Social and political barriers to the use of Marine Protected Areas for conservation and fishery management in Melanesia

Abstract: In this paper we examine the strengths and weaknesses of state‐supported Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) systems in two independent Melanesian states (Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea) in the context of the management of rapidly intensifying commercial and subsistence fisheries. We focus particularly on the proposed use of permanent no‐take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), which are at present strongly favoured by scientists and environmentalists around the world, as the most versatile marine fishery management tool, especially in poor developing countries. We argue that, with some exceptions, typical Melanesian CMT regimes make MPAs difficult to establish, primarily due to issues of scale. We look closely at the ecological rationale for no‐take MPAs, for different coral‐reef based species, and assess the likelihood that populations of these species are self‐replacing on the same scale as CMT territories for most of coastal PNG and Solomon Islands. We argue that with some exceptions (mainly species with short‐lived larvae), the dynamics and scale of population replacement processes for most fished species make no‐take permanent closures largely incompatible with traditional CMT systems, and therefore unlikely to prove a successful management tool in this socio‐political context.     

Yaqona and the Fijian periphery revisited

Abstract: This paper deals with some major economic issues concerning the Pacific plant kava, known in Fiji as yaqona. The plant is the source of the cerebral depressant beverage found throughout many of the Pacific Islands, which besides its daily use plays an important ceremonial and social role in the indigenous culture. This paper deals with yaqona cultivation and commercialisation in the Fijian peripheral island of Kadavu, from a perspective of more than 20 years. The findings suggest that the role of the plant as a major cash crop is even more important than it was in the first half of the 1980s. Moreover, the village semi‐subsistence economy has become increasingly dependent on this crop as part of its survival strategy. The explanations offered are related to physical and ecological conditions and the associated agrotechnical advantages in Kadavu; marketing advantages and worsening terms of trade experienced by the Fijian periphery; and the lack of other economic opportunities in peripheral areas of Fiji, such as Kadavu – in turn, a function of core–periphery relationships. This is a response of the periphery to the increasing marginalisation within the Fiji state and may imply villagers' and communities' acceptance of their marginal position in the economy.     

Big or Small Cities? On city size and economic growth

Policy makers and academics frequently emphasize a positive link between city size and economic growth. The empirical literature on the relationship, however, is scarce and uses rough indicators for the size of a country's cities, while ignoring factors that are increasingly considered to shape this relationship. In this paper, we employ a panel of 113 countries between 1980 and 2010 to explore whether 1) there are certain city sizes that are growth enhancing and 2) how additional factors highlighted in the literature impact the city size/growth relationship. The results suggest a nonlinear relationship which is dependent on the country's size. In contrast to the prevailing view that large cities are growth‐inducing, for a majority of countries relatively small cities of up to 3 million inhabitants are more conducive to economic growth. A large share of the urban population in cities of more than 10 million inhabitants is only growth promoting in countries with an urban population of 28.5 million and more. In addition, the relationship is highly context‐dependent: a high share of industries that benefit from agglomeration economies, a well‐developed urban infrastructure, and an adequate level of governance effectiveness allow countries to take advantage of agglomeration benefits from larger cities.     

Small arms,violence and gender in Papua New Guinea: Towards a research agenda

Among Pacific states, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has attracted the most attention from researchers looking at problems caused by small arms and light weapons. There is now a substantive body of work cataloguing different aspects of the country's problems with firearms and gun violence. This research sits alongside a large scholarly literature on violence in PNG and the connection between violence, gender and masculine identities. There has, however, been strikingly little research bringing these literatures together and looking directly at the gendered dimensions of PNG's gun violence. This paper explores some connections between small arms, violence and gender in PNG. After providing a general overview of small arms issues in PNG, it examines the misuse of firearms in urban crime and inter‐communal fighting in the Highlands, specifically noting the limited evidence that is available about the differently gendered consequences of gun violence. It identifies three potential areas for further research: exploring the relationship between changing notions of masculinity and demand for firearms; gender and PNG's growing private security industry; and fragile signs of change in the role of women in the PNG Defence Force.     

