Africa is a focus area for international climate change adaptation finance. Subsistence farmers are crucial for Africa's adaption. But it is unclear how those that qualify to…
Abstract
Purpose
Africa is a focus area for international climate change adaptation finance. Subsistence farmers are crucial for Africa's adaption. But it is unclear how those that qualify to receive adaptation finance actually perceive climate change, even though perceptions are reflected in adaptive behaviour. This paper aims to show how perceptions of climate‐related hazards drive adaptation and provide recommendations for the climate change finance community to support subsistence farmer adaptation.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 227 households in rural Ghana and Botswana were surveyed and their answers statistically analysed.
Findings
The respondents' perception of climate‐related hazards is analogous to existing environmental degradation. In the complex environment in which farmers operate, high vulnerability and climate dependency do not necessarily result in autonomous adaptation. Experience, means and perceived successfulness are more important factors, but these hardly relate to individual adaptive measures.
Practical implications
Recommendations for adaptation finance institutions: build on existing development plans and policies on climate‐related environmental problems; adaptation is more than a collection of adaptive measures, so financing adaptation is more than financing adaptive measures; extremely vulnerable people do not necessarily adapt autonomously, indicating that ex post adaptation remains important too.
Originality/value
This study shows that highly vulnerable subsistence farmers do not automatically adapt and that adaptation is more than implementing adaptive measures. The outcomes are linked to the adaptation finance institutions.
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Nicolas Van der Linden, Raoul Pieter Joost Koning, Daan van der Gouwe, Mireia Ventura and Fiona Measham
The purpose of this paper is to present some of the continued resistance and challenges faced by drug checking services (DCS) and review how the existing literature and the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present some of the continued resistance and challenges faced by drug checking services (DCS) and review how the existing literature and the contributions to the special issue address them, with a view to making recommendations.
Design/methodology/approach
The existing literature and the contributions to the special issue are reviewed.
Findings
Drug checking cannot be equated with quality control. With the appropriate equipment and chemistry staff, DCS can provide quantitative analysis and reliable results. When the product does not match expectations, service users discard the tested substance of concern. To more easily compare the results of different studies and better evaluate drug checking, standardisation of measures is desirable. Uptake of drug checking, notably in festivals, is low and depends in part on the capacity of DCS. Drug checking has added value in monitoring drug markets and is complementary with chemical (forensic) analysis.
Originality/value
This paper interrogates in a relatively comprehensive way the continued resistance to drug checking in light of theoretical and empirical research to derive recommendations that are specific to drug checking and that are addressed to health professionals, researchers and also to policymakers.
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Daniela Perbandt, Marie-Sophie Heinelt, Paula Bacelar-Nicolau, Mahsa Mapar and Sandra Sofia Caeiro
Distance universities are of great importance for establishing sustainability literacy, as they operate as multipliers for thousands of students. However, despite several…
Abstract
Purpose
Distance universities are of great importance for establishing sustainability literacy, as they operate as multipliers for thousands of students. However, despite several advantages of e-learning environments compared to traditional class-teaching, there are still challenges regarding suitable e-learning tools and didactical models. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of several e-learning tools on students’ knowledge and skills growth and to compare two learning paths, synchronous vs asynchronous, exploring how each affects the level of students’ knowledge achievement and skills acquisition.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is based on an online course “Participatory processes in environmental politics”. International MSc and PhD students who enrolled in the course were from FernUniversität in Hagen (Germany) and Aberta University (Portugal). The course was designed as the flipped classroom, applying different e-learning tools and activities, some synchronous and others asynchronous. A pre- and post-evaluation questionnaire was applied to evaluate students’ knowledge and skills. Descriptive statistical analyses were carried out on this data.
Findings
Results showed that in the synchronous group, knowledge about theoretical approaches to citizen participation and sustainable environmental governance improved to a greater extent, whereas the asynchronous group showed greater improvement in nearly all skills related to intercultural communication and e-learning. Also, in the synchronous path, students enhanced their knowledge on “research application” to a greater extent.
Originality/value
Evaluating the effectiveness of different e-learning tools on students’ sustainability knowledge and information and communication technologies skills is a fundamental issue. The study discusses these issues, contributing to enhancing the use of adequate and grounded e-learning models on sustainable development in higher education.
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Food safety is a major public concern in The Netherlands following mishaps in the animal feed industry. These were associated with the handling of wastes. Financial gains to those…
Abstract
Food safety is a major public concern in The Netherlands following mishaps in the animal feed industry. These were associated with the handling of wastes. Financial gains to those responsible have been outweighed by economic losses. Other safety risks include the presence of infectious bacteria and viruses, mycotoxins, additives, substances derived from packaging and conversion products originating in food processing. Present risks and presumable trends in food safety are highlighted. Substantial improvement of food safety is possible. In part, such improvement is linked to environmental improvement, but there are also cases in which reductions in risk may increase the environmental burden of food supply. Improvement of food safety often entails increased costs. Major retailers and food producers apparently feel that consumers are willing to pay for substantially improved food safety. There are also health related financial benefits associated with reduced food risk.