Many women in Cape Verde are actively working to upgrade the status of women in the country and are playing a major role in development programs. The small country of Cape Verde, 455 kilometers off the coast of Senegal, obtained its independence from Portugal in 1975. Even before independence many women were politically conscious and women's rights were a part of the program of Cape Verde's liberation movement. In 1978 the National Women's Organization was formed. The organization places a high priority on education for women and is promoting a large scale literacy campaign. During the colonial period most of Cape Verde's land was destroyed and the country's economy was ruined. A large proportion of the Cape Verde's male population emigrates to other countries in order to obtain work, and the women are left behind to raise their large families on their own. There is a great need to intensify efforts to restore the land's fertility and to control erosion. The country also needs schools, clinics, and transportation and communication networks. Many women are involved in a large water and conservation program supported by Oxfam and other international agencies. Women are encouraged to work on construction jobs, drive trucks and build dikes. Old attitudes are hard to change, however, and there is a need to involve a larger segment of the female population in the women's rights movement. In December, 1980 the Women's Organization will hold its 1st National Conference. The organization will map its future strategies for upgrading the position of women in Cape Verde society and for increasing support for the women's movements.     

The legacies of transition governments: post-transition dynamics in Benin and Togo

This article analyses the transition governments of Benin and Togo and shows how they had a profound impact on post-transition governance, regardless of the success or failure of the transition. It argues that the essential elements of polyarchy – competition and inclusion – were present in the transition government in Benin, and patterns along these two dimensions have been mirrored in post-transition events. In Togo, by contrast, only the principle of competition, not inclusion, was established in the transition period and present-day Togolese politics continues this pattern. This analysis sheds new light on politics in both countries and offers greater scope for understanding post-transition politics by viewing transition outcomes in terms of political development.     

Microfinance,wage employment and housework: a gender analysis

This paper examines the loan-use pattern of women involved in wage employment and their benefits from such loans in Bangladesh. The effects of wage employment on gender relations and how these women balance loan use, wage employment, and housework were also explored. The study was conducted among women enrolled in the Ayesha Abed Foundation (AAF) of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in Jamalpur district, central Bangladesh. The AAF was established to generate employment and income for poor rural women. Data were gathered through survey, interviews, and focus-group discussions. Findings revealed that women wage earners avail themselves of the BRAC loans for consumption, asset accumulation, land purchase, and other productive purposes. About 53% of their loans were used by others and only 34 out of 341 women in the sample actually used the loans themselves. The loans were repaid by sewing or subsistence work, mainly in the subcenters (52%), through income from rickshaw pulling by their husbands (24%), and by selling vegetables, eggs, or milk. Furthermore, findings showed that the household work of women wage earners is generally taken up by other women in the family and has resulted in more men taking part in household responsibilities. In conclusion, wage employment plays an important factor in the promotion of the economic and social empowerment of women. Economic empowerment is observed in the greater degree of control women have over the money they earn. Social empowerment is manifested in the expanding mobility of women, whereby they are able to interact with other women and generate support systems.     

从最新普查看俄罗斯人口发展状况

最新人口普查表明,自20世纪90年代开始席卷俄罗斯的人口危机尚未消除。与上次普查相比,当前俄罗斯人口发展状况具有以下几个基本特征:人口规模继续缩小并呈加速下降态势;人口地理分布严重不均衡;人口老龄化程度加深,性别比例差距扩大;妇女总和生育率进一步下降;家庭经济规模日趋小型化,独居人口显著增加;各民族间人口发展差异巨大,但整体民族结构未发生重大变化;居民受教育程度稳步提高;居民生活资料来源日益多样化;经济自立人口有所增加。     

Linking local rice processors’ access to rural radio,gender, and livelihoods in Benin

