• Mainstreaming biodiversity into policy–Do the numbers add-up?

  Kavita Sardana; R. David Simpson (Elsevier, 2023-12-01)

  In this paper, we review the literature on economic approaches to providing value estimates of biodiversity. In most cases, the value estimates represent a lower estimate for a multitude of reasons, emanating from the complexity of definition and conceptualization of biodiversity as a capital stock and/or an ensuing flow of various ecosystem services. However, this exercise is important for accounting for these values in national income accounts, policy reforms, and raising funds for biodiversity financing. We discuss some of the theoretical and empirical challenges towards this valuation exercise along with providing estimates of biodiversity values.
• Impact of membership in agricultural cooperatives on yield of smallholder tomato farmers in Nigeria

  Adebayo Akinola; Ayodeji Kehinde; Akeem Tijani; Adeolu Ayanwale; Felicia Adesiyan; Victoria Tanimonure; Ayodeji Ogunleye; Temitope Ojo (Elsevier, 2023-12-01)

  Tomatoes are one of the most significant fruit and vegetable crops in Nigeria. This could be ascribed to the fact that it helps many farmers support their way of life and improve their financial status. However, due to ineffective production management techniques, restrictions on the supply of pesticides and fungicides, access to information, market fluctuations, and crop shelf life, the yield of tomatoes is low. There is a need for powerful institutions like agricultural cooperatives to increase tomato yield. Agricultural cooperatives have been promoted in Nigeria as an agricultural development strategy that will increase crop yield and farmer income. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of membership in agricultural cooperatives on the yields of smallholder tomato farmers in rural Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure is used to collect data for the study. The Endogenous Treatment Regression model was used to analyze the data. According to the findings of the first regression (Probit regression), age, years of formal education, main occupation, years of farming experience, farm size, years of experience in tomato farming, aged dependents, distance to market, access to credit service and access to extension service have a positive and significant impact on the membership of farmers in the agricultural cooperative. The results of the endogenous treatment regression model reveal marital status, age, years of formal education, years of informal education, main occupation, years of farming experience, farm size, years of tomato farming, aged dependents, distance to market, access to credit services, cost of processing, access to extension service and agricultural cooperative membership are all statistically significant variables influencing tomato yield. According to the ATE estimate, the average farmer would produce 9.159 times more when he/she joined an agricultural cooperative. The conditional treatment effect (ATT), which assesses the impact of membership in agricultural cooperatives on tomato yield, was correspondingly approximately 9.447 and statistically significant at 1%. As a result, the typical farmer who is a member of an agricultural cooperative would produce a yield that is 9.447 times more than it would be if he/she was not a member of an agricultural cooperative. The study found that membership in agricultural cooperatives has a positive impact on tomato yield among smallholder farmers in rural Nigeria in contrast to what it would have been in the absence of being a member of agricultural cooperatives after adjusting for both observable and unobserved factors. Tomatoes farmers must be encouraged to join an agricultural cooperative to boost their yield.
• Participation in innovation platform and asset acquisitions among farmers in Southern Africa

  Adeolu B. Ayanwale; Adewale A. Adekunle; Ayodeji D. Kehinde; Oluwole A. Fatunbi (Elsevier, 2023-12-01)

  Asset development is a crucial tactic for advancing social and economic development in Southern Africa. But until now, there has not been any solid evidence of how asset-building strategies affect Southern African households. This study investigates the relationship between participation in innovation platforms and the acquisition of assets among farmers. Data for the study were collected using a multistage sampling approach. The data were analyzed using the Endogenous Treatment Linear Regression model. According to the findings of the first regression (Probit regression), gender, marital status, years of education, number of male working-class members, number of female working-class members, number of aged dependents in the household, access to extension service and locational effect of farmers in Mozambique have a significant relationship with the participation of farmers in Innovation Platforms. The results of the endogenous treatment linear model for asset acquisition among farmers reveal gender, age, marital status, number of male-working class members, access to extension service, the locational effect of farmers in Mozambique, and participation in the activities of the Innovation Platform are all statistically significant. After controlling for observed and unobserved covariates, the study concluded that participation in the activities of Innovation Platforms has a positive relationship with the acquisition of assets among the farmers than they would have in the absence of participation in Innovation Platforms. Therefore, farmers need to enhance their asset base by participating in Innovation Platforms. This has a significant implication for the attainment of most of the targets of the SDG.
• Climate change vulnerability and resilience strategies for citrus farmers