Spices as the saviour? The complex vulnerabilities of three commodity crop booms and ethnic minority livelihoods in Yunnan's agrarian frontier

Commodity crops are redefining land use and rural smallholder livelihoods across Asia. These crops often have boom‐bust cycles with important implications for the drivers of farmer entry into and exit from particular cash crop opportunities. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the boom‐bust processes of three popular spice crops cultivated in Yunnan Province, southwest China. Drawing from agrarian frontiers and rural livelihoods literature, we disentangle the vulnerability contexts associated with black cardamom, cinnamon and star anise production, finding that farmers cultivating these spices face a combination of interlocking forms of vulnerability. Despite the monetary potential that each crop offered during its ‘boom’, the associated environmental, economic and political vulnerabilities caused most farmers to exit their production, responding with myriad on‐farm and off‐farm diversification strategies. Using a multi‐sited ethnographic approach, we draw on 52 in‐depth interviews with ethnic minority cultivators, spice traders and local government officials to untangle the complexities associated with cash crop production in this agrarian frontier, the interwoven vulnerabilities that result in their ‘busts’ and the coping and adaptation strategies that smallholder farmers employ. Our findings underline the importance of disaggregating farmer vulnerabilities and the need for more nuanced policy responses to adequately support small‐scale farmers.     

A sea of islands — a myriad of indicators: on the interface between demography and planning in the Pacific Islands

While in recent years much has been written, and even more spoken, about the interrelationships between population and development, and particularly the importance of acknowledging population parameters in development planning and policy formulation, reality in most Pacific island countries and territories falls short of this rhetoric. Long-term development plans and strategic development frameworks are still compiled without due consideration of demographic circumstances, and economic and public sector reform proceeds in many countries seemingly oblivious of contemporary population dynamics. It is not always lack of basic and timely data that accounts for this malaise, as is evident from a myriad of demographic indicators reported by a variety of government agencies and regional and international organisations. However, these often manage to portray quite different demographic scenarios using identical data sources. This paper examines the institutional and methodological context within which Pacific island population data are collected and demographic information is produced. It concludes by discussing ways in which demography and demographers can contribute towards more realistic planning and policymaking in the Pacific.     

基于SWOT-PEST分析的中国热带作物产业发展策略研究

热带作物产业是中国农业的重要组成部分,对保障国家资源安全、乡村振兴、民族团结和服务外交等方面具有重要意义。运用SWOT-PEST方法,结合中国热带作物产业发展现状,从政治、经济、社会、技术4个方面对中国热带作物产业的内部优势、劣势以及面临的外部机遇、挑战进行分析,并构建了分析矩阵,研究表明中国热带作物产业拥有政府重视程度高、自然资源丰富、区位优、较好的产业发展基础和科技力量储备等内部优势,同时也存在扶持力度相对不足、经营水平发展较为滞后、资源环境约束和生产成本的压力较大和科技进步贡献率较低等自身劣势。建议综合运用中国热带作物产业发展的增长型、扭转型、多元化和防御型4种策略,以“一带一路”倡议、乡村振兴战略和持续对外开放政策为契机,利用好国内市场需求旺盛、多元化需求不断增长、新技术应用力度加大的发展机遇,在充分挖掘和发挥内部优势的基础上,通过呼吁政府进一步加强对热带作物产业的政策支持力度、完善热带作物产业经营体系建设、推动热带作物企业“走出去”、科技创新驱动产业延链升级等方式补齐自身短板,减少或避免国际热带农产品市场对国内的冲击、供给安全的不确定性以及科技创新供给不足的威胁,全面提高中国热带作物产业的国际竞争力。     

China Project "973"-Molecular Improvement of Cotton Fiber

Cotton is the main cash crop in China,and plays a very important and irreplaceable role in the national economy.With only 3% of total crop plant area,China accounts for over 10% of the output of the cotton industry.     

Benefits and risks for Melanesian households from commercialising Canarium indicum

This research note discusses the benefits and risks for Melanesian households arising from attempts to increasingly commercialise Canarium indicum, an edible tree nut indigenous to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Qualitative data were generated during workshops and interviews with Canarium industry stakeholders about the impacts associated with a series of interventions designed to encourage further commercialisation of Canarium. The findings are organised according to three dimensions that elucidate the social implications of industry development for local communities: (i) income and growth; (ii) equity; and (iii) voice and choice. Broader distribution of benefits within and between countries, as well as among supply chain actors, requires a stronger policy response at regional (Melanesia) and national scales, equitable gender representation to avoid reinforcing existing inequalities, and delegation of decision‐making power to the appropriate level to facilitate effective community participation and their links with other stakeholders. Thus, it remains to be seen whether Canarium‐related benefits arising from its commercialisation can be sufficiently reliable compared with either other sources of income (e.g. existing employment opportunities for those located near urban areas) or utilising the resource for subsistence purposes.     