In a context of low literacy rates and a high level of rurality, the use of rural radio in agricultural extension is a method that can bridge the gap that exists between researchers, extension workers, and farmers. This article examines the level of farmers’ access to rural radio in relation to gender and livelihoods. The study was conducted in Benin with 18 rural radio stations and 240 rice processors, using the sustainable livelihoods framework to examine the relationship between access to rural radio and livelihoods. Although the study cannot draw conclusions on causal relationships, rice processors who often listened to agricultural broadcasts had better social, financial, and human capital stocks compared to those who did not. Despite the efforts of 72% of the radio stations to link up with extension services, half of the rice processors rarely or never listened to agricultural broadcasts, because the timing of the broadcasts was inappropriate. Interactive radio sessions with farmers that involve government officials will need to address this if they are to become more effective.     

吉林延边朝鲜族人口安全问题研究

由于人口负增长等人口发展的特殊性,吉林延边朝鲜族人口安全面临诸多挑战。吉林省延边朝鲜族人口安全的核心问题是人口负增长,其中延边朝鲜族妇女的生育意愿、迁移流动是两个最为关键的制约因素。为此,我们必须改革创新延边朝鲜族地区人口与计划生育制度;密切关注延边朝鲜族人口国际流动过程中涉外人口迁移问题;适当采取经济措施提高延边朝鲜族生育意愿;促进外向型经济发展,改善延边朝鲜族人口发展的经济条件。     

A survey of micro-enterprise in urban West Africa: drivers shaping the sector

This article identifies some key factors shaping the micro-enterprise sector in urban French West Africa. Drawing on interviews with micro-entrepreneurs and micro-finance practitioners in Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Togo, the study explores the needs, characteristics, motivations, and success factors for micro-entrepreneurship in the region, together with some of the impediments to the growth and success of micro-enterprise ventures. It was found that those operating micro-enterprises in the informal economy are entrepreneurs principally by necessity, and that their most basic needs tend to drive their business activities and behaviours. It was also observed that their success was constrained by a number of barriers, including poor access to capital, poor training, and general aversion to risk. As a result, the development of the micro-enterprise sector in urban French West Africa has been sub-optimal, and the authors conclude that this situation may persist unless broader economic and social barriers are addressed.     

Loyalist Women Paramilitaries in Northern Ireland: Beginning a Feminist Conversation about Conflict Resolution

Research on war, conflict, and terrorism has traditionally focused on the motivations of male combatants to participate in political violence. Such a focus has largely ignored the role of women who wield political violence. This article revisits one of feminist International Relations (IR) most basic questions, “Where are the women?” and encourages an expanded view of security and conflict resolution that asks how combatant women might contribute to current scholarly understanding of conflict and conflict resolution processes. I argue that the thirty-year conflict remained intractable in part because of the exclusion of those Loyalist women who wielded political violence, seriously limiting the British and Irish governments' ability to understand and resolve the conflict. Included in the analysis is interview data collected in an eight-month empirical study conducted by the author in 2006 with thirty women who identify as past or present members or supporters of Loyalist paramilitary organizations in Northern Ireland. The unique perceptions of Loyalist women combatants of four cross-border agreements between 1974 and 2006 are used to illustrate how a feminist approach to conflict resolution can serve as an innovating starting point in theorizing about and attempting to resolve conflict.     

Women targeted and women negated. An aspect of the environmental movement in Bangladesh