  Esmail Karamidehkordi; Seyed Abdolhamid Hashemi Sadati; Yahya Tajvar; Seyed Hossein Mirmousavi (Elsevier, 2023-12-01)

  The adverse effects of climate change on food production, livelihoods and agroecosystems are well-documented. This paper investigates the vulnerability and resilience of citrus farmers to climate change using a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology. The quantitative study analysed the trend and variability of the climatic data comprising annual precipitation and annual average, minimum and maximum temperatures (1984-2021), collected from Iran's Meteorology Organization and analysed by the Mann-Kendall test. The qualitative research also employed the grounded theory method (GTM) and collected data through direct observations of citrus farms, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 35 citrus farmers and 11 agricultural extension agents and specialists in North Iran. The results indicated that citrus farms are sensitive to temperature extremes, with increased instances of freeze stress during winter and heat stress during spring and summer over the past four decades. These stresses have reduced the productivity and marketability of fruits, making farmers' livelihoods more vulnerable. While scientific knowledge exists, farmers generally have limited adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change. Existing policies, innovations and institutions are insufficient to enhance farmers' resilience. To cope with climate change-induced hazards, resilience mechanisms in the long and short term are necessary to mitigate, prepare and reconstruct before, during and after the incidence of such events. Effective strategies, such as input, insurance and credit support services and innovations, are thus required to increase farmers' resilience. This paper also offers insights into the way external organisations' policies and institutional strategies affect farmers' vulnerability and resilience to climate change.
• A review of integrated multicriteria decision support analysis in the climate resilient infrastructure development

  Parfait Iradukunda; Erastus M. Mwanaumo; Joel Kabika (Elsevier, 2023-12-01)

  Roads, bridges, sewer systems, and other infrastructure failures often result from climate-related incidences along with extensive socioeconomic impacts including human life losses. Infrastructures with frequent experiences are usually replaced, altered, or adopt different Low-Impact Development, Best Management Practice (LID-BMP) approaches. Adapting and recovering from the damages cost a substantial budget. This study reviewed Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) i.e., risk analysis, hydroclimatic analysis, and Life Cycle Cost-Benefits Analysis (LCC-BA) in the Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Development (CRID). It was carried out following the protocols and guidelines for systematic literature review. Throughout the review, 1D is acclaimed as the best and most suitable to identify critical flooding zones and nodes within the drainage network. The study showed that integrated GIS and 1D hydrodynamic modelling are reliable in waterlogging characterisation and locating suitable floodwater regulating areas, while 2D analysis was found ideal for appropriate damages assessment over different inundation depths, duration, return periods and different climate scenarios. Indeed, about 62.5% of the studies have analysed the LID-BMPs whereby 23.2% integrated hydrologic-hydrodynamic and LCC-BA, and identified optimum performances at different levels. The study showed that, the cost of climatic adaption in infrastructure development results in the benefits optimisation and the effects-attributed cost minimisation. Besides, several studies acclaim the rising of weather-related extremes due to a gradual climate variation. Henceforth, there is a need for adaptation, most importantly, incorporating the changes in infrastructure development, and the necessity of integrating MCDA in CRID. Further, machine learning and deep learning approaches are recommended to overcome challenges and limitations associated with the current multi-dimensional numerical models and big data era demanding huge time and computational power.
• Assessing the sustainability of biosand filters: Unveiling interlinkages and leveraging factors for effective implementation

  Pardon Dandadzi; Nikhil K. Kothurkar (Elsevier, 2023-12-01)

  The household slow sand filter patented biosand filter (BSF) has been implemented in several developing countries to improve access to safe water. Evaluating the sustainability of various BSF implementations is essential. However, most evaluations neglect interlinkages among factors. This leads to unclear identification of leverage points to enhance BSF sustainability, resulting in limited utility to policymakers. To address this issue, the present study carried out a systematic literature review and used systems thinking to establish complex interlinkages among some factors affecting BSF sustainability. A total of 38 studies in 21 countries from the Americas, Africa, and Asia evaluated the BSF and 31 factors were found across the studies. The most influential factors were continued use, produced water quality, operations and maintenance (OM), and willingness to pay. Continued use was positively correlated to produced water quality and negatively related to the amount of water produced. OM was positively correlated with household hygiene practices and negatively correlated with education level. Willingness to pay was positively related to household income and education level. BSF's discontinued use was attributed to broken parts and improper maintenance. This paper identified the main leverage points that should be targeted during BSF implementation to improve its sustainability. This study helps identify specific factors and enables policymakers to understand their interrelationships, facilitating well-informed decisions before implementing a BSF.
• Conocimiento astronómico y meliponicultura entre los mayas peninsulares: ayer y hoy