临城县核桃种植大户现状及经济效益分析

核桃种植作为临城县产业发展的重要支柱,对促进农业生产和农民增收起着重要的推动作用。通过对临城县150家核桃种植大户的调查,发现核桃种植大户存在综合素质偏低、种植面积不均衡、销售方式单一等问题,通过经济效益分析,发现投入大、规模小等会影响核桃的经济效益。提升种植大户综合素质、扩大种植规模、改进技术、拓宽销售渠道和完善社会化服务水平,则核桃的经济效益会有很大的提升空间。     

印度农业保险发展及其启示

在气候变化背景下,农业部门作为弱质产业,应对气象灾害的难度加大,探索国家对农业的科学支持政策,显得尤为重要。中印同为发展中国家,农业均深受气象灾害的危害。本研究通过分析总结印度农业保险发展的经验和教训,为中国农业保险发展提供借鉴。印度关注产量的农业保险发展阶段,通过立法成立国有的专业化农业保险公司和各类保险服务提供按保险费财政补贴,有利于农业保险供给主体的经营风险和提高经营效率,但覆盖面有限;印度气象指数保险发展阶段,气象指数透明、客观的特点和适宜的分销网络为气象指数保险推广提供了条件,但这种指数和农民损失的不完全相关性将导致农民在遭受惨重损失之时而索赔无望;区域产量和气象指数相结合的农业保险发展阶段,二者优势互补,覆盖面和理赔效率的不断提高。印度农业保险的启示在于：一是农业保险与气象致灾因子密不可分,气象指数保险与产量之间的相关性越明显,其发展潜力越大;二是农业保险属于政府支持农业发展的绿箱政策,引进竞争机制可以提高其效率与覆盖面;三是中国人均国民收入约为印度的3倍多,拥有比印度更为优越的政治制度,中国农业保险进一步优化的空间依然巨大。     

印度咖啡产业发展现状

咖啡与茶叶、可可并称为世界三大饮料,就每年的消费量而言,它比可可大两倍,比茶叶大三倍。近年,印度咖啡产业在政府的资助下,发展迅速,至今产量已位居亚洲第二,并占全亚洲25%的产量。本文分析了印度咖啡产区分布、出口以及国内消费情况,总结了近年来,印度政府采取各种措施计划旨在提高咖啡业生产力,提高咖啡产品产量和质量,在全球市场更好推销印度咖啡。     

Strategies of migration to upland areas in contemporary Vietnam

Migration has changed the face of Vietnam's highlands in the second half of the 20th century. Areas of forest and swidden agriculture, inhabited by ethnic minorities, have lost their tree cover and, especially in the Central Highlands, are planted with coffee and other commodity agriculture. Their populations now have a high proportion of lowland Vietnamese in‐migrants. This paper argues that this transformation is the product of two sets of strategies. One is a state strategy, set in place in the North in 1954 and extended to the South after reunification, to ‘tame’ the region, in terms both of economy and security. The other consists of the strategies of ordinary people in the plains of the North, who migrated with or without reference to the state, hoping to get rich in a region recently described in the lowlands as a ‘promised land’. State organised migration programmes, the Doi Moi process of economic reform, and the decisions and struggles of these families and individuals thus combined to bring about the transformation of the highlands. As the paper shows, however, this combination, has not been without its difficulties.     

Field performance of new in vitro androgenesis-derived double haploids of barley

Although barley is extensively grown in the Peruvian highlands as a food crop, agricultural and quality performance have historically been poor. A double-haploid technique was used to obtain barley varieties better suited to this environment. Three crosses were constructed: Ya/LM94, B16/LM94 and B12/LM94. From all crosses, F₁ anthers were cultured in vitro to produce double-haploid lines. At DH₆, promising materials were evaluated in the Peruvian highlands, along with their parents and two commercial controls (PPch, UNA80). Expert agronomic criteria for the ideal barley cultivar for this region were defined and Euclidean distance was used for simultaneous selection of the recorded agricultural traits. Ya/LM94-PC27 exhibited the shortest Euclidean distance to the expert criteria (0.41), higher yield than controls, and low plant height. Periods from first rain to flowering and maturity suited growth during the rainy season. Ya/LM94-PC27 was resistant to stripe rust, and its grain protein content suited the malting-brewing industry. Hectoliter and 1,000-grain masses met or surpassed industry requirements.     