There are many ways to solve environmental problems. In this article the issue of energy consumption in Bangladesh and the rapid introduction of improved stove projects illustrates the importance of involving women in decision making that directly involves their lives. 82% of total energy consumption is based on traditional, renewable resources such as firewood, agricultural residues, tree residues, and dung. It is argued that resource depletion is related to population growth, the introduction of high yield seeds and related agricultural practices, and the lack of a sound basis for social and natural forestry. Improved stoves were introduced in order to reduce the depletion of resources. It was assumed that women would understand the value of preserving national natural resources and that energy resources for cooking were becoming scarce. The improved technology had the advantage of saving energy and saving women's time and effort in biomass and fuelwood collection. What was not considered in the decision was the design of the stove which was not adaptable to traditional cooking tools and pots and was more time consuming. The new stoves produced ash too quickly that needed to be removed before the combustion process was obstructed. The stove required straight straw or fuelwood, when available supplies were irregularly shaped. The ash residues could not be recycled, whereas potash could be used as fertilizer. Stoves required the use of a trained and sophisticated user. Stoves were expensive commodities. Women's time was obstructed because the stove needed tending and the usual chores could not be performed while food was cooking. The women in several projects rejected the stoves based on technological, cultural, and economic factors. It is argued that the environmental movement in Bangladesh conceptualized the environmental problem in economic terms but solved the problem technologically. The failure was in imposing new technology on women and in an inappropriate understanding of the situation.     

Training the uniforms: Gender and peacekeeping operations

The fact that war changes roles and responsibilities within society, while exposing men and women of all ages and classes to new threats and opportunities, has become increasingly recognised. Civil wars disrupt and destroy civilian life. Men leave, die in combat, are brutalised, lose employment, or resort to despair, violence, or apathy. Women assume enormous burdens of work and all manner of different tasks and responsibilities, lose their security and their protectors, and are victimised and marginalised. Yet few members of peacekeeping missions have any training in dealing with the civilian population, much less the specific issues relating to gender relations. In response to this, a basic training package titled Gender and Peace Support Operations has been designed for use in pre-deployment induction. This article describes the background to its development and outlines how it is expected to be used and evolve in the future.     

Re-thinking the integration of women in population development initiatives

This article argues that the integration of women in population development initiatives was largely the outcome of four overlapping historical events: the decolonisation of the South; the population ‘explosion’ following World War II; the momentous developments in contraceptive technology; and the re-emergence of women's movements in the North. These developments pushed women to the forefront of development initiatives, in part because of lingering assumptions that population size is associated with poverty. As a result, policies heavily focused on reducing birth rates largely eclipsed those concerned with improving women's sexual and reproductive health and rights.     

Bangladesh: where there's a pill there's a way

In exchange for the substantial foreign aid provided to it by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the government of Bangladesh has agreed to accept the Agency's population package. The government has agreed to accept AID-provided contraceptives and has set revolutionary fertility rate targets for the year 1985. To meet the scarcity of contraceptive clinics in rural areas, AID and Population Services International (PSI) have instituted social marketing in Bangladesh. This involves use of commercial distributors, e.g., cigarette dealers and local shopkeepers, for the distribution of condoms and oral contraceptives. The distributors are willing to participate because they make small but significant profits from the arrangement. It is feared that shopkeepers do not have the expertise to screen women who should not be given pills or to give counseling for prospective pill customers. This type of pill distribution could lead to dangers.     

Trading and trade-offs: Women's livelihoods in Gorno-Badakhshan,Tajikistan

This paper is based on a small micro-level study carried out to assess the impact of recent socio-economic changes in Tajikistan on the livelihoods and well-being of women in Gorno-Badakhshan. It examines the recent involvement of women in trading and informal economic activity with a focus on the trade-offs that women have faced as a result. It argues that the shift towards a market economy in a depressed economic environment has resulted in increasing socio-economic differentiation, insecure livelihoods, and declining social capital. Women's involvement in trading, along with the withdrawal of the state from basic social services, has increased women's workload. Women's participation in the political sphere is declining from an already low base. Increasing material poverty and multiple roles and responsibilities have made it difficult for women to take up opportunities for public participation, even at a local level. The article concludes that there are structural barriers to reducing poverty in Gorno-Badakhshan and raises questions about the possibilities for disadvantaged groups and regions to benefit from a strongly market-based development paradigm.     