  Orlando Josué Casares Contreras; Venus Sarahí Estrella Cabrera (El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, 2023-11-01)

  La meliponicultura representa una de las actividades productivas tradicionales más significativas para la sociedad maya prehispánica, debido al valor simbólico de las abejas nativas para las sociedades mayas y al aprovechamiento de la miel. La trascendencia de la miel producida por la abeja nativa Melipona beecheii, conocida localmente como xuunan kab, se ha documentado desde la época colonial hasta las recientes etnografías, abarcando su producción, empleo y valor simbólico. No obstante, consideraremos indispensable identificar los mecanismos empleados desde la época prehispánica para conocer, registrar y aprovechar el recurso derivado de la actividad de pecoreo de las abejas nativas. Usando una metodología comparativa de los trabajos previos y publicados en las observaciones astronómicas registradas, documentos etnohistóricos y estudios de floraciones de las plantas melíferas nativas, se tiene como objetivo principal comprobar la relación del registro de los ciclos astronómicos de los mayas prehispánicos, con el registro de los periodos fenológicos de floraciones en especies nativas para establecer los mecanismos ancestrales en que se sustenta dicha actividad. Ambos registros favorecieron el óptimo aprovechamiento de la meliponicultura desde el periodo prehispánico hasta la actualidad.
• Reacciones de los investigadores de México en diferentes epidemias. Un estudio comparativo de las publicaciones ante H1N1, Zika, Chikungunya y COVID-19

  Bidegain, Evangelina Anahi (2023)

  During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in scientific publications around the world. This paper aims to identify the publications produced by Mexican institutions during the recent pandemic and to compare them with those made on H1N1, Zika and Chikungunya, highlighting the contributions to the knowledge of the social effects of pandemics. A search in several repositories - Web of Science, Redalyc, Lilacs, Scielo, Lit Covid and Google Scholar - yielded 1,132 titles published by Mexican institutions: 791 about COVID-19, 174 about H1N1, 79 about Chikungunya, and 88 about Zika. The bibliometric analysis considered the type of publication, thematic orientations, institution of origin and contributions from the social sciences. Mexican publications increased during COVID-19, mainly in institutions of the health sector. In the second half of 2020 and early 2021, more original researches were published. We identified the decrease in the production of publications on H1N1 in general, and also found out that there was an interest in the social impact of the pandemic. We conclude that problematizing the social impact of diseases and their health management provides heterogeneity and historicity to public health, although biomedical publications focused on epidemiology, diagnosis and therapeutics in epidemics predominate.
• Abordagem interdisciplinar como necessidade: o caso da produção de erva-mate no estado do Paraná, sul do Brasil

  Luiz, Ricardo Gomes; Silva, Maclovia Correa da (2023)

  The heterogeneous ways of growing yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) in family farming are under techno-scientific pressures in Brazil. This statement can be problematized by the theoretical framework of science, technology, and society (STS) studies. Trade and expectations of market expansion strengthen the economic activity that has this plant at its base. With plantations on more than 6,000 farms, municipalities in the South-Central and Southeastern mesoregions of the State of Paraná form the main producing area of yerba mate in Brazil. The crops in these regions are mostly intercropped with native vegetation and favor the conservation of biodiversity. This is reinforced by the knowledge and experience developed by native peoples and current family farmers. However, there are techno-scientific pressures to replace traditional modes of production aiming at higher productivity and profit. This article aims to analyze this reality with an interdisciplinary approach in order to reveal tensions, point out the agenda-setting that configures technoscience, and debate about the integration of experiences and knowledge. Interdisciplinary concepts from STS studies are used to analyze how techno-scientific dynamics and apparatuses put pressure on traditional agriculture. Concepts such as technological determinism and solidary technoscience are useful to explore consensus, contradictions, and conflicts in yerba mate production in the State of Paraná.
• El fantasma de la piratería: las vías ilegales de acceso a la literatura científica en el CONICET (Argentina)

  Zukerfeld, Mariano; Liaudat, Santiago; Terlizzi, María Sol; Monti, Carolina; Unzurrunzaga, Carolina (2023)

