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Many colonial scholars in the 20th century pointed out that agriculture was introduced in the continent from outside, basically Europe and Asia. They refused to accept that African ingenuity had a role to play in the development of agriculture. Premised on this line of thinking, many scholars who studied the Usangu Plains attributed the introduction and development of rice production in the plains to the Baluchi. Drawing from archival, oral and secondary written sources, and working within the framework of local agency and political economy theories, this paper argues that contrary to the popular notions that have attributed irrigated rice farming to the Baluchi community, the establishment of irrigated rice farming in the region was primarily an indigenous initiative of the Sangu. It further recognizes the role-played by the British colonial state in the expansion of irrigated rice farming which has seldom been accounted for by scholars who studied the area under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental advocacy in East Asia takes place in a context where there are few well-funded professional advocacy organizations, no viable green parties, and governments that are highly pro-business. In this advocacy-hostile environment, what strategies are environmental organizations using to promote better environmental outcomes? Using an original database of environmental organizations and interviews with activists and officials throughout the region, this paper investigates which strategies are most common, and compares them to the advocacy strategies found in the United States. It finds, perhaps surprisingly, that (a) environmental organizations across East Asia employ similar advocacy strategies, even though they are operating in very different political conditions, and (b) the strategies most favoured in East Asia are also the strategies most often utilized in the United States. It then argues that new theories of advocacy should be developed to pay closer attention to certain actors (academics and artists), and particular processes (organizational networking, government collaboration, and culture-making), that appear to play important roles in advocacy in countries around the world, irrespective of political context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most economists examining the question of 'pollution havens' have concluded that the level of environmental regulation and activism in different states is not generally a significant determinant of international patterns of trade and foreign direct investment. This paper argues on the basis of extensive primary research that with respect to Japan's foreign direct investment during the 1970s, at any rate, this conclusion needs to be rethought. In the early 1970s, Japanese actors were remarkably forthright in ascribing their investment decisions to a desire to move polluting industry overseas. These statements allow us to examine 'pollution export' as a state strategy, a project advocated by industry organizations, and a response of individual firms to high levels of protest and regulation. The paper also traces the development of the Japanese debate over pollution export through the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is a relative success in a growing number of countries, there are also difficulties in assuring all community members can build and use toilets. This paper draws on experiences of IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and its partners in strengthening inclusiveness and sustainability in CLTS interventions. It presents practical measures to strengthen gender and poverty equity, community-based monitoring and capacity development for community institutions and the local private sector. Innovations pratiques pour le renforcement de l'assainissement total porté par la communauté (ATPC) : expériences asiatiques sélectionnées Si l'assainissement total porté par la communauté (ATPC) remporte un succès relatif dans un nombre croissant de pays, il y a aussi des difficultés au moment de parvenir à l'équité et de soutenir l'élan et les résultats. Cette note pratique se base sur les expériences d'IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre et de ses partenaires en matière de renforcement du caractère inclusif, de la durabilité et du renforcement des capacités dans les interventions d'ATPC. Elle recommande l'intégration de l'équité entre les femmes et les hommes et en faveur des pauvres dans les méthodes participatives, ainsi que l'utilisation du suivi mené par la communauté et du développement des capacités des services de soutien communautaires pour que tous les membres de la communauté bénéficient d'un accès équitable accru et soient durablement débarrassés de la défécation en plein air. Inovações práticas para fortalecer o Saneamento Total Liderado pela Comunidade: experiência selecionada da Ásia Embora o Saneamento Total Liderado pela Comunidade (CLTS) seja relativamente bem-sucedido em um número crescente de países, há também dificuldades para se alcançar equidade e manter o ímpeto e os resultados. Esta nota prática baseia-se em experiências do Centro Internacional de Água e Saneamento IRC e de seus parceiros em relação a fortalecer a inclusão, sustentabilidade e capacitação nas intervenções de CLTS. Ela recomenda a integração da equidade de gênero e das pessoas pobres em métodos participativos, assim como utilizar o monitoramento baseado na comunidade e desenvolvimento de capacidade de serviços de apoio da comunidade para aumentar o acesso equitativo e o abandono permanente do costume de se defecar em céu aberto para todos membros da comunidade. Innovaciones prácticas para fortalecer el Saneamiento Total Comunitario: experiencias de Asia Si bien el Saneamiento Total Comunitario (STC) goza de un éxito relativo en un número de países cada vez mayor, también existen dificultades para alcanzar la equidad y mantener los avances y resultados. Esta nota práctica se centra en los aprendizajes del Centro Internacional para el Agua y el Saneamiento de la CRI y de sus contrapartes, derivados del fortalecimiento de la inclusión, la sostenibilidad y la creación de habilidades en intervenciones de STC. Sus recomendaciones incluyen integrar la equidad de género y para los pobres mediante métodos participativos, el monitoreo comunitario y el desarrollo de capacidades para servicios de apoyo comunitarios, a fin de aumentar el acceso equitativo para todos los integrantes de la comunidad y de erradicar para siempre el fecalismo al aire libre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A country's macroeconomic policies have two basic objectives: to provide its citizens with a means to make a better living and a preferable environment. For the past decades, accompanying its fantastic economic growth, fast-developing Asia has become one of the major contributors to the increase of global carbon dioxide emissions. This paper analyzes productivity growth of ten Asian countries, namely, China, Japan, the NIEs and the ASEAN-4, by examining their outputs from economic performance and environmental impact standpoints. Productivity growth and its components are calculated using the Malmquist index. There appears to be a widening gap between the productivity growth trends without/with CO2 emissions of the ten Asian economies. This implies that the factor of productivity could be over-emphasized at great cost to the environment. A cross-country comparison analysis, considering CO2 emissions, shows that the productivity of China and ASEAN-4 deteriorated while the productivity growth of Japan and NIEs performed much better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide range of aquaculture systems is practiced in Asia, predominantly in semi-intensive systems with fertilization and intensive systems with formulated feeds in pond culture. This paper describes various means to minimize environmental impacts and reuse pond effluents and bottom mud, based on a series of pond experiments of the most commonly cultured species in Thailand, hybrid catfish (Clarias macrocephalus×Clarias gariepinus) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Experiment 1 was designed to improve feeding efficiency through optimization of feeding regime to reduce nutrient inputs in Nile tilapia culture; the results show that there were no significant differences in fish yield among daily feed rations at 50%, 75%, and 100% satiation, but the nutrient loading was escalated with increasing rations. The second experiment on hybrid catfish and Nile tilapia culture in cage-cum-pond systems shows that major nutrient input from formulated feed could be effectively recycled in a closed pond where hybrid catfish were cultured intensively with formulated feed in cages and Nile tilapia with natural food in an open pond. The third experiment was conducted to determine appropriate harvest methods and draining treatments for reducing pollutants from Nile tilapia ponds; the results show that liming pond water a day before draining and gradually draining ponds to a 25-cm depth during harvest was most effective. An experiment conducted to reuse effluents from hybrid catfish culture to fertilize rice crops demonstrated that the rice crop removed 32% total nitrogen (TN) and 24% total phosphorus (TP) from the effluents, with rice production comparable to that which received regular fertilization regime. The last experiment was to determine the efficiency of rooted aquatic plants in extracting nutrients from pond mud. The results show that the economic aquatic plants, such as lotus (Nelumbo mucifera), were able to remove 300 kg N and 43 kg P/ha/year from pond substrates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is a summary and update, where feasible, of the United Nations first-ever report on The State of Asian Cities 2010/11. With 42% of its population in cities in 2010, Asia is urbanising rapidly; its cities are highly productive and generate an estimated 80% of the region’s GDP. Despite the sustained economic growth of Asian economies in the recent decades, urban poverty, inequality, slums, poor urban environmental quality and liveablity, worsening disaster risks and effects of climate change pose major development challenges. While decentralization has helped widen the scope of urban governance, greater attention is needed to enhancing transparency and accountability in decision-making, planning and governance of smaller cities and towns, infrastructure investments, and city-to-city learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Asia’s largest biofuels producers are currently Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and India. This paper first examines the current status of biofuels in these countries, including the national development targets, strategies, incentives and policies. It then identifies the fundamental driving forces behind the development and promotion of these industries and considers their economic, social and environmental impacts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]