A question of trust: military defection during regime crises in Benin and Togo

This article examines the role of trust between military officers and opposition forces in fostering mass defections of military personnel during pro-democracy uprisings. The current literature on military defection emphasizes the role of either opposition characteristics, or government control policies. Combining the two, however, takes better account of defection as an interaction between officers and the opposition. Through an analysis of civil–military relations during mass uprisings in Benin (1989–1990) and Togo (1990–1993), this article finds that loyalist stacking creates a core of military personnel with a strong stake in regime preservation, while counterbalancing leaves open the possibility for a military-opposition alliance. Alliance also depends on civic resistance campaign characteristics (the unity of the movement, its nonviolent character, the presence of opposition leaders with social ties to military personnel) and promises to military personnel that acknowledge the latter groups’ interests. These findings provide a new theoretical framework for understanding military actions during regime crises.     

Palestinian women,violence, and the peace process

Much has been written about the contribution of Palestinian women to their nation's liberation struggle. They have not only survived in an atmosphere of remorseless violence, but have also made remarkable strides in terms of their rights and development as women. A question that has been less explored is the long-term impact of violence against women, whether in terms of their physical and psychological well-being or of their ability to participate in a meaningful way either in the conflict itself or in the post-conflict situation. This paper argues that, although Palestinian women are not simply victims but also agents of violence, such violence--whether random or institutionalised, perpetrated by the enemy or by their own people--places significant constraints on their ability to participate in the national liberation struggle. Consequently, they are inadequately prepared to contribute towards the peace process and, therefore, are prevented from realising their full potential in the new state.     

Networks,support groups,and domestic violence

This article discusses recent preliminary research findings on domestic violence against women in Calcutta, India, during 1994-95 and other evidence from around the world. The Beijing Conference on Women affirmed that physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of women occurs regardless of income, class, or culture. The author found from interviews with 47 abused Indian women from a mixture of backgrounds that middle-class women were the most private and difficult to interview. Findings from interviews suggest that women can resist or challenge the abuse by men, and resolution is the end to abuse. The research aimed to identify factors that enhanced resistance and resolution. Over 66% of abused women responded by informing others or crying or offering resistance. Single women and mothers are vulnerable due to stereotyping and economic insecurity. Women's groups recommend formation of shelters for abused women, income generation programs, and training projects, but funding is frequently limited for such activities. Some abused women are unaware of their rights or do not seek help from agencies. Illiteracy interferes with exchanges of pertinent information. Women in the Indian study did not accept violence as part of marriage. 70% of the women stated that after reporting the violence there was resolution. For sexual violence, resolution did not occur, and Indian law does not treat marital rape as a criminal offense. Most of the abused Indian women had contacts with governmental or other organizations. It appears that outside support is important to resolution and nonviolent relationships. Employment that is home-based isolates women and may not be useful as a resource for achieving resolution. Groups need to focus on capacity-building.     

用ELISA和PCR检测异常妊娠妇女弓形虫感染

为了解兰州市妊娠妇女近年弓形虫感染情况 ,探讨异常妊娠与弓形虫感染的关系 ,分别采用ELISA和PCR检测了异常妊娠妇女血清中TOX IgM和TOX DNA。结果 ,1 3 5例异常妊娠妇女血清TOX IgM和TOX DNA阳性率分别为 1 1 .1 1 % (1 5 /1 3 5 )和 1 2 .5 9% (1 7/1 3 5 ) ,总阳性率为 1 3 .3 3 % (1 8/1 3 5 ) ,组间无显著差异 (P >0 .0 5 )。异常妊娠史妇女与妊娠期无异常孕妇的血清TOX IgM阳性率分别为 1 1 .1 1 % (1 5 /1 3 5 )和 6.0 2 % (3 2 /5 3 2 ) ,组间差异显著 (P <0 .0 5 ) ,相对危险度为1 .85。调查结果显示 ,兰州市弓形虫血清抗体阳性率较 1 994年略有上升 ,弓形虫感染的孕前检查应联合应用ELISA和PCR为宜。