  This article presents the results of a survey carried out among researchers from Argentina on the different types of access to scientific literature, the motivations for using the illegal via, representations on legality and moral correctness in access to scientific articles, and the link between productivity and access vias. It offers empirical evidence of a massive and widespread use of illegal access to scientific literature among respondents. The most notable finding is, on the one hand, that the use of the illegal via of access does not supplant, but rather coexists with the use of legal vias. On the other hand, there is a remarkable disconnection between the representations regarding legality and correctness on the access and dissemination of scientific literature protected by copyright. Thirdly, the motivations that explain the massive use of illegal vias combine practical and evaluative aspects, such as the impossibility of accessing in another way, the ease of use in opposition to legal services and the rejection of the publishing business around scientific literature.
• Presentación. Prácticas interdisciplinarias y transdisciplinarias en Iberoamérica: integración de conocimientos y diálogo con políticas de ciencia, tecnología e innovación

  Mazzitelli, María Goñi; Vienni Baptista, Bianca; Hidalgo, Cecilia (2023)
• Impacto social de un almacén temporal centralizado en España

  Fernández Arias, Pablo; Vergara Rodríguez, Diego; Antón Sancho, Álvaro (2023)

  A Centralized Temporary Storage Facility (ATC, due to its initials in Spanish) is an industrial facility designed to store, in a single location, the spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste generated at Spanish nuclear power plants. Started in 2011, the plan to install the ATC in the Cuenca town of Villar de Cañas was the outcome of a long selection process characterized by political decisions. At present, this infrastructure of national importance has not yet been built, and even a possible cancellation of the project is being considered. However, in view of the planned schedule for the closure of Spanish nuclear power plants, the need for a long-term strategy for the management of nuclear waste is becoming increasingly necessary. This article develops a quantitative research about the social impact that the decision about the ATC site had at the time. For this purpose, the opinion of 86 inhabitants of the areas directly affected in Villar de Cañas and surrounding municipalities is taken into account. The results reflect the absence of social consensus in the region affected by the installation of the ATC regarding its necessity, safety and development perspective.
• Inteligencia artificial y sesgos. El caso de la predicción del embarazo adolescente en Salta

  Pedace, Karina; Schleider, Tobías Joaquín; Balmaceda, Tomás (2023)

  Faced with the rhetoric of an efficient and free of prejudice artificial intelligence (AI), this article discusses why this popular vision is inadequate and examines some of its shifts in the design of public policies. Firstly, we argue that it is impossible –in principle– to propose a value-neutral AI, based on what has been indicated by some canonical and contemporary philosophical contributions. In the second section we analyze a case that clearly illustrates the value burden that gravitates on AI. This will lead us to investigate, in the third section, the different levels at which biases can have an influence on AI. Our main objective is to unveil the paradox related to how the application of AI in public policies and private spheres, far from being a tool to combat structural inequalities, ends up consolidating harmful scenarios for vulnerable populations.
• Análisis causal estratificado (CLA) como herramienta para el trabajo inter y transdisciplinario: contribuciones y desafíos de su aplicación en Montevideo, Uruguay

  Iribarne, Patricia; Trimble, Micaela; Lázaro Olaizola, Marila (2023)

  Complex systems are made up of different structures and components that interact with each other, giving rise to emergent properties and patterns that cannot be understood by studying only their parts in isolation. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary processes are an alternative approach for overcoming the fragmented and reductionist way of understanding the world. This article presents the Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) methodology as a strategy for inter and transdisciplinary work. Its contributions and challenges are analyzed from its application to address the problem of urban solid waste in Montevideo, Uruguay, in three different contexts: a workshop in which academics from various disciplines participated, another workshop carried out with territorial actors and a masters’ thesis. These experiences show CLA’s versatility and expose the need to implement dialogue facilitation strategies to contemplate more extended action-research processes over time and to imagine new approaches for postgraduate thesis. Based on the CLA experience, its capacity to support teaching and research contexts within the framework of university extension processes is discussed, which could act as a “bridging” strategy between research and action.
• Infoesfera: socialidad técnica y prácticas mediáticas. Un enfoque desde Cuba

  García Hernández, Rayner (2023)

  With historical evolution, processes of mobilization reappear in countries like Cuba through the direct interventions of the masses in the different spheres of power, culture and economy. In general terms, it could be argued that the resurgence of the "ghost of the Cuban revolution" – from the perspective of various independent social actors – aims to vindicate the practices of political and cultural participation in decision-making processes. In this context, the term "media culture" brings forward the research of new types of sociality, interaction, appropiation, communicative processes, cultural practices and media phenomena, which the use of digital technology materializes in the most diverse social spheres. The search, acquisition and management of all kinds of information through the use of technical devices and digital media influence the behavior of users, as well as their desire to understand themselves as interconnected individuals exercising their citizenship. This article proposes a praxeological approach to technical sociality and media practices in the infosphere, in order to analyze their social and political implications in the Cuban context.
• El sistema de saneamiento convencional y la escasez global de agua. Uso irracional de los recursos versus sistemas secos y circulares