Flexibility and Adjustment: The Hong Kong Watch Industry and Global Change

A case study of the Hong Kong watch industry demonstrates the adaptive flexibility of labor-intensive industrial clusters. The study describes the evolution of industry in Hong Kong, and highlights the unique attributes of the country's economic history which have influenced the structure of production systems in the country. Focusing on the role of global competition, the case study identifies the constraints posed by a labor-intensive flexible production system in the face of continuous technological change in the industry.     

Business networks,social capital and the economic performance of creative and cultural industries: The case of Indonesia

This study examines the ways in which networking characteristics and practices influence the economic performance of creative and cultural industries. The notion of social capital is used to conceptualise the complex nature of networks, including both professional and social relationships that occur on multiple levels. This qualitative study is set in the context of Indonesia, in which two cases are examined: creative apparel entrepreneurs in Bandung and batik producers in Surakarta. The results show that regional environments provide opportunities for creative industries to find specialist suppliers, to gather market information and, importantly, to find and cross‐fertilise new ideas. Although regions provide these opportunities, the firms’ internal social capital is crucial in being able to internalise and transform the knowledge from the environment into innovative values embodied in their products.     

Poor rural places in Papua New Guinea

Abstract: In the late 1960s, Harold Brookfield and Doreen Hart were ‘startled’ by the order of magnitude differences in incomes from village cash cropping in different parts of Papua New Guinea (PNG). This paper traces these differences, back into a pre‐colonial past and forward to the present and concludes, as Brookfield did in the 1960s, that severe environmental constraints, rather than market forces, are the primary cause of the pattern of spatial inequalities observable in PNG. Brookfield noted the existence of an ‘acute dilemma’ in 1960s development funding: should funds be invested where the returns will be highest, or where the need is greatest. This dilemma is as acute today as it was then. However, in the meantime, people from poor places are moving to better‐off places, seeking access to markets for their produce and health and education services for their families.     

渔业统计数据的内容与服务设计方向

渔业统计为渔民生产提供决策依据,为生产者和公共大众提供信息,便于政府制定经济和社会发展战略。本文对渔业统计数据的内容、分类、特点及未来服务设计方向进行了探讨。渔业统计数据涵盖了渔业产业生产、加工、流通、市场等各方面的内容,其特点在于综合反映渔业经济情况和渔民生活情况,需要依托于对统计数据资源的开发利用来发挥作用。渔业统计数据未来提供分析服务的方向主要包括学术研究和政府决策两个方面。     

Institutions and Economic Transformation: The Case of Postwar Japanese Capitalism

Institutions matter to economic development—particularly to the process of economic transformation. New technologies and new ways of organizing economic activity do not emerge in a vacuum, but bear the imprint of institutional arrangements. Economic transformation thus entails institutional adaptation as well as technological change—the emergence of new ways of organizing production or production systems and new sets of social and economic relationships which provide the institutional context for economic growth and development. Just as importantly, new institutional arrangements do not emerge tabula rasa, but reflect the legacy of old social and institutional forms. Given particular social and institutional legacies, different societies adapt differently to economic transformation. This article employs a theoretically-informed comparative examination of postwar Japanese capitalism to explore the critical role played by institutions in the process of economic transformation.     

马铃薯的世界传播及对中国主食产业开发的启示

马铃薯种植面积广泛,是位列小麦、稻米与玉米之后的第四大世界性粮食作物,西方社会的马铃薯传播与推广有丰富的经验,梳理马铃薯的世界传播路径并分析主要国家的推广经验措施,旨在为中国马铃薯主食开发提供有益启示与经验借鉴。笔者查阅整理了西方主要国家有关马铃薯传播与推广种植的文献,利用文本分析的方法,提炼出马铃薯得以传播世界的结构性因素与各国推广种植的措施经验。结果表明,马铃薯赖以广泛传播的条件主要有三点：一是马铃薯自身适应性广、产量高的生物特性;二是一些欧洲国家出于保障粮食安全的考虑而采取的推广措施与制度安排;三是人们对马铃薯认知水平以及种植与加工技术水平的提高。分析西方国家推广马铃薯种植经验对中国马铃薯主食产业开发有重要启示,应以其生物广适性为基础,重视其经济效益,在国家层面,运用政治权力自上而下的制度安排推动,在民间层面,发动知识分子运用知识的力量宣传科普,综合利用经济、政治和知识的力量推动马铃薯主食产业发展。