  Quiñones Triana, Yago (2023)

  The current conventional sewage system, which combines a flushing toilet with a sewage system and eventually treatment plants, is an obsolete and inadequate system that demonstrates an irrational and harmful use of resources, especially water. The prevalence of this system is not explained solely by technical reasons; the motivations that justify its diffusion and permanence are mainly associated with historical and cultural reasons. Currently there are alternatives available that have already competed with the conventional system, and that present clear benefits, such as avoiding water contamination and making efficient use of resources by reintroducing them into production systems as nutrients or raw materials. The scant application of these alternative systems is most likely due to non-technical motivations associated with historically incorporated habits, based on debatable beliefs about human excrement and waste management. Given the current water scarcity crisis, it is urgent to study ways to implement resource-friendly systems and to combine a technical analysis on the adaptations necessary for its massification with an exploration of the cultural barriers that make this implementation difficult.
• Entrevista. Práticas transdisciplinares no contexto latino-americano: Entrevista com o prof. Danilo streck

  Mazzitelli, María Goñi; Vienni Baptista, Bianca; Hidalgo, Cecilia; Streck, Danilo Romeu (2023)
• La herencia digital. Apropiación de tecnologías digitales en jóvenes de clases trabajadoras y de servicios en Buenos Aires

  Matozo, Victoria (2023)

  This article analyzes the digital heritage from the trajectories of appropriation of digital technologies in students of public middle schools in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. The question that guides this research is: what modes of appropriation are presented in young people from working and services classes, and what are their characteristics? Based on the concept of appropriation, young people’s trajectories are analyzed from their class of origin, and from the analytical perspective of the third digital divide. By combining both fields of study, not only a comparison between classes is made, but also the meaning of these practices is deepened. The analysis focuses on the social and digital reproduction strategies deployed by young people in the appropriation processes in relation to their individual goals, and on examining to what extent these are constrained (or not) by their chances of life. This article applies a quantitative methodology, based on the “Youth and Technology 2018-2019 Survey”, and a qualitative one, based on the interviews conducted with young students from public schools of Buenos Ares.
• Fomentando la transdisciplinariedad para la cocreación del conocimiento: el caso de la ReD-IT (Universidad de Talca, Chile)

  Villalobos, Pablo; Chalela Naffah, Salim; Boni, Alejandra (2023)

  Considering the degree of complexity of the problems faced by society, universities are called upon to play a leading role as institutions that generate and disseminate knowledge. This role must be supported by epistemological, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to promote inclusive solutions that are co-created with stakeholders in the territories, enabling the transition to sustainable socio-technical systems. For this reason, it is necessary to create protected spaces for experimentation aligned with social and environmental challenges that facilitate the generation of learning and reflexivity among its members. The experience of the Transdisciplinary Innovation Network (ReD-IT, due to its initials in Spanish) of the University of Talca, Chile, is presented as an alternative niche to the dominant university regime. The network seeks to transform not only the institutional model of R&D&I, but also to promote a process of directionality and experimentation that encourages the identification and protection of new radical options, following the guidelines given by transformative innovation policies. Using a multilevel perspective, it was possible to establish systemic dynamics between three levels (landscape, regime, and niche). Also, the experimental nature of the niche was evaluated through the recognition criteria for policies with transformative potential, showing important differences between the practices developed within the ReD-IT and those customary for the regime.
• ¿De qué hablamos cuando hablamos de OGM? Las múltiples y contradictorias maneras de presenta runa controversia sociocientífica en la escuela secundaria

  Rando, Nicolás Vilouta (2023)

  Given the diversity of ways for describing the socio-scientific issues around genetically modified organisms (GMOs), this article studies the different characterizations of this controversy coexisting in the context of the curriculum of a high school in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The research was based on a qualitative approach that investigated the variety of ways for describing the controversy in three different curricular instances: the curriculum design, the official teacher training course offered by the provincial goverment and a teacher training course on biotechnology offered by a private educational program. The results allow us to point out the great flexibility with which the question about GMOs can be interpreted and described in different curricular instances within the same class, as well as the influence that the different actors involved and their stands have on the issue. Thus, the educational field seems to be a battlefield where various actors who participate in socio-scientific issues display their positions and interests, not only through explicit arguments, but also in the subtlest way possible of seeking to impose a certain characterization of the controversy